306 THE KING'S MIRROR 



near his father whenever possible, and he frequently 

 sat on the judgment seat with him. It was in the king's 

 nature to be slow in reaching decisions; and it was said 

 among men of quick minds that he would surely be 

 able to settle the law suits and speak his verdicts more 

 promptly, if he were truly wise. This remark was ap- 

 proved by the king's son and by many others among 

 the wise men; and so often was the saying repeated 

 that the king himself got news of it. Now it happened 

 at one time that the king was indisposed after a bleed- 

 ing; and just then a number of men came to bring their 

 disputes before the king. He then sent for his son, the 

 one who was in the habit of sitting in judgment with 

 him, and said to him: "Summon the wise men who 

 are accustomed to sit in judgment with me and go into 

 my judgment hall and take my seat for to-day, and de- 

 termine as many of the law suits as you possibly can 

 get over." It was done as the king commanded. And 

 when the cases were presented to those men, it looked 

 to them as if they could decide the suits in a hurry. 

 But when the king's son was ready to determine the 

 disputes which had been brought before him, he thought 

 he saw three young men coming forward, handsome 

 yet terrible in appearance. Two of them sat down at 

 his feet, one on either side. One was occupied with a set 

 of writings in which were written out all the cases that 

 were to be settled that day, one case in each document. 

 The other was busy with balances; and these appeared 

 so delicate that, if a little hair was laid upon them, they 

 would be disturbed. The one who had the balances 

 held them up, while the other, who had the documents, 



