hat whosoever would come to him should
obtain all they asked. The noble and the rich desired dukedoms, or
counties, or knighthood; and some treasures of silver and gold. But
whatsoever they desired they had. Then came the poor and the simple,
and solicited a like boon.

"Ye come late," said the king, "the noble and the rich have already
been, and have carried away all I possess." This reply troubled them
exceedingly; and the king, moved by their concern, said, "My friends,
though I have given away all my wealth, I have still the sovereign
power; no one asked for that. I appoint you, therefore, to be their
judges and masters."

When this came to the ears of the rich, they were extremely disturbed,
and said to the king, "My lord, we are greatly troubled at your
appointing these poor wretches our rulers; it were better for us to die
than admit such servitude."

"Sirs," answered the king, "I do you no wrong: whatever you asked I
gave; insomuch that nothing remains to me but the supreme power.
Nevertheless, I will give you counsel. Whosoever of you has enough to
support life, let him bestow the superfluity upon these poor people.
They will then live honestly and comfortably, and upon these conditions
I will resume the sovereignty and keep it, while you avoid the servitude
you fear." And thus it was done.

XXI.--WILY BEGUILED.

A thief went one night to the house of a rich man, and scaling the roof,
peeped through a hole to see whether any part of the family were yet
stirring. The master of the house, suspecting something, said secretly
to his wife, "Ask me in a loud voice how I got my property, and do not
stop until I bid you."

The woman complied, and began to shout, "My dear husband, pray tell me,
since you never were a merchant, how you came by all the wealth you
have."

"My love," answered her husband, "do not ask such foolish questions."

But she persisted in her inquiries; and at length, as if overcome by her
urgency, he said, "Keep what I am going to tell you a secret, and you
shall know."

"Oh! trust me."

"Well, then, you must know that I was a thief, and got what I now enjoy
by nightly depredations."

"It is strange," said the wife, "that you were never taken."

"Why," he replied, "my master, who was a skilful clerk, taught me a
particular word, which, when I went on the tops of people's houses, I
pronounced, and thus escaped detection."

"Tell me, I conjure you," returned the lady, "what