Then he fell silent. Yet Daniel
clearly saw in the assembly that his prince, the lord of men, was
guilty before God. The prophet paused; then God's herald,
skilled in the law, made answer to the king:
(ll. 551-579) "This, O prince of men, is no little wonder, which
thou hast seen in thy dream, a tree as high as heaven, and the
holy words, wrathful and full of terror, which the angel spake --
that the tree should be stripped of its branches and fall, where
formerly it stood fast, lying joyless with the beasts, abiding in
a desert place, its roots to remain fast in the earth in
stillness for a season where it stood, as the Voice declared, and
then after seven years to receive increase again! So shall thy
fortune be brought low! As the tree grew high unto heaven so art
thou lord and ruler over all the dwellers of earth, and there is
none on earth to withstand thee save God alone. He shall cut
thee off from thy kingdom and drive thee into exile without
friends, and thy heart shall be changed so that there shall be no
thought in thy heart of worldly joys, nor any reason in thy mind
save the ways of the wild beasts, but thou shalt live a long time
in the forest ranging with the deer. Thou shalt have no food
save the grass of the field, nor any fixed abiding-place, but the
showers of rain shall drench thee and harass thee even as the
wild beasts, until after seven winters thou shalt believe there
is One God for all mankind, a Lord and Ruler dwelling in the
heavens.
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