The man lurched along watched only by the sun, for other travelers saw the mark on his hat and turned away without speech. Householders put food and water by the road for him and pointed the way if he seemed unsure where to go. That was toward the king, for his judgment must be sought before the banished man knew whether he would be allowed to stay in that country.
After weeks on foot, for the country he had entered after previous weeks was not small, he reached the place where the king sat. He won his audience without a word, for he had the mark, and that was the compact among kings. The sitting was in the square of a town, for the king was out giving justice, and the plain seat was a throne, for a king sat on it. He beckoned the exile forward.
"What is your occupation?"
"A carver of fine things in bone and in ivory, which is bone also."
"For what cause were you banished?"
"The king who was my king then bade me create dice such as no man had seen or used before which would impress his nobles and foreign kings. A set of two hundred thirty-four, one for each year his dynasty has ruled and each carved and dyed so as to commemorate an event of one year. One and one-half years later, I presented the completed set. I was praised then, but I will let others speak to the quality of my dice. I can attest what I was told happened next. The men of the court and visitors alike refused to throw those dice for fear of marring them. The king imagined I had played a trick on him and banished me."
"Will you swear that is the true cause?"
"I do so swear."
"Excellent." The king leaned forward. "It happens that I have come to be dismayed by the extent of gambling with dice in my country . . ."
Finis
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