Chapter XI: Part 11

Instead of replying to Danhasch, Maimounè burst into a loud fit of laughter, which continued for some time, and which very much astonished Danhasch, who did not know to what cause to attribute it. Having at last however composed herself, she said, “Yes, yes, thou thinkest to impose on me. I thought thou wast going to tell me of something very surprising and extraordinary, and thou talkest to me only of a blear-eyed wench. Fye, fye! What wouldst thou say then, wretch, if thou hadst seen the beautiful prince I have just been looking at, and whom I love as he deserves? He indeed is rather different. Thou wouldst be mad for love of him.

“Amiable Maimounè,” replied Danhasch, “may I inquire who this prince can be, whom you speak of?”--“Know,” said the fairy, “that nearly the same thing has happened to him as to the princess thou hast been talking of. The king his father would marry him by force; after long and repeated importunities he has frankly declared, that he would not agree to it. For this reason he is at this moment imprisoned in an ancient tower, where I take up my abode, and where I have had an opportunity of admiring him.”

“I will not absolutely contradict you,” resumed Danhasch, “but, my dear lady, you will give me leave, until I have seen your prince, to think, that no mortal, either male or female, can equal, or even approach the beauty of my princess.”--“Peace, wretch,” replied Maimounè, “I tell thee again that thou art wrong.”--“I will not obstinately oppose you,” added Danhasch; “the only means of convincing you whether I speak truth or not, is to accept the proposal I have made you to come and see my princess, and afterwards to show me your prince.”--“There is no occasion for me to take so much trouble,” said Maimounè, “there is another method, by which we can both be satisfied; that is to bring thy princess and place her by the side of my prince on his bed. We can then easily compare them with each other, and thus settle our dispute.”

Danhasch consented to do as the fairy desired, and was going instantly to set off for China, but Maimounè stopped him; “Stay,” said she, “come with me first, that I may show thee the tower where thou art to bring thy princess.” They flew together to the tower, and when Maimounè had shown it to Danhasch, she said, “Now go and fetch thy princess; be quick, and thou wilt find me here. But listen, I intend thou shalt pay me a forfeit if my prince turns out to be handsomer than thy princess. I will also pay thee one, if thy princess is the most beautiful.”

Danhasch, having quitted the Fairy, flew to China, and returned with inconceivable swiftness, bearing the beautiful princess along with him fast asleep. Maimounè received her, and introduced her into the chamber of prince Camaralzaman, where they placed her on the bed by his side.

When the prince and princess were thus close to each other, a grand contest arose on the pre-eminence of their beauty, between the Genius and the Fairy. They stood for some time admiring and comparing them in silence. Danhasch was the first to speak: “Now you are convinced,” said he to Maimounè, “I told you that my princess was more beautiful than your prince. Have you any doubts remaining?”

“How! any doubts?” cried Maimounè, “Yes, truly I doubt it. Thou must be blind not to see, that my prince is infinitely superior to thy princess. She is beautiful, I confess; but do not hurry thyself: compare them well one with the other, without prejudice, and then thou wilt see that it is as I say.”

“Were I to compare them for any length of time,” replied Danhasch, “I should think no otherwise than I do. I saw what I now see from the first glance, and time would show me no more than what is now visible to my eyes. This, however, will not prevent me from giving up my judgment to yours, charming Maimounè, if you wish it.”--“It shall not be so,” interrupted the Fairy. “I will never suffer a cursed Genius, such as thou art, to show me favor. I will submit the contest to an arbitrator, and if thou dost not consent, I win the cause by your refusal.”

Danhasch, who was ready to show any degree of complaisance to Maimounè, had no sooner consented, than the fairy struck the ground with her foot. The earth opened, and instantly a hideous Genius appeared, who was hunchbacked, lame, and blind with one eye; having six horns on his head, and his hands and feet hooked. As soon as he was out, and the ground had closed again, he perceived Maimounè, and threw himself at her feet; and kneeling on one knee, he asked what she desired of his very humble services.

