Sayfa 356 / 1116

For ye shall know that the King's Minister, a calligrapher of

renown, is dead, and the King hath sworn a solemn oath that he

will make none Wazir in his stead who cannot write as well as he

could." He then gave us the scroll which measured ten cubits long

by a breadth of one, and each of the merchants who knew how to

write wrote a line thereon, even to the last of them; after which

I stood up (still in the shape of an ape) and snatched the roll

out of their hands. They feared lest I should tear it or throw it

overboard; so they tried to stay me and scare me, but I signed to

them that i could write, whereat all marvelled, saying, "We never

yet saw an, ape write." And the Captain cried, "Let him write;

and if he scribble and scrabble we will kick him out and kill

him; but if he; write fair and scholarly I will adopt him as my

son; for surely I never yet saw a more intelligent and well

mannered monkey than he.