Later that same evening, Helga had her homework assignments finished and now wanted to work more on her project. She went through what she had written in the first and second chapters. She thought she would try to combine the first two chapters and see what it would look like. So she grabbed her Bible out of its hiding place and flipped to the first chapter in Song of Songs.
Kiss me – full on the mouth!
Yes! For your love is better than wine,
Headier than your aromatic oils
The syllables of your name murmur like a meadow brook.
No wonder everyone loves to say your name!
Take me away with you! Let's run off together!
An elopement with my King – Lover!
We'll celebrate, we'll sing.
We'll make great music.
Yes! For your love is better than vintage wine.
Everyone loves you – of course! And why not?
I am weathered but still elegant,
Oh, dear sisters in Jerusalem,
Weather – darkened like Kedar desert tents,
Time – softened like Solomon's Temple hangings.
Don't look down on me because I'm dark,
Darkened by the sun's harsh rays.
My brother included me and sent me to work in the fields.
They made me care for the face of the earth,
But I had no time to care for my own face.
Tell me where you're working
- I love you so much -
Tell me where you're tending your flocks,
Where you let them rest at noontime.
Why should I be the one left out,
Outside the orbit of your tender care?
And you, my dear lover – you're so handsome!
And the bed we share is like a forest glen.
We enjoy a canopy of cedars
Enclosed by cypresses, fragrant and green.
I'm just a wildflower picked from the plains of Sharon,
A lotus blooming in a swamp of weeds –
That's my dear friend among the girls in the village.
As an apricot tree stands out in the forest,
My lover stands above the young men in town.
All I want is to sit in his shade,
To taste and savor his delicious love.
He took me home with him for a festive meal,
But his eyes feasted on me!
Oh! Give me something refreshing to eat – and quickly!
Apricots, raisins – anything. I'm about to faint with love!
His left hand cradles my head,
And his right arm encircles my waist!
Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem,
By the gazelles, yes, by all the wild deer:
Don't excite love, don't stir it up,
Until the time is ripe – and you're ready.
Look! Listen! There's my lover!
Do you see him coming?
Vaulting the mountains,
Leaping the hills.
My love is like a gazelle, graceful;
Like a stag, virile.
Look at him there, on tiptoe at the gate,
All ears, all eyes – ready!
My lover has arrived
And he's speaking to me!
Then you must protect me from the foxes,
Foxes on the prowl,
Foxes who would like nothing better
Than to get into our flowering garden,
Delighting in the flowers
Until dawn breathes in light and night slips away.
Turn to me, dear lover.
Come like a gazelle
Leap like a wild stag
On delectable mountains!
Then Helga put her pen down and looked at the first two chapters she'd just combined. She liked what she saw and would like to see what it would look like altogether once she completed her project. That's when she closed the Bible. She looked at the clock – almost ten – fifteen. She didn't realize how fast time went for her to do her homework and this Song of Songs project. That's when she was ready to go to sleep.