the language of Rome, and gave him goods for trading, and
sent him to Rome with the object of procuring that slave. But the
daughter of the kaysar said privately to the merchant: "That slave is my
son; I have, for a good reason, said to the king that he is a slave; so
thou must bring him as a slave, and let it be thy duty to take care of
him." In due course the merchant brought the youth to the king's
service; and when the king saw his fair face, and discovered in him many
pleasing and varied accomplishments, he treated him with distinction and
favour, and conferred on the merchant a robe of honour and gifts. His
mother saw him from afar, and was pleased with receiving a salutation
from him.

One day (the text proceeds) the king had gone to the chase, and the
palace remained void of rivals; so the mother called in her son, kissed
his fair face, and told him the tale of her great sorrow. A chamberlain
became aware of the secret, and another suspicion fell upon him, and he
said to himself: "The harem of the king is the sanctuary of security and
the palace of protection. If I speak not of this, I shall be guilty of
treachery, and shall have wrought unfaithfulness." When the king
returned from the chase, the chamberlain related to him what he had
seen, and the king was angry and said: "This woman has deceived me with
words and deeds, and has brought hither her desire by craft and cunning.
This conjecture must be true, else why did she play such a trick, and
why did she hatch such a plot, and why did she send the merchant?" The
king, enraged, went into the harem. The queen saw from his countenance
that the occurrence of the night before had become known to him, and she
said: "Be it not that I see the king angry." He said: "How should I not
be angry? Thou, by craft, and trickery, and intrigue, and plotting, hast
brought thy desire from Rome--what wantonness is this that thou hast
done?" Then he thought to slay her, but he forbore, because of his great
love for her. But he ordered the chamberlain to carry the youth to some
obscure place, and straightway sever his head from his body. When the
poor mother saw this she well-nigh fell on her face, and her soul was
near leaving her body. But she knew that sorrow would not avail, and she
restrained herself.

And when the chamberlain took the youth into his own house, he said to
him: "O youth, know you not that the harem of the king is the sanctuary
of security? What great treacher