Sulamith: A Romance of Antiquity Part 10

Then, turning to Ahishar, who was the seneschal, and over the household, he commanded:

"I do not want to give the queen up to death; let her live as she wishes, and die when she wishes. But nevermore shall she behold my countenance. This day, Ahishar, thou shalt fit out a caravan and escort the queen to the harbour at Jaffa; and thence to aegypt, to the Pharaoh Shishak. Now let all get hence."

And, left alone face to face with the body of Sulamith, he long contemplated her beautiful features. Her face was pale, and never had it been so fair during her life. The half-parted lips that Solomon had been kissing but half an hour ago were smiling enigmatically and beautifully; and her teeth, still humid, gleamed very faintly from between them.

For long did the king gaze upon his dead leman; then, he softly touched with his fingers her brow, already losing the warmth of life, and with slow steps withdrew from the chamber.

Beyond the doors the high priest Azariah, son of Zadok, was awaiting him. Approaching the king, he asked:

"What shall we do with the body of this woman? It is now the Sabbath."

And the king recalled how, many years ere this, his father had expired and lay upon the sand, already beginning to decompose rapidly. Dogs, drawn by the scent of carrion, were already prowling about with eyes glaring from hunger and greediness. And, even as now, the high priest, a decrepit old man, the father of Azariah, had then asked him:

"Here lieth thy father; the dogs may rend his corpse.... What are we to do? Honour the memory of the king and profane the Sabbath; or observe the Sabbath but leave the corpse of thy father to be devoured of dogs?"

Thereupon Solomon made answer:

"Leave him. A living dog is better than a dead lion."

And when now, after the words of the high priest, he did recall this, his heart did contract from sadness and fear.

Having made no answer to the high priest, he went on, into the Hall of Judgment.

As always of mornings, two of his scribes, Elih.o.r.eph and Ahiah, were already reclining upon mats, one on either side of the throne, holding in readiness their inks, reeds, and rolls of papyrus. Upon the king's entrance they arose and salaamed to the ground before him. And the king sat down upon his throne of ivory with ornaments of gold, leant his elbow upon the back of a golden lion, and, bowing his head upon his palm, commanded:

"Write!

"Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a ring upon thy hand; for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as h.e.l.l: the arrows thereof are arrows of fire."

And, having kept a silence so prolonged that the scribes held their breath in alarm, he said:

"Leave me to myself."

And all day, till the first shadows of evening, did the king remain alone with his thoughts; nor durst any enter the vast, empty Hall of Judgment.

_Tamam Shud_

NOTES BY THE TRANSLATOR

[Footnote 1: The Russian version of this pa.s.sage reads: "... jealousy is cruel as the grave: the arrows thereof are arrows of fire." In this, I have been given to understand, it adheres more closely than does the English Bible to the original Hebrew.]

[Footnote 2: "Which _is_ the second month..." _I KINGS; vi:1_.]

[Footnote 3: "Which _is_ the eighth month..." _I KINGS; vi:38_.]

[Footnote 4: "A word fitly spoken _is like_ apples of gold in pictures of silver." _PROVERBS; xxv:11_.]

[Footnote 5: Abimelech; _i. e._, Father-King.]