now familiar with the old man’s just judgment; what deemeth the king of fetching him?” So the king bade fetch him, and when he saw the two horses[FN#343] he said, “This is worth a thousand and that two thousand ducats.”  Quoth the folk, “This horse thou misjudgest is evidently a thoroughbred and he is younger and faster and compacter of limb and finer of head and clearer of colour and skin than the other;” presently adding, “What assurance hast thou of the sooth of thy saying?” And the old man said, “This ye state is true, all true; but his sire is old and this other is the son of a young horse.  Now, when the son of an old horse standeth still a-breathing, his breath returneth not to him and his rider falleth into the hand of him who followeth after him; but the son of a young horse, an thou put him to speed and after making him run, alight from him, thou wilt find him, by reason of his robustness, untired.”  Quoth the merchant, “’Tis even as the Shaykh avoucheth and he is an excellent judge.”  And the king said, “Increase his allowance.”  But the Shaykh stood still and did not go away; so the king asked him, “Why dost thou not go about thy business?” and he answered, “My business is with the king.”  Said the king, “Name what thou wouldest have,” and the other replied, “I would have thee question me of the quintessence of men, even as thou has questioned me of the quintessence of horses.”  Quoth the king, “We have no occasion to question thee thereof;” but quoth the old man, “I have occasion to acquaint thee.”  “Say what thou wilt,” rejoined the king, and the Shaykh said, “Verily, the king is the son of a baker.”  Cried the king, “How and whereby kennest thou that?” and the Shaykh replied, “Know, O king, that I have examined into degrees and dignities[FN#344] and have learned this.”  Thereupon the king went in to his mother and asked her anent his sire, and she told him that the king her husband was impotent;[FN#345] “So,” quoth she, “I feared for the kingdom, lest it pass away, after his death; wherefore I yielded my person to a young man, a baker, and conceived by him and bare a man-child;[FN#346] and the kingship came into the hand of my son, that is, thyself.”  So the king returned to the Shaykh and said to him, “I am indeed the son of a baker; so do thou expound to me the means whereby thou knewest me for this.”  Quoth the other, “I knew that, hadst thou been the son of a king, thou wouldst have gifted me with things of price, such as rubies and the like; and wert thou the son of a Kazi, thou hadst given largesse of a dirham or two dirhams, and wert thou the son of any of the merchants, thou hadst given me muchel of money.  But I saw that thou bestowedst upon me naught save two bannocks of bread and other rations, wherefore I knew thee to be the son of a baker;” and quoth the king, “Thou hast hit the mark.”  Then he gave him wealth galore and advanced him to high estate.  The tale aforesaid pleased King Shah Bakht and he marvelled thereat; but the Wazir said to him, “This story is not stranger than that of the Richard who married his beautiful daughter to the poor Shaykh.”  The king’s mind was occupied with the promised tale and he bade the Wazir withdraw to his lodging; so he went and abode there the rest of the night and the whole of the following day.