Pagina 193 van 1116

The blood stopped flowing, and the Sage Duban unclosed his eyes

and said, "Now open the book, O King!" The King opened the book,

and found the leaves stuck together; so he put his finger to his

mouth and, by moistening it, he easily turned over the first

leaf, and in like way the second, and the third, each leaf

opening with much trouble; and when he had unstuck six leaves he

looked over them and, finding nothing written thereon, said, "O

physician, there is no writing here!" Duban re plied, "Turn over

yet more;" and he turned over three others in the same way. Now

the book was poisoned; and before long the venom penetrated his

system, and he fell into strong convulsions and he cried out,

"The poison hath done its work!" Whereupon the Sage Duban's head

began to improvise:-