right.”

“Not quite, not wholly right. You have asked for one, not us — for one, not both; food for one, a seat for one.”

The king looked puzzled — he wasn’t a very heavy weight, intellectually.

His head was an hour-glass; it could stow an idea, but it had to do it a grain at a time, not the whole idea at once.

“Would you have a seat also — and sit?”

“If I did not sit, the man would perceive that we were only pretending to be equals — and playing the deception pretty poorly, too.”

“It is well and truly said! How wonderful is truth, come it in whatsoever unexpected form it may! Yes, he must bring out seats and food for both, and in serving us present not ewer and napkin with more show of respect to the one than to the other.”