A   Mardocheus the s&obar;ne of Iair the sonne of Semei, the sonne of Cisei of the tribe of B&ebar;Iamin, a Iewe: whiche had his dwelling in Susis, a manne of great reputacion, and excellent am&obar;g all th&ebar; that were in the kynges courte. (Neuerthelesse he was one of the prysoners, whom Nabuchodonosor the kynge of Babilon had caryed awaye from Hierusalem vnto Babyl&obar; with Iechonias the kynge of Iuda.) In the seconde yeare of the raygne of great Artaxerses in the fyrste daye of the moneth Nisan, hadde this Mardocheus suche a dreame: He thoughte he herde a greate tempest, horrible thonderclappes, earthquakes, ∧ great vprour in the lande: ∧ that he sawe .ij. great dragons, ready to fight one agaynst another. Theyr crye was great. At the which roaringe ∧ crye all Heath&ebar; were vp, B   to fight agaynst þe; righteous people. And the same daye was ful of darkenes and very vncleare, full of trouble and anguyshe, yea, a greate fearfulnes was there in all the lande. The righteous were amased, for they feared the plague and euell that was deuysed ouer theym, and were at a poynte with them selfes too dye. So they cryed vnto God: and whyle they were cryenge, the litle welle grew into a greate ryuer and into many waters. And with that it was daye, and the sunne rose vp agayne. And the lowly were exalted, and deuoured the glorious and proude.

Now when Mardocheus had sene thys dreame, he awoke, ∧ mused stedfastly in hys herte, what God wolde do: and so he desired to knowe all the matter, and his mynde was therupon vntill the nyght.

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