Leila smiled, evidently pleased that he remembered her tale so clearly.“And he was astonished to see that half of the attendants were men in disguise.”
Fergus feigned shock.“She had not hidden men in her harem?”
“She had!”Leila said, laughing at him merrily.“Shahzenan was even more shaken to see how the queen and her ladies took their pleasure in the garden.‘At least I am not alone in being so betrayed,’ he said to himself, and wondered if he should tell his brother.”
“Of course, he should,” Fergus said without hesitation.“A man should know when he has been deceived.”Was this the point of her tale?To make him aware that Isobel had deceived him?If so, the lesson was learned already, but still, he would listen.
Leila nodded.“That night, after the two kings had dined and shared tales of the hunt, Shahriar again asked for the reason for Shahzenan’s sadness.This time, Shahzenan confided in him, and the brothers commiserated over the faithlessness of Shahzenan’s queen.‘Gladly, I am not so unfortunate,’ declared Shahriar.‘And you can take hope in the good conduct of my queen.’Shahzenan frowned instead of agreeing.His brother asked for an explanation and Shahzenan told him what he had seen that day.In truth, he was relieved to have the opportunity, for he did not wish to have secrets between them.Shahriar did not believe the tale and insisted that Shahzenan had misinterpreted what he had seen.He defended his wife most vigorously and Shahzenan offered to show him the truth.They resolved upon a plan to prove the queen’s guilt or innocence: the next day, they would ride out with the hunting party but return to the palace in disguise and see what the queen did in the garden.”
“Do you mean to teach me that all women are faithless, Leila?”
“Only that trust can be misplaced,” she said, casting a glance at him.
Fergus smiled, liking that she tried to warn him.“And what did they see?”
“And so, the two brothers followed their scheme.They rode out with the hunting party, but then turned back and entered the city alone together and in disguise.They returned to the wing of the palace built for Shahzenan and went to the same window.No sooner had they arrived then the queen appeared in the garden with her ladies.As the day before, they were twenty in all.As the day before, the queen clapped and all cast off their veils.As the day before, half of the party were revealed to be men in disguise.The queen laughed and beckoned to one man, just as she had the day before, and took her pleasure in the garden while her husband was away.”
“Did he execute her, as his brother had killed his own wife?”Did she expect him to avenge himself upon Isobel with such violence?
“He did,” Leila agreed.“He called for the guards and he condemned his wife for her faithlessness.He confronted them all in the garden, so they had no time to hide their deeds.The guards killed the ladies and the men, but the king himself executed his queen with his own sword.He grieved her loss as much as her betrayal, for he had loved her completely, never guessing her treachery.”
Fergus nodded understanding of that.“He felt like a fool.”
“I would wager that he did.In fact, Shahriar did not sleep after his brother returned to his kingdom.He strove to derive a scheme for his own satisfaction and one sleepless night, he did just that.His vizier was summoned the following morning and informed that Shahriar would never be betrayed by a wife again.He had resolved to marry a virgin each day, savor her that night, and have her executed with the dawn.The vizier noted that this would turn the people against him but the king was adamant that his will would be done.Shahriar married the first virgin that very day, but any hope that he might recant his plan was lost when she was executed at his command the following dawn.”
“Surely this did not continue,” Fergus said, wondering at the import of this story.
“Surely, it did, though the vizier found it troubling indeed.That man was even more troubled when there were no more virgins to be found in the city, for the king had married and killed each and every one.The vizier was at a loss as to what to do, but the eldest of his own daughters suggested a solution.Her name was Scheherazade and she was both lovely and clever.Though he had two daughters, Scheherazade was the light of his life, so he was appalled when she offered to wed the king next.The vizier argued with his beloved daughter, for he knew that he should be the one compelled to order her execution.She was adamant, though, and in frustration, he cried ‘Your folly will take you to your ruin!I fear that your fate will be like that of the donkey, who did not appreciate what it had.’Scheherazade asked what had happened to the donkey, so her father, the vizier, told her the tale.”
Fergus smiled and settled back to listen.
“Once, there was a merchant who had the gift of understanding the language of all creatures.The sole caveat was that he was forbidden to reveal to others what he had heard.The price for him doing as much was his own death.”Leila took a breath.“And so it was that one day, he was in his own stables, where he had a donkey and an ox.He heard the ox say to the donkey ‘I wish I had your good fortune!All that is ever required of you is to carry our master on short journeys and not every day.If he stayed at home, you would have a life of leisure.I, on the other hand, must labor hard, each and every day.I am harnessed to the plow at dawn, beaten while I work all day, return here only when darkness falls, am fed dry beans and left to sleep in dirty straw.’”
“Did the donkey give him advice?”
“Indeed, he did.The donkey chided his companion and gave him advice.‘You are used thus because you allow it to be so.You have horns!Nature has given you the means to gain respect, but you do not use them.The master has need of you to till the fields.It is only reasonable that you demand the respect you deserve.When they give you beans, do not eat them.I predict your situation will change with speed if you take my advice.’The ox thought upon this and thanked the donkey for his counsel.The pair then fell silent and the merchant retired to his bed.”
“I will wager that matters were different the next day,” Fergus said.
“Indeed!”Leila agreed.“The ox was difficult all the day long, as the plowman complained to the merchant.The ox even charged the plowman once, then refused to eat the beans he was given.The plowman told the merchant all of this, and was much vexed with the creature.The merchant, though, saw that the ox followed the advice he had been given by the donkey.He advised the plowman to leave the ox in his stall the following day and give him better fare, for the beast might be ill.He suggested that the plowman hitch the donkey to the plow instead.”
Fergus laughed.
“And so the donkey was tethered to the plow and compelled to work hard all the day long.He was beaten when he slowed down.He finally returned to the stable when it was dark and he was exhausted.He was also furious that he had been so treated.The ox, meanwhile, had rested all the day long and was much pleased with the situation.That night, he thanked the donkey for his suggestions.”
“Did the merchant hear their conversation?”Fergus asked.
“He did.You are right.I omitted to say that he had gone to the stable, specifically to hear their exchange.He heard the ox thank the donkey.The donkey then asked the ox what he intended to do the following day, and the ox said he would continue to do as the donkey had instructed.‘I would advise you otherwise,’ the donkey said.‘For this night, I heard the master say that if the ox was ill, he was of no use.He advised the plowman to send you to the butcher if you were not hale in the morning.’The ox was much gratified to hear of this plan and vowed that he would be both robust and cooperative in the morning, as if he had healed completely from whatever ailed him.”
“Clever donkey,” Fergus said.
“Not so clever as that, for his day of labor had left him half-dead from exhaustion.”
“For he did not appreciate his own good fortune,” Fergus said, pulling her a little closer.“Whereas I do.”
Leila’s smile was brilliant.“The merchant reasoned that both ox and donkey had learned their lessons, and all continued as it should have done.The vizier, upon concluding his tale, said again that his daughter was like the donkey and failed to see the advantages of her life.”
“And so Shahriar was vexed?”
