" At this
they smiled, and the King was wroth with them and said, "O
accursed ones, I give you an order, and ye laugh at me!" "O
King," answered they, "we have good cause to laugh." Quoth he,
"What is it?" And they replied, "O King, thou orderest us to
bring thee the man who wrote these lines: now he who wrote them
is no man, but an ape belonging to the captain of the ship."
"Can this be true?" asked he; and they said, "Yea, by thy
munificence!" The King was astonished at their report and shook
with mirth and said, "I have a mind to buy this ape of the
captain." Then he sent messengers to the ship and said to them,
"Dress him none the less in the robe and mount him on the mule
and bring him hither in state, with the band of music before
him." So they came to the ship and took me and clad me in the
robe and mounted me on the mule and carried me in procession
through the city; whilst the people were astounded and crowded to
gaze upon me, and the place was all astir on my account. When I
reached the King's presence, I kissed the earth before him three
times, and he bade me be seated; so I sat down on my heels; and
all the bystanders marvelled at my good manners, and the King
most of all. After awhile the King dismissed his courtiers, and
there remained but myself, his highness the King, an eunuch and a
little white slave. Then the King gave orders and they brought
the table of food, containing all kinds of birds that hop and fly
and couple in the nests, such as grouse and quails and so forth.
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