THE KING'S CUP-BEARER

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CHAPTER I.

The City of Lilies.


The great Rab-shakeh, magnificently attired in all the brilliancy of
Oriental costume, is walking towards the city gate. Above him stretches
the deep blue sky of the East, about and around him stream the warm rays
of the sun. It is the month of December, yet no cold biting wind meets
him, and he needs no warm wraps to shield him from the frost or snow.

The city through which the Rab-shakeh walks is very beautiful; it is the
capital of the kingdom of Persia. Its name is Shushan, the City of
Lilies, and it is so called from the fields of sweet-scented iris
flowers which surround it. It is built on a sunny plain, through which
flow two rivers,--the Choaspes and the Ulai; he sees them both sparkling
in the sunshine, as they wind through the green plain, sometimes flowing
quite close to each other, at one time so near that only two and a half
miles lie between them, then wandering farther away only to return
again, as if drawn together by some subtle attraction.