Prince Agib hears how a boy has been shut in an underground chamber to evade a prophecy, which says that within forty days a certain Prince Agib will come and murder him. Agib finds the whole matter ridiculous, even though he knows he has already fulfilled part of the prophecy by destroying a brass statue of a horseman.

To avoid worrying the boy, Agib conceals his own identity and stays the forty days with him in the chamber, hoping to hitch a ride home on his father’s ship. However, on the very last day Agib is fetching a knife to slice some melon when he slips and accidentally kills the boy, just as predicted.

114 words