polite men. Düýp Ýabgy Han kept a close eye on the two friends for a long time. He once wanted to appoint one of them as the chief commander of armies responsible for the protection of the whole nation and its lands together with the provision of security for the Soltan himself.

Düýp Ýabgy Han issued an order. The guards of the Soltan would go and seize the potential chief commander, tie his hands and beat him almost to death, and jail him. And later the judges of the country would accuse him of attempting to assassinate the Soltan and sentence him to death.

The commander whom the Soltan was planning to appoint to the post of chief commander was thus awaiting death.

The Soltan subjects the jailed commander’s friend to the same plot. He is accused of the same crime and jailed. Before the execution of the penalty, the Soltan calls the first commander before him and says:

“I loved you as I did my son. I was planning to appoint you to the office of the chief commander, and I now see what you were after.”

The commander replied:

“Soltan of the world, I don’t know how I betrayed my country. How could you decide that I had done so?”

The Soltan said:

“Before I take decisions of any type, I spend much time thinking. This friend of yours told me that you were planning an assassination. Here’s his letter telling me that.” In all seriousness, the Soltan told the commander that he had been betrayed by his friend. Knowing that the Soltan was a man of integrity, the commander said in a shocked manner: