Translation:The Three Princes of Serendip/Prologue
THE PEREGRINATION
OF THREE YOUNG SONS OF THE KING OF SERENDIP.
PROLOGUE
IN ancient times in the land of Serendip in the Far East, there was a great and powerful king named Giaffer, who had three sons and knowing that he had to leave them mighty lords, and as a wise and loving father, he decided to endow them with all the qualities that princes require.
He therefore searched diligently in his entire state to find several men who specialized in various sciences and assigned to each one a spacious room, suitable to his position to which no one else had access. He committed to them the care and discipline of his sons, assuring them that the best thing they could do for him was to educate them so that they could be considered his worthy sons.
Having been given the task of disciplining the young men, the tutors exerted themselves, each in his own field, to satisfy the command of their Lord, so that in a short time, the sons, who were highly intelligent, became wise and knowledgeable in the sciences, and in all those things, required of princes, surpassing anyone of their age and condition. One day when the King was informed, he could not believe that they had made such great progress so quickly and he decided to test them himself.
Not long thereafter, he called his eldest son to come to see him and spoke to him as follows, “You know, my son, how long I have borne the burden of such an empire, and the government of such a great kingdom, and how I have always been careful, with all my might, to govern my subjects and vassals with as much love and charity as I could, and to obey as much as possible the commandments of God. Now that I have arrived at such advanced age, it is right that after having taken care of the well-being of my subjects and of the provinces of my kingdom for such a long time, I devote the short span of life that is left to me to think of myself and the salvation of my soul.
Therefore, I have decided to retire to a nearby monastery where I can peacefully reflect upon my sins and the offenses made against my soul, and do the greatest penance I can to obtain the mercy of the Lord God and implore Him to forgive all my offenses. I wanted to call you before me and, because you are my eldest son, to command you to succeed me in the government of this state and my kingdom. Above all, I ask you to be willing to receive your brothers as your own sons and to take care of them and embrace them with all the love which is appropriate.
Moreover, I ask you to be equally just to everyone and that in all your actions, with the Divine Majesty as your guide, to govern the subjects and vassals of your kingdom with charity and love, and especially, those that are poor and miserable; and to welcome always and to honor in every way possible the aged and the sick, and to punish the guilty and wicked with all your might as required by the laws and the orders of His Divine Majesty and of this kingdom.”
The wise and prudent son very much admired these words and their delivery from his father and after he had given him due reverence, he answered him by saying, "Sire, I have very well understood the decision and your advice which you have imposed on me and which I have to fulfill. But because I know that it is reprehensible, while you are still alive, to govern and occupy your empire, and I also know, that no eye of such greatness can be found that surpasses the eyebrow, and that no splendor can be found like the sun of your reign. Thus, I do not judge it to be proper that others should govern and possess your kingdom. Therefore, I am ready to carry out promptly whatever you command me, but never as long as you live ought I to succeed you to the throne, and may Our Lord give you many more long and happy years to live. When it comes to pass that the Lord God will call you back to Him, then I will take charge and command, and following the wise and sacred remembrances of you, and as far as I can, I will strive, for fear of His Divine Majesty, to rule and administer it in justice.
The king was very comforted by this response of his prudent son and he was happy that this first test had let him know that the wise and modest prince possessed the necessary virtues. But for the time being he concealed the contentment of his heart, and dismissed his son; and wanting to have the same experience with the other two, he called the second son to him right away. And using for him the same words as for the first one he received the following answer, "Sire, may your reign be long and happy, and may Our Lord grant you the age of Noah. Please, do me the favor by telling me how the ant coming from a tiny dwelling could possibly rule and govern a kingdom? For what else am I but a weak and tiny ant? How could I accept the administration of such a kingdom? Then, should my brother, your eldest son, who is alive and healthy, not rightfully be your successor?”
The prompt and wise response from the second son satisfied the king immensely, and he thanked the Lord God humbly and with a pious heart for having made him the father of such a worthy son. And after he dismissed him, he asked the youngest son to come into his presence, and he also spoke to him in the same language which he had already used with the others. To which the young man began to answer in this way, "How can I Sire, to whom the Holy God has granted many years of happy life, tell me, how can I, still being a child, accept such a serious and important burden? I feel like being a small drop of water, and your empire is like a huge and endless sea. How could I possibly know how to administer such an empire? But because you see me as being so young, you mock me, and ask me to do such momentous things, and you make fun of my embarrassment. However Sire, while I am still a child, I am intelligent enough (thanks God), to know my strengths and my power and I realize that you are making fun of me anyway; because even if it was not the case, do I not have two elder brothers to whom you would have entrusted the heavy load of the empire?"
The king greatly admired the shrewd answer of the boy and he was infinitely consoled finding him to have such a sharp intellect. And thus having assured himself by the conversation he had held with his three sons of the progress made by them in the sciences, and after hearing the wise and prudent answers they had given him, he decided that to make them entirely perfect, they would go out to see the world, in order to learn from the different customs and manners of many nations as well as through experience, what they had already mastered through their readings and the lessons of their tutors. And he called them the following day, pretending to be seriously angry, and showing that he was very upset, because none of them wanted to obey him in accepting the care of his state, he spoke to them using these words, "Since none of you has shown a willingness to carry out my command which I never could have believed would happen, make sure that, within a week, you will be beyond the borders of my empire: for as you are disobedient and wicked children, I do not want you to dwell in it any longer".
The sons were deeply saddened by this incident: and having understood their father's wishes, they immediately set off on a peregrination. Having left his kingdom, they arrived in the state of a great and powerful emperor, named Beramo. There, on the road, not far from the imperial city, they encountered one day a camel driver, from whom one of the camels had fled, and who asked them if by chance they had seen it on their way. Because they had seen tracks and pawprints of such an animal, they thought to tell him that they had found it on their way. And to make it more believable, as they were prudent and wise, and had seen many clues of the lost camel, the eldest brother told him immediately, "Tell me brother, was the camel you lost not blind in one eye?"
