so good nor did any beverage ever cost so much; and take good
care--I warn you of this--that no other drink of it because there
is too little of it for that. And, moreover, I give you this
advice, that he never know whence it came; but let him think it
came by accident, that you found it among the presents, and that
because you tested it, and perceived by the scent of its bouquet
the fragrance of good spices, and because you saw that it
sparkled, you poured the wine into his cup. If by chance he
inquire of it, that will doubtless be the end of the matter. But
have no evil suspicion anent aught that I have said; for the
beverage is pure and wholesome, and full of good spices, and it
may be, as I think, that at some future time it will make you
blithe." When he hears that good will come of it he takes the
potion and goes away; for he knows not that there is aught wrong.
In a cup of crystal he has set it before the emperor. The emperor
has taken the cup, for he has great trust in his nephew. He
drinks a mighty draught of the potion; and now he feels the
virtue of it; for it penetrates from the head to the heart, and
from the heart it returns to his head, and it permeates him again
and again. It saturates his whole body without hurting him. And
by the time the tables were removed, the emperor had drunk so
much of the beverage which had pleased him, that never will he
get free of it. Each night while asleep he will be intoxicated;
and yet it will excite him so much that though asleep, he will
dream that he is awake.

Now is the emperor mocked. Many bishops and abbots there were at
the benediction and consecration of the bed. When it was bedtime
the emperor, as it behoved him, lay with his wife that night. "As
it behoved him"--therein have I lied, for he never embraced or