John the Baptist: A Play

_The same. Herod, Gabalos, Merokles, Jabad. The Palace Captain_ [_exit when the others enter_].

Herod. Princess, after waiting even the space of a moment, a man will enjoy his favours to the full.... Therefore ... [_Kisses her on brow and mouth._] Pardon!

Herodias. Thou hast rested; art refreshed?

Herod. That question thou oughtst not to ask me. My father was one of those men who never knew what weariness was. So his son, likewise, parts company with his pillow betimes, and---- [_He observes Salome who, with her veil slightly lifted, looks down from the balcony, and after she sees that he has noticed her, vanishes._]

Herodias. Thou art silent.

Herod. Thy daughter is not with thee?

Herodias. [_Dryly._] No.

Herod. [_Bows his head, smiling._] Allow me, Princess ... to present these friends.... I will not call them servants, for such they are not.

Merokles. Oh, mistress, they are servants whom thou mayest safely make thy friends.

Jabad. And they are friends in order that they may serve thee.

Gabalos. And are amply rewarded for both, great mistress.

Herod. [_Smiling._] This rascal, whose Syrian dialect thou art now acquainted with for the first time, is Gabalos from Antioch. Thou seest, I tolerate his jesting.

Gabalos. For Herod the Great also kept a Fool.

Herodias. And people say that he acquired a second Fool before he let the first drown.

Gabalos. [_Bows, smiling, then turns aside with a grimace._]

Herod. This is Merokles, the rhetorician. His voice carries far. It is heard in Rome, when folks there would overhear my own.

Merokles. But I shall take no satisfaction in that voice till it may greet thee, mistress, with the cry "Hail to thee, O Queen!"

Herodias. [_Winces, then smiles and exchanges a glance with Herod._]

Merokles. [_Sotto voce, joining Gabalos._] Thou madest a good hit; I a better.

Herod. And in contrast to this cool flatterer, here is Jabad the Levite, my guide and my conscience ever since I set foot on Jewish soil. For, by Bacchus, he knows exactly what I have to do, every moment, in order to be pious, after the manner of my pious people.

Gabalos. [_Sotto voce._] He acts as if he had forgotten the way.

Merokles. [_Sotto voce._] For by so doing he thinks he will the more resemble his father.

Herod. As an example, what ought I to be doing at this sacred moment?

Jabad. The sun is sinking, oh master. Thy Passover lamb, one year old and flawless, hath been slaughtered in the Temple. It is now in the yard to be blessed. Thou, as the lord and master of this house----

Herod. Must do it myself?

Jabad. Thine illustrious father did not, and there was, on that account, grumbling amongst the people.

Herod. Blessing is cleaner work than slaughter. I will do it. See, ye wise Greeks, that we must serve the gods in order to rule over men! And in the end we serve to no purpose. [_He motions them away. To Jabad._] Go and make ready, and I will follow thee. [_Exeunt Gabalos, Merokles, and Jabad._]