SCENE V

PLACE: The Queen's apartment.

CHARACTERS: Queen Esther, King Ahasuerus, Haman, Servants, Mordecai.

[The servants are preparing the feast. Enter ESTHER.]

Esther: See ye that the feast is in readiness, for the King will soon arrive.

[Servants bow.]

Servant: The King cometh!

Esther [going to meet the KING as he enters]: Welcome, my lord!

[The KING sits upon a throne prepared for him.]

King: I am happy to be with thee, my fair Queen. Thou must have a request which thou desirest to makespeak, be not afraid. I will grant it though it be half of my kingdom.

Esther: If I have found favor in thy sight, O King, and if it please the King, let my life be saved and the lives of my people-the Hebrew people. We are to be destroyed, to be slain and to perish.

King: Thy people? The Hebrew people? Who is this and where is he that dareth in his heart to do this thing to thy people?

Esther: The enemy is thy chief counselor, this wicked Haman.

King: Did Haman do this deed? How didst thou know of his plan?

Esther: O King, Mordecai, the Jew, my uncle, hath shown me the letter which Haman hath sent over the country. The Jews are to be killed on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month. I am begging thee for my life and for the lives of my people!

King: Fear not, Esther; thy people shall be saved. Mordecai, the Jew, hath once done me a great service. He hath not been rewarded for this. He shall have honor, for he deserveth it.

Servant: The great Haman hath come, O Queen.

[HAMAN enters; they seat themselves, and the feast is served.]

King: Haman, what shall be done unto the man whom the King delighteth to honor?

Haman [aside]: Whom would the King like to honor more than myself? [To the KING]: For the man whom the King delighteth to honor, let the royal apparel be brought which the King useth to wear, and the horse which the King rideth upon, and the royal crown which is set upon his head; and let these be given the man whom the King delighteth to honor; and let him ride on horseback through the streets of the city; and proclaim before him, "Thus it shall be done unto the man whom the King delighteth to honor!"

King: Make haste and take the royal apparel and the horse as thou hast said and do even so unto Mordecai, the Jew, that sitteth at the King's gate. Let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.

[HAMAN bows his head low and goes out to MORDECAI.]

Servant: O King, Haman hath built a gallows upon which to hang Mordecai, the Jew, this day. [HAMAN returns with MORDECAI and puts on the crown, King: Let him who hath made the gallows hang upon it!

[Servant takes HAMAN out.]

etc.]

King: Come near, Mordecai. Thou hast found great favor in mine eyes. From henceforth thou shalt be my chief counselor, and thou shalt rule the land in Haman's place. Thy people shall be spared, and letters shall be

sent over all the land and into every province which shall state that the Hebrew people shall not be destroyed, but instead they shall be honored and have joy and feasting.

Mordecai: I thank thee, O King and Esther, my Queen, for the great deliverance and for this great honor to me. May the Lord give me strength to deal wisely with these peoples.

Esther: This is a great happiness which thou hast bestowed upon me, O King.

CHAPTER VIII

THE DRAMATIZATION OF ABRAHAM AND THE THREE GUESTS

This incident should be simplified and adapted before it is told to children. The dramatization is best worked out in the form of a short, free play which involves only one act. It is unnecessary to carry it to the point of fixed words and actions. The emphasis should be placed upon the customs of the times which are so well brought out in the story; for example, the hospitality of Abraham to the strangers represents the feeling toward strangers among the nomad peoples, and the manner in which he showed his hospitality makes children acquainted with customs peculiar to those people. There is excellent opportunity here for enriching the children's understanding of the life of a shepherd people, of which the Israelites are an example.

Descriptions and pictures of the kind of tent the people lived in are necessary. It is important that children should get the idea of the correct shape of the Arab tent and not confuse it with the Indian wigwam. No stage scenery need be used; it is best to leave that to the imagination. A curtain