Nebuchadnezzar was full of grief, and the form of his visage was suddenly changed against Meshach: therefore he spake and said “I’m crying, little brother. They are in a meeting waiting for me. While I’m mourning they get together to plot against me. What a great sadness, melancholy, depression! Where would I go for support? Who would I tell? When I cry it is for you to grow and mature, little brother” Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of Meshach, and spake, and said “Little brother, I do not want another person, that’s my feature. Even in garbage I see great value. By God, I am satisfied, yet you don’t believe me. Come on, I’m surprised you still hate me. The key to blessing is gratitude and I am grateful, little brother. I extend my hands to you, knowing my destiny is upon you. Nothing is perfect, nothing. He who surpasses your beauty, none, little brother.”
Meshach answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, I am not careful to answer you in this matter. We are all weak creatures compared to you. Your glory alone is yours. No one likes to be burdened by evil and also he who knows the meaning of love is perishable. Yet there are those who want their love to be ruined, again and again they will go to their end to find out. That’s what their souls are like, and bad things follow. O great King, keep me from knowing love like theirs”
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said, “The key to goodness is patience and I have patience. Even though you are good, little brother, you are praying so that I may be harmed. You are inventing a false secret for yourself. Be patient and let me tell you the truth.
It is better for you to not bring me down” Then the king commanded the most mighty man that was in his army to undress Meshach, and Meshach was undressed, his coat, his hosen, and his hat, and all his other garments. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, “Your eyes do not look at me, little brother. Why do they not look at me? I shall pour for you a good wine so that you may see me clearly. You do not know what God’s purpose is for you. This is how it is, little brother. Do you remember the note found near Tenco? It said he had decided to kill himself as a protest against the jury and members of the public who had voted against him. Look at me, little brother. Why do you not look at me?”
Then Meshach looked upon Nebuchadnezzar and said to him, “When the war started all the people looked with hope to Tenco. They spoke for him, they prayed for him, they sung for him, they did everything to hold up his hands, as Aaron did for Moses, but whilst they were praying for his success you were undermining the fabric of your own kingdom by playing the fool with me, having me advise you, having me telling you what to do, having me undressed. It is better to deserve me, and to go without, than to have me undeserved.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with a great dark passion and kissed Meshach on the lips, and spake, and said, “Deserve has nothing to do with it, little brother. You found me enjoying a good life, you literally requested to command me and I accepted. You found me enjoying wealth, and asked to take over control and I accepted. I bought myself a Mercedes Benz and asked you that we go out for fun. When we reached the road side you ordered that I take you back where you had been so that people would think it was you who bought this car. Little brother, deserve has nothing to do with it. Yet I pray that it stays this way, and the days will pass until the end of time. It’s time you learned to be a man, but such a thing is impossible, and when I kiss your lips I am sure of it. Little brother, go back to your parents home, there you will find your childhood bed. Your body is still youthful and beautiful but you have destroyed my face. Your habits have destroyed my face. Today problems, tomorrow problems, I’m tired, little brother. Today fighting, tomorrow quarreling, I hate it, little brother. This life has become unbearable to me. Forgive me!”
Thus Nebuchadnezzar threw himself down into the midst of a burning fiery furnace and was killed, and the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, said to each other upon hearing the news, “There is no such uncertainty as a sure thing.”
Text: Ian Memgard
Image: Pierre-Louis Herold
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