To which the camel driver replied that it was true. Next, the second son said, "Oh, tell me, besides being blind, wasn't it also missing a tooth in its mouth?"
The camel driver affirmed this. Then the third son added, "Would it, perchance, also be lame?"
And the camel driver confirmed this as well, "We certainly have met this camel on our way, not long ago," said the three brothers. "And it has been a while since we left it behind."
The camel driver was very happy to hear that. He thanked the three brothers and set out on the road they showed him to seek his camel. He walked twenty miles but could never find it. Then, tired and sad, he turned back, and the next day he found the young men not far from the place where he had left them. They were seated near a clear spring and were eating. And so, lamenting to them that he had not found his camel, he said to them, “I have traveled a good twenty miles down the road you showed me, but it was in vain and I got so tired, because I was unable to find the animal; and although you have given me great hints, nevertheless, I can't believe you haven't made fun of me.”
In response to which the elder brother said to him, "From the information we have given you, you can judge, whether we have made fun of you or not; but so that you don't have an unfavorable opinion of us, I give you this other piece of information. Your camel was loaded with butter on one side and with apples on the other." "And I can tell you," added the second brother, "that there was a woman on the back of your camel."
"And this woman," said the third brother, "so you know, that we are telling you the truth, I tell you, was pregnant."
Having heard these words, and led to believe because of the many true clues they had given him, that the young men had stolen his camel, which he had not been able to find on the road indicated by them, the camel driver decided to go to court and accuse the young people of having stolen his camel on the way. He therefore appeared before the judge, and the three brothers, seriously accused of having committed the theft, were sent to prison. This event reached the ears of the Emperor who was annoyed because he had used the utmost diligence so that one could travel through his kingdom safely and without fear of highway robbers. This is why, quite disturbed, he ordered the young men to be brought into his presence the next day, and having also called the camel driver, he wanted, in the presence of the young men, to be informed by him of all that had happened. Having obtained a full understanding of the facts from the camel driver, with certain detailed information about the lost camel given to him by the young men, he addressed them, greatly disturbed, with the following words, "You have now heard the accusations made by the camel driver against you, and because of the information you gave him, I know for sure, that you have stolen his animal, since he was unable, notwithstanding great efforts, to find it on the road you indicated to him. At this point I could rightly condemn you to death for this crime. Nevertheless, since I am naturally more inclined to leniency than to severity, I have decided, that before you are put to death, you recover the stolen camel forthwith. Unless you do this without delay, you will be shamefully put to death early tomorrow as is befitting for brigands."
The young men heard the words, and the decision of the Emperor which was rather painful, but nevertheless they were consoled by their conscience and their innocence and answered him as follows, “Sire, we are three wayfarers on a peregrination, which we are undertaking for no other reason than to see different countries and the wonders of this world. When we arrived in your kingdom, we met not far from this city the present camel driver, who asked us if by chance we had encountered on the road a camel which he had lost. Whereas we had not seen the camel, nevertheless we saw many indications of the lost animal and replied to him jokingly that we had encountered it. And in order to make him believe our words, we gave him the information about his camel, which the camel driver mentioned to you. As it so happened, the information was true and because he was unable to find his camel on the road, we indicated to him that we were unfairly accused of having stolen his animal. He then took us into your presence and wrongfully accused us, as you can see.
This, we are telling you, is the truth; and if it is found otherwise, we will accept whatever death you please, however harsh and cruel it may be." When the Emperor heard the words of the young men, he could not be persuaded, that the six indications given to the camel driver could perchance all have come true, and he said to them, "I don't think that you are three prophets, but well, three highway bandits, murdering people you meet on the way, and the reason why I believe this is that none of the six clues you gave the camel driver about his lost camel were wrong". Therefore, he made them go back to jail.
Meanwhile, it so happened, that a neighbor of the camel driver going about his business found the lost animal on the road. He recognized it and took it, and when its master, who was his neighbor, returned, he handed it over to him. When the camel driver became aware of his mistake, and considering that because of him the young men found themselves in great danger, he hurried immediately to the Emperor and explained to him that his camel had been found, and humbly and urgently asked him that the innocent three young men would be released from jail. After the Emperor heard what had happened, he was very distressed about having imprisoned the unfortunate young men since they had not committed any serious crime and he ordered them to be released from prison forthwith and brought before him. The minister carried this out without delay. He first apologized to them for having them imprisoned because of the unfair accusation by the camel driver. He then wanted to hear how they could have guessed so much detailed information about the lost animal, and insisted they tell him. Because the young men wanted to satisfy the Emperor anyway, the eldest one said to him, "When I realized, Sire, that the lost camel was blind in one eye, since as we walked down the road where it had passed by, I saw on one side where it had been walking that the grass was all yellowed and eaten and on the other side the grass was intact and healthy. So, I believed that it was blind in one eye with which it could not see the area with the good grass; because it would never have left the good grass for the bad grass.
The second brother followed by saying, "Sire, that the camel was missing a tooth was clear to me, because on the road I found with almost every step when I looked down so much chewed grass that it must have come out of the empty space of a missing tooth from a passing animal.”
“And, Sire,” said the third brother, “I figured that the lost camel was lame because I clearly saw the tracks of three feet of the animal; while I noticed that the fourth foot, as far as I could tell from the indications, was dragging behind.”
The emperor was very amazed about the intelligence and foresight of the young men and wanted to understand how they could have guessed the other three signs. He dearly asked them that they would also tell him those. In order to fully satisfy his questions, the first brother said, “Sire, I noticed that the load of the animal consisted of butter on one side and honey on the other side, because for the length of a mile, I saw on one side of the road an infinite multitude of ants who like fat, while on the other side I saw a great number of flies who like to search for honey.”
"And I guessed that there was a woman on the camel," said the second brother, "because I saw near the tracks where the camel had been kneeling, also the shape of a human foot, which seemed to me to be that of a woman. However, it could also have been that of a child. I ascertained that because I saw that there had been urination near the foot, and when I put my fingers in the urine and wanted to smell it, I was immediately overcome by a carnal concupiscence, which I believed came from the foot of the woman."
