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But that was not all. Next, all 40 of the King of Bukhara's other wives and concubines came out into the courtyard and called out to 40 more slaves. Each of the slaves came out and did to them the same thing that the other slave had done to the king's favorite wife.
All this time, unknown to all of them, the King of Samarkand peered out through the window of the palace, watching all of this, in wonder and amazement.
Late that evening, the King of Bukhara returned from the hunt, only to find his brother in a joyful and happy mood. The King of Bukhara said to his brother, "Why, my brother, when I left here this morning, you were very gloomy and sad but, now that I have returned, for the first time since you arrived here, you seem to be happy. What great fortune has befallen you?"
The King of Samarkand replied, "Yes, it is true. I have been unhappy ever since I arrived here, in spite of your efforts to entertain me. This is because of a great tragedy I suffered at the time of my departure from Samarkand."
With that, the King of Samarkand told the sad story of how he had surprised his wife and her slave in bed in the royal palace in Samarkand and how he had had no choice but to cut off both of their heads.
When he heard this, the King of Bukhara said, "That is such a terrible thing. I can see how that would deeply hurt an honorable man such as yourself. You must have suffered greatly. I am so fortunate that such a thing could never happen to me. But then, please tell me, why is it that today you have become so happy and joyful."
"Because", said the King of Samarkand, "I have found out that, as deep as my troubles have been, there is somebody whose troubles are 40 times greater than mine."
"Pray tell, who is that person," said the King of Bukhara, "and how can such a thing be?"
"Why, it is you!", said the King of Samarkand. "I had only one wife in Samarkand. But you have 40 wives and concubines here in Bukhara, and all of them are doing the same bad thing which my wife did."
With that, the King of Samarkand told the King of Bukhara what he had seen from the window of the royal bedchamber that day.
"No. Impossible!", said the King of Bukhara. "My wife would never, never do such a thing! My favorite wife is pure and honest and loyal. My wife is a pious woman of high intellect and great virtue. It is completely impossible for my wife to do a thing like that."
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---'-,-{@ Sassy Grrrl @}-'-,---
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