“Rise, Caschcasch,” said she, for this was the name of the Genius, “I sent for you hither to be judge in a dispute, which exists between me and this cursed Danhasch. Cast your eye on that bed, and tell us impartially, which appears to you the most beautiful, the young man, or the young lady?”

Caschcasch looked very attentively at the prince and princess, and showed every mark of great surprise and admiration. After having examined them very accurately for a long time, without being able to make up his mind; “Madam,” said he to Maimounè, “I confess to you, that I should deceive you, and betray myself, if I were to tell you, that I thought one of them more handsome than the other. The more I examine them, the more each seems to me to have separately that sovereign perfection of beauty which they jointly possess: and neither has the least defect, which we can assert the other to be free from, and consequently superior. If there be, in truth, any difference between them, there seems to be only one mode of discovering that difference. And this mode is, to wake them one after the other, and to agree, that the person who feels for the other the most violent love, and proves it by the strongest and most ardent expressions, as well as by the general conduct, shall be considered in some point or other to be less beautiful.”

The proposal of Caschcasch was approved of, both by Maimounè and Danhasch. Maimounè then changed herself into a flea, and jumped upon the neck of Camaralzaman. She gave him so sharp a bite, that he awoke, and put his hand to the place, but he caught nothing, for Maimounè, prepared for this, had jumped away, and taking her original form, invisible, however, like the other two Genii, to all but themselves, stood by in order to witness what was going forward.

In drawing back his hand, the prince let it fall upon that of the princess of China. He opened his eyes and expressed great surprise at seeing a lady by the side of him; and one, too, who possessed such beauty. He lifted his head up and supported it on his elbow, in order the better to observe her. The great youth of the princess, joined to her incomparable beauty, kindled in an instant a flame in his heart, to which he had hitherto been a stranger, and excited sensations which he had till now looked upon with aversion.

A passion of the most animated kind now occupied his soul; and he could not help exclaiming, “What beauty! what charms! Oh my heart, my soul,” and saying this, he kissed her forehead, her cheeks, and her lips, with so little precaution, that it must have broken her slumbers, if she had not, through the enchantment of Danhasch, slept more soundly than usual.

“What, my beautiful creature,” said the prince, “will not these marks of the love of Camaralzaman disturb your repose? Whoever you may be, he is not unworthy of your affection.” He was then going to wake her in good earnest, but he suddenly stopped himself, “There cannot be a doubt,” he exclaimed, “but that this is the person to whom the sultan, my father, wished to marry me. He has been much to blame, not to let me see her sooner; I should not then have offended him, both by my disobedience, and my public behaviour towards him; and he would thus have spared himself the contusion which I have caused him.” Prince Camaralzaman repented most heartily of the fault he had been guilty of; and was again upon the point of waking the princess of China, “perhaps indeed,” added he, “the sultan, my father, wished to surprise me; and has therefore sent this lady to ascertain whether I really have so great an aversion to marriage as I have always shown. Who knows if he may not have brought her here himself, and may even now be concealed, in order to see how I conduct myself, and make me ashamed of my former dissimulation. This second fault would be much worse than my first; I will therefore satisfy myself with this ring in remembrance of her.”

The princess of China had a very beautiful ring on her finger; and as the prince concluded his speech, he drew it quietly, and put one of its own in its place. He then turned his back, and it was not long before, through the enchantment of the Genii, he fell into as deep a sleep as he was in at first.

As soon as prince Camaralzaman’s eyes were completely closed, Danhasch, in his turn, transformed himself into a flea, and bit the princess directly under her lip. She awoke suddenly, and starting up opened her eyes: how great was her astonishment at finding herself in bed with a man. From surprise, she passed to admiration; and from admiration to excess of joy, which was very apparent as soon as she saw that it was a young, handsome, and well-made man.

“What!” she exclaimed, “are you the person, whom the king, my father, has destined for my husband? How unfortunate am I at not having known this before! I should then never have been deprived for so long a time of a husband, whom it is impossible not to love with my whole soul. Awake, and rouse yourself; it but ill becomes a husband to sleep thus soundly on the very first night of his nuptials.”