The third brother said, "That this woman was then pregnant, was clear to me from the hand prints, visible on the ground, which were there from helping to lift herself up on her feet with her hands after urinating."
The Emperor endlessly admired the words of the young men whom he esteemed for their incredible ingenuity and he decided to treat them courteously in all respects and honor them in such a way as their remarkable account merited. And he had a sumptuous room prepared in his own palace. He kindly begged them to stay with him as long as they wished, assuring them as best he could of his great esteem for their quick and high intelligence.
Because the young men saw themselves so truly honored by such a great prince, they were infinitely grateful for his great courtesy and they proved very ready to satisfy his every desire. So, the Emperor himself accompanied them to the prepared room and treated them regally from now on. Never a day went by, without the emperor discussing various subjects with them for at least four hours. He was very unguarded with them, and delighted by their quick intelligence. Sometimes, he would even hide in a small neighboring room, hearing them always talk of other things and then left being delighted.
He gave these young men the same food that he would eat, and one day, when dinner was prepared, he had them served a fat lamb among many other very delicate dishes and a flask of precious wine. And he withdrew into the small room to listen with much delight to their reasoning. Now, as the young men were seated at the table, and started to eat the lamb and to taste the wine that the Emperor had sent them, the eldest brother said, "To be honest, I think that the vine from where this precious wine came, had its roots in a burial site, I don't think that it could be otherwise." "And as for me, said the second brother, they could not make all the wise men of the world believe that this lamb that has been placed before us today, had not been nourished on the milk of a bitch."
And the third brother added, saying, "Brothers, I feel very sorry about something, of which I became aware this morning, and this is what I was able to understand from some indications, that this gentleman, from whom we have received so many courtesies, has had one of his counselor's sons killed for misdeeds. And the father is thinking about nothing else than that by making his lord die, he can exact revenge for his son's death."
The Emperor understood the reasoning of the young people very well. He was very disturbed by the words of the third brother. He entered their room and, concealing the pain in his heart, he said to them, "Please, what were you discussing?” To this the young men responded with reverence, that for the moment they weren't discussing anything, and that since the meal was over, they wanted to leave the table.
But as he insisted on the fact that they should share their thoughts with him, and he ensured them that before he entered, he had heard them, they couldn't in any way hide the truth, and they told him everything in an orderly manner as they had done while they were dining. And after he dwelt with them in this way for quite a while, he returned to his room, and immediately made the man who was in charge of his kitchen come and questioned him about the area of the country where the wine had been made which he had sent to the young men in the morning. Having heard everything, he sent for the owner of the vineyard.
When he came before him, he asked if that vineyard which he managed had originally been a vineyard, or if it only recently had been covered with buildings, or uncultivated fields that were being cultivated. He understood that, while currently it was a vineyard which produced precious wine, two hundred years before it had been a cemetery with graves of dead bodies.
In view of having established and verified that what the young man had said was true, he also wished to ascertain what the second brother had recounted. A and as for the account of the third brother, it was not necessary that anyone questioned it, knowing himself that the son of his counselor had been killed for his misdeeds. And having ordered that the shepherd of his flock should be called in, he asked him with what type of pasture he had fattened the lamb, which that day had been slaughtered for the table. He turned pale and started to tremble and he replied that the lamb, which was still tender, had not been fed with pasture but only with the milk of the mother. But the Emperor saw from the fear in the shepherd that he had not told him the truth, and he said to him, "I really know that you are lying, therefore I affirm to you, that if you do not tell me now the obvious truth, you will instantaneously die a cruel, and bitter death.” "I pray thee Sire," replied the shepherd, "if you please give me life, I will really tell you everything." After he promised him that, he said, "Sire, when the lamb was still very small, and when its mother was grazing one day in the countryside, and had strayed somewhat, it was taken by a wolf. And because I happen to have a bitch, which I keep to guard the herd, and which at the time had given birth to a litter of puppies, I did not know that I could find a better way than letting the little lamb feed at the teats of the bitch. It was bred that way, and when I judged it to be food worthy of you, I killed it and sent it to you right away and delivered it to your majordomo."
The Emperor, who heard this, started really to believe, that these young men who had such a high and worthy mind, were gifted with prophetic virtues. He sent the shepherd away and returned to the young men with these words, “Everything that you have told me I found to be true, and I am led to believe that if there is such a noble and high virtue in you in the art of guessing, three other men like you cannot be found in the world. But please tell me, what are the indications you had at the table today which enabled you to imagine the things you told me?” In reply the eldest brother said, "Sire, I was aware that the wine, which you have brought us today, had its source in a cemetery, because as soon as I had drunk the first glass, which always makes a man's heart cheerful and happy, I was instead overcome by a deep sadness and melancholy. Since it affected me that way, I judged that the wine could only have originated in a cemetery." "And, added the second brother, after I had eaten a few bites of the lamb and had a taste of salt and stuffed foam in my mouth, I realized that this lamb had only been fed with milk of a bitch.
"And because Sire, the third brother followed, I realized that you also greatly desired to hear from me, how I could have noticed the thoughts of your counselor, which are full of bad hatred against your Imperial person. You have to know that, reasoning with you the day before yesterday about the punishment of the wicked, when we were before you, I saw your counselor's face change color. Looking at you maliciously, being thirsty, he asked for a drink of water which usually refreshes the liver. And therefore, I concluded that the had received no lesser offense from you than that you put his son to death.
The Emperor, who found that in each case the young men had spoken the truth, was greatly disturbed by this, and replied: "I am absolutely certain, that the facts are exactly as you have told me, and that my counselor, other than in his mind, does not reveal how he can kill me, to take revenge on his son, who I rightly condemned to death because of his misdeeds. But how can I force him to confess this thing to me from his mouth? Therefore, I think, that because of the great torment I may bring upon him, he will never say a word to me. Thus, since I do not have the confession from his own mouth, I will not be able to convict him. However, because I know that you are highly intelligent, a solution for this situation can be found.
