Now when she learned how Bes by his wit had saved me from a death of torment in the boat, my mother clapped her hands to summon a servant and sent for Bes, and said to him,
“Bes, hitherto I have looked on you as a slave taken by my son, the noble Shabaka, in one of his far journeys that it pleases him to make to fight and to hunt. But henceforth I look upon you as a friend and give you a seat at my table. Moreover it comes into my mind that although so strangely shaped by some evil god, perhaps you are more than you seem to be.”
Now Bes looked at me to see if I had told my mother anything, and when I shook my head answered,
“I thank you, O Lady of the House, who have but done my duty to my master. Still it is true that as a goatskin often holds good wine, so a dwarf should not always be judged by what can be seen of him.”
Then he went away.
“It seems that we are rich again, Son, who have been somewhat poor of late years,” said my mother, looking at the bags of gold. “Also, there are the pearls which doubtless are worth more than the gold. What are you going to do with them, Shabaka?”
“I thought of offering them as a gift to the lady Amada,” I replied hesitatingly, “that is unless you——”
“I? No, I am too old for such gems. Yet, Son, it might be well to keep them for a time, seeing that while they are your own they may give you more weight in the eyes of the Prince Peroa and others. Whereas if you gave them to the lady Amada and she took them, perchance it might only be to see them return to the East, whither you tell me she is summoned by one whose orders may not be disobeyed.”
Now I turned white with rage and answered,
“While I live, Mother, Amada shall never go to the East to be the woman of yonder King.”