the gates ... we went into the courtyard, where the great poem 'In the Beginning' would be read, and the actors would begin their pageant. I felt a sadness suddenly, a terrible sadness and confusion. Something was wrong.
"But all of a sudden as if it were the answer to a prayer, the thing was made right. I heard my father singing. I heard him and my brothers:
'J will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.'
"I struggled to hear it more clearly, their blessed familiar voices:
'Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have bolden, to subdue nations before him . . .'
" 'Turn your head to them, Lord God Marduk,' said Cyrus. It is your father, singing with all his heart.'
"I turned. I saw nothing but a blur of waving arms, of garlands tossed in the air, of flowers falling, but I heard my father:
'I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight. . . .
And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israeli
"The singing went on and on, following us to the gates of the temple. And then came the shouts, 'Messiah, Messiah, Messiah!' And Cyrus waved and threw them his kisses, and at last it was time for the coronation.
"We were taken down from the chariot and the wagon, and walked on a bed of flowers up and up the seemingly endless stairway of the great ziggurat Etemenanki, so that the people from far off could see us through the wide gates. I thought I might die before I reached the top; I couldn't look above, only at the golden stairs before me and I thought of the stairway to Heaven which Jacob had seen in his dream with the angels coming and going.
"At last we stood on the summit, the mountain made by and for the god, and I was given the crown. By now it seemed I did not control my limbs at all. I felt nothing. I smiled because it was easiest to smile, and my arms ached suddenly with tiredness as I lifted the big Persian crown of gold and placed it on the head of the Living King.
" 'Now may I die,' I whispered. Exhaustion overcame me. My knees were in pain, my feet, all of me that could no longer move or stand with any freedom.
"Distinctly I saw the loving eyes of Cyrus, I saw the solemnity in his face, I saw . . . the dedication to Kingship in him. I saw perhaps a little of a King's madness.
"Slyly and cleverly the priests crowded around me and painted me over and over that I might move my limbs, and some vitality came back to me. 'Keep your eyes open,' Remath said. 'Keep your eyes open.'
"I did. We were taken down to the courtyard. The banquet lasted for hours. I know the poets came and they sang, and I know that the King dined and all the nobles dined. But I sat rigid staring. My eyes wouldn't close now whatever I did. They had been stupid to add paint. They only softened the lids when they did, I thought to myself, and I looked down at my hands lying on the table, and I thought, 'Marduk, I have never once called on you.'
"His voice came in my ear. 'You have had no need of me, Azriel. But I'm with you.'
"Finally it came to an end. Darkness had fallen. It was finished. The King was crowned, Babylonia was Persia, the city was drunk beyond the palace gates and the temple gates, and within these two buildings others drank and sang.
" 'Now,' said the young priest, 'we will carry you up to the shrine. You need walk no more. You need only take your place at your banquet table there, and if you do not die within a few hours we will give you the gold in your mouth.'
" 'Not quite yet,' said Remath. 'Follow me and quickly, for we have one more ritual to perform and it must be done properly.'
"The young priest was confused. So was I but I didn't care. I didn't give a damn. I didn't care at all. I was slumbering already, and when I saw the vague shapes of the dead hovering about, staring at me