The High Priest is against it. The
House of Rimmon is for peace with Asshur.
RAKHAZ:
Yes, and all the nobles are for peace. We are the men whose
wisdom lights the rudder that upholds the chariot of state.
Would we be rich if we were not wise? Do we not know better
than the rabble what medicine will silence this fire that
threatens to drown us?
IZDUBHAR:
But if the Assyrians come, we shall all perish; they will
despoil us all.
HAZAEL:
Not us, my lord, only the common people. The envoys have
offered favourable terms to the priests, and the nobles,
and the King. No palace, no temple, shall be plundered.
Only the shops, and the markets, and the houses of the
multitude shall be given up to the Bull. He will eat
his supper from the pot of lentils, not from our golden
plate.
RAKHAZ:
Yes, and all who speak for peace in the council shall be
enriched; our heads shall be crowned with seats of honour
in the procession of the Assyrian king. He needs wise
counsellors to help him guide the ship of empire onto the
solid rock of prosperity.
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