"The solution, Sire" answered the young man, "is available, if you wish to follow my advice. As I have understood, your counselor has a concubine, whom he loves very much, and to whom he entrusts all his secrets. Now, you should let this woman know, that you are dying of love for her, and that there is nothing that you will not to do for her if she would let you prove that you love her. And, like most women, she is long of hair and short on intellect, and knowing that she is beautiful, she will easily be made to believe, that you wish her to give you her love. Since you are her Lord and Master, I think that you have the power to have her come to you immediately and in this way, I am sure that you will be able to assure yourself from his own mouth of all the machinations which the counselor has in mind against you."
The Emperor liked the advice of the young man very much, and found a prudent, and smart female messenger, and pretending to fervently love the woman of his counselor, he opened up his heart fully to her, and commanded her to communicate his message. So, she carried out his order and found an opportunity to be with her and let her know what was on her lord's mind. She told her, that he could easily have her by letting the counselor die or have her one day be kidnapped by his ministers, but that this seemed to be the act of a tyrant, and not that of a fair or humane prince. He did not want to use any violence and asked her affectionally to consent to him willingly.
When the woman of the counselor heard the words of the messenger, she begged her profusely to communicate on her behalf to the king infinite gratitude for the love he had for her, and to tell him, that, being the woman of such low status, she greatly admired that he had lowered himself to love her. Nevertheless, she was ready to please him in all respects, but being so much guarded by the counselor, she only knew of a single means to meet which she would reveal to her only if she swore first of all that she would disclose what she told her to none other than the Emperor her Lord.
Hence the messenger made the solemn oath of silence to her, and the woman started to speak as follows, "You should know that the counselor, in whose power I find myself, harbors evil wicked and cruel thoughts against the Emperor, our prince. He is planning another rebellion that will lead to his death. He has prepared a poisoned drink and is waiting for an occasion to invite him to a banquet, and kill him with that drink and I alone am aware of that. And while I had in mind to let the Emperor in any way know about the serious wrongdoing, nevertheless I never had the opportunity until now. Therefore, you will reveal to him all these facts and tell him that, if at the end of the banquet which the counselor organizes for him, he is offered a crystal cup with a drink, he must not accept it at all, for it will be laced with poisons. Instead, he should have him drink it, which will punish him for his misdeed and kill him. This will free me from the hands of this vicious traitor and he will thereby always have me for his every pleasure."
The messenger understood very well what the counselor's concubine had told her. She took leave from her and immediately returned to the Emperor, and repeated to him everything in an orderly fashion.
Because in those days, the Emperor, had won a great victory against a powerful and great King, who had tried to occupy his kingdom, he envisioned that this was an opportunity to express his joy about such a victory by presenting gifts to the principal ministers of his court among whom the counselor had the highest rank. He believed that the actual presentation would give him the occasion to try what he already had in mind. Thus, he gave him a precious gift, and when he had the occasion to be with him a few days later, he invited him to a regal and magnificent banquet.
When he went into the counselor's room, he was received by him with a great feast and joy, and was given many precious and great gifts. He sat down at the table which was prepared with very delicious foods. There were music and songs to celebrate the banquet. Standing up from the tables, the counselor with his own hands presented to the Emperor a fragrant drink in a crystal cup with the following words: "Sire, since you, high and great lord have deigned to honor the banquet of your humble servant, I have also with all my power made an effort to find food and dishes worthy of you. Therefore, I had this potion prepared, the like of which cannot be found anywhere in this world. It would take too long to mention the many virtues which it possesses and there is nothing that refreshes a man's liver more than this drink. That is why I want to offer it to Your Majesty."
The Emperor who knew that it was the poisonous drink which had been prepared by the counselor much earlier, as he has heard from the woman, replied as follows, “You know how, not long ago, I condemned your son to death, for crimes committed by him. Since it is possible that your liver has been heated up exceedingly because of his death, I would show myself unkind and unloving towards you, if I deprived you of this potion which can greatly benefit you. I thank you with all my heart for having received it and I give it to you and will be grateful if you drink it forthwith in my presence."
The counselor was very troubled by these words of the Emperor, and fearing that his plan would have been in vain, he replied immediately, saying, "Sire, because this is such a rare and precious drink, I know it is not befitting to myself, but to your Imperial Majesty." But the Emperor replied to the counselor that he cared for him and loved him as he loved himself, knowing full-well the love and reverence which he had always borne him and he said, “I know your need, and taking this potion away from you would not be worthy of my affection for you, for I am certain that it can bring a great benefit to you, while on the other hand it could be of no benefit to me for I am not suffering from an overheated liver."
Now, when the counselor saw the insistence which with his Lord asked him to drink the potion that he had offered him and fearing that his betrayal had been discovered, he said, “Sire, I myself have fallen into the pit in which I wanted others to fall, but because I always knew that you were naturally inclined to clemency, I want to believe that you will forgive me for my error because I have given you a very important warning for your life. If you have condemned someone's son to death, you should not allow his father to converse in your court.
You know, that you rightly killed my son for his misdeeds, and that notwithstanding the great affection and many gifts you have showered me with afterwards, I could never alleviate the great sorrow in my soul. I can never see you without my blood boiling, nor without thinking of killing you. And while I have received endless benefits and honors from you, and you have rightly sentenced my son, I have nevertheless unjustly prepared this poisonous drink for you which seemed to me to be a way to avenge myself for the death of my son." The Emperor, who understood the cold-blooded objective of his counselor, spared his life but banished him immediately from his presence and designated all his goods for the benefit of the treasury. He made him understand that he had to be beyond the borders of his kingdom within a three-day time span. He was infinitely grateful to God the Lord, who had saved him from such a grave danger. And he regally rewarded the woman who had discovered the treachery and married her to one of his important barons.
