Chapter 8 seven

Herodias: No; there is no wind. Herod: I said there was a wind blowing... and I heard the flapping of wings in the air, like the vibration of a pair of great wings.Did you hear that? Herodias: I did not hear. Herod: I cannot hear now.But I just heard it.There is no doubt that the wind was caused by the vibration of the wings.It's gone.No, I heard it again.Didn't you hear?It's like the sound of flapping wings. Herodias: I tell you, nothing moves.you are sick.Let's go indoors. Herod: I am not sick.It is your daughter who is sick.She looked sickly.I have never seen her so pale.

HERODIAS: I told you not to look at her. Herod: Pour the wine. [The wine is brought. ] Salome, come and have a drink with me.I have some fine wine here.Good wine sent by Caesar himself.Pour a few drops of wine into your red lips while I toast with a sip. Salome: I am not thirsty, my lord. Herod: Did you hear how she answered me, your daughter? Herodias: Bring fruit. [The fruit is brought. ] Salome, come and eat some fruit with me.I love to see fruit between your teeth.One bite and I'll eat what you have left. Salome: I am not hungry, my lord. Herod [to Herodias]: Look, how your daughter was brought up.

Herodias: My daughter and I are of noble birth.And you, your father was just a camel driver.He's still a robber! Herod: You are lying! Herodias: You know it's true. Herod: Salome, come and sit beside me.I will give you the throne of your mother. Salome: I am not tired, my lord. HERODIAS: You see how she feels about you. Herod: Give me—what do I want?I forgot.what!what!I remembered. John's voice: Hey!The time has come!What I prophesied, what God said, will come true.hello!The day I declare has come. Herodias: Tell him to be quiet!I don't want to hear this voice.This man is constantly insulting and slandering me.

Herod: He never spoke against you.In addition, he was a great prophet. Herodias: I don't believe he's a prophet.Can someone pre-announce what's going to happen?No one will ever know.Furthermore, he kept insulting me all the time.But I think you're afraid of him... I know you're afraid of him. Herod: I have no fear of him.I have no fear of anyone. Herodias: I tell you, you are afraid of him.If you weren't afraid of him, why didn't you send him to the jews, and let him rave about here for over six months? Jew: Yes, my lord, it is better to deliver him to us. Herod: Enough has been said on this subject.I have already come to a conclusion.I will not send him into your hands.He is a saint.He is a man who has seen God.

Jews: Impossible.No one has ever seen God, except the prophet Elijah.He was the last person to see God.God doesn't show up anymore these days.He hides.So the great devil came to the world. Another Jew: Indeed, no one can know whether the prophet Elijah actually saw God.Maybe he just saw the shadow of God. Third Jew: God is invisible all the time.He is present all the time.God is also among the things called evil, even though he himself is good. Fourth Jew: It cannot be said so.This is a very dangerous doctrine.That was the doctrine that came from the schools of Alexandria, where philosophy was taught as the Greeks did.The Greeks were pagans.They were not even circumcised.

Fifth Jew: No one can know how God works.His ways are very mysterious.It may be that what we call evil is good, and what we call good is evil.We cannot understand anything.We must obey everything because God is mighty.He can easily destroy what we call strength because he doesn't value anyone. First Jew: You're right.God is terrible; he can destroy the strong, and we humans are as weak as putty.But this man has absolutely never seen God.No one has seen God since the prophet Elijah. HERODIAS No; there is no wind. HEROD I tell you there is a wind that blows . . . . And I hear in the air something that is like the beating of wings, like the beating of vast wings. Do you not hear it?

HERODIAS I hear nothing. HEROD I hear it no longer. But I heard it. It was the blowing of the wind. It has passed away. But no, I hear it again. Do you not hear it? HERODIAS I tell you there is nothing. You are ill. Let us go within. HEROD I am not ill. It is your daughter who is sick to death. Never have I seen her so pale. HERODIAS I have told you not to look at her. -32- HEROD Pour me forth wine. [Wine is brought.] Salome, come drink a little wine with me. I have here a wine that is exquisite. C?sar himself sent it me. Dip into it thy little red lips, that I may drain the cup.

SALOME I am not thirsty, Tetrarch. HEROD You hear how she answers me, this daughter of yours? HERODIAS She does right. Why are you always gazing at her? HEROD Bring me ripe fruits. [Fruits are brought.] Salome, come and eat fruits with me. I love to see in a fruit the mark of thy little teeth. Bite but a little of this fruit, that I may eat what is left. SALOME I am not hungry, Tetrarch. HEROD [To Herodias] You see how you have brought up this daughter of yours. HERODIAS My daughter and I come of a royal race. As -33- for thee, thy father was a camel driver! He was a thief and a robber to boot!

HEROD Thou most! HERODIAS Thou knowest well that it is true. HEROD Salome, come and sit next to me. I will give thee the throne of thy mother. SALOME I am not tired, Tetrarch. HERODIAS You see in what regard she holds you. HEROD Bring me -- What is it that I desire? I forget. Ah! ah! I remember. THE VOICE OF IOKANAAN Behold the time is come! That which I foretold has come to pass. The day that I spake of is at hand. HERODIAS Bid him be silent. I will not listen to his voice. This man is for ever hurling insults against me. -34- HEROD He has said nothing against you. Besides, he is a very great prophet.

HERODIAS I do not believe in prophets. Can a man tell what will come to pass? No man knows it. Also he is for ever insulting me. But I think you are afraid of him . . . . I know well that you are afraid of him. HEROD I am not afraid of him. I am afraid of no man. HERODIAS I tell you you are afraid of him. If you are not afraid of him why do you not deliver him to the Jews who for these six months past have been clamoring for him? A JEW Truly, my lord, it were better to deliver him into our hands. HEROD Enough on this subject. I have already given you my answer. I will not deliver him into your hands. He is a holy man. He is a man who has seen God.

A JEW That cannot be. There is no man who hath seen God since the prophet Elias. He is the last man -35- who saw God face to face. In these days God doth not show Himself. God hideth Himself. Therefore great evils have come upon the land. ANOTHER JEW Verily, no man knoweth if Elias the prophet did indeed see God. Peradventure it was but the shadow of God that he saw. A THIRD JEW God is at no time hidden. He showeth Himself at all times and in all places. God is in what is evil even as He is in what is good. A FOURTH JEW Thou shouldn't say that. It is a very dangerous doctrine. It is a doctrine that cometh from Alexandria, where men teach the philosophy of the Greeks. And the Greeks are Gentiles. They are not even circumcised. FIFTH JEW No man can tell how God worketh. His ways are very dark. It may be that the things which we call evil are good, and that the things which we call good are evil. There is no knowledge of anything. We can but bow our heads to His will, for God is very strong. He breakth in pieces the strong together with the weak, for He regard not any man. FIRST JEW Thou speakest truly. Verily, God is terrible. -36- He breaketh in pieces the strong and the weak as men break corn in a mortar. But as for this man, he hath never seen God. No man hath seen God since the prophet Elias.