Page:Man in the Panther's Skin.djvu/88

 considerable time; a man met me from Ramaz, the khan over Khataet'hi; he repeated to me a message conciliatory to the heart: 'Your Indian goats are able to eat even our wolves.'

407. "He presented me with astounding treasures as a gift from Ramaz; he said: 'He entreats thee, destroy us not, it is not a thing thou shouldst do; put us on our oath, thereby are our necks bound with twigs, without devastation we shall deliver over to thee ourselves, our children and possessions.

408. Forgive us in that we have sinned against thee, we ourselves repent; by God, if thou wouldst have mercy on us, bring not thine armies hither, destroy not our land, let not the heavens fall upon us in wrath ; we give thee our castles and cities, let a few knights come with thee.'

409. "I placed my viziers at my side, we discussed and counselled; they said: 'Thou art young, therefore we sages venture to say to thee, alas! they are exceeding treacherous; we have seen it indeed once already; may they not slay thee treacherously, may they not bring on us woe?

410. We counsel thus: Let us go forth with brave heroes only, let the soldiers follow close behind us, let them be apprised of the tidings by a man; if they be true-hearted, trust them, make them swear by God and heaven; if they submit not to thee, pour forth thy wrath and moreover the wrath of heaven upon them.'

411. "This advice counselled by the viziers pleased me; I returned a message: 'O king Ramaz, I know thy decision; life is better than death to thee. We put not our trust in stone walls, I will leave the soldiers, I will come with a few, towards thee will I march.'

412. "I took with me three hundred of the soldiers, good