第102章

At the death of that King there remained three fortresses which had revolted from his rule,and which he was never able to take,which were these --Rachol,and Odegary and Conadolgi,[506]which have large and rich territories and are the principal forts in the kingdom.At his death he left two sons,and the governor of the kingdom was Nasenaque,who was father of the king that afterwards was king of Bisnaga;[507]and this king (Narsymgua),before he died,sent to call Narsenaque his minister,and held converse with him,telling him that at his death he would by testament leave him to govern the kingdom until the princes should be of an age to rule;also he said that all the royal treasures were his alone,and he reminded him that he had won this kingdom of Narsymgua at the point of the sword;adding that now there remained only three fortresses to be taken,but that for him the time for their capture was passed;and the King begged him to keep good guard over the kingdom and to deliver it up to the princes,to whichever of them should prove himself most fitted for it.And after the King's death this Narsenaque remained as governor,and soon he raised up the prince to be king,retaining in his own hands the treasures and revenues and the government of the country.

At that time a captain who wished him ill,determined to kill the prince,with a view afterwards to say that Narsenaque had bidden him commit the murder,he being the minister to whom the government of the kingdom had been entrusted,and he thought that for this act of treason Narsenaque would be put to death.And he soon so arranged it that the prince was killed one night by one of his pages who had been bribed for that purpose,and who slew the prince with a sword.As soon as Narsenaque heard that he was dead,and learned that he himself (was supposed to have)sent to kill him,he raised up another brother of the late King's to be king,not being able further to punish this captain,because he had many relations,until after he had raised this younger brother to be king,who was called Tamarao.He (Narsenaque)went out one day from the city of Bisnaga towards Nagumdym,saying that he was going hunting,leaving all his household in the city.And after he had arrived at this city of Nagumdym he betook himself to another called Penagumdim,[508]which is four-and-twenty leagues from that place,where he at once made ready large forces and many horses and elephants,and then sent to tell the King Tamarao of the cause of his going;relating to him the treason that that captain by name Tymarsaa[509]had carried out slaying his brother the king,and by whose death he (the prince)had inherited the kingdom.He told him how that the kingdom had been entrusted to him by his father,as well as the care of himself and his brother,that as this man had killed his brother,so he would do to him in the same way,for he was a traitor;and he urged that for that reason it was necessary to punish him.But the king at that time was very fond of that captain,since by reason of him he had become King,and in place of punishing him he bestowed favour on him and took his part against the minister.And,seeing this,Narsenaque went against him with large forces,and besieged him,threatening him for four or five days,until the King,seeing his determination,commanded Timarsaa to be put to death;after which he (the King)sent the (traitor's)head to be shown to the minister,who greatly rejoiced.Narsenaque sent away all the troops and entered the city,where he was very well received by all the people,by whom he was much loved as being a man of much justice.

And after some days and years had passed,Narsenaque,seeing the age of the king how young he was,determined to keep him in the city of Penagumdy,with large guards to make safe his person,and to give him 20,000cruzados of gold every year for his food and expenses,and himself to govern the kingdom --for it had been entrusted to him by the king his lord so to do.After this had been done he told the King that he desired to go to Bisnaga to do certain things that would tend to the benefit of the kingdom,and the King,pleased at that,told him that so it should be;thinking that now he himself would be more his own master and not be so liable to be checked by him.And after he had departed and arrived at Bisnaga,Narsenaque sent the King 20,000men for his guard,as he had arranged,and he sent as their captain Timapanarque,a man in whom he much confided;(commanding him)that he should not allow the King to leave the city,and that he should carefully guard his person against treachery.