of showing it. Having once got me in his power I felt he could
show no mercy, and I was right. Mad with triumph and fury he
came to me in my prison and tore out my right eye. That is how I
lost it.

My persecutor, however, did not stop here. He shut me up in a large
case and ordered his executioner to carry me into a desert place,
to cut off my head, and then to abandon my body to the birds of prey.
The case, with me inside it, was accordingly placed on a horse,
and the executioner, accompanied by another man, rode into the country
until they found a spot suitable for the purpose. But their hearts
were not so hard as they seemed, and my tears and prayers made
them waver.

"Forsake the kingdom instantly," said the executioner at last,
"and take care never to come back, for you will not only lose
your head, but make us lose ours." I thanked him gratefully,
and tried to console myself for the loss of my eye by thinking
of the other misfortunes I had escaped.


After all I had gone through, and my fear of being recognised
by some enemy, I could only travel very slowly and cautiously,
generally resting in some out-of-the-way place by day, and walking
as far as I was able by night, but at length I arrived in the kingdom
of my uncle, of whose protection I was sure.

I found him in great trouble about the disappearance of his son,
who had, he said, vanished without leaving a trace; but his own grief
did not prevent him sharing mine. We mingled our tears, for the loss