Having said this, the princess shook prince Camaralzaman by the arm in so violent a manner, that he must have awoke, if Maimounè had not at that very instant heightened his sleep by means of enchantment. She shook him in this manner several times; then, as she found she could not prevent him from sleeping, she called out, “What can possibly have happened to you? What rival, jealous of our mutual happiness, has had recourse to magic; and thus thrown you into this insurmountable fit of stupefaction, from whence it seems almost impossible you should ever be roused.” She then took hold of his hand, and tenderly kissing it, she perceived the ring which he had on his finger. It appeared so like her own, that she was convinced it was the very same; and at the same moment observed, that she herself had on a different one. She could not comprehend how this exchange had been effected; but she did not for an instant doubt, that it was a sure proof of her marriage. Fatigued with the useless efforts she had made to wake him; and satisfied, as she thought, that he could not leave her; “Since I am unable to rouse you out of your sleep,” she cried, “I will continue no longer to attempt to interrupt it. We shall see each other again.” Then kissing his cheek as she pronounced these last words, she lay down, and in a short time fell asleep.”

When Maimounè perceived that she might speak without any danger of waking the princess of China; “Well, wretch,” she said to Danhasch, “hast thou observed, then, and art thou convinced, that thy princess is less beautiful than my prince? Get along, I forgive thee the wager thou hast lost; but another time, believe me, when I assert any thing.” Then turning towards Caschcasch, “As for you,” added she, “I thank you. Do you and Danhasch take the princess, and carry her to her bed, where he brought her from.” Danhasch and Caschcasch executed the orders of Maimounè, while the latter retired to her well.

When prince Camaralzaman awoke the next morning, he looked on each side of him to see if the lady, whom he had found by him in the night, was still there; but when he perceived she was gone, he said to himself, “It is as I suspected; the king, my father, wished to surprise me: I am, however, happy that I was aware of it.” He then called the slave, who was still asleep, and desired him to make haste and dress himself, without saying a word to him on what account he was in such a hurry. The slave brought a bason and water; the prince then washed himself, and after saying his prayers, he took a book and continued to read for some time.

After he had thus finished his usual occupations, Camaralzaman called the slave towards him, “Come here,” he said, “and be sure you do not tell me a falsehood. Inform me how the lady, who slept with me last night, came here, and who brought her.”

“Prince,” replied the slave, in the greatest astonishment, “of what lady are you speaking?”--“Of her, I tell you,” answered the prince, “who either came or was brought here, and who passed the night with me.”--“Prince,” returned the slave, “I swear to you, that I know nothing about the matter. How could any lady possibly get in, as I slept at the door?”--“Thou art a lying rascal,” replied the prince, “and art in league with some one to vex and distress me.” Saying this he gave him a blow, and knocked him down; then, after having trampled on him, he tied the rope of the well round his body, and let him down into it, and plunged him several times in the water: “I will drown thee,” cried he, “if thou dost not immediately acquaint me who the lady is, and who brought her.”

The poor slave extremely embarrassed, and half in and half out of the water, thought the prince had certainly lost his senses through grief, and that he could only escape by telling an untruth. “Prince,” said he, in a supplicating tone, “grant me my life, I conjure you, and I promise to tell you exactly how the matter stands.”

The prince drew up the slave, and commanded him to speak. When he was out of the well, “Prince,” said the slave, trembling, “You must be sensible that I cannot satisfy you in the state I am now in; allow me time to change my dress.”--“I grant it thee,” replied the prince, “but be quick; and take care thou dost not disguise the truth from me.”

The slave went out, and after having fastened the door on the prince, he ran to the palace, wet as he was. The king was engaged in conversation with his grand vizier; and was complaining of the restless night he had passed in consequence of the disobedience and ill-judged rashness of the prince his son, in thus opposing his will.

The minister endeavoured to console him, and convince him, that the prince, by his disrespectful behaviour, had justly merited the punishment he endured; “Sire,” said he, “your majesty ought not to repent of having arrested him. If you will have the patience to suffer him to remain in prison, you may be assured that he will lose this youthful impetuosity, and that he will at length submit to whatever you may require of him.”

