Now two of the king's men, who stood on guard at the doors of his house, were wroth with the king and sought to kill him.
And their plot was known to Mor-de-ca-i, who was a watch-man at the king's gate. And he told it to Es-ther, and she told it to the king, and both of the men were hung. And what Mor-de-ca-i had done to save the king's life was put down in a book.
And in this same book was set down all that took place in the king's reign.
Now there was in the king's house a man whose name was Ha-man. And the king gave him a high place, and bade those of low rank bow down to Ha-man.
But the Jew at the gate would not bow when Ha-man went in and out. And the rest of the men who stood by told Ha-man of it.
Now Ha-man was a vain man, and when he saw that Mor-de-ca-i did not bow to him as the rest did he was full of wrath. It had been made known to him that Mor-de-ca-i was a Jew.
And so he told the king if he would make a law that all the Jews should be put to death, he would give him a large sum of gold and sil-ver.
The king heard what Ha-man said, and then took his ring from his hand and gave it to Ha-man, and told him to do with the Jews as he thought best. The king gave him his ring that he might use it as a seal. And Ha-man set the scribes to work, and they wrote just what he told them, in the king's name. And when the wax was put at the end with the king's seal on it, it was the same as if the whole had been writ by the king's own hand.
Men were sent out in haste to make the law known through-out the land, that all the Jews in Per-si-a were to be slain. And when this was done Ha-man and the king sat down to drink wine.
When Mor-de-ca-i heard of the law that Ha-man had made, he rent his clothes and put on sack-cloth, and went out and cried with a loud cry. And he came and stood in front of the king's gate, though he could not pass through, for it was the law that none should pass who wore sack-cloth. And all through the land the Jews were in deep grief, so full of tears that they could eat no food; and not a few of them put on sack-cloth to show the depth of their woe.