¹⁸ She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.^(A)” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.^(B)

² so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”

I was very much afraid,

³ but I said to the king, “May the king live forever!^(A) Why should my face not look sad when the city^(B) where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?^(C)”

¹⁵ At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.^(A)