The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night-Volume 05 [Supplement]

It is related that whilome there was a King of the many Kings of Sind who had a son by other than his wife. Now the youth, whenever he entered the palace, would revile[4] and abuse and curse and use harsh words to his step-mother, his father's Queen, who was beautiful exceedingly; and presently her charms were changed and her face waxed wan and for the excess of what she heard from him she hated life and fell to longing for death. Withal she could not say a word concerning the Prince to his parent. One day of the days, behold, an aged woman (which had been her nurse) came in to her and saw her in excessive sorrow and perplext as to her affair for that she knew not what she could do with her step-son. So the ancient dame said to her, “O my lady, no harm shall befal thee; yet is thy case changed into other case and thy colour hath turned to yellow.”