After the Emperor had returned to the young men and had told them all what had happened at the counselor's banquet, he highly praised them and said, “I don’t doubt that because you are so prudent and so highly intelligent you were able to guess so many things and you have saved my life from the hands of the disloyal and wicked counselor. I wonder whether you would also be able to find a solution for an issue of great importance that I am dealing with at the moment. I really know that you will not deny me this since I have now noticed the great love you have for me when it concerns my life.”
They readily offered him their help in any way needed, and having said that, the Emperor began, “The ancient philosophers of this kingdom who were always highly regarded by my predecessors discovered a type of mirror which was called the Mirror of Justice. Because of this property when two people had a dispute, the judge made them look into the Mirror. The face of the one who was wrong instantaneously turned black while the face of the one who legitimately defended himself retained its natural color, and he was declared the winner by the judge.
Thanks to the virtue of the mirror, witnesses were therefore not necessary, and the people lived in so much peace and calm, that this empire resembled paradise itself. And he whose face turned black because of fraud, could not regain his natural color unless he was lowered into a very deep well, where he must remain for forty days with only bread and water to support his life. When he was taken out of the well after the punishment and led into the presence of the people where he confessed his sin, he recovered his natural color. Because of fear of the Mirror, the people lived in great tranquility; each was content with his status and worked the land. The country abounded with everything, and any poor merchant or foreigner who arrived from other parts, would return rich to his homeland. The Lord God had raised all forces against the enemies of this kingdom, and for many years everyone enjoyed a joyful and happy life. At that time lived my grandfather, who had two children, one of them was my father and the other my uncle. After his death both made claims to the empire, and it came about that my father got the upper hand. Then, the brother, waiting for the occasion to take revenge, actually managed to steal the Mirror and take it with him while fleeing to India. The Queen there was a virgin who had assigned the care of the kingdom to one of her counselors. My uncle presented the Mirror to this virgin and spoke to her about all its virtues, which, however, he could not demonstrate outside his own kingdom.
In the main city of that country which was located near the coast, a great straight open Hand appeared each day at sunrise above the sea, which remained until sunset at the spot where it had arisen. At the onset of the night the Hand would approach the shoreline, and take a man into the sea with it; and this occurred continually. So, up to that time a large number of men in that country had been lost. This caused the people to be very sad and sorrowful and they decided to take the Mirror to the shoreline in front of the Hand, believing that, perchance it could solve the problem. And from placing the Mirror in front of the Hand, they gathered this benefit, that whereas before the Hand had taken one man per day, it no longer took a man but a horse or an ox. Now my father had a strong desire to recover the Mirror since his kingdom had lost its previous happiness and he sent one of his ambassadors to the Queen to offer her a great treasure if she was willing to send the Mirror back to him. The ambassador used various reasons to persuade her; especially by demonstrating to her that the Mirror could not bring any benefi to her country while his kingdom would regain its previous state and tranquility. But as the ambassador's words were of no avail, he returned, and said that because of the benefit that the kingdom at that time received from the change of a man into a horse or an ox, which the Hand carried into the sea every day, that the Queen did not want to return the Mirror unless my father was able to find a remedy against the ruin which the Hand caused. But if it so happened, that her kingdom was freed from so much misery, and since her ancestors had been on very on good terms with our predecessors, she would, out of the goodness of her heart, have the Mirror returned. But since my father did not know how to realize this, he could never recover the previous tranquility. Because I know you to be men gifted which such lofty and noble intelligence, I am led to believe that if you wish to liberate that kingdom from the misfortune of the Hand, you will bring back the Mirror to me and thus, peace and happiness to my empire. If you are willing to do that, I promise to bestow great treasure upon you.
The young men understood the words and the need of the Lord and because of the many courtesies and honors they had received, they immediately promised him that they would go to India, and would not return in front of his presence unless they brought the Mirror back with them. This delighted the Emperor beyond measure and he escorted them with some of his main barons as he sent them on their way to India. After their departure his life became happy as he hoped that the Mirror would be brought back through the subtle foresight of the young men. And since he greatly enjoyed music and song, he invited the finest singers and musicians from each part of the country. He regaled them with gifts, and treated them to garden parties and hunting while he awaited with a great longing the return of the young men.
It happened in those days, that a merchant, who had passed by there with his merchandise, had heard that the Lord delighted in music and song, and that he gave great gifts for those enjoyments. He had a slave of exceptional beauty with excellent musical skills, superior to those of others in those days. The Emperor who heard this called on him and ordered the young woman, called Diliramma, to be brought into his presence forthwith to ascertain her great ability in the musical arts. This order was carried out without delay.
So, dressed beautifully, the young lady came before Beramo with her master. The Emperor saw her rare beauty and heard the gentleness of the music and songs, which the young woman performed in his presence. He was deeply enamored of her and spent a large amount of money to buy her from the merchant. He made her dress into rich ceremonial garments and was immeasurably in love with the young woman. He wanted to be with her whenever he found himself free from public duties. One day it happened that he went on a hunt with her, and they encountered a deer and he said to Diliramma, “Do you see that deer? Now I want to shoot it with the arrow, but in what part do you want me to wound it. If you will tell me that, then I will certainly wound it in that part."
To which she replied, "Sire, I am convinced that, since you are a valiant archer, the deer will be hit wherever you wish. But please, she confided in him, I’ll tell you that I would love to see the animal wounded with a single shot, both in its foot and its ear." Diliramma believed, that it was something impossible, that the Lord could never do. But Beramo, who was endowed with noble and great talent, promised to accomplish what the young woman just requested, and he took a slingshot in hand, and released it, striking the deer's ear with the projectile.
