[ESTHER _touches the scepter and rises._]

_Esther:_ If it seemeth good unto the King, let the King and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for them.

[_She turns and goes out._]

_King:_ Hearest thou, Haman? Make haste and let us do as Esther hath said. Come, we will prepare for this banquet.

[HAMAN _bows. The_ KING _and_ HAMAN _go out. Others follow._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 5.--The king holds out the scepter to Esther]

SCENE V

PLACE: The Queen's apartment.

CHARACTERS: Queen Esther, King Ahasuerus, Haman, Servants, Mordecai.

[_The servants are preparing the feast. Enter_ ESTHER.]

_Esther:_ See ye that the feast is in readiness, for the King will soon arrive.

[_Servants bow._]

_Servant:_ The King cometh!

_Esther_ [_going to meet the_ KING _as he enters_]: Welcome, my lord!

[_The_ KING _sits upon a throne prepared for him._]

_King:_ I am happy to be with thee, my fair Queen. Thou must have a request which thou desirest to make--speak, be not afraid. I will grant it though it be half of my kingdom.

_Esther:_ If I have found favor in thy sight, O King, and if it please the King, let my life be saved and the lives of my people--the Hebrew people. We are to be destroyed, to be slain and to perish.

_King:_ Thy people? The Hebrew people? Who is this and where is he that dareth in his heart to do this thing to thy people?

_Esther:_ The enemy is thy chief counselor, this wicked Haman.

_King:_ Did Haman do this deed? How didst thou know of his plan?

_Esther:_ O King, Mordecai, the Jew, my uncle, hath shown me the letter which Haman hath sent over the country. The Jews are to be killed on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month.

I am begging thee for my life and for the lives of my people!

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 6.--Queen Esther pleads for her people]

_King:_ Fear not, Esther; thy people shall be saved.

Mordecai, the Jew, hath once done me a great service. He hath not been rewarded for this. He shall have honor, for he deserveth it.

_Servant:_ The great Haman hath come, O Queen.

[HAMAN _enters; they seat themselves, and the feast is served._]

_King:_ Haman, what shall be done unto the man whom the King delighteth to honor?

_Haman_ [_aside_]: Whom would the King like to honor more than myself? [_To the_ KING]: For the man whom the King delighteth to honor, let the royal apparel be brought which the King useth to wear, and the horse which the King rideth upon, and the royal crown which is set upon his head; and let these be given the man whom the King delighteth to honor; and let him ride on horseback through the streets of the city; and proclaim before him, "Thus it shall be done unto the man whom the King delighteth to honor!"

_King:_ Make haste and take the royal apparel and the horse as thou hast said and do even so unto Mordecai, the Jew, that sitteth at the King's gate. Let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.

[HAMAN _bows his head low and goes out to_ MORDECAI.]

_Servant:_ O King, Haman hath built a gallows upon which to hang Mordecai, the Jew, this day.

[HAMAN _returns with_ MORDECAI _and puts on the crown, etc._]

_King:_ Let him who hath made the gallows hang upon it!

[_Servant takes_ HAMAN _out._]

_King:_ Come near, Mordecai. Thou hast found great favor in mine eyes. From henceforth thou shalt be my chief counselor, and thou shalt rule the land in Haman's place. Thy people shall be spared, and letters shall be sent over all the land and into every province which shall state that the Hebrew people shall not be destroyed, but instead they shall be honored and have joy and feasting.

_Mordecai:_ I thank thee, O King and Esther, my Queen, for the great deliverance and for this great honor to me. May the Lord give me strength to deal wisely with these peoples.

_Esther:_ This is a great happiness which thou hast bestowed upon me, O King.

CHAPTER VIII

THE DRAMATIZATION OF _ABRAHAM AND THE THREE GUESTS_

This incident should be simplified and adapted before it is told to children. The dramatization is best worked out in the form of a short, free play which involves only one act. It is unnecessary to carry it to the point of fixed words and actions. The emphasis should be placed upon the customs of the times which are so well brought out in the story; for example, the hospitality of Abraham to the strangers represents the feeling toward strangers among the nomad peoples, and the manner in which he showed his hospitality makes children acquainted with customs peculiar to those people. There is excellent opportunity here for enriching the children's understanding of the life of a shepherd people, of which the Israelites are an example.

Descriptions and pictures of the kind of tent the people lived in are necessary. It is important that children should get the idea of the correct shape of the Arab tent and not confuse it with the Indian wigwam. No stage scenery need be used; it is best to leave that to the imagination. A curtain may be put up to represent the front of the tent, but nothing more.

There is much of this incident that should be left out in the telling; by no means should it be read directly from the Bible to children. The story may be told so that the following points are emphasized:

Abraham is sitting at the door of his tent. Three men appear; he runs to meet them and bows to the ground. He invites them to rest under the shade of the tree and offers to get food and to have their feet washed.

The strangers sit and talk together, then Abraham comes with the food.

They all eat and are rested, and as they rise to depart they ask for Sarah, Abraham's wife. The strangers tell Sarah and Abraham that they are to have a son whose name shall be Isaac and whom G.o.d shall bless and who shall be the father of many people. Abraham and Sarah are greatly astonished and pleased. They fall upon their knees to thank G.o.d, and when they arise they find that the strangers have departed.

The scene closes with their exclamation, "Surely these were angels from the Lord who have visited us!"

This story was dramatized by the children of the dramatic club after they had had experience with many other dramatizations. During the first hour after the story was told the children succeeded in getting the play into very nearly its final form. Two of the older girls, undertaking to write out the scenes as they thought they should be, brought in their versions at the second meeting. Each one was read aloud, the other children being asked to remember the parts that seemed especially good. Then by combining, adding to, or taking from, a composite result was obtained. Several children wrote down the final decisions at the dictation of the group.

Below is given the version which one child worked out by herself, and following that is the final form of the play which the group as a whole decided upon. The leader purposely left this play entirely in the hands of the children; the product is wholly their own.