Before the council Shimei stood forth, Instead of Saul, to accuse the prisoner. With plausible glib mendacity, he said: "Not only is this fellow heretic After the manner of those Galilæans, But myself saw with mine own eyes just now How he the idlers in the street stirred up To most unseemly act of violence Against our brother Saul, worthy of death, As being aimed at death, unless that I Had ready been at hand with force enough To rescue one of our own number thus To the most imminent brink of stoning brought. Saul, if he would, might show himself to you In lively witness of the things I say." Hereon to Saul he signed with hand and eye; But Saul arose and calmly, with disdain, Thus spoke: "The man here present prisoner Is, out of his own mouth, disciple proved Of Jesus Nazarene. As such I sought To bring him hither before you to be judged. This my attempt, most unexpectedly, A crowd of idlers round about him drawn Vacantly listening to discourse from him, Resented; they, resisting, thrust me back-- I had ventured single-handed and alone-- And, borne to madness, might perhaps have wrought Some harm to me--I know not; but one thing I know, and that I freely testify, This man, our prisoner, did nought of all, Contrariwise, with all his eloquence Endeavored to dissuade those violent, Constantly saying and averring he, In any case, should, of his own free will, Give himself up to you--thereby to clear The Name he sought to honor of reproach For wild deeds done as in defence of him." A moment, having heard Saul testify, The Sanhedrim sat silent in fixed thought. Then Shimei, ever easily equal found To his occasion, when need seemed to him Of whatsoever fraud in word or act, Said that of course from brother Saul was heard Never aught other than he deemed was true; But the fact was, as would by witnesses Be amply proved, that all this culprit's show Of zeal to stay those rioters back was show Merely, dust in the eyes of Saul to cast, Or rather sport to make of him, the prey Secure supposed of his, the prisoner's, Malicious machination through the hands Of his confederates, or tools, who knew Better their master's purposes, his real Purposes, than his feigned dissuasive words To heed, and let his victim go. Saul's state Was at the moment such, so ill at ease His mind--why, even his body in that vile Duress was hardly to be called his own-- Saul--and without offence would Shimei say it-- Might be regarded as not competent On this particular point to testify. At all events, here were good witnesses Who, from a safer, steadier point of view Than Saul's, and longer occupied, could tell Both what the prisoner's wont had been to teach, And what he instigated in this case.