h your Majesty to dispose of
him according to your pleasure."

The countenance of the captive attracted the particular attention of
the King.

"Who are you, young man?" inquired the Prince. "You seem not to have
been born for the criminal profession you follow. How did you fall
into the hands of the caravan?"

Bhazad, lest he should dishonour his respectable name, was unwilling
to make himself known.

"Sire," replied he, "my appearance ought not to impose upon your
Majesty: I am, and always have been, a professed robber."

"Your answer," said the King, "is your sentence of death. Yet," said
he to himself, "I ought to be rash in nothing. Regard must be had to
his youth and external qualities, which seem to distinguish him from
people of his profession. If this young man is in reality a robber, he
deserves punishment; but if he is an unfortunate sport of destiny, who
hath sought for death as a deliverance from the sorrows of life, one
may become an accomplice in his crime by not preventing his death."

The prudent Sovereign, having made this soliloquy, ordered Bhazad to
be shut up in close confinement, expecting some great discovery
respecting his rank.

In the meantime the King of Syria, having in quest of his son searched
his dominions in vain, addressed circular letters to all the
Sovereigns of Asia. One of them came to the King in whose dominion
Bhazad was in custody. From the description which it gave of him, he
had no doubt that the young adventurer whom he kept in prison was the
well-beloved son of the powerful monarch of Syria. What reason had he
to applaud himself for not having hurried his judgment!

He sent immediately for the handsome prisoner, and asked his name.

"My name is Bhazad," replied the young man.

"You are the son, then, of King Cyrus. But what motives determined you
to conceal your birth? Had I not been slow in the execution of
punishment, it would have cost you your life, and me the remorse of
having treated you as a vile assassin."

"Sire," replied Bhazad, after having revealed to him the secret of his
escape, "finding myself seized among robbers, in whose crimes I had
involuntarily shared, I preferred death to shame, and was unwilling to
dishonour a name so illustrious."

"Son," replied the sage monarch, "there has been a great deal of
imprudence in your behaviour. You were in love, and assured of wedding
in a few months the object of your affection. See to what rashness and
imp