Solomon and Sheba Page #7

who loved me beyond all else.

The Sheban. The Sheban is coming.

Here comes the Sheban.

- The Sheban. | - Come away.

Your Majesty understands that it is not | a request that you attend the council.

It is a command | from the elders of the tribes.

I have no wish to evade | what they have to say to me.

You should not have taken the risk | of coming here.

If I had not come now,

I might have lost | the courage to come at all.

Once, you asked me for truth.

And I answered you with truth, but | I made it sound like a lie to deceive you.

For I was a friend of the Pharaoh | and an enemy of Israel,

and I came here out of hatred | to destroy you.

Had I known this | the day you arrived in Jerusalem,

it would have changed nothing.

Mine is the greater guilt.

For I have known from the first | where you would lead, I would follow.

But why did you not just go | without explanations?

Because I love you.

What I have done, I cannot undo.

Do with me what you will, | but this you must believe.

My love is not a lie.

Think not to appease the wrath of Israel | with remorse.

Neither will God"s anger be turned aside.

I will speak no words in my defence.

What could you say | in view of your transgressions?

Because of you, dissension fills the land.

The unity of the nation is sundered.

Even as this,

the symbol of its oneness, | is broken into fragments.

The elders of the tribes deny you | as their king and depart from you.

The Lord God will smite you into the dust

and his people will praise his name.

So be it.

Folly is set on great heights,

and that which has been done | is that which shall be done.

Who knows | what is good for a man in his life,

his vain life | which he spends as a shadow?

Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

But if ye turn away | and forsake my statutes,

then I will pluck them up by the roots | out of my land which I have given them,

and this house which is high

shall be an astonishment to everyone | that passeth by it, so that he shall say

"Why hath the Lord done thus | unto this land and unto this house?"

And it shall be answered "Because they | forsook the Lord God of their fathers

which brought them forth | out of the land of Egypt

and laid hold on other gods | and worshipped them and served them. "

"Therefore hath he brought | all this evil upon them. "

The elders have denounced Solomon,

and the captains of the host | have returned to their own provinces.

This is the time to strike, Majesty.

All Israel is in turmoil, | and Solomon stands alone.

It seems that your information | is more accurate than mine.

Has not the Queen of Sheba | given you a full report on the situation?

I have been wondering, | awaiting word from her.

You mean she has told you nothing | of what I have reported?

Nothing.

Perhaps in her new love, | she has forgotten her obligation to you

and finds her alliance with Solomon | more to her liking.

You have told me | everything I should know,

excepting your price for my support | of you against your brother.

I want the crown of Israel. | It has always been mine.

And command of the army | that you send against Solomon.

I grant it.

But there is one thing I want from you.

You will be the instrument | of my punishment of Sheba

for her betrayal of me.

On that, Majesty, you can rely.

Hail to the new king of Israel.

Hail to the new king of Israel.

Can your brother equal such strength?

He will be able to gather | only a handful of followers.

We will strike quickly. | The victory must be decisive.

How many do they number?

Thousands.

- You saw them cross over the border? | - Yes, Majesty.

A column from horizon to horizon.

It was to be expected eventually.

We"ll go out and face the Egyptians.

Give the orders, Josiah.

Gather what forces you can.

Yes, sire.

With these | we hope to stem the Egyptian horde?

My father David faced Goliath | with a stone and a shepherd"s sling.

God was with David.

- Forgive me, sire. | - There is nothing to forgive.

All Israel knows | that God has abandoned the son of David.

Majesty, you let him go | without a word of farewell.

What could I have said to him?

How could I have told him | that I carry his child?

- Halt! | - Halt!

- Highness, the enemy has been sighted. | - At what distance?

Within one hour"s march.

Then they have travelled ten leagues | since dawn and we have travelled one.

They are spent and exhausted | and we are still fresh.

Two hours yet before the sun sets.

- Deploy your men. | - Give the order.

We want every man, horse, chariot, | hidden from Solomon"s view.

When he rides into the trap, | our attack will hit him from every quarter.

Now deploy for attack!

Deploy for attack!

Take your positions. Deploy for attack!

Sire, our men are spent. | Shall we call a rest?

They will rest at the dunes of Saladar.

There we will entrench | and await the enemy.

Let the battle be joined | as far from Jerusalem as possible.

Sire. Look, men on the hill.

- Halt the column. | - Halt!

Shunammites!

They bear a flag of friendship.

Ahab!

We come to stand with the king.

Why do you offer me your support | in this dark hour?

Is your hatred for the Egyptians | greater than your hatred for me?

We come in memory of the love | my daughter Abishag gave to you.

- Then we will honour that memory. | - God willing.

Fall in behind.

- Josiah. | - Forward at the trot.

Forward!

Start the attack.

Attack! Attack!

Form a circle.

Sire, your brother has joined forces | with the Egyptians against you.

Break through. Break through. Faster.

Tell the Egyptians | to break through with their horsemen.

- Break the circle. | - Charge!

Sound the retreat.

Joab, find Solomon.

Let"s try over there.

Your Highness, we found Solomon"s | shield but so far not Solomon.

He must have crawled off | to hide with his rabble.

In the morning, | we will dig them out of their burrows.

I have more important things | than to occupy myself with a rabbit hunt.

Keep searching. There"ll be gold for the | man who brings me the head of Solomon.

I"m impatient to enter Jerusalem. I do | not wish to be delayed by a slow army.

You will have no trouble | in destroying Solomon"s resistance.

When you have vanquished them, | follow me into Jerusalem with all speed.

How many men will you need to enter?

Only a small escort. | I will meet with no resistance there.

Your commands will be obeyed.

Colonel Hassin with six officers | will go with His Majesty to Jerusalem.

There"ll be few of us left to face Adonijah | and his Egyptians by tomorrow.

The faint-hearted are deserting us | in the darkness.

Can you blame them, Josiah,

after they have seen | even my own brother turn against me?

I thought I knew | the driving passion of his ambitions,

but never did I think | he would betray his own people.

We only found | a few scattered units of our people,

almost afraid to show themselves | even in the darkness.

In the morning, the Egyptians | will march over us into Jerusalem.

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