ng a shelter for him from the sun's rays by a roof of
shields hung on their spears. Thus he fell into a sleep so deep that
none dared to awake him. Hours passed by, and still he slumbered, and
still his whole retinue waited impatiently for his awakening. At
length, when the evening shadows began to lie long and black on the
ground, their impatience found vent in little restless movements of
hounds chafing in their leashes, of spears clashing, of shields
dropping from the weariness of their holders, and horses neighing and
prancing; and then Maxen Wledig awoke suddenly with a start. "Ah, why
did you arouse me?" he asked sadly. "Lord, your dinner hour is long
past--did you not know?" they said. He shook his head mournfully, but
said no word, and, mounting his horse, turned it and rode in unbroken
silence back to Rome, with his head sunk on his breast. Behind him
rode in dismay his retinue of kings and tributaries, who knew nothing
of the cause of his sorrowful mood.

The Emperor's Malady

From that day the emperor was changed, changed utterly. He rode no
more, he hunted no more, he paid no heed to the business of the
empire, but remained in seclusion in his own apartments and slept. The
court banquets continued without him, music and song he refused to
hear, and though in his sleep he smiled and was happy, when he awoke
his melancholy could not be cheered or his gloom lightened. When this
condition of things had continued for more than a week it was
determined that the emperor must be aroused from this dreadful state
of apathy, and his groom of the chamber, a noble Roman of very high
rank--indeed, a king, under the emperor--resolved to make the
endeavour.

"My lord," said he, "I have evil tidings for you. The people of Rome
are beginning to murmur against you, because of the change that has
come over you. They say that you are bewitched, that they can get no
answers or decisions from you, and all the affairs of the empire go to
wrack and ruin while you sleep and take no heed. You have ceased to be
their emperor, they say, and they will cease to be loyal to you."

The Dream of the Emperor

Then Maxen Wledig roused himself and said to the noble: "Call hither
my wisest senators and councillors, and I will explain the cause of my
melancholy, and perhaps they will be able to give me relief."
Accordingly the senators came together, and the emperor ascended his
throne, looking so mournful that the whole Senate grieved