In this way they went on until they came to the court of the king to which the exiled son had been recommended by his father.
Faithful to his promise, the unfortunate prince saw his false servant received at the court with great honours as the son of a great king, whilst he himself, all unnoticed, stood in the waiting-room with the servants, and was treated by them with all familiarity as their equal.
After having some time enjoyed to his heart’s content the hospitalities the king lavished upon him, the false servant began to be afraid that his master’s patience might be wearied out soon, under all the indignities to which he was exposed, and that one day he might be tempted to forget his oath and proclaim himself in his true character. Filled with these misgivings, the wicked man thought over all possible ways by which he could do away with his betrayed master without any danger to himself.
One day he thought he had found out a way to do this, and took the first opportunity to carry out his cruel plan.
Now you must know that the king at whose court this unhappy prince and the false servant were staying, kept in his gardens a great number of wild beasts fastened up in large cages. One morning, as the pretended prince was walking in these gardens with the king, he said suddenly, ‘Your Majesty has a large number of very fine wild beasts, and I admire them very much; I think, however, it is a pity that you keep them always fastened up, and spend so much money over their food. Why not send them under a keeper to find their own food in the forest? I dare say your Majesty would be very glad if I recommended a man to you who could take them out in the morning and bring them back safely at night?’
The king asked, ‘Do you really think, prince, that you can find me such a man?’
‘Of course, I can,’ replied unhesitatingly the cruel man; ‘such a man is now in your Majesty’s court. I mean my own servant. Only call him and threaten that you will have his head cut off if he does not do it, and compel him to accept the task. I dare say he will try to excuse himself, and say the thing is impossible, but only threaten him with the loss of his head whether he refuses or fails. For my part, I am quite willing your Majesty should have him put to death, if he disobeys.’
When the king heard this, he summoned the disguised prince before him, and said, ‘I hear that you can do wonders: that you are able to drive wild beasts out like cattle to find their own food in the forest, and bring them back safely at night into their cages. Therefore, I order you this morning to drive all my bears into the forest, and to bring them back again in the evening. If you don’t do this, your head will pay for it; so beware!’
The unlucky prince answered, ‘I am not able to do this thing, so your Majesty had better cut off my head at once.’
But the king would not listen to him, only saying, ‘We will wait until evening; then I shall surely have your head cut off unless you bring back all my bears safely to their cages.’