As irrational animals usually do, the deer, which was in pain, scratched its ear with its foot, and the Emperor without hesitating shot it with bow and arrow and the deer which kept scratching itself was hit in the foot and the ear in a single shot. All of his barons admired him immensely, as they had observed great and shrewd foresight by Beramo, who said cheerfully to the young woman, “What do you say, Diliramma? Have I satisfied your request?” To which she replied with a chuckle, "I am sure, Sire, that if you hadn't tricked both the deer and me with that slingshot, you could never have done it. But with the trickery you used, every other man could also have pierced the deer's foot and ear."
The Emperor heard these seemingly disrespectful words, and feared that they had stained his honor since the most important barons of his court had heard them. Notwithstanding all the love he had for her, his heart was fiercely wounded. He was overcome by fervent anger and believing that he could not otherwise recover his honor, he ordered his ministers to have the young woman undress, have her hands tied behind her back, and lead her into a forest nearby, where the wild animals would devour het during the night.
The ministers carried out the order without delay. They took the miserable sorrowful young woman into the forest and left her to the mercy of the wild animals. Upon their return they told the Emperor that they had fully carried out his order. When he heard this, Beramo was greatly troubled by his love and anger, and he returned to the city sorrowful and sad.
Meanwhile, Diliramma, who had remained in the forest with her hands tied, started to cry profusely when the night fell. She recommended herself to God, all the while looking around in every direction for a wild animal coming to devour her. While she was walking in this way, she came upon the main road. And it pleased God that at sundown, a caravan of merchants which was on its way to their nearby lodging, heard the cries of the young woman who was in a miserable state. Then the oldest of them followed her voice and as he approached her, he saw that she was young and beautiful and he had great compassion for her. He untied her hands, dressed her in some clothing. and took her with him to the lodging. There he asked her who she was, what had happened to her and why she was undressed and bound, and had fallen into such a disastrous and miserable state. She could not answer this and just said that she was a musician. So, the innkeeper gave the merchant a lute, and he handed it to the young woman. When he heard the sweetness and delicateness of her music and singing, he was amazed and enamored by her abilities. He welcomed her as his daughter and led her to his country.
Meanwhile Beramo returned to the city, and because his love was stronger than his anger, he regretted that he had treated the young woman so cruelly, and tried with all his power to find her again. He called in the same ministers who had carried out his order in the forest and commanded them to go on horseback with a great company and, well armed to defend themselves against wild animals, to return to the forest immediately. They were to make every conceivable effort to find the young woman, dress her again in her clothes, untie her hands, and bring her into his presence.
The ministers carried out the order promptly and went to the forest without any delay. But, after diligently searching every part of the forest all night, they could not find Diliramma, who had been rescued by the merchant.
When they returned to the Emperor the following day, they assured him that while they had diligently searched for her everywhere in the forest, they had been unable to find her and since there were plenty of wild animals, it was assumed that they had really devoured her. Like every other man in the world would be, he was overcome by a deep melancholy because of this painful event. He was struck by a serious illness which effectively deprived him of sleep. Despite the great treatment he received, he was unable to recover.
Because of this he was consumed by bitterness and imminent death awaited him. This caused much sorrow to all the main barons of the realm. They met and consulted among themselves and concluded that because the doctors were unable to restore their lord to health they should as well as they could give him nourishment until the three brothers would return from India with the Mirror. At that time they were certain that they, highly intelligent as they were, would be able to find an effective remedy for Beramo's infirmity. As soon as the brothers arrived in India, and a day before they entered the royal city together with the barons of the Emperor who were in their company, they let the Queen know that, based on the past agreement between her and Beramo, he had sent some men who hoped to find some remedy against the Hand, which had caused so much ruin in that kingdom. They were in the neighboring city and the Queen could command whatever she wished, so that the Mirror could be returned to the Emperor. This news delighted the Queen immensely and brought her in a festive mood. And she sent a large party of her main barons to meet the young men more than ten miles outside of the city. The brothers arrived before the Queen, and they were happily received by her. They were brought into a very ornate palace, where a regal banquet had been prepared. Their riding clothing was removed and they were seated at the table with the barons of the Queen.
And here they discussed various topics, with wise reasoning, but since the hour was late and they were very tired from the long journey they retired with the kind permission of the royal ministers.
The following morning, they arose early and were visited by the counselors of the Queen in her name. They were presented the finest wines and some of the most delicious food, and they spent a long time to learn about the damage, which the Hand had caused in that country. Then they answered them with these words: "Emperor Beramo who is anxious to recover his Mirror, which is in the possession of your Queen, according to the pact proposed by her to him, has sent us to these parts, above all to free this kingdom from much damage continuously caused by the Hand which appears on the sea every day, and then we have to take it back to him."
The counselors said that the queen was most delighted, and that if they freed the country from the damage caused by the Hand, the Mirror would immediately be assigned to them. The young men left in an orderly manner to return in time the next day.
The counselors went together with them to the seashore and they would operate in such a manner that the Hand would not reappear in the future nor would anyone anywhere in the country be carried off. This news spread through the city, and everyone was very pleased and felt great admiration. Knowing that the following morning the young men would go out to the seashore, a large number of people went outside the city at night to the place where the young men were going to be. And when the counselors accompanied by the whole court came in the morning, they went to the palace where the young men were staying.
Then, they left together and arrived on the seashore at sunrise and saw the Hand rising straight up, and opening above the sea. There, the older brother stood up immediately and facing the Hand, raised his own hand, with the second and third fingers straight up, and the other three fingers held tight and low. Thereupon, the Hand which had caused so much destruction, plunged into the sea and it has never been seen by anyone since. The people were amazed and greatly admired the spectacle they were witnessing. And the Queen was immediately informed of all that had occurred. Therefore, the Queen was happy and extremely satisfied, and the young men who were still at the seashore, were greatly celebrated and honored at the city gate and before they returned to the palace assigned to them, they had to present themselves to her. So, they obeyed her command and returned to the city. Having reached the royal pace, they met with the Queen. She received them with great honors and solemnity, and affectionately asked them to reveal the great secret with which they had performed the great miracle. As the young man, who had driven away the Hand from the sea, wanted to satisfy the demand of the Queen, he withdrew with her from the people who were present so that they could not overhear the words he spoke.
