upon others whose life thou would'st cut in half."
The King read: and straightway he ordered to be struck off, the head of the slave who had brought him the Queen's message; for though by his oath he had neither honour nor soul left, he remembered that he was still a King.
5. THE ROSE AND THE THORN.
A certain Commander of the Faithful, had as the Favourite of his harem, a lady more beautiful than all the stars and their moons about them,—but with a shrew's tongue. The pathway to her favour lay through torrents of abuse, which cast him without dignity and crownless before her imperious feet. But, none the less, love of her mastered him so greatly that he looked on no other woman with any concern.
After many sleepless nights and days without rest, he hardly knew whether he were the most cursed or the most blessed of mortals; for truly his vigils gave him the continual consciousness of her charms, though all the while her mouth was like the crater of a volcano in eruption pouring out lava of vituperation upon his head.
One day his chief chamberlain, beholding him nursing a sick headache, said, "Why, O shadow of God, dost thou continue to endure this evil, seeing that He hath made thee the master of all things? If the Light of the harem were tongueless, she were perfect. Therefore give orders, O Commander of the Faithful, and it shall be seen to!"
