Chapter VIII

1 _Sundry happenings in En_. 5 _The women are full of foreboding_. 10 _Concerning the Flag Days_. 14 _The men cry aloud_. 18 _And are succoured_. 20 _Concerning lotteries_. 29 _Much money is brought by the people_. 30 _Wherefore the rulers awaken_.

Now these things happened in the land of En, and _these are_ the things that did come to pass.

2 And howsoever a matter fell out, then did men say, Verily, it is _so_ because of the war.

3 Yet, it was _a reason_ for all the things that were left undone; and the things that were done, these also it _did_ fully justify.

4 Wherefore many waxed uneasy, fearing how it would be _for them_ when the war, it should be over.

5 ¶ Now the women of the land, they were full of foreboding, knowing not when their garments, they _might be_ taken from them.

6 And they did _make_ pretence, the one unto the other, concerning their purple and concerning their fine linen also.

7 And they would speak in this wise, _saying_, Dost thou perceive the poverty of mine apparel, and _how_ frugal I am become in the matter of it?

8 Therefore do I wear these _poor_ rags that thou seest, having none others, save only _some_. And they would shed a few tears for the hardness of their lot.

9 Nevertheless, the vendors of apparel _did_ flourish in that day; neither did the women of the land go naked _before_ the world.

10 ¶ Now the days that men called Flag Days, they did grow _in number_ beyond all computation.

11 And the sellers _of_ flags, they did infest every place, so that to escape from them, _it was_ beyond the power of man.

12 And whensoever a man did venture forth from his habitation on a day _that was a_ flag day, assuredly, that _man_, he was lost.

13 And the damsels and the old women also, they would follow _after him_, and they would ensnare him by the way.

14 ¶ Wherefore all the men lifted _up_ their voices unto heaven, and they cried aloud in _their_ distress. And the rulers heard them.

15 And they sent unto the sellers _of_ flags, even unto the damsels and unto the old women _did they_ send, and they said unto them,

16 Forasmuch as ye have harried the men of the land _beyond_ all reason, and the fighters that were come home, _ye have_ driven them back into battle;

17 And because ye have followed _after them_, having no pity in your hearts, _therefore_ shall ye pursue them no more.

18 ¶ But whatsoever place shall be appointed unto you, there shall ye continue. Verily, ye shall be even as pillars of salt, and _shall_ stand still. Neither shall ye remove yourselves _out of_ that very place.

19 And after the rulers had spoken, it came to pass that a little rest was vouchsafed _unto_ the men; but the damsels, and the old women also, _they were_ sad and sore at heart.

20 ¶ Now because _there was_ need of money for to buy the munitions of war, and because it was necessary for _other things_ also, therefore did the rulers set them about for to get it.

21 And there were certain men and they said, Let us now make us a lottery, and let there be a prize _to it_ also.

22 Peradventure the people will bring them a mighty weight of money _for_ the hazard, and the treasury, it will become full up _and_ flowing over.

23 And though every man did agree that it was so, nevertheless, the rulers, they dared not _to do_ it.

24 For they feared the Pharisees that did speak in their tabernacles against it. And the Pharisees at that _time_, they were a power in the land of En.

25 Nevertheless, it did come to pass in otherwise. For _there were_ two bazaars in the city of Lon; and the one was _of_ Har, and the other, it was _of_ Sel.

26 And they set them up counters that the people might bring them _money_ for to lend it unto the rulers; also, they made them a lottery _of it_.

27 And when _the matter_ of their design, it was noised abroad, and that they did scheme to make them a lottery _of it_.

28 Then all the people hied them thither _with_ one accord, and they did lend them money unto the rulers with a very ready hand.

29 ¶ And after it was all counted up, behold, _the sum_ of it was very great, passing all belief.

30 ¶ But when the rulers heard about it, they sent word unto the bazaars, commanding them that they should do _this thing_ no more.

31 Nevertheless, they forbad not the hazard _in a_ race, which profiteth only a few.

32 Yet were they loth to suffer a lottery, that was made to advantage _the course_ of the war.