the king was convinced that the courtier had told him the truth. The king issued a ‘royal decree’ in writing stating the following royal order: ‘As soon as this person comes to you with my letter, cut off his head and stuff his corpse with straw and return it to me.’

It was a habit of the king that when he wanted to reward someone, he would write a letter with his own hand, and besides this, he would not write down anything with his own hand. However, on this occasion, the king, contrary to his usual practice, wrote a decree of punishment. When this favoured person came out of the royal court, the jealous person asked his as to what he had in his hand. He replied, ‘The king has given me a sealed letter to deliver to so-and-so official.’ The jealous person considering the past practice of the king in rewarding people in this manner became overcome with greed, so he requested the letter. This person considering the higher status of this courtier handed over the letter to him. This jealous person delivered this letter to the official and requested his reward.

The official retorted that the instruction in the letter is to kill the one who delivers it. The jealous person became senseless with fear and began pleading with great humility that indeed the king had not issued this order for him, but for some other person. He begged the official to verify this with the king. Turning a deaf ear to his plea, the governor said, ‘There is no need to inquire about it. We are duty-bound to carry out the king’s order.’ After saying this, he was executed.

The next day, the favoured person visited the royal court as usual and repeated the same advice while standing in front of the king. Upon seeing him alive, the king asked, ‘What about the letter I gave to you yesterday?’ He replied, ‘I met your courtier on my way to the official. He asked me to give him the letter, so I handed him the letter which he took to the official.’ The king said, ‘He had informed me that you used to tell people that I have a bad breath. Is this true?’ He replied, ‘Your Majesty! I have never had such opinion about you.’ The king asked,