He
waited for his last moment with great tranquillity, and his only
care was to recommend the ministers and other lords of his son's
court to remain faithful to him: and there was not one but
willingly renewed his oath as freely as at first. He died, at
length, to the great grief of King Beder and Queen Gulnare, who
caused his corpse to be borne to a stately mausoleum, worthy of his
rank and dignity.
The funeral ended, King Beder found no difficulty in complying with
that ancient custom in Persia to mourn for the dead a whole month,
and not to be seen by anybody during all that time. He would have
mourned the death of his father his whole life, had it been right
for a great prince thus to abandon himself to grief. During this
interval the queen, mother to Queen Gulnare, and King Saleh,
together with the princesses their relations, arrived at the
Persian court, and shared their affliction, before they offered any
consolation.
When the month was expired, the king could not refuse admittance to
the grand vizier and the other lords of his court, who besought him
to lay aside his mourning, to show himself to his subjects, and
take upon him the administration of affairs as before.
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