The king also, on visiting the interior apartment, is not wont to remain long with the women; nor do they ever entertain any wishes which have not reference to themselves; such as the mode of speaking when enjoining an officer to perform some service, or increasing the dignity of the great warriors. The same system was followed by every Amir in his own house; but in the dwelling of every Amir, whether near or remote, there was an aged matron or _Atuni_, deputed on the king’s part, with the office of Shudahband, to report the exact state of affairs to the Great Princess, or to send from a distance a written report for being brought before the king. To the king’s Harem, or to that of an Amir, no males had access, except boys not come to maturity, or eunuchs; but criminals only were qualified for the latter class, who were never after admitted to any confidential intimacy; and no individual in their empire was allowed from motives of gain to have recourse to that operation.[364] Every year, on certain occasions, on some great festivals, the wives of the Amirs waited on the Great Princess, and the women of the city came to the general levee; but the king never saw these women, as on such days he did not enter the musk-perfumed pavilion, but departed to some other place, so that his eyes might not fall on a strange female. The motives of the ladies’ visit to the king was this: that if any were oppressed by their husbands, it might be reported to the king, who after proper investigation was to enjoin the punishment awarded by the court of justice. The great king partook not of reason-subduing strong drinks, as he was a guardian, and as such should not be in a state of helplessness; on which account not one of those kings who were styled guardians ever polluted his lips with wine or other intoxicating beverage before the Gilshaiyan dynasty. The cup-bearers of the king’s sons and other nobles were always females, and these were called _Bádeks_:[365] no beardless males were admitted to the feast: even eunuchs were excluded from the banquets of the Gilshaiyan princes, and they were waited on by beardless youths under ten years of age; and at the time of taking wine even they were not allowed to be present. The ancients, or those previous to the Gilshaiyan dynasty, had appointed seasons for drinking wine, which occurred when the physicians prescribed it for the removal of some infirmity, on which occasions they conformed to the above-mentioned rules. If any one, and the king in particular, labored under a malady the cure of which could only be effected by wine, and the invalid should be altogether reluctant to the drinking of it, in that case, as the cure was confined to the use of wine, the patient was obliged to comply with the prescription: for things forbidden under other circumstances, become lawful when taken for medicinal purposes: but with this reservation, that no injury should accrue to any innoxious animal.