I slew him by means of this ring on my finger，and Allah hurried his soul to the fire and the abiding-place dire.'Therewithal the King was assured that this was indeed he who slew his son；so presently he called his Wazirs and said to them，'This is the murtherer of my son sans shadow of doubt： so how do you counsel me to deal with him？ Shall I slay him with the foulest slaughter or torture him with the terriblest torments or how？'Quoth the Chief Minister，'Cut off his limbs，one a day.'Another，'Beat him with a grievous beating every day till he die.'A third，'Cut him across the middle.'A fourth，'Chop off all his fingers and burn him with fire.'A fifth，'Crucify him；'and so on，each speaking according to his rede.Now there was with the Blue King an old Emir，versed in the vicissitudes and experienced in the exchanges of the times，and he said，'O King of the Age，verily I would say to thee somewhat，and thine is the rede whether thou wilt hearken or not to my say.'Now he was the King's privy Councillor and the Chief Officer of his empire，and the Sovran was wont to give ear to his word and conduct himself by his counsel and gainsay him not in aught.So he rose and kissing ground before his liege lord，said to him，'O King of the Age，if I advise thee in this matter，wilt thou follow my advice and grant me indemnity？'Quoth the King，'Set forth thine opinion，and thou shalt have immunity.'Then quoth he，'O King of the Age，an thou slay this one nor accept my advice nor hearken to my word，in very sooth I say that his death were now inexpedient，for that he his thy prisoner and in thy power，and under thy protection；so whenas thou wilt，thou mayst lay hand on him and do with him what thou desirest.Have patience，then，O King of the Age，for he hath entered the garden of Iram and is become the betrothed of Badi'a al-Jamal，daughter of King Shahyal，and one of them.Thy people seized him there and brought him hither and he did not hide his case from them or from thee.So an thou slay him，assuredly King Shahyal will seek blood-revenge and lead his host against thee for his daughter's sake，and thou canst not cope with him nor make head against his power.'So the King hearkened to his counsel and commanded to imprison the captive.
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