El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-02-26

friends such as only a king could make,
where he could show his palace and
display his great riches. This feast
lasted ia days; after this he made an
other feast for other nations and their
great men at Shushan. the capital Of
Persia for seven days. A tent was
pitched out in the garden which was
held up by pillars of gold and silver,
with curtains Of linen and purple
spread over them, large enough to seat
many ten thousands of people The
cups which the walters used were OF
gold and precious stones All the dishes
were Of gold and each had separate
pattern carved on it He gave orders
TO the servants that no one should be
forced to drink wine. as was the custom
Of the Persians, but that the guests
should do as they liked about IL. He
sent messengers all through the coun-
try saying not to work but to keep the
festival or party many days.
Vnshti Offepds the King.
Nashti. the queen, also gave feast
to the women in the country. which was
grand and wonderful as the kings. The
king being very proud of his wife,
queen Nashti, because of her great
beauty, on the seventh day, being merry
with wine, wanted to show her to his
friends at the feast He sent messen-
gers to bring her, but she refused TO
come, saying il was against the laws
Of the Persians for women to show
themselves 10 lAle Duul4t III lldL way
Then the king was very angry and
called his wise men or chamberlains to
ask them what he should do. One OF
them. named Memucan, answered:
''Vashti, the queen, has done wrong,
not only to the king, but to all the peO-
pie in the country. When the other
women hear it they will say, Now we
can disobey our husbands whenever we
feel like it, They Will not think highly of
their husbands as they should. If it
he L LET nj a
mand which cannot be changed that
Nashti come no more before king Aha
suerus. Let the king give her royal
estate to another better than she. Then
after this written order all the wives
shall give their husbands honor, great
and small"
This saying pleased the king and he
did as Memucan said. The king really
loved queen Nashu ana Ielt baoly FOR a
time, but her crying and pleading wor
ried him and he was glad when he
didn't see her any more.
Then the servants Of the king said,
Let officers go out into the Kingdom
and gather many, many fair young
maidens or virgins and bring them, 400
I'm all, to the palace to Hegai keeper of
the women (fOr there was great num-
Der of women in the palace all the
time). and let the maiden which pleases
the king the most be queen instead 80
Nashti. When the maidens were ell
beautifully dressed and perfumed they
went one at a time before king Aha
suerus
Esther Is Brought to the King.
There was near the palace a Jew
named Mordecai who had a beautiful
niece named Hadassah, or Esther, and
she also was brought to the palace with
the other women. she was so sweet
and beautiful that the king was greatly
pleased with her. He fell in love with
her and married her, keeping a wedding
feast for her in the 18th month of the
seventh year of his reign, which was
called Adar He kept up this feasting
for a whole month. So Esther came to
the royal palace and he set golden
crown or diadem upon her head He did
not know she was a Jewess Her UNI
Gle moved from Babylon to Shushan to
be near her and keep the gates.
There was a law that no one should
ever 20 uncalled before the king unless
he held out his golden rod or scepter !
Any one who went near him without !
his permission would be killed. Men {
with axes in their hands stood ready to
punish anyone who went near without /
being called.
Some time after this two servants. /
Bigthan and Teresh, plotted against the (
king to kill him. Another servant knew !
their plan and he told MOrdecai. Nor ]
decai, through the help of Esther, told D
the king He had the two wicked men I
killed He didn't reward MOrdecai for !
this but said put that down on the !
books or roll so I can remember it."
Hamnn Plots Against Jews.
Now there was man named Haman, /
son Of Amedatha. by birth an Amalekite, /
who used to 20 in to the king. Ahasue- I
rus said that foreigners and Persians /
and everybody around should worship .
this man He was very proud because
Of all this honor, but Mordecai. the Jew. /
bow to him (aS that was
against the laws of his country, so he 4
planned a way to get the kings consent 4
10 kill all the Jews in the kingdom He [
was the enemy of the Jews because the
had been destroyed by them.
He asked the king to destroy all the
Jews in the kingdom and offered the 1
King 40 600 talents to do this.
The king granted Haman's request, !