"Craig Shaw Gardner - Arabian 3 - The Last Arabian Night" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gardner Craig Shaw)

that the elder of the brothers, Shahryar who was known to his people
as the tall king, found himself with a violent longing for his brother and
childhood companion, whom he had not seen in all of those long years
that the two of them had ruled their separate domains. He therefore
sent his trusted vizier to visit his brother, King Shahzaman, who was
still, for all his years and wisdom, known as the younger king to both
his subjects and those of the neighboring kingdom.

And the younger king, hearing of his brother's longing for reunion,
readily agreed to such a meeting. He then prepared his court for a
prolonged absence, having long discussions with his own majordomo,
and his chief of eunuchs and his chief of slaves, telling them to tend to
their particular duties, and to take special care to watch over his wife
and to protect her from all trouble, for he loved the woman dearly.

Oh, but that fate can change any and all without warning, and that no
man can control his Destiny! So it was that, mere moments after he had
departed from his court, the younger king remembered a certain item in
his apartments that he had wished to present to his brother as a gift. No
sooner had he returned to his apartments, however, than he discovered
not one form, but two, residing upon his wife's favorite couch.
Now, one of these individuals was indeed the king's wife, which one
might not find surprising. However, the second form-which was
pressed so close that you could not tell where the perspiration upon
one naked body ended and where the sweat upon the other unclothed
form began, not to mention certain other fluids that one might share
between a male and female-this second form was the chief among
slaves, that very same man whom the king had so recently exhorted.
Never had King Shahzaman imagined, when he had issued his
instructions, that the tall and agile slave would protect his wife quite that
closely.

Well, Shahzaman had little choice in a matter of this nature. There was
nothing for it save to have both wife and slave beheaded. But, once he
was done with this onerous task, not only was he an additional quarter
of an hour late for the beginning of his journey, but this unfaithfulness
business had placed him in a temper unbecoming to a reunion with his
brother.

And yet, a promise is a promise, and a king is nothing if he does not
fulfill his duties. So it was that King Shahzaman traveled to the
neighboring kingdom. And his brother, the tall king, King Shahryar,
greeted him joyously, and Shahzaman did his best to reciprocate the
emotion. But, despite his best efforts, the younger king found he had
little appetite for the grand banquet that evening and did not even deign
to glance at the sumptuous entertainments which followed. Indeed, his
thoughts plagued him that entire night, so that the following morning
found him still awake, with hollowed eyes and sallow complexion.

His brother asked him what was amiss, but the younger king did not