Malayan literature; comprising romantic tales, epic poetry and royal ...

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MALAYAN LITERATURE
their duty, and are showing no more deference nor respect
We must inspire them with fear, or affairs will not prosper."
The King in his blind confidence responded, " Do whatever
you think is right." As soon as the minister had come from
the palace of the King he addressed a proclamation to the
"
His Majesty is irri-
towns and villages in which he said :
tated with his subjects. You must all come with presents to
appease his anger." From all sides arrived princes and min-
isters and grandees of the realm, with precious and magnificent
objects. Seized with fear they sought counsel of the minister
Rassat Rouchin.
*'
How," said they,
"
dare we present ourselves before his
Majesty in his present state of anger against us?"
"
Then the minister :
responded If the instant of death is
not yet come for you, I will try to save you. I tremble to admit
you to the King. But what can I do? On account of the
critical situation I will go alone before the King and present
your case." So every day he conducted them only as far as the
door of the King. There they were told of the fines to which
they had been condemned. He took in this way what they
had, and sent them home.
This sort of thing continued for a long while until the means
of the people were exhausted and the treasury became abso-
lutely empty. The King, always full of confidence in the up-
rightness of the minister, was in complete ignorance of all
this. But at that time there was a king who was an enemy
of King Khochtacab. When he learned that the subjects of
the latter were suffering cruelly from the oppression of his
minister and that his generals were weakened by hunger, he
took heart and invaded the kingdom. Then King Khochtacab
commanded that his treasury should be opened, and that they
should take out all the wealth to gratify the army, gain the
hearts of the generals, and defray the expenses of the war. But
he found that there was nothing left in the treasury. The
army, weakened, was incapable of resisting. The King, shut
up in his fort, found it impossible to attack the enemy, and they
ravaged and despoiled the kingdom.
The King, having been considered so great, was cruelly
wounded by shame at his defeat. He knew not which way
to turn his steps. His soul was profoundly troubled. One