And the king of Zaphun sat upon his throne, and his elders, and his counsellors, and his officers, and all his host, in their armour of iron and brass, were gathered together in the plain of Telphiuth. And the king said unto his chief counsellor, Let the messenger from the land of Zahab come before us, and we will hear what he has to say unto us, and will know why he has taken his journey into the land of the north. And the chief counsellor called unto the chief officer, and the chief officer called unto the chief trumpeter, and commanded him to sound the trumpets, and to lead the messenger into the presence of the king. And a thousand trumpets were sounded, and ten thousand men in armour struck their swords upon their bucklers, and made à great and terrible noise, as when a fire is kindled upon the mountains, and the winds arise, and the branches of the cedar trees and of the oaks are broken, and scattered upon the valleys and the plains, and break in pieces the tents of the shepherds, and the houses of the inhabitants of the villages in the low country. And Nebuzebah came forward with a strong step, and with a high head, and with a bright eye, as the

ness.

eye of the eagle when he looks at the Sun in the strength of his power, and in the glory of his brightWhen he had bowed once unto the king, he opened his mouth, and moved his lips, and said unto the king, O thou great king of Zaphun, who hast not feared the Am-Olam, but hast beaten them in the field of war, and driven them back with shame to their caves and their dens in the mountains of the east, may the days of thy pilgrimage and of thy power be many in number, as the locusts that are driven by the great wind from the wilderness into the sea of the west. The elders and captains of Zahab have heard by the voice of many travellers, and have caused it to be written in the chronicles of the years of the land, that Kahak is a wise and a just king, and a mighty man of renown throughout all the world, and they have sent me to tell thee that the Am-Olam are coming to invade our land with a great army, and with great power, and to call upon thee to assist the weak people against the strong, and to magnify thy name above all the kings and all the people upon the face of the earth. And the king answered, and said unto Nebuzebah, We are glad to receive a messenger from the elders and the great officers of Zahab, and are willing to enter into a league of peace and truth with them. Thou hast spoken well, when thou didst say that we have beaten the Am-Olam in That wicked and unjust race were the first

war.

of the sons of Adam who did shed the blood of their brethren in battle, with armour of iron and brass. They subdued many small nations of the east, and the south, and the west, and they began to think that God had given them power to subdue the nations of the north. They came with all their power to the plains of Zidim, and we went forth, and joined battle with them, and smote them with our armour of iron, and slew many of them, and they returned to their own land. We have never been at war with any other people, and we will not fight to subdue any people or nation, to take away their substance, or to make them our servants. And we will not suffer the Am-Olam to subdue any more of the people or nations of the west, lest they become more powerful than we are, and subdue us also, by the help of the many nations that they subdue and reign over. And the king turned, and spake with a loud voice unto his officers and to all his armed people, and said unto them, Will ye go with me to battle with the Am-Olam in the land of Zahab? And all the people answered with one voice, We will go with thee to battle with the enemies of God and man; and they made a shout, as the sound of the great river of Agam, when it falls from the high plains of Melmolah, among the rocks of the clefts of Mezudah, and makes the hills to tremble, and the valleys to overflow with streams of waters, when the foun

tains of the skies are opened, and the rains descend upon the earth many days and many nights.

And, behold, Nashar journeyed into the land of the south, and came unto Oremun, the northern border of the region of Ozeb, on his way to the city of the queen Iphonah. Now so it was that Lesun had been chosen king of that land by the elders and the people, and had been set apart and anointed to the kingly office, in the year of the Creation one thousand, with great pomp, and rejoicing, and the sound of many instruments of musick, and the shouts, and the songs, and the dances, of the sons and the daughters of the land. And the king was the chief of the elders and the people; the elders and the people made the laws, and the king and the elders rewarded the good and punished the evil, as it was written in the book of the law. And Lesun died in his youth, and the elders and the people were assembled together, to choose a king to reign over them in the room of Lesun, And one of the elders arose and said unto his brethren and to all the people, Behold, it is known unto ye all that Iphonah, the widow of the king, is a woman

of exceeding beauty, and of wonderful understanding, and giveth many gifts unto all that are poor and sick in the land, and speaketh with a pleasant voice unto all men, and the hearts of the people are with her, and we will choose her to be our queen, and to go out and come in before us, and to be the chief and the ruler of our counsellors, and our officers, and all the people. But Kedush, another of the elders, arose and said, we will not have a woman to rule over us, for it has not been known in any country, or among any people, that a woman should rule and reign Know not ye that Eve, the mother of us all, was deceived by the Serpent, and sinned, and caused Adam to sin, and that Adam and Eve were driven out of Gan-oden, because of the wickedness of Eve? Know not ye that the cold, and the heat, and the thunder, and the fire from heaven, and the rain, and the snow, and the hail, and dark clouds, and all other evil things, came unto man by the woman?

over men.

And Rephah, the elder who had first spoken, spake again and said, Lo, we have heard the tale