The grand vizier had just uttered these words, when the slave presented himself before king Schahzaman: “Sire,” said he, “I am sorry to be obliged to announce to your majesty a piece of intelligence that will no doubt occasion you great sorrow. What the prince says of a lady, who slept with him last night, together with the manner in which he treated me, as your majesty may perceive, too plainly prove that he is not in his senses.” He then gave a detail of every thing that prince Camaralzaman had said, and of the excesses he had committed on his person, in terms which confirmed the truth of the account.

The king, who was not prepared for this new cause for affliction, exclaimed to the grand vizier, “This is, indeed, an incident of the most distressing nature, and very different from the hopes you flattered me with just now. Go, lose not a moment, and examine yourself the whole of this affair, and then come and inform me of what you discover.” The grand vizier immediately obeyed. When he entered the chamber of the prince, he found him seated with a book in his hand, which he was reading with apparent composure. He saluted him: and seating himself by his side, “I am very angry with the slave that attends you,” said he, “for having alarmed your father by the intelligence he has just now brought him.”--“What is this intelligence,” inquired the prince, “that has occasioned my father so much alarm? I have much more reason to complain of my slave.”

“Prince,” replied the vizier, “Heaven avert that what he has just said of you be true! The tranquil state in which I find you, and in which may God preserve you, convinces me there is no truth in his report.”--“Perhaps,” replied the prince, “he has not explained himself properly; but as you are here, I am glad to have an opportunity of asking you, who must know something about the matter, where the lady is who slept with me last night.”

The grand vizier was quite astonished at this inquiry. “Prince,” said he, “do not be surprised at the astonishment you see me in at this question. How can it be possible, not only that any lady, but that any man whatever, could have penetrated into this place in the night, to which there is no other entrance but by the door, and even then he must trample over your slave, who was guarding it? I entreat you to collect your thoughts, and I am persuaded you will find it is only a dream that has left a strong impression on your mind.”

“I shall pay no attention to your arguments,” resumed the prince, in a more elevated tone of voice: “I will absolutely know what is become of this lady; I am here in a situation to make you obey me.” This firmness of speech and manner embarrassed the grand vizier more than can be expressed; and he now only thought of the best means to extricate himself. He tried the prince with gentle means, and asked him, in the most humble and conciliating manner, if he had himself seen the lady.

“Yes, yes,” replied the prince, “I saw her, and soon perceived that you had instructed her in ways to tempt me. She played the part you allotted her vastly well; not to say a word, to pretend to sleep, and to take herself away, as soon as I fell asleep again. You know it all, I dare say; she has not failed giving you an account of the whole transaction.”--“Prince,” resumed the grand vizier, “I swear to you, that all you have been relating was unknown to me, and that neither the king, your father, nor I, sent you the lady you mention; we should never have had such an idea. Allow me once more to say, that this lady could only appear to you in a dream.”

“You come to mock me too,” cried the prince angrily, “and to tell me that what I have seen was only a dream!” He then seized him by the beard, and beat him most unmercifully, till his strength quite failed him. The poor grand vizier bore all this treatment from prince Camaralzaman very respectfully. “Here am I,” said he to himself, “precisely in the same situation as the slave; happy shall I be, if, like him, I can escape from so great a danger.”’ While the prince was still employed in beating him, he cried, “I entreat you, prince, to listen to me for one moment.” The prince, tired of this occupation, suffered him to speak.

