Prevod

It has reached me, O King, concerning the wiles of women, that there was once a man who stood with a sword at the head of a king. This man loved a slave girl, and one day he sent his servant lad to her with a message, as was their custom. The lad sat with her and toyed with her, until she took a liking to him and clasped him to her breast. He asked her to lie with him, and she consented. While they were thus engaged, his master suddenly knocked at the door. She seized the lad and thrust him into a cellar, then opened the door. The man entered, sword in hand, and sat down on her bed. She came to him, caressing and fondling him, clasping him to her breast and kissing him, until he rose and lay with her. Just then her husband knocked at the door. “Who is that?” the man asked. “My husband,” she replied. “What am I to do?” he said. “How can we get out of this?” She told him, “Get up, draw your sword, and stand in the passage. Curse me and abuse me, and when my husband comes in, leave and go your way.” He did as she bade him. When her husband entered, he saw the king’s treasurer standing there with his sword drawn, cursing his wife and threatening her. At the sight of him, the treasurer looked abashed, sheathed his sword, and left the house. “What was all that about?” the husband asked his wife. “Husband,” she replied, “how blessed was the hour of your coming! You have saved a believing soul from death. I was up on the roof, spinning, when a lad came rushing in, beside himself and panting for fear of being killed. This man was hurrying after him with his sword drawn, bent on catching him. The lad threw himself at my feet, kissed my hands and feet, and said, ‘My lady, save me from one who means to kill me unjustly!’ So I hid him in our cellar. When this man entered with his sword drawn and demanded the lad of me, I denied that he was here. Then he began cursing and threatening me, as you saw. Praise be to God, who brought you to me, for I was at my wits’ end, with no one here to save me.” Her husband said, “You did well, wife. Your reward is with God, and may He repay your deed with good.” Then he went to the cellar and called to the lad, “Come up. You have nothing to fear.” The lad came up trembling, while the husband reassured him, saying, “Set your mind at ease. No harm will come to you.” He expressed his sympathy for what the lad had suffered, and the lad called down blessings upon him. Then the two went out together, neither knowing what the woman had contrived. Know, then, O King, that this is but one of the wiles of women, and beware of trusting their words. So the king relented and did not put his son to death.

On the third day, the slave girl came before the king, kissed the ground at his feet, and said, “O King, grant me justice against your son, and do not heed your viziers, for there is no good in the viziers of this age. Do not be like the king who trusted the counsel of a wicked vizier.” “And how was that?” the king asked her.