The petitioner rose, and was instantly recognised by the sovereign.
“Vuluvir!” he cried—“do I behold him to whom I am indebted above all men in my dominions?”
The Emperor descended from the musnud, raised the Pariah and embraced him, to the surprise of his court.
“Nobles,” said he, “to this outcast from his own community I owe my life. When pursued by the emissaries of him who had usurped my throne, I cast myself into a river and was nearly drowned. This generous benefactor, although then grievously prostrated by famine, plunged into the stream, and, as I was sinking, dragged me to the bank. In his dwelling I found an asylum. He watched by my lowly couch while the paroxysms of fever were upon me, moistened my parched lips, wiped from my forehead the dews of agony, and restored me to life. My debt to him is such as my empire could not repay.”
“Nay, mighty King,” cried Vuluvir, while the big tear rolled slowly down his cheek, “that deed of common charity was abundantly requited. The two thousand rupees with which your gracious liberality honoured me, were the foundation of my present affluence. Upon them I have erected a fortune which might place me in that respect upon a level with nobility; but I am still a miserable man.”
“State your cause of grievance,” said the Emperor, leading him to the block of crystal, upon which he desired him to be seated. Humayoon having taken his place upon the musnud, Vuluvir said, touching the floor with his fingers and putting them to his forehead—
“Sovereign of the Moguls, I have a daughter, the child whom you once fondled in your royal arms, and who has since often expressed her pride in having received those caresses. That daughter I may say, without a parent’s vanity, is a creature endowed with the highest perfections of woman. She is the joy of my heart, and her loss would be a bane which I feel I could not survive. She has been stolen from me.”
“I remember thy daughter well, Vuluvir; she promised to be all thou sayest. But who has robbed thee of her?—say, and to the farthest limits of my dominions he shall be sought and visited with the chastisement he deserves.”
“I attribute her abduction to the son of your minister.”
“Son of Beiram, stand forth,” said the Emperor, solemnly; “what have you to answer to this charge?”