Were it otherwise, O Abi, I could tell you things that would turn your grey hair white, and to Kaku and Merytra the spy, promise rewards that would make the torture-chamber seem a bed of down.

But it is not lawful, nor would they sound pleasant in this bridal hour." Now while Kaku between his chattering teeth muttered the words of Protection in the shadow, Abi and his courtiers stared at this terrible queen as boys seeking wild fowls' eggs in the reeds, and stumbling on a lion, stare ere they fly.

Twice, indeed, the Prince turned looking towards the door and the pleasant light without, for it seemed to him that he was entering on a dark and doubtful road.

Then he said: "Your words, O Queen, cut like a two-edged sword, and methinks they leave a poison in the wound.

Say now, if you are human, how it comes about that after seven days of want your flesh is not minished nor has your beauty waned.