“I own to you, prince,” said the grand vizier, as soon as he had liberty to speak, “that your suspicions are not unfounded; but you well know, that a minister is compelled to execute the orders of the king his master. If you will have the goodness to suffer me to go, I am ready to take any message to him with which you will entrust me.”--“I give you leave to go,” replied the prince. “Tell my father that I will marry the lady whom he sent, or brought me, and who slept with me last night. Be expeditious, and bring me the answer.” The grand vizier made a profound reverence on quitting him; but he could hardly be satisfied of his safety, till he was out of the tower, and had fastened the door after him. He presented himself before king Schahzaman with an air of sorrow which alarmed him. “Well,” said the monarch, “in what state did you find my son?”--

“Sire,” replied the vizier, “what the slave related to your majesty is but too true.” He then gave him an account of the conversation he had had with Camaralzaman, of the rage the prince had been in, when he attempted to convince him that the lady he spoke of could not possibly have slept with him, of the cruel treatment he had met with from him, and of the excuse by which he had escaped from his fury.

Schahzaman, who was the more grieved at this circumstance, as he had always loved the prince with the greatest tenderness, wished to investigate the truth of it himself: he repaired to the tower, and took the grand vizier with him. Prince Camaralzaman received his father with the greatest respect. The king sat down, and having made the prince sit next him, he asked him many questions, to which he replied with perfect good sense, and from time to time he looked at the vizier, as if to say, that the prince, his son, was not deranged in his intellects as he had asserted; but that he must himself be deficient in this respect.

At length the king mentioned the lady. “My son,” said he, “I beg you to tell me who this lady is, who they say slept with you last night.”--“Sire,” replied Camaralzaman, “I entreat your majesty not to add to the vexation I have already encountered on this subject; rather do me the favor to bestow her on me in marriage. Whatever aversion I may hitherto have evinced against women, this young and beautiful lady has so charmed me, that I feel no difficulty in avowing my weakness. I am ready to receive her from your hands, with the deepest sense of my obligation to you.”

King Schahzaman was thunder-struck at this answer from the prince, which, as it appeared to him, was so inconsistent with the good sense he had shown in former answers. “You speak to me in a way, my son,” said he, “that astonishes me beyond measure. I swear to you, by the crown which is to adorn your brow when I shall be no more, that I know nothing of the lady you talk of. I have not been accessary to her visit, if any one has been with you; but, how is it possible that she should have penetrated into this tower without my consent? as to what my grand vizier said to you, he only invented a story to appease you. It must have been a dream; recollect yourself, I conjure you, and be careful to ascertain the fact.”

“Sire,” resumed the prince, “I should be for ever unworthy of the goodness of your majesty, if I refused to give faith to the solemn assurance you have given me; but I request you to have the patience to listen to me, and then judge, if what I shall have the honor of relating to you can be a dream.”

Prince Camaralzaman then told the king, his father, in what manner he had waked in the night. He gave him an exaggerated description of the beauty and charms of the lady he had found by his side, confessed the love which had so instantaneously inflamed his breast, and related all his fruitless endeavours to awaken her. He did not even conceal what had made him awake; and that he fell asleep again after he had made the exchange of his ring for that of the lady. When he concluded, he took the ring from his finger, and presented it to the king, “Sire,” added he, “mine is not unknown to you, for you have seen it several times. After this, I hope you will be convinced that I have not lost my senses, as they would fain persuade you is the case.”

The king was so fully convinced of the truth of what the prince had recounted to him, that he had nothing to reply. Added to which, his astonishment was so excessive, that he remained a considerable time incapable of uttering a single word.

The prince took advantage from these moments of silent wonder. “Sire,” continued he, “the passion I feel for this charming person, whose precious image is so deeply engraven on my heart, has already risen to so violent a pitch, that I am sure I have not strength to endure it. I humbly supplicate you to feel compassion for the state I am in, and to procure me the unspeakable happiness of possessing and calling her mine.”

“After what I have now heard, my son,” replied king Schahzaman, “and what I see by this ring, I can no longer doubt the reality of your love, and that you did absolutely see the lady who gave birth to it. Would to God I knew her! You should be gratified this very day, and I should be the happiest of fathers. But where am I to seek her? How, and by what means, could she enter here, without either my consent or knowledge? Why did she come only to sleep with you, to show you her beauty, to inflame you with love while she slept, and disappear as soon as you fell asleep again? I cannot comprehend this strange adventure, and if Heaven does not assist us, it will be the means of reducing both you and me to the grave.” He then took the prince by the hand, and added, in a mournful accent, “Come, my son, let us go and mingle our lamentations together; you, for loving without hope; I, for seeing your affliction, without possessing the means of relieving it.”

