Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 8.djvu/271

259 whereby thou wilt destroy thyself.’ ‘Thou sayst sooth,’ replied the king; ‘I will not go forth to them.’

On the morrow, the folk assembled together and repairing to the king’s door, sat there the most part of the day, till they despaired of his coming forth, when they returned to Shimas and said to him, ‘O sage philosopher and learned master, seest thou not that this ignorant boy doth but redouble in falsehood to us? Verily it were of reason to take the kingdom from him and give it to another, so our affairs may be set in order and our estates maintained; but go thou in to him a third time and tell him that nought hindereth us from rising against him and taking the kingship from him but [the remembrance] of his father’s goodness to us and that which he required from us of oaths and engagements [with respect to him]. However, to-morrow, we will all, to the last of us, assemble here with our arms and break down the gate of the palace; and if he come forth to us and do that which we wish, well and good; else will we go in to him and slay him and put the kingdom in another’s hand.’

So Shimas went in to him and said, ‘O king, that wallowest in thy lusts and thy pleasures, what is this thou dost with thyself and who prompteth thee thereunto? Indeed, thou sinnest against thyself and there hath ceased from thee that which we knew in thee aforetime of integrity and wisdom and eloquence. Would I knew who hath thus changed thee and turned thee from wisdom to folly and from fidelity to iniquity and from complaisance to stiffneckedness and from acceptance of me to aversion from me! How comes it that I admonish thee thrice and thou neglectest my admonition and that I counsel thee justly and thou still gainsayest my counsel? Tell me, what is this heedlessness and folly and who is it prompteth thee thereunto? Know that the people of thy kingdom have agreed together to come in to thee and slay thee and