The King and the Weaver
“Of old time there was a great king. One day a man came before him and said, ‘My king, I shall weave a turban such that one born in wedlock will see it, while the bastard will see it not.’ The king marvelled and ordered that that weaver should weave that turban; and the weaver received an allowance from the king and tarried a long while. One day he folded up this side and that side of a paper and brought it and laid it before the king and said, ‘O king, I have woven that turban.’ So the king opened the paper and saw that there was nothing; and all the vezirs and nobles who stood there looked on the paper and saw nothing. Then the king said in his heart, ‘Dost thou see? I am then a bastard;’ and he was sad. And he thought, ‘Now, the remedy is this, that I say it is a goodly turban and admire it, else will I be put to shame before the folk.’ And he said ‘Blessed be God! O master, it is a goodly turban, I like it much.’
“Then that weaver youth said, ‘O king, let them bring a cap that I may wind the turban for the king.’ They brought a cap, and the weaver youth laid that paper before him and moved his hands as though he wound the turban, and he put it on the king’s head. All the nobles who were standing there said, ‘Blessed be it! O king, how fair, how beautiful a turban!’ and they applauded it much. Then the king rose and went with two vezirs into a private room and said, “O vezirs, I am then a bastard; I see not the turban.’ Quoth the vezirs, ‘O king, we too see it not,’ At length they knew of a surety that the turban had no existence, and that that weaver had thus played a trick for the sake of money.
“O king, thou too sayest, ‘On the morrow will I kill him; I will do this and I will do that;’ and yet there is nothing. O king, I had that dream this night, there is no doubt that it is as I have interpreted. O king, if the king’s life and throne go, who knows what they will do to hapless me?” And she began to weep. When the king saw the lady thus weeping his heart was pained and he said, “On the morrow I will indeed refuse the words of whichsoever of my vezirs makes intercession for him, and I will indeed kill the youth; for, according to the dream thou hast had, this is no light affair.”
When it was morning the king came and sat upon his throne, and he caused the youth to be brought and commanded the executioner, “Smite off his head.” Whereupon the thirteenth vezir came forward and sought to make intercession, but the king was wroth and said, “Be silent, speak not.” Thereupon the vezir drew a paper from his breast and said, “For God’s sake read this paper, then thou wilt know.” Then the king looked at the paper and saw that there was written thereon, “O king, yesterday I looked at the astrolabe; for forty days is the prince’s ruling star in very evil aspect, such that the prince may even lose his head.” Then all the forty vezirs came forward at once and said, “O king, for the love of God and the honor of Muhammed Mustafa, for the forty days have patience and slay not the prince; thereafter it is certain that this affair will be made clear, and when its origin is known must each one receive his due.” Then said the vezir, “There is a story suitable to this; if the king grant leave I will tell it.” The king said, “Tell on, let us hear.” Quoth the vezir: