lover, Nebuchadnezzar, my mortal enemy, who dethroned me about seven years ago, and disappeared. In his place you have chosen a white bull, and you have cried Nebuchadnezzar. It is just that I behead you."
The princess replied: "My father, thy will be done; but grant me some time to bewail my sad fate."
"That is reasonable," said King Amasis; "and it is a rule established among the most judicious princes. I give you a whole day to bewail your destiny, since it is your desire. To-morrow, which is the eighth day of my encampment, I will cause the white bull to be swallowed up by the fish, and I will behead you precisely at nine o'clock in the morning."
The beautiful Amasidia then went forth in sorrow, to bewail her father's cruelty, and wandered by the side of the Nile, accompanied by the ladies of her train.
The wise Mambres pondered beside her, and reckoned the hours and the moments.
"Well! my dear Mambres," said she to him, "you have changed the waters of the Nile into blood, according to custom, and cannot you change the heart of Amasis, king of Tanis, my father? Will you suffer him to behead me to-morrow, at nine o'clock in the morning?"
"That depends," replied the reflecting Mambres, "upon the speed and diligence of my couriers."
