Hard by the prison to which I was committed, there was a long court or entry in the manner of a cloister, where sometimes I and other prisoners were permitted to walk, and which was overlooked by a part of the sultan’s palace.  It happened that one of the sultan’s wives remained in the palace, having twelve young maidens to wait upon her, who were all very comely, though inclining to black.  By their favour I was much aided, after the following manner:  There were two other men confined alone with me in the same prison, and it was agreed among us that one of us should counterfeit madness, by which we might derive some advantage.  Accordingly it fell to my lot to assume the appearance of madness, which made greatly for my purpose, as they consider mad men to be holy, and they therefore allowed me to go much more at large than before, until such time as the hermits might determine whether I were holy mad, or raging mad, as shall be shewn hereafter.  But the first three days of my assumed madness wearied me so much, that I was never so tired with labour, or grieved with pain; for the boys and vile people used to run after me, sometimes to the number of forty or fifty, calling me a mad man, and throwing stones at me, which usage I sometimes repaid in their own coin.  To give the better colour to my madness, I always carried some stones in the lap of my shirt, as I had no other clothing whatever.  The queen hearing of my madness, used oftentimes to look from her windows to see me, more instigated by a secret love for my person than the pleasure she derived from my mad pranks, as afterwards appeared.  One time, when some of the natives played the knave with me in view of the queen, whose secret favour towards me I began to perceive, I threw off my shirt, and went to a place near the windows, where the queen might see me all naked, which I perceived gave her great pleasure, as she always contrived some device to prevent me going out of her sight, and would sometimes spend almost the whole day in looking at me.  In the mean time she often sent me secretly abundance of good meat by her maids; and when she saw the boys or others doing me harm or vexing me, she called to me to kill them, reviling them also as dogs and beasts.

There was a great fat sheep that was fed in the court of the palace, of that kind whereof the tail only will sometimes weigh eleven or twelve pounds.  Under colour of my madness, I one day laid hold of this sheep, repeating Leila illala Mahumet resullah, the words which the Sultan desired me to repeat in his presence, by way of proof whether I was a Mahometan or professed Mameluke.  As the sheep gave no answer, I asked him whether he were Mahometan, Jew, or Christian.  And willing to make him a Mahometan, I repeated the formula as before, which signifies, “There is but one God, and Mahomet is his prophet,” being the words the Mahometans rehearse as their profession of faith.  As the sheep answered never a word