"You must know, Madam," he said, "that as soon as I saw the open Hand above the sea this morning, I realized, that it could only mean that if five men with a single purpose could be found, it would be sufficient to conquer all countries in the world; and because it should be understood, that since until now this meaning has not been discovered, one could foresee that the Hand would continue to cause serious harm and evil to your people. God helped me to understand this. I stood at the seashore and facing the Hand I raised my own hand with the index and middle fingers held straight up, and the others clenched and low, I made the Hand plunge into the sea in shame, so that it will never reappear. For if the Hand intended to symbolize that it would take five like-minded men to master the world, I showed that this was a delusion and that not five, but just two men with the same purpose would have been sufficient to accomplish this."
The Queen greatly admired these words and she realized that the young men were endowed with noble and high intelligence. They took their leave from the palace of the queen and accompanied by the principals of the court, they returned to their palace. Afterwards the Queen's counselors met together with her and discussed the return of the Mirror to Beramo for the benefits received, and the eldest of them said, "There is no doubt, that as far as we have already seen, the young men have liberated the country from a serious misfortune; but who can be certain, that sooner or later the Hand will not return, and we will find ourselves again in the previous situation? So, it seems to me that we must seriously consider this issue before the Mirror is returned."
The Queen added to these words, "We cannot, nor must we fail to fulfill our promise made to Beramo, but to be sure that the Hand will no longer harass our country, I have an excellent remedy, and it is this: The King, my father, his memory be blessed, left me the rule of such a great kingdom, and among the many admonitions he gave me before he passed away, said to me, "Daughter, because you will inherit the rule of the kingdom after my death, I will be certain that many princes and great lords will with all means attempt to acquire it by marrying you. But because kingdoms usually grow and are preserved not just with prudence, but also with strength, I command you that you should not accept someone as your husband, if he is unable to divine one of two things, which I will now mention to you. But if you find someone who can elucidate one of these to you, you must take him as your husband."
Whereas I judged that the three young men, who are brothers, by their noble bearing must be the sons of a great prince, one of you should oblige them under oath reveal their lineage. Since I am inclined to believe that they are of noble origin, the one of them who can elucidate one of two things my father, the King, told me, I will try to take as my husband." I believe that this will happen, for it seems to me that they are endowed with much prudence and great intelligence. And therefore, if one of them will remain together with me as the head of my kingdom, we will not have to be afraid that at some time or another the Hand will bring harm to our people. Because the counselors liked the proposition of the Queen very much, one of them went the next day to meet the young men and spent a good amount of time with them to let them understand that they could not have liberated the country from the ordeal of the hand, were it not for their great intelligence and prudence. The Queen very much wanted to know who they were and whose sons they were and they were asked kindly to reveal this to her. But the young men, who had not wanted to reveal their case to anyone up to now, replied that they were three young sons of poor and common parents who happened to have come to Beramo's court. To these words, which neither the Queen nor anyone else could believe because of their noble bearing as well as by their great prudence and their wisdom, the counselor added by saying: "Because I truly know that it is not very believable that you are the sons of poor and common parents — and in the end, it is more for that reason than for me —, nor that others will harass you — that you will be glad to swear that what you have told me is true. Therefore, that when I report that you have confirmed your status under oath, I know that your words will be fully believed.
When they realized that they had to take the oath, they deliberated and consulted among themselves that they had to reveal the truth. They approached the counselor and told him under oath that they were the sons of Giaffer, King of Serendip, and what had happened to them thus far. The Queen heard this and was immeasurably happy as she believed that, regardless, by taking one of the young men for husband, her country would be forever liberated from the ordeal of the Hand. She made them come before her the next day and addressed them as follows, "Until now, I have held you in great reverence because of your keen foresight and great knowledge, and the great benefit that you have brought to my kingdom, by liberating it from destruction by the Hand. So, now that you have revealed to me to be sons of a great prince, recognizing the nobility of your blood, accompanied by so much wisdom, I honor and revere you above all others, and according to the pact made by me with Beramo, I am obliged to return the Mirror to him, and I must not, nor do I want to fail my word. And whenever you wish, I will deliver it, as always at your pleasure. And since you are of such noble lineage, it cannot be that you are not also endowed with the greatest courtesy. I still want to ask you another favor, worthy of much of your prudence and wisdom. But before I disclose to you, whatever it is, I want you to promise me that you will not refuse me."
After the young men responded that they would be ready to fulfill her command, she added, "When I was still a girl, before the King, my father, blessed be his memory, had passed away, I heard him frequently discuss with his barons the possibility, that a man could eat in one day a whole warehouse of salt, but that he had never been able to meet such a man. Now, knowing you to be prudent and wise, I think, that you will be able to solve this enigma for me and I beg you to do that." To these words, the second brother responded, saying, "Madam, because I see that you greatly desire to have this clarified, I tell you that it will be very easy to eat a whole warehouse of salt in a day, and I offer to do so myself, whenever you wish."
The Queen greatly admired this, having observed the great intelligence of the young men, and she ordered her barons to have this proven the following day. They agreed to the command and rose early in the morning and went to the palace where the young men resided. They took them to the warehouse where the salt was stored, and ordered the ministers in charge to open the door immediately. The young man entered without any hesitation and wetted the tip of one hand with saliva. He placed it on top of the salt, and removed a few grains, ate it, and turned to the barons and said, that they should close the warehouse since he had done what was required of him.
Everyone greatly admired it but could not believe that with this act the young man had kept the promise made. He added again that they also had to report to the Queen what he had done and that he himself would give her a full account. When the Queen was informed of this by her barons, she gave the order that the young man should come into her presence. When he appeared before the Queen, she asked him how he intended to have satisfied the promise by eating only four grains of salt. He replied that anyone who would have eaten with his friend as much salt as he had placed in his mouth at the warehouse, and would not have known what is obliged by friendship, would never have known it when he ate it, whether it would have been stored in ten warehouses or in a single one. Therefore, he believed that he had fulfilled his promise completely.
