by Shlomo Kalo
The members of the delegation all fell at the King’s feet, and prostrated themselves reverently. After they had spent some considerable time kissing the cold floor of the reception hall the King commanded them to rise, and they rose to their feet one by one, assuring the King of their utter abhorrence of the criminal act committed by that deranged young man, whose sole intention had been to damage the exemplary relations, relations of peace, friendship, brotherhood and mutual trust that had always prevailed between the Chaldean people and the Jewish people, peoples which after all had shared roots and even similar laws, legal traditions mutually nourished – and they had come here to bow down before the King and affirm once more their unbounded loyalty to the Chaldean state and monarchy in general, and to King Nebuchadnezzar in particular. As was well known, since time immemorial they had spared no effort in demonstrating their fervent support of the Chaldean administration and glorious Babylon, which they saw as their homeland and their patrimony. And they offered the King an ancient sword which they said had once belonged to King Solomon himself, and one thousand gold shekels, of Babylonian coinage, as a contribution to the Chaldean war effort against the disloyal Zedekiah, and they welcomed this opportunity to denounce him publicly and disown any connection with him.
With a cynical sneer that he made no attempt to hide, the King rejected the sword and commanded that the thousand shekels be distributed among the poor and the needy of Babylon. He was minded to have the delegation forcibly ejected, but in the end he relented and let them go in peace, much to their relief. He had no quarrel with the Jewish community of Babylon as a whole, and besides, he reckoned that these men had humiliated themselves quite adequately without any help from him.
Adoniah
Adoniah called upon Rafsi, the eunuch responsible for the east wing of the harem:
“I need to speak urgently with Anabil, the Egyptian woman that I brought here for His Majesty the King! Just for a few moments!” And before the giant could respond and send him on his way, he touched his swarthy arm and drew out a bulging purse from beneath his purple cloak. “One hundred gold shekels!” he whispered.
The eunuch seemed to be reconsidering his next move, his protuberant eyes fixed on that purse, and then, after inspecting his surroundings to be sure that the corridor was empty, with no living soul in sight, he snatched the purse as it was offered him and quickly hid it under his broad sash.
“Tomorrow, at sunset, in the perfumery, for a short time only! And I know nothing!” he whispered, adding emphatically: “The responsibility is all yours!” And with his head held high, and eyes scanning the ceiling with its carvings of cattle in bronze and lions in wood, he swept away in stately style, as indifferent to Adoniah as if he were a wall or a pillar.
Next day, at sunset, Adoniah slipped into the harem, turned towards the east wing, found the narrow corridor leading to the perfumery, and knocked on the low, white-painted door. A pale hand opened the door and he made a hasty entrance. The door was closed again without a sound.
“You’re endangering my life!” Anabil fumed, irritation and impatience reflected in her big, dark eyes – handsome eyes, in which an inexperienced young man might have fancied he saw tenderness and devotion, and boundless submissiveness.
“I need you!” he whispered and added at once: “You are to tell the eunuch responsible for the wing that Belteshazzar, the chief minister and viceroy of the King, entered your bed-chamber at the seventh hour of the evening and tried to rape you!”
“What kind of nonsense is this!” she protested, staring at him coldly.
In his hand he held two bulging purses.
“In each of these,” he pointed to the purses – “there are five hundred gold shekels. One of them is yours now, the other you will have when the deed is done.”
“Why at the seventh hour?” she asked, still indignant.
“Because at the seventh hour he says his private prayers. No one will see him at that time or testify to that effect!”
“This is going to cost Belteshazzar his head!” she mused, as a broad smile of satisfaction, impossible to disguise, parted her sensual lips and exposed for an instant the flash of her teeth.
“Do you like him?” he asked.
“No!” she declared.
“Has he hurt you?”
“No,” she replied grimly,
“He’s hurt me!” he asserted.
“How?”
“Through his arrogance!”
“Yes,” she agreed, her cold smile reflected now in her eyes as well. “Arrogance – that sounds like him!” and without any further hesitation she held out an eager hand and grabbed one of the two purses.
He turned around, opened the door a crack and stooped to peer out – the corridor was empty. Nimbly and without a sound, he slipped out and closed the door behind him. And so, unobserved by anyone, he left the harem of King Nebuchadnezzar, the valiant and the wise King, conqueror of the world.
Two days later the palace was shaken to its very foundations, and all those residing there were struck dumb with amazement on hearing reports of the shameful deed committed by Belteshazzar, the King’s viceroy and senior counsellor. It seemed he was not immune from guilty passions after all, but had tried his luck with the young Egyptian concubine whom Adoniah had brought for the King a few months before, and who was indeed in the full bloom of her womanhood, sensuous and incomparably seductive, with charms that no man could easily resist. So even Belteshazzar had fallen from grace, and Anabil had rebuffed him and called for the help of the eunuch responsible for the wing, and he feared for his life and fled.
And when the story reached the ears of King Nebuchadnezzar, he ordered that both Belteshazzar and Anabil, his new concubine, be summoned before him. And the two of them came before the King, seated on his high throne of cast gold and ivory.
The viceroy bowed and blessed the King in the accepted manner, while Anabil sprawled on the floor at Nebuchadnezzar’s feet and at once burst into bitter tears and loud lamentation.
The King commanded his concubine to stand and tell her story from beginning to end. And still whimpering, the Egyptian concubine described how Belteshazzar, in a frenzy of lust, had invaded her room the night before last at the seventh hour, and had assaulted her. She spurned his advances, but what strength did she have to resist a man? And she called out for help…
“Who answered your call?” the King interrupted her sternly. And she spoke out in praise of the prompt response of the one responsible for the east wing of the harem, none other than Rafsi, the eunuch.
