Then the queen spake unto the Hebrews and asked
them, their hearts sorely burdened, how once the 560
prophets, holy men, sang in the world concerning
the Son of God; and where the Lord suffered, true
Son of the Creator, for the love of souls. But they
were obdurate and mute as stones, nor would they 565
show forth the true secret, nor in the hardness of
their hearts would they give any answer to what
she sought of them, but, set in purpose, they withstood
each word that she asked, and said that never 570
in their lives had they heard, before nor since, one
whit of any such thing.
Then Elene spake and answered them in anger:--'I
shall say unto you truly, and never in your life
will this be false, that if ye who stand before me 575
persist long in this falsehood with lying craft, ye
shall be burned upon the hill in the hottest fury of
fire, and leaping flames shall consume your flesh, so
that for you this lie shall be changed into utter destruction. 580
Nor can ye prove those words which now
in your guile ye cover up under the cloak of evil.
Ye cannot hide the deed, nor conceal its mystic
power.'
10. ELENE AND JUDAS.
Then were they in the fear of death, of the
funeral-pyre, and the end of life; and there they 585
thrust forth one of exceeding wisdom in the lore
of old, whose name was Judas, sprung from noble
lineage; and they gave him up unto the queen,
and called him a man of wondrous learning: 'He
can show forth to thee the truth, unlock the secret
of the fates, expound the just law from the beginning 590
even to the end, according as thou dost ask
him.
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