The Queen greatly appreciated the answer given; for this was what her father had taught her when the statement was dubious, and she highly praised the young man for his subtle foresight. Then she said, "Now, there is something else, and if you can solve it for me, then I will regard you more as gods then as men.”
"And in this too," replied the youngest brother, "give me your attention, Madam, at whatever time you would like me to satisfy you." He was given the order to come to the royal palace the following morning. He appeared before the Queen at the set hour. She ordered everyone to leave the room, and only her first counselor, and the young man to remain with her. She opened a small box and took five eggs from it, and addressed the young man as follows, "As you see, these are five eggs, and there are only three of us in this room. Whereas your two brothers have passed such challenging tests in my kingdom, and if you also know how to divide these five eggs into three equal parts between us without breaking any of them, then I would dare to affirm that three other men of equal intelligence could not be found in the whole world.”
"Madam, what you have asked me is no big thing," the young man replied, and then he immediately removed the eggs from the Queen's hand, placed three in front of her, gave one of them to the counselor, and kept the other for himself. "Madam, here are three equal parts without breaking any," he said. But indicating that she could not believe this, since the young man had given no other explication, he said, excusing himself, "There are three equal parts as follows: your counselor and I already have two eggs each in our pants and you have none. Of the five you gave me, three of them are allocated to you, one to the counselor, and the other one to myself. Now that each of us has three of them, they have been fairly divided between the three of us.”
The Queen liked this answer very much, although it made her blush somewhat, and she showed the young man that she was very appreciative of him. He asked her permission to return to his palace. Whereupon she remained with her counselor, and she said to him, that it had pleased the Lord, that these young men, the sons of such a great king, were in her country, and that they knew so promptly the answers to the questions they were asked. Until then, of the many men she had interrogated, none had been able to come up with the solutions. Following her father's advice she had decided to try to have one of them as her husband, and while all three of them were highly intelligent, she very much liked the one who had clarified so prudently the question of the salt.
That decision was approved by the counselor, who was asked to meet with the young men the following day, first to remind them of the admonition of the King, her father, to reveal the descendance of the one whom she sought as her husband, the one who had clarified the question of the salt.
The counselor carried out the order given to him to meet with the young men, and he fully informed them of the desire of the Queen to learn the name of the man who had clarified the question of the salt and who she intended to marry. The young men were very surprised about this this, and they could hardly believe the words of the counselor to be true. They first consulted at some length among themselves, and they decided to accept such a high marriage.
And he who was designated to be the spouse informed the counselor that because the Queen had shown so many signs of love for them, he was most willing to comply with her wishes and expressed infinite gratitude to her on behalf of himself and his brothers. But knowing that the King, their father, had sent them away from his realm, it was right that they should go to their country as obedient children, and explain the events to him, and with his favorable permission, return immediately to celebrate the wedding.
The Queen was informed of the deliberations of the young men and that the marriage proposal had been accepted. She had them appear in her presence with the counselor and she and the designated groom secretly consented to each other in the marriage. She ordered that the Mirror would be returned to them without delay according to the promise that the queen had made to Beramo. They went to their country so that the King could approve of the marriage with his blessing and then they would return for the solemn wedding celebration.
And in this manner the Mirror was entrusted to the young men, and they departed, extremely happy and full of joy, and received precious gifts from the Queen. In a short time, they arrived in the kingdom of Beramo. While the Emperor was not well because of an illness, he nevertheless rejoiced somewhat when he heard about the return of the young men and the restitution of the Mirror. He believed that because he knew that they were highly intelligent, a remedy might be found for his misfortune.
When the young men arrived in the royal city, the first counselor appeared in the Emperor's presence and first kissed his hands and expressed much regret about his illness. He told him everything about the successful return of the Mirror, the proofs given by the young people in the country of the Queen, their revelation that they were the sons of Giaffer, King of Serendip, and other events, including the upcoming marriage.
After Beramo heard all of this, he let them come immediately into his presence, and he thanked them endlessly for the Mirror that they had brought back. And he told them of the misfortune caused by Diliramma, and asked if they, with their intelligence and wisdom, could find a remedy for his illness. Because, if they could not help him, it was very certain that in a very short time he would pass away since up till the present time no man had been found who had been able to provide a remedy for his illness.
And after he ended his discourse, the young people showed great regret because of his illness, and the eldest of them said to him, "Sire, I hope that a remedy for this misfortune will soon present itself, and it will be this: not far away from this city you have a great and delightful land area. Here is what needs to be done if you want to recover your health. Have seven beautiful palaces of various colors be constructed in which you will stay an entire week, sleeping one night in each, starting on Monday."
"And beyond that," said the second brother, "send seven of your ambassadors into the seven climates of the world, and return from there with seven virgins, daughters of the most important princes who reside there. Place each of them in one of the palaces and pass the time of the week entertaining them with sweet and pleasant conversation." And when he finished speaking, the third brother added, "Give the order which is to be announced in the seven principal cities of your empire that the most excellent story teller that resides in each of them must be brought into your presence and if they tell you a beautiful story send them back home with great gifts.”
Hence, Beramo ordered that the three things the young men had advised him had to be realized without delay, beginning with the construction of the palaces while at the same time carrying out the other recommendations.
And after the seven palaces had been constructed, they were richly adorned, and a virgin and a storyteller were installed in each. Following the advice of the young men, on a Monday morning Beramo was carried into the first palace on a sedan chair which was adorned with silver, and he himself and his entire entourage wore clothes embroidered with silver. Here he was laid down upon a beautiful and rich bed for he was weak and rather weary because of his illness. He had the virgin come into his presence and entertained her for a long time with various and delightful conversations. At the Vesper hour he called for the storyteller. He came before the Emperor and was ordered by one of the counselors to tell a beautiful story. The storyteller obliged immediately. First, he kissed the hands of the Emperor and began as follows: