"'Now mark: I, being fevered, sick,
(Most unblessed also,) at that sight
Brake forth and cursed them. Dost thou hear?
One was my mother. Now, do right.'
"But my lord mused a space, and said,
'Send him away, sirs, and make on.
It is some madman,' the king said.
As the king said, so was it done.
"The morrow at the self-same hour,
In the king's path, behold, the man,
Not kneeling, sternly fixed. He stood
Right opposite, and thus began,
"Frowning grim down: 'Thou wicked king,
Most deaf where thou shouldst most give ear;
What? Must I howl in the next world,
Because thou wilt not listen here?
"'What, wilt thou pray and get thee grace,
And all grace shall to me be grudged?
Nay but, I swear, from this thy path
I will not stir till I be judged.'
"Then they who stood about the king
Drew close together and conferred;
Till that the king stood forth and said:
'Before the priests thou shalt be heard.'
"But, when the Ulema were met
And the thing heard, they doubted not;
But sentenced him, as the law is,
To die by stoning on the spot.
"Now the king charged us secretly:
'Stoned must he be: the law stands so:
Yet, if he seek to fly, give way;
Forbid him not, but let him go.'
"So saying, the king took a stone,
And cast it softly: but the man,
With a great joy upon his face,
Kneeled down, and cried not, neither ran.
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