Assar replied, "O Mirjam, I am Assar, and I will be the son of my own actions."[Pg 6497] "For God's sake," exclaimed Mirjam, "do not seek that warrior, and do not enter into a quarrel with him! He will kill thee or have thee put into prison. There is misery enough in Israel! The strangers have entered our towns. Let us bend our heads and await the will of God, but not challenge! Assar, I should die if anything happened to thee!" "And what would I do if anything happened to thee! My head swims! Whither should I flee? Would thy father and thy brothers flee to the wilds of the mountains?" "They have spoken of that. But there is no place to flee to and not much to flee from; for although the heathen have taken gold and goods, yet they are kind this time." Assar replied, "Oh yes, they are kind; I had almost forgotten it. Mirjam, if I go away wilt thou believe, and go on believing, that I go on God's errand?" "Assar, a dark look from thee is dearer to me than the kindest from any heathen, and a word of thine is more to me than many witnesses. But do not leave me! Stay and protect me!" "I go to protect thee! I go to the heights and to the depths to call forth the God of Israel. Await his coming!" ... Assar went to the King, Antiochus Epiphanes, bent low before him, and said, "May the Master of the world guide thy steps!" The King looked at him well pleased, and asked his name; whereupon Assar answered that he was a man of the tribe of Juda. The King said, "Few of thy countrymen come to serve me!" Assar replied, "If thou wilt permit thy servant a bold word, King, the fault is thine." And when the King, astonished, asked how this might be, Assar answered, "Because thou art too kind, lord." The King turned to his adviser, and said laughingly, "When we took the treasures of the temple in Jerusalem, they found it hard enough." "O King," said Assar, "silver and gold and precious stones can be regained, and the Israelites know this; but thou lettest them keep that which cannot be regained when once it is lost." The King answered quickly, "What is that?" and Assar replied:—"The Israelites have a God, who is very powerful but also very jealous. He has always helped them in the time of need if they held near to him and did not worship strange gods; for this his jealousy will not bear. When they do this he [Pg 6498] forsakes them. But thou, O King, hast taken their silver and gold and jewels, but hast let them keep the God who gives it all back to them. They know this; and so they smile at thee, and await that thou shalt be thrown into the dust by him, and they will arise his avengers, and persecute thy men." The King paled; he remembered his loss in Egypt, and he feared that if the enemy pursued him he should find help in Israel; and he said, "What ought we to do?"