"There was once a king named Bihkerd aed he had wealth galore and
many troops; but his deeds were evil and he would punish for a
slight offence and never forgave. He went forth one day to hunt
and one of his servants shot an arrow, which lit on the king's
ear and cut it off. Quoth Bihkerd, 'Who shot that arrow?' So the
guards brought him in haste the offender, whose name was Yetrou,
and he of his fear fell down on the ground in a swoon. Then said
the king, 'Put him to death;' but Yetrou said, 'O King, this that
hath befallen was not of my choice nor of my knowledge; so do
thou pardon me, in the hour of thy power over me, for that
clemency is of the goodliest of things and belike it shall be [in
this world] a provision and a good work [for which thou shall be
requited] one of these days, and a treasure [laid up to thine
account] with God in the world to come. Pardon me, therefore, and
fend off evil from me, so shall God fend off from thee evil the
like thereof.' When the king heard this, it pleased him and he
pardoned the servant, albeit he had never before pardoned any.
Now this servant was of the sons of the kings and had fled from
his father, on account of an offence he had committed. Then he
went and took service with King Bihkerd and there happened to him
what happened. After awhile, it chanced that a man recognized him
and went and told his father, who sent him a letter, comforting
his heart and mind and [beseeching him] to return to him. So he
returned to his father, who came forth to meet him and rejoiced
in him, and the prince's affairs were set right with him.
It befell, one day of the days, that King Bihkerd embarked in a
ship and put out to sea, so he might fish; but the wind blew on
them and the ship foundered. The king won ashore on a plank,
unknown of any, and came forth, naked, on one of the coasts; and
it chanced that he landed in the country whereof the father of
the youth aforesaid, [his sometime servant], was king. So he came
in the night to the gate of the latter's city and [finding it
shut], took up his lodging [for the night] in a burying-place
there.
When the morning morrowed and the folk came forth of the city,
they found a murdered man cast down in a corner of the
burial-ground and seeing Bihkerd there, doubted not but it was he
who had slain him; so they laid hands on him and carried him up
to the king and said to him, 'This fellow hath slain a man.' The
king bade imprison him; [so they clapped him in prison] and he
fell a-saying in himself, what while he was in the prison, 'All
that hath befallen me is of the abundance of my sins and my
tyranny, for, indeed, I have slain much people unrighteously and
this is the requital of my deeds and that which I have wrought
aforetime of oppression.' As he was thus pondering in himself,
there came a bird and lighted down on the coign of the prison,
whereupon, of his much eagerness in the chase, he took a stone
and cast it at the bird.
Now the king's son was playing in the exercise-ground with the
ball and the mall, and the stone lit on his ear and cut it off,
whereupon the prince fell down in a swoon. So they enquired who
had thrown the stone and [finding that it was Bihkerd,] took him
and carried him before the prince, who bade put him to death.
Accordingly, they cast the turban from his head and were about to
bind his eyes, when the prince looked at him and seeing him
cropped of an ear, said to him, 'Except thou wert a lewd fellow,
thine ear had not been cut off.' 'Not so, by Allah!' answered
Bihkerd. 'Nay, but the story [of the loss] of my ear is thus and
thus, and I pardoned him who smote me with an arrow and cut off
my ear.' When the prince heard this, he looked in his face and
knowing him, cried out and said, 'Art thou not Bihkerd the king?'
'Yes,' answered he, and the prince said to him 'What bringeth
thee here?' So he told him all that had betided him and the folk
marvelled and extolled the perfection of God the Most High.
Then the prince rose to him and embraced him and kissed him and
entreated him with honour. Moreover, he seated him in a chair and
bestowed on him a dress of honour; and he turned to his father
and said to him, 'This is the king who pardoned me and this is
his ear that I cut off with an arrow; and indeed he deserveth
pardon from me, for that he pardoned me.' Then said he to
Bihkerd, 'Verily, the issue of clemency hath been a provision for
thee [in thine hour of need].' And they entreated him with the
utmost kindness and sent him back to his own country in all
honour and worship Know, then, O King," continued the youth,
"that there is no goodlier thing than clemency and that all thou
dost thereof, thou shalt find before thee, a treasure laid up for
thee."
When the king heard this, his wrath subsided and he said, "Carry
him back to the prison till the morrow, so we may look into his
affair."
The Eighth Day.