The Kings Cup-Bearer | Page 7

beautiful reception rooms of the king, and these
were carefully arranged, in order to ensure perpetual coolness even in
the hottest weather. There was no room on the hot south side of the
palace, but on the west was the morning room, in which all the morning
entertainments were held, whilst the evening banqueting hall was on
the eastern side. By this arrangement the direct rays of the sun were
never felt by those within the palace. Then, on the cool northern side
was the grand throne room, in which the king sat in state, and through
which a whole army of soldiers, or an immense body of courtiers, could
file without the slightest confusion, entering and leaving the room by
stone staircases placed opposite each other. The steps were only four
inches in depth and sixteen feet wide, and were so built that horsemen
could easily mount or descend them.
Into one of the grand halls of the palace Nehemiah the cup-bearer
enters. The pavement is of coloured marble, red, white, and blue;
curtains of blue and white, the Persian royal colours, drape the
windows and are hanging in graceful festoons from the pillars; the fresh
morning breeze is blowing from the snow-clad mountains, and is laden
with the scent of lemons and oranges, and of the Shushan lilies and
Persian roses in the palace gardens.
There is the royal table, covered with golden dishes and cups, and
spread with every dainty that the world could produce.
There is the king, a tall, graceful man, but with one strange
deformity--with hands so long that when he stood upright they touched
his knees, from which he had received the nickname of Longimanus,
the long-handed.
He is dressed in a long loose robe of purple silk, with wide sleeves, and
round his waist is a broad golden girdle. His tunic or under-garment is
purple and white, his trousers are bright crimson, his shoes are yellow,

and have long pointed toes. On his head is a curious high cap with a
band of blue spotted with white. He is moreover covered with
ornaments: he has gold earrings, a gold chain, gold bracelets, and a
long golden sceptre with a golden ball as its crown.
The king is sitting on a throne, in shape like a high-backed chair with a
footstool before it. The chair stands on lion's feet, and the stool on
bull's feet, and both are made of gold.
By the king's side sits the queen; her name was Damaspia, but we know
little more of her in history, except that she died on the same day as her
husband. Behind the king and queen are the fan-bearers, and
fly-flappers, and parasol-bearers, who are in constant attendance on
their royal majesties, and around are the great officers of the household.
Fifteen thousand people ate the king's food in that palace every day, but
the king always dined alone. It was very rarely that even the queen or
the royal children were allowed to sit at the king's table, which is
probably the reason why Nehemiah mentions the fact that the queen
was sitting by him. Perhaps he hailed the circumstance as a proof that
the king was in good humour that day, and would therefore be more
likely to listen to his petition. But no one who was not closely related to
the king was allowed to sit at the royal table, even the most privileged
courtiers sat on the floor and ate at his feet.
The feast has begun, and it is time for the Rab-shakeh to present the
wine to the king. He takes the jewelled cup from the table in the king's
presence, he carefully washes it, then he fills it with a specially rare
wine, named the wine of Helbon, which was kept only for the king's
use. This wine was made from a very fine growth of grapes, at a place
in the Lebanon not far from Damascus, named Helbon. Then Nehemiah
pours a little wine into his left hand and drinks it, and then, lightly
holding the cup between the tips of his fingers and thumbs, he
gracefully presents it to the great monarch.
Artaxerxes glances at his cup-bearer as he rises from his knees, and at
once notices something remarkable in his face. Nehemiah is pale and
anxious and troubled; his whole face tells of the struggle going on

within, and the king cannot fail to perceive it. Turning to the
Rab-shakeh he asks: 'Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not
sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart.' 'Then,' says Nehemiah, 'I
was very sore afraid.' It is no wonder that he was alarmed, for it was
actually a crime, proscribed by law, for any one to look sad or
depressed in