“There is but one thing,” replied the steward; “when you hand the cup to the emperor, turn away your head from him; then will he not be incommoded by your breath, and will see that you do your best to please him.”
“Thanks, good Malitius. Your advice has made me feel happy.”
“Thy happiness be thy ruin,” muttered Malitius to himself as he turned away.
That day Fulgentius attended on his uncle at dinner; and as he handed to him the cup he held it far off, and turned away his face, lest he should distress the emperor.
“Wretch!” cried the emperor, at the same time striking Fulgentius on the breast; “now know I that it is true what I have heard of thee; go, go from my sight, thou varlet, I thought to have made thee a king; but now see my face no more.”
Sorely wept Fulgentius as he passed from the hall, amid the jeers and scoffs of his former companions; for he was now disgraced, and they cared not for him.
“Malitius,” said the emperor, “let thy son supply the place of this ingrate. Come, my good lord, counsel me how I may rid myself of this varlet, that disgraces me before the world.”
“Sire, this would I propose; some miles from this city your workmen burn lime in a vast forge in the forest; send to them this night, and bid them cast into their furnace whoever first comes to them to-morrow morning, and asks of them ‘Have you performed the emperor’s will?’ Call also Fulgentius to thee, and bid him early on the morrow go to the lime-burners, and ask them whether they have fulfilled your commands; then will they cast him into the fire, and his evil words will perish with him.”
And the emperor did so. He bade Fulgentius be at the kilns before sunrise; and that night sent a horseman to the lime-burners, bidding them burn the first man that on the morrow should inquire of them whether they had performed the emperor’s will.
Long before sunrise Fulgentius rose from his sleepless couch, and hastened to perform his uncle’s commands, hoping by this means to regain the good-will of the emperor. As he went on his way with a heavy heart, and drew near to the wood within the depths of which the lime-burners dwelt, the sound of the matin bell of a neighboring chapel arrested his steps. The tones of the bell seemed to bring peace to his troubled mind, and he turned from the path towards the way-side chapel, and offered up his prayers and thanksgivings to his God. But as the service was ending, the fatigue he had undergone disposed him to rest himself; so he sat himself down in the porch of the chapel and fell asleep.