kkor
himself imparted wisdom to Nadan. But, first to his surprise, and then
to his grief, Nadan was not thankful for the riches and love lavished
upon him. He neglected his lessons and grew proud, haughty and
arrogant. He treated the servants of the household harshly and did not
obey the wise maxims of Ikkor.

The vizier, however, was hopeful that he would reform and gain wisdom
with years, and he took him to the palace of the king and appointed
him an officer of the royal guard. For Ikkor's sake, the king made
Nadan one of his favorites, and all in the land looked upon the young
man as the successor of Ikkor and the future vizier. This only served
to make Nadan still more arrogant, and a wicked idea entered his head
to gain further favor with the king and supplant Ikkor at once.

"O King, live for ever!" he said one day, when Ikkor was absent in a
distant part of the land; "it grieves me to have to utter words of
warning against Ikkor, the wise, the father who has adopted me. But he
conspires to destroy thee."

The king laughed at this suggestion, but he became serious when Nadan
promised to give him proof in three days. Nadan then set to work and
wrote two letters. One was addressed to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and
read as follows:

"Pharaoh, son of the Sun and mighty ruler on earth, live for ever!
Thou wouldst reign over Assyria. Give ear then to my words and on the
tenth day of the next month come with thy troops to the Eagle Plain
beyond the city, and I, Ikkor, the grand vizier, will deliver thine
enemy, the King of Assyria, into thy hands."

To this letter he forged Ikkor's name; then he took it to the king.

"I have found this," he said, "and have brought it to thee. It shows
thee that Ikkor would deliver this country to thine enemy."

The king was very angry and would have sent for Ikkor at once, but
Nadan counseled patience.

"Wait until the tenth of next month, the day of the annual review, and
thou wilt see what will surprise thee still more," he said.

Then he wrote the second letter. This was to Ikkor and was forged with
the king's name and sealed with the king's seal which he obtained. It
bade Ikkor on the tenth of the next month to assemble the troops on
the Eagle Plain to show how numerous they were to the foreign envoys
and to pretend to attack the king, so as to demonstrate how well they
were drilled.

The vizier returned the day before the review, and while the king
stood with Nadan and the