#zaragoz

It is the way of the common man to complain about those who rule over them. Every man is a tyrant to his enemies.

"Orfeo," [Orfeo] said, "had walked beneath the hot sun for many an hour, along the north shore of the river Eboro…" "You tell the story as it if had happened to another," said the Caliph, uneasily, "although the name which you use is your own. Why do you not say 'I had walked' as any other man would?" "It is not the proper way to make a story," said Orfeo, gently. "And the fact that a story is true does not mean that it should cease to be a story."

"Sit down," said the Caliph, when the servant had gone. "I have seen to it that we will not be disturbed. The night is the proper time for men to talk, and I have coats in case it should grow cold when the sun is too long gone. And if your tale should be so long in the telling that it exhausts the dark hours… well then, I trust that you will leave it at a proper point, so that we may take it up again when the night frees us yet again from the burdens of my kingship."

"You killed one of my men," said the Caliph, sadly. "He intended to make a slave of me, my lord," Orfeo pointed out. "I am content to be the humble servant of all men, but I have a prejudice against becoming the slave of any one."