which caused me to wonder. Bes also, seated on the ground at a
distance, ate and drank, for his own reasons filling himself to the
throat as though he were a wineskin, until the serving slaves mocked
at him for a glutton.

When we had finished eating, slaves appeared bearing a wooden
framework from which hung a great pair of scales. Also there appeared
officers of the King's Treasury, carrying leather bags which they
opened, breaking the seals to show that the contents were pure gold
coin. They set a number of these bags on one of the scales, and then
ordered Bes to seat himself in the other. So much heavier did he prove
than they expected him to be, that they were obliged to send back to
the Treasury to fetch more bags of gold, for although Bes was so short
in height, his weight was that of a large man. One of the treasurers
grumbled, saying he should have been weighed before he had eaten and
drunk. But the officer to whom he spoke grinned and answered that it
mattered little, since the King was heir to criminals and that these
bags would soon return to the Treasury, only they would need washing
first, a remark that made me wonder.

At length, when the scales were even, the six hunters whose lives I
had won and who had been given to me as slaves, were brought in and
ordered to shoulder the bags of gold. I too was seized and my hands
were bound behind me. Then I was led out in charge of the eunuch
Houman, who informed me with a leer that it would be his duty to
attend to my comfort till the end. With him were four black men all
dressed in the same way. These, he said, were the executioners. Lastly
came Bes watched by three of the king's guards armed with spears, lest
he should attempt to rescue me or to do anyone a mischief.