He is her god who can bring her
health, or who can cause her death.
(Vv. 5719-5814.) Thus the empress takes care that no physician
shall examine her; and more completely to deceive the emperor she
refuses to eat or drink, until she grows all pale and blue.
Meanwhile her nurse keeps busy about her, and with great
shrewdness sought privily all through the city, without the
knowledge of any one, until she found a woman who was hopelessly
ill with a mortal disease. In order to perfect her ruse she used
to go to see her often and promised to cure her of her illness;
so each day she used to take a urinal in which to examine the
urine, until she saw one day that no medicine could ever be of
any help, and that she would die that very day. This urine
Thessala carried off and kept until the emperor arose, when she
went to him and said: "If now it be your will, my lord, send for
all your physicians; for my mistress has passed some water; she
is very ill with this disease, and she desires the doctors to see
it, but she does not wish them to come where she is." The
doctors came into the hall and found upon examination that the
urine was very bad and colourless, and each one said what he
thought about it. Finally, they all agreed that she would never
recover, and that she would scarcely live till three o'clock,
when, at the latest, God would take her soul to Himself.
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