Esther 6
The king hearing of the good service done him by Mardochai, commandeth Aman to honour him next to the king, which he performeth.
Noctem illam duxit rex insomnem, jussitque sibi afferri historias et annales priorum temporum. Quæ cum illo præsente legerentur,
That night the king passed without sleep, and he commanded the histories and chronicles of former times to be brought him. And when they were reading them before him,
ventum est ad illum locum ubi scriptum erat quomodo nuntiasset Mardochæus insidias Bagathan et Thares eunuchorum, regem Assuerum jugulare cupientium.
They came to that place where it was written, how Mardochai had discovered the treason of Bagathan and Thares the eunuchs, who sought to kill king Assuerus.
Quod cum audisset rex, ait: Quid pro hac fide honoris ac præmii Mardochæus consecutus est? Dixerunt ei servi illius ac ministri: Nihil omnino mercedis accepit.
And when the king heard this, he said: What honour and reward hath Mardochai received for this fidelity? His servants and ministers said to him: He hath received no reward at all.
Statimque rex: Quis est, inquit, in atrio? Aman quippe interius atrium domus regiæ intraverat, ut suggereret regi, et juberet Mardochæum affigi patibulo, quod ei fuerat præparatum.
And the king said immediately: Who is in the court? for Aman was coming in to the inner court of the king's house, to speak to the king, that he might order Mardochai to be hanged upon the gibbet, which was prepared for him.
Responderunt pueri: Aman stat in atrio. Dixitque rex: Ingrediatur.
The servants answered: Aman standeth in the court, and the king said: Let him come in.
Cumque esset ingressus, ait illi: Quid debet fieri viro, quem rex honorare desiderat? Cogitans autem in corde suo Aman, et reputans quod nullum alium rex, nisi se, vellet honorare,
And when he was come in, he said to him: What ought to be done to the man whom the king is desirous to honour? But Aman thinking in his heart, and supposing that the king would honour no other but himself,
respondit: Homo, quem rex honorare cupit,
Answered: The man whom the king desireth to honour,
debet indui vestibus regiis, et imponi super equum, qui de sella regis est, et accipere regium diadema super caput suum:
Ought to be clothed with the king's apparel, and to be set upon the horse that the king rideth upon, and to have the royal crown upon his head,
et primus de regiis principibus ac tyrannis teneat equum ejus, et per plateam civitatis incedens clamet, et dicat: Sic honorabitur, quemcumque voluerit rex honorare.
And let the first of the king's princes and nobles hold his horse, and going through the street of the city, proclaim before him and say: Thus shall he be honoured, whom the king hath a mind to honour.
Dixitque ei rex: Festina, et sumpta stola et equo, fac, ut locutus es, Mardochæo Judæo, qui sedet ante fores palatii. Cave ne quidquam de his, quæ locutus es, prætermittas.
And the king said to him: Make haste and take the robe and the horse, and do as thou hast spoken to Mardochai the Jew, who sitteth before the gates of the palace. Beware thou pass over any of those things which thou hast spoken.
Tulit itaque Aman stolam et equum, indutumque Mardochæum in platea civitatis, et impositum equo præcedebat, atque clamabat: Hoc honore condignus est, quemcumque rex voluerit honorare.
So Aman took the robe and the horse, and arraying Mardochai in the street of the city, and setting him on the horse, went before him, and proclaimed: This honour is he worthy of, whom the king hath a mind to honour.
Reversusque est Mardochæus ad januam palatii: et Aman festinavit ire in domum suam, lugens et operto capite:
But Mardochai returned to the palace gate: and Aman made haste to go to his house, mourning and having his head covered:
narravitque Zares uxori suæ, et amicis, omnia quæ evenissent sibi. Cui responderunt sapientes quos habebat in consilio, et uxor ejus: Si de semine Judæorum est Mardochæus, ante quem cadere cœpisti, non poteris ei resistere, sed cades in conspectu ejus.
And he told Zares his wife, and his friends, all that had befallen him. And the wise men whom he had in counsel, and his wife answered him: If Mardochai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou canst not resist him, but thou shalt fall in his sight.
Adhuc illis loquentibus, venerunt eunuchi regis, et cito eum ad convivium, quod regina paraverat, pergere compulerunt.
As they were yet speaking, the king's eunuchs came, and compelled him to go quickly to the banquet which the queen had prepared.