First Sentence

"It was in the days of Xerxes (the Xerxes who used to reign from India to Ethiopia over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces), at that time when King Xerxes sat on his royal throne in the acropolis of Susa, he gave a banquet in the third year of his reign for all his officials and courtiers: the officers of the army of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the rulers of the provinces who were present, and displayed the great wealth of his empire and the glorious splendor of his majesty for many days (for half a year)."