Since it was the ninth month of the year, the king was sitting in his winter quarters. ¹  A fire was burning in the firepot in front of him. ² 

As soon as Jehudi had read three or four columns ¹  of the scroll, the king ²  would cut them off with a penknife ³  and throw them on the fire in the firepot. He kept doing so until the whole scroll was burned up in the fire. ⁴