Schahzaman took the prince out of his prison, and conducted him to the palace, where the prince, quite in despair at feeling so violent a passion for an unknown lady, instantly took to his bed. The king shut himself up from all society for several days, to weep with his son, and desisted entirely from attending to the usual concerns of his kingdom.

His prime minister, who was the only one to whom he had allowed free entrance, came one day to represent to him, that his whole court, as well as the people, began to murmur at not seeing him, as usual, administering justice, as was his daily custom; and that he would not be answerable for the discontents and disorders that might arise in consequence of his seclusion. “I entreat your majesty,” continued he, “to pay some attention to these complaints. I am persuaded, that your presence only serves to nourish the affliction of the prince, as his presence increases yours; but you must not suffer every thing to go to decay. Allow me to propose to you, to remove with the prince to the castle on the little island, that is at a short distance from the port, and to have an audience twice a-week only. This avocation will oblige you to quit the prince occasionally, while the beauty of the spot, the delicious air, and the charming prospects of the surrounding country, will enable him to support these short absences with more patience.”

The king approved of this advice, and as soon as the castle, which had not been inhabited for some time, was furnished and prepared for his reception, he removed thither with the prince, whom he never left, excepting for the two stipulated audiences. He passed the rest of the time by the side of his pillow, sometimes endeavouring to console him, and sometimes sharing his affliction.

While these things were passing in the capital of king Schahzaman, the two Genii, Danhasch and Caschcasch, had reconducted the princess of China to the palace, where the king, her father, had confined her, and placed her in her bed.

The next morning, when she awoke, the princess of China looked about on each side of her, and when she perceived that prince Camaralzaman was no longer near her, she called her women, in a voice which made them all run quickly to her, and surround her. Her nurse approached her pillow, and asked her what she desired, and if any thing had befallen her.

“Tell me,” replied the princess, “what is become of the young man who slept with me last night, and whom I love so tenderly.”--“My princess,” said the nurse, “we cannot comprehend your meaning, unless you explain yourself more clearly.”--“The fact is,” resumed the princess, “that a young man of the most beautiful and elegant form that can be conceived, slept by my side last night; I caressed him for a considerable time, and did all I could to wake him, without effect. I ask you where he is?”

“No doubt you do this to joke us, my princess,” replied the nurse; “will you please to rise now?”--“I speak seriously,” said the princess, “and I will know where he is.”--“But, my dear princess,” rejoined the nurse, “you were alone when we put you to bed last night; and no one has entered this place to sleep with you, at least that we know of.”

The princess of China’s patience was quite exhausted, she seized her nurse’s head, and gave her repeated slaps and blows. “Thou shalt tell me, thou old witch,” cried she, “or I will murder thee.” The nurse exerted herself to get out of her hands; she at length succeeded, and instantly ran to find the queen of China, the mother of the princess. She presented herself before her, with tears in her eyes, and her face swelled and disfigured: this excited great surprise in the queen, who inquired what was the cause of her being in such a condition.

“Madam,” said the nurse, “you see the effects of the treatment I have just received from the princess; she would have destroyed me entirely if I had not escaped as I did.” She then related to her the cause of her anger, and subsequent violent behaviour, at which the queen was no less surprised than afflicted. “You see, madam,” added she, “that the princess is out of her senses. You may judge of it yourself, if you will take the trouble of coming to see her.”

The queen of China was too tenderly attached to her daughter, not to feel extremely interested in what she had just heard from the nurse; and immediately went to the princess. She seated herself next her, when she got into the apartment where she was confined; and, after having inquired if she was in good health, she asked her what subject for discontent she had with her nurse, to induce her to treat her so cruelly as she had done. “Indeed, my daughter,” said she, “you acted wrong, and a princess of your rank ought never to suffer herself to be so led away by passion, as to commit such excesses.”

