For the time being the king followed the burning desire of his ministers; he let the young man be taken into custody.

But the king put the curiosity of his ministers to a hard test: it would be good to know if the young man was really able to perform these miracles, and the ministers were anxious indeed - even if they saw a certain risk; but their inner desire to be king themselves sometime - and why ever not since some such thing was discussed already - could not check their curiosity.

“For in his innermost nature someone limited longs for the unlimited, for the fulfilment of the impossible, for the playful overcoming of all effort: he actually wants with all his heart that the hitherto prevailing cramped effort is overcome by the supernormal, the playful, the free - so that he may gain hope for all of his life and work.

This was how the ministers felt.