Page:HMElliotHistVol1.djvu/40

8 about ancient times, there is one concerning a king of Kumár, the country which produces the aloes called kumárí. This country is not an island, but is situated (on the continent of India) on that side which faces the country of the Arabs. There is no kingdom which has a more dense population than Kumár. Here every one walks on foot. The inhabitants abstain from licentiousness, and from all sorts of wine. Nothing indecent is to be seen in this country. Kumár is in the direction of the kingdom of the Mahárája, of the island of Zábaj. There is about ten days' sailing between the two kingdoms,◌◌◌◌but when the wind is light the journey takes as much as twenty days. It is said that in years gone by the country of Kumár came into the hands of a young prince of very hasty temper. This prince was one day seated in his palace, situated on the banks of a river, the water of which was sweet like that of the Tigris of ’Irák. There was the distance of a day's journey between the palace and the sea. The wazír was near the king, and the conversation turned upon the empire of the Mahárája, of its splendour, the number of its subjects, and of the islands subordinate to it. All at once the king said to the wazir, “I have taken a fancy into my head which I should much like to gratify.◌◌◌I should like to see before me the head of the king of Zábaj in a dish.”◌◌◌◌These words passed from mouth to mouth, and so spread that they at length reached the ears of the Mahárája.◌◌◌◌That king ordered his wazír to have a thousand vessels of medium size prepared, with their engines of war, and to put on board of each vessel as many arms and soldiers as it could carry.◌◌◌◌When the preparations were ended, and everything was ready, the king went on board his fleet, and proceeded with his troops to Kumár. The king and his warriors all carried toothbrushes, and every man cleaned his teeth several times a day. Each one carried his own brush on his person, and never parted from it, unless he entrusted it to his servant. The king of Kumár knew nothing of the impending danger until the fleet had entered the river which led to his capital, and the troops of the Mahárája had landed. The Mahárája thus took the king of Kumár unawares, and seized