“Madam,” replied the princess, “I plainly perceive that your majesty also is come to mock me; but I solemnly declare, that I shall have neither peace nor rest till I have married the amiable and charming youth who slept with me last night. You certainly must know who he is; and I beg you to let him come again.”

“My dear daughter,” replied the queen, “you astonish me; and I cannot understand what you mean.” The princess forgot the respect she owed to her mother, and answered, “Madam, the king, my father, and you have persecuted me for some time, to compel me to marry, when I had no wish of changing my state; this wish has at length taken possession of my breast, and I will absolutely either marry the young man I told you of, or kill myself.”

The queen attempted to succeed by gentle methods. “You well know, my dear child,” said she, “that you are alone in your chamber, and that no man can possibly enter it. But instead of listening to, the princess interrupted her, and was guilty of such extravagant excesses, that the queen was obliged to leave her to indulge her grief, and acquaint the king with what had happened.

The king of China wished to be personally convinced of the truth of this business. He, therefore, immediately repaired to the apartment of the princess, and asked her if what he had been informed of was true. “Sire,” replied she, “let us not talk of that; only do me the favor to suffer the husband, who slept with me last night, to return to me.”

“What!” exclaimed the king, “has any one slept with you the last night?”--“How can you ask me, sire, if any one slept with me?” interrupted the princess, without allowing him time to continue; “your majesty cannot be ignorant of it. He is the handsomest young man that was ever beheld under heaven. I entreat you to send him to me again; do not refuse me, I conjure you. That your majesty may not entertain any doubts of my having seen this youth,” added she, “of my having slept with him, caressed him, used every effort to awaken him, without success, look, if you please, at this ring.” She held out her hand, and the king of China knew not what to think, when he perceived that it was the ring of a man. But as he could not comprehend the least what she said, and he had confined her originally because she was mad, he had now thought her still worse than before. So without saying any thing more to her, lest he should enrage her to commit violence on her own person, or on any one who might approach her, he had her chained and more closely confined, and ordered, that no one, except her nurse, should attend her, and that a strong guard should be placed at her door.

The king of China, quite inconsolable for the misfortune that had befallen the princess, his daughter, which he believed to be madness, considered what methods should be taken to effect her recovery. He assembled his council, and after having made known the state in which she was, he added, “If any one who is here present, is sufficiently skilful to undertake her cure, and succeeds, I will bestow her on him in marriage; and will make him the heir of my crown and dominions.”

The desire of possessing so beautiful a princess, together with the hope of governing, at some future period, so large and powerful a kingdom as that of China, made a strong impression on the mind of an emir, who was present, although he was already far advanced in years. As he was well-skilled in magic, he flattered himself he should succeed; and, therefore, offered his services to the king. “I consent,” replied the monarch, “but I must first inform you, that it is on condition of your losing your head if you do not succeed: it would not be fair that you should be able to acquire so great and enviable a recompense without any risk on your part. What I propose to you will, in the same way, be proposed to all who shall present themselves after you, in case you do not agree to the condition, or do not succeed.”

The emir accepted the proposal, and the king himself conducted him to the apartment of his daughter. The princess covered her face as soon as she perceived the emir. “Sire,” said she, “your majesty surprises me, by bringing into my presence a man who is unknown to me, and to whom, as you well know, our holy religion forbids me to expose myself.”--“My daughter,” replied the king, “do not suffer your delicacy to be wounded by his presence; he is one of my emirs, who requests you in marriage.”--“Sire,” resumed she, “This is not the husband you have already bestowed on me, whose faith is pledged to me by the ring I wear: be not offended if I refuse to accept any other.

The emir expected to find the princess committing violent actions, and saying extravagant things. He was much surprised to find her collected and tranquil; and to hear her utter such good sense; he therefore was soon convinced, that she had no other madness than a strong attachment to some object who had engaged her love. He did not, however, dare to explain his real sentiments to the king, for he could not have endured the idea, that his daughter had bestowed her heart on any other than the man whom he should present to her. “But,” said the emir, prostrating himself at the feet of the king, “Sire, after what I have just heard from the lips of the princess, it would be useless for me to undertake to cure her. I have no remedies that can be of any service to her disease; my life, therefore, is at the disposal of your majesty.” The king, irritated by this avowal of inability from the emir, and by the trouble he had occasioned him, ordered his head to be struck off.

