“When her husband came home he had already heard of the visit of the distinguished company, and so he asked his wife a thousand questions. All the answer he got was that the visitors were hunting for a king.
“‘I’m sure it was for me they were hunting,’ said the man. ‘How unfortunate that I was away.’
“‘Well, don’t worry,’ replied his wife. ‘If they ever intended to make you king, they’ll come back after you.’
“‘You don’t seem to think much about it,’ remarked the man, ‘but some of these days you’ll find out that you narrowly escaped being the king’s wife.’
“The nine citizens were so certain that they had found the right person to rule over their country as king, that they made haste to return to the capital city and tell the news to the eleven wise men who had sent them out. They made their report, and the eleven wise men put their heads together once more. When they had consulted together a long time, they said to the people:—
“‘There is one test by which you may know whether a king has been found. Send a messenger and ask this young man to send us a rope made of sand a hundred feet long.’
“The messenger straightway went to the house of Telambus and told him what the eleven wise men had said. His mother straightway fell to crying. But Telambus laughed at her fears.
“‘Tell the eleven wise men,’ he said to the messenger, ‘that there are various patterns of sand ropes. Let them send me a sample of the kind they want—a piece only a foot long—and I will make them one a hundred feet long.’
“The messenger returned to the eleven wise men and told them what Telambus had said. They put their heads together again and then told the people that the young man was wise enough to be their king. There was great rejoicing then, and the nine wise men who had found him went to fetch him.
“But Telambus shook his head. ‘Kings are not carried about in this way. Where are your banners and your chariots? Where are your drums and your cymbals?’