the King’s So SE 201

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Amongst the rest, some officers came on board, desiring to speak
with the merchants in the name of the sultan. The merchants
appearing, one of the officers told them, ‘The sultan; our master,
hath commanded us to acquaint you that he is glad of your safe
arrival, and prays you to take the trouble, every one of you, to write
some lines upon this roll of paper. You must know that we had.a
prime vizier who, besides having a great capacity to manage affairs,
understood writing to the highest. perfection. This minister is lately
dead, at which the sultan is very much troubled ; and since he can
never behold his writing without admiration, he has made a solemn
vow not to give the place to any man but to him who can write as
well as he did. Many people have presented their writings, but, so
far, nobody in all this empire has been judged worthy to supply the
vizier’s place.’

Those merchants that believed they could write well enough to
aspire to this high dignity wrote one after another what they thought
fit. After they had done, I advanced, and took the roll out of the
gentleman’s hand; but all the people, especially the merchants, cried
out, ‘He will tear it, or throw it into the sea, till they saw how
properly I held the roll, and made a sign that I would write in my
turn; then they were of another opinion, and their fear turned into
admiration. However, since they had never seen an ape that could
write, nor could be persuaded that I was more ingenious than other
apes, they tried to snatch the roll out of my hand; but the captain
took my part once more. ‘ Let him alone, said he; ‘suffer him to
write. If he only scribbles the paper, I promise you that I will -
punish him on the spot. If, on the contrary, he writes well, as I
hope he will, because I never saw an ape SO clever and ingenious
and so quick of apprehension, I do declare that I will own him as
my son; I had one that had not half the wit that he has.’ Per-
ceiving that nobody opposed my design, I took the pen and wrote

_six sorts of hands used among the Arabians, and each specimen