Some days after this, that he might not have to reproach himself with having neglected any thing that could conduce to the recovery of the princess, this monarch ordered it to be proclaimed in his capital, that if there were any physician, astrologer, or magician, inhabiting it, who was sufficiently experienced in his profession to restore her to her senses, he might present himself for that purpose, on the before-mentioned condition of losing his head if he failed in the attempt. He sent an order to have the same proclamation published in all the principal towns in his dominions, and also in the courts of the neighbouring princes.

The first who presented himself was an astrologer and magician, whom the king ordered to be conducted to the prison of the princess by an eunuch. The astrologer drew out from a little bag he had brought under his arm, an astrolabe, a small globe, a chafing-dish, various kinds of drugs proper for fumigation, a copper vessel, together with several other things; and he desired to have some fire.

The princess of China asked the meaning of all this apparatus. “Princess,” said the eunuch, “it is to conjure the evil spirit, that possesses you, to confine him in this copper vessel, and throw him into the sea.”

“Cursed astrologer,” cried the princess, “know, that I want none of these preparations; I am perfectly in my senses, and it is thou who art mad. If thy power extends thus far, bring me only him I love, and thou wilt serve and oblige me beyond expression.”--“If that is the case,” replied the astrologer, “I can be of no use, princess; the king, your father, can alone give you relief.” He then replaced in his bag all that he had taken out, truly mortified at having so inconsiderately undertaken to cure an imaginary disease.

When the eunuch had re-conducted the astrologer before the king of China, he did not wait for the eunuch to speak to the king, but he addressed himself immediately to him. “Sire,” said he, in a firm tone, “your majesty published it to the world, and confirmed me also in opinion, that the princess, your daughter, was mad; and I had no doubt of being able to restore her to her senses by means of the secrets I am acquainted with; but I was not long with her before I was convinced, that her only malady is violent love; and my art does not extend so far as to cure love-sickness; your majesty can prescribe the remedy better than any one, if you will please to give her the husband she wishes.” The king, enraged by what he supposed to be insolence in the astrologer, immediately commanded his head to be struck off.

But, not to weary your majesty with so many repetitions, I will only say, that, what with astrologers, physicians, and magicians, one hundred and fifty successively presented themselves, and shared the same fate; and their heads were ranged over each gate of the city.

The nurse of the princess of China had a son, named Marzavan, the foster-brother of the princess, whom she had nursed and brought up with her. Their friendship, during their infancy, had been so intimate, that they treated each other as brother and sister as long as they lived together; and even after their more advanced age, obliged them to be separated.

Among the various sciences which Marzavan had cultivated from his earliest youth, his inclination had led him more particularly to the study of judicial astrology, geomancy, and other secret sciences; in all of which he had made considerable proficiency. Not satisfied with the information he could obtain from the masters, under whose tuition he was, he began to travel as soon as he felt himself sufficiently strong to bear the fatigue. There was no one celebrated for learning in any science or art that he did not seek, even in the most distant countries; and continued to associate with them, until he had gained from them all the information and intelligence he required.

After an absence of several years, Marzavan at length returned to the capital of China. The heads which he observed ranged over the gate at which he entered the city surprised him very much. As soon as he was arrived at his house, he inquired the reason of their being placed there; but, above all, he was anxious to be informed of the health of the princess, his foster-sister, whom he had not forgotten. As the answer to his first question implied that to his second also, he was soon made acquainted with what occasioned him much pain; but he waited for his mother, the princess’s nurse, to give him full information of the whole affair. Although she was so much engaged in her attendance on the princess, yet she had no sooner learnt the arrival of her beloved son, than she contrived to steal away to embrace and pass a few moments with him. After having related to him, with tears in her eyes, the pitiable state the princess was