Accordingly, one night, when they were alone with the king and he leant back, as he were asleep, they said these words and the king heard it all and was like to die of rage and said in himself, ’These are young boys, not come to years of discretion, and have no intrigue with any; and except they had heard these words from some one, they had not spoken with each other thereof.’  When it was morning, wrath overmastered him, so that he stayed not neither deliberated, but summoned Abou Temam and taking him apart, said to him, ’Whoso guardeth not his lord’s honour,[FN#126] what behoveth unto him?’ Quoth Abou Temam, ’It behoveth that his lord guard not his honour.’  ’And whoso entereth the king’s house and playeth the traitor with him,’ continued the king, ‘what behoveth unto him?’ And Abou Temam answered, ’He shall not be left on life.’  Whereupon the king spat in his face and said to him, ‘Both these things hast thou done.’  Then he drew his dagger on him in haste and smiting him in the belly, slit it and he died forthright; whereupon the king dragged him to a well that was in his palace and cast him therein.

After he had slain him, he fell into repentance and mourning and chagrin waxed upon him, and none, who questioned him, would he acquaint with the cause thereof, nor, of his love for his wife, did he tell her of this, and whenas she asked him of [the cause of] his grief, he answered her not.  When the viziers knew of Abou Temam’s death, they rejoiced with an exceeding joy and knew that the king’s grief arose from regret for him.  As for Ilan Shah, he used, after this, to betake himself by night to the sleeping-chamber of the two boys and spy upon them, so he might hear what they said concerning his wife.  As he stood one night privily at the door of their chamber, he saw them spread out the gold before them and play with it and heard one of them say, ’Out on us!  What doth this gold profit us?  For that we cannot buy aught therewith neither spend it upon ourselves.  Nay, but we have sinned against Abou Temam and done him to death unjustly.’  And the other answered, ’Had we known that the king would presently kill him, we had not done what we did.’

When the king heard this, he could not contain himself, but rushed in upon them and said to them, ’Out on you!  What did ye?  Tell me.’  And they said, ‘Pardon, O king.’  Quoth he, ’An ye would have pardon from God and me, it behoveth you to tell me the truth, for nothing shall save you from me but truth-speaking.’  So they prostrated themselves before him and said, ’By Allah, O king, the viziers gave us this gold and taught us to lie against Abou Teman, so thou mightest put him to death, and what we said was their words.’  When the king heard this, he plucked at his beard, till he was like to tear it up by the roots and bit upon his fingers, till he well-nigh sundered them in twain, for repentance and sorrow that he had wrought hastily and had not delayed with Abou Temam, so he might look into his affair.