And I,--what do I need? Why everything
That helps my beauty to a higher throne;
All that a priest can promise, all a man
Can give, and all a god bestow, I need:
This may a woman win, and this will I.
[Enter REZON quietly from the shadow of the trees.
He stands behind TSARPI and listens, smiling,
to her last words. Then he drops his mantle of
leopard-skin, and lifts his high priest's rod of
bronze, shaped at one end like a star.]
REZON:
Tsarpi!
TSARPI: [Bowing low before him.]
The mistress of the house of Naaman
Salutes the master of the House of Rimmon.
REZON:
Rimmon receives you with his star of peace,
For you were once a handmaid of his altar.
[He lowers the star-point of the rod, which glows
for a moment with rosy light above her head.]
And now the keeper of his temple asks
The welcome of the woman for the man.
TSARPI: [Giving him her hand, but holding off his embrace.]
No more,--till I have heard what brings you here
By night, within the garden of the one
Who scorns you most and fears you least in all
Damascus.
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