Page 186 - Malay sketches

MALAY SKETCHES
under the house, and the King looked upon the
machine and said it was good and cheap and would
eat nothing.
These are the words of the Priest : "The four
days went by and the men came to be paid, and I
told my master, but he seemed to be busy with
other things, and I sent them away to come again
the next In this way the time passed till the
day.
day for our departure, and I knew the men who
owned the box and the carriage were angry, but I
saw my master wanted the things. When at last
the trouble came, and the King said it was not his
business but mine, I told the men they could take
the box and the carriage back because they did not
please the King, but they would not, and I was
afraid lest shame should come on my master, and I
went out and borrowed the money and paid it.
Could I, who am a priest, play with a box that sings
not of God nor the Prophet ? Can I, who am a poor
man, who only live to pray and to preach, to exhort
the living and to bury the dead, can I ride on the
stomachless horse with three wheels, I whose duty
is in the mosque and by the grave ? My master
the King knows that in this thing as in others I
have but obeyed the voice of my master."
So Church and State quarrelled, and the priest
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