So she went in as quickly as possible to the King, and made her request. 'I want you,' she said, 'to give me at once, on a dish, the head of John the Baptist.'
Prompted by her mother, the girl said 'Give me here, on a dish, the head of John the Baptist.'
About that time John the Baptist first appeared, proclaiming in the Wilderness of Judea:
The girl went out, and said to her mother 'What must I ask for?' 'The head of John the Baptizer,' answered her mother.
The King was much distressed; yet, on account of his oath and of the guests at his table, he did not like to refuse her.
'Swift are their feet to shed blood.