And the King commanded that the eunuch responsible for the east wing of the harem be brought before him.
Rafsi arrived, flustered to the very roots of his soul, sweat glistening on his broad forehead. And he fell at the feet of the King and did not rise until permission was given, and then the King addressed him in a tone that did not bode well:
“Dirty, despicable wretch!” cried Nebuchadnezzar, incensed. “Why did you wait a day and a half before coming to me to report the scandalous activities taking place on your wing? You deserve to have that stupid head of yours removed from your shoulders!”
Rafsi prostrated himself again at the feet of the King and in a quaking and mumbling voice, confessed at once that it was all a fabrication.
Nebuchadnezzar commanded that they both be tortured with red-hot irons but before the irons touched their flesh, the truth came to light, and Adoniah was arrested at the King’s command and brought before him in chains.
Adoniah adopted an air of baffled innocence and denied everything, declaring with fervour that he had never spoken to the eunuch or to the Egyptian concubine, and they had hatched a plot to make him a scapegoat. Clearly, they were enemies of the Jews, who felt they had scores to settle with the exiles of Judah. As for Belteshazzar, he was his best and most trusted friend, whom he had never known to do anything but good. It would never occur to him to describe him as “arrogant” – least of all in conversation with a bonde
d slave-woman!
Adoniah’s protestations of innocence failed to convince the King, who silenced him and sentenced him forthwith to death by hanging.
It was then that Belteshazzar bowed to the King and asked for permission to speak. Permission was granted, and he proceeded to say:
“My King, live for ever! No word that His Majesty utters is ever to be ignored, and this wretched man is indeed worthy of the most severe of punishments – if it is proved beyond doubt that he has committed the heinous offence of which these witnesses have accused him, conspiring to incriminate his friend. Indeed, there is enough in the witnesses’ accounts to cast a heavy shadow of suspicion on the King’s commercial agent, but this is not conclusive, unequivocal proof, however likely it may seem. And because there is doubt, I venture to suggest that the sentence of death be commuted to hard labour in the mines in the mountains, so that no man’s conscience needs to be troubled over the unproven guilt of this man, who persists in his claim that his hands are clean.”
Belteshazzar’s measured words eased some of the tension in the atmosphere, and opened the way to calm reflection and reconsideration.
For a brief moment King Nebuchadnezzar looked down as he pondered what had been said, before looking up again and declaring:
“It shall be as you say! This cunning knave shall have the benefit of the doubt and his head may remain on his shoulders. Instead he shall be sent for twenty-five years into the bowels of the earth, for hard labour in the bronze mines. He is to be bound in shackles which will not be removed until the very last day of his sentence has been served!
“The other two,” the King thundered – “shall be put to death, and at once!”
Soldiers of the royal bodyguard swooped on the three malefactors and began dragging them towards the door.
The eunuch and the concubine uttered the most heart-rending shrieks, while Adoniah twisted round in his captor’s hands to face the King and cried out to him:
“I have something important to say, my lord the King! Of the greatest importance, please hear me!”
And since the King showed no inclination to hear anything more from him, sentence having been passed, Adoniah shouted:
“I lied to my Lord the King! What these witnesses have said of me – is the absolute truth!”
“Stop!” cried the King, and his agent, in chains, was brought back to him and thrown down at his feet.
Adoniah was agitated, emotional and perhaps in pain as well, but he was not scared. Making no attempt to rise from the floor where he lay, he looked up at Belteshazzar and addressed his remarks to him, while panting heavily:
“All praise be to you! Your efforts to save me from the claws of death touched my heart, but the truth is, my fear of death is as nothing compared to my fear of hard labour and chains! You know how indolent and lazy I am, intent on fleeting pleasures… jealous too, and the most mean-spirited of men. Forget me, if you can, and I’m not asking you to mention me in your prayers! Peace be with you, Daniel, my brother! You are well rid of me – for I am your enemy! And you should know, you have many more enemies, so beware of them! And before I disappear from your life I must confess to another sin that I committed against you – the metal spike under the saddle of your horse, that was supposed to wreck your chances of winning the race, and bring your life to an abrupt end – it was my idea. I thought of it, and Matthew, the unlucky boy who died that day, was the one who carried it out.
“And all these years I have hated you for your success, and this hatred gave meaning to my life! And now, my life is ended, and the hatred is ended too. I am also the one who incited those who informed against Mishael, Hananiah and Azariah, bringing to their attention the way that those three stood erect while all of Babylon bowed to the golden image. Oh, how proud of them I was, and how I envied them! And how I hated them, and how eager I was to put them to the test, the severest of tests, to the end! And sure enough, I did it – and they withstood it! Pass on my warmest congratulations! Even at this moment, my heart is full of pride in you, and envy, at one and the same time. And as for you, peace be with you. I am swarthy, and not the prince of any haughty maiden’s dreams!” And suddenly he turned where he lay and kissed the feet of the King’s viceroy, and cried in a choking voice: “Forgive me and pardon me – if you can!”
“I forgive you and I pardon you, my brother Adoniah!” he said, and tried to raise him to his feet, but the soldiers of the guard forestalled him, dragged Adoniah up from the floor and made him stand, looking into the purple, enraged face of the King.
“Hang him!” commanded Nebuchadnezzar.
End of Book II
To be continued in:
THE CHOSEN Book III – A Man Much Loved