The
physician then had recourse to his prayers: Alas! sir, cries he,
prolong my days, and God will prolong yours; do not put me to
death, lest God treat you in the same manner. The fisherman broke
off his discourse here, to apply it to the genie. Well, genie,
says he, you see that what passed then betwixt the Grecian king
and his physician Douban is acted just now betwixt us.
The Grecian king, continues he, instead of having regard to the
prayers of the physician, who begged him for God's sake to spare
him, cruelly replied to him, No, no; I must of necessity cut you
off, otherwise you may take away my life with as much subtleness
as you cured me. The physician, melting into tears, and bewailing
himself sadly for being so ill rewarded by the king, prepared for
death. The executioner bound up his eyes, tied his hands, and
went to draw his scimitar.
Then the courtiers, who were present, being moved with
compassion, begged the king to pardon him, assuring his majesty
that he was not guilty of the crime laid to his charge, and that
they would answer for his innocence; but the king was inflexible,
and answered them so, as they dared not to say any more of the
matter.
The physician being on his knees, his eyes tied up, and ready to
receive the fatal blow, addressed himself once more to the king:
Sir, says he, since your majesty will not revoke the sentence of
death, I beg, at least, that you will give me leave to return to
my house, to give orders about my burial, to bid farewell to my
family, to give alms, and to bequeath my books to those who are
capable of making good use of them.
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