When we were mounted again and riding away from that horrible boat with its groaning prisoner, watching Bes whose behaviour and silence I could not understand, I saw him sweep his hand across his great mouth and thrust it swiftly into his bosom.

After this he spoke readily enough, though in a low voice lest someone who understood Egyptian should overhear him.
"You are a fool, Master," he said, "to think that I should wish to waste time in torturing that fat knave." "Then why did you torture him ?" I asked.
"Because my god, the Grasshopper, when he fashioned me a dwarf, gave me a big mouth and good teeth," he answered, whereon I stared at him, thinking that he had gone mad.
"Listen, Master.

I did not hurt Houman.

All I did was to cut his cords nearly through from the under side, so that when night comes he can break them and escape, if he has the wit.

Now, Master, you may not have noticed, but I did, that before the King doomed you to death by the boat yesterday, he took a certain round, white seal, a cylinder with gods and signs cut on it, which hung by a gold chain from his girdle, and gave it to Houman to be his warrant for all he did.