his ship, and commanded the captain to return to Cyprus and
deliver them to his wife, Cassandra. He next obtained an audience
of the Sultan, and begged permission to travel through the
country, which the Sultan readily gave him, adding some letters
to the rulers of other lands which Fortunatus might wish to
visit.

Filled with delight at feeling himself free to roam through the
world once more, Fortunatus set out on his journey without losing
a day. From court to court he went, astonishing everyone by the
magnificence of his dress and the splendour of his presents. At
length he grew as tired of wandering as he had been of staying at
home, and returned to Alexandria, where he found the same ship
that had brought him from Cyprus lying in the harbour. Of course
the first thing he did was to pay his respects to the Sultan, who
was eager to hear about his adventures.

When Fortunatus had told them all, the Sultan observed: ‘Well,
you have seen many wonderful things, but I have something to show
you more wonderful still;' and he led him into a room where
precious stones lay heaped against the walls. Fortunatus' eyes
were quite dazzled, but the Sultan went on without pausing and
opened a door at the farther end. As far as Fortunatus could see,
the cupboard was quite bare, except for a little red cap, such as
soldiers wear in Turkey.

‘Look at this,' said the Sultan.

‘But there is nothing very valuable about it,' answered
Fortunatus. ‘I've seen a dozen better caps than that, this very