the power over the ships rests, will see to thee when the holy emperor goes away." Deceived by this hope, I went away from him rejoicing.
But two days after, on Saturday, Nicephorus had me summoned to Umbria, which is a place eighteen miles from Constantinople. And he said to me: "I thought that thou wert come hither, as a distinguished and upright man, in order altogether to accede to my demands and to establish a perpetual friendship between me and thy master. But as, on account of thy hardness of heart, thou art not willing to do this: at least bring about this one thing, which thou may'st with perfect right do; — promise, namely, that thy master will lend no aid to the princes of Capua and Benevento, my slaves whom I am about to attack. Since he gives us nothing of his own, let him at least give up what is ours. It is a well-known thing that their fathers and grandfathers gave tribute to our empire, and that they themselves shall shortly do the same,—for that the army of our empire will labour."
I answered him: " Those princes are nobles of the first rank and vassals of my master; and, if he see that thy army attacks them, he will send to them aid which will enable them to annihilate thy forces and to take away those two provinces which are thine beyond the sea."
Then, swelling like a toad and very angry: " Go away," he said; " by myself, by my parents who engendered me such as I am, I will make thy master think of other things than of protecting rebellious slaves."
As I was going away, he ordered the interpreter to invite me to table; and summoning the brother of those two princes, and Bysantius of Bari, he ordered them to give vent to gross insults against yourselves and against the Latin and the Teuton race. But as I was going away from the foul meal, they sent word to me secretly through, messengers and swore that what they had growled out had been said not of their own will, but because of the wishes and threats of the emperor. But Nicephorus himself asked me at that meal if ye had parks and if in your parks ye had wild asses and other animals. When I had answered him that ye had parks and animals in the parks, 13ut no wild asses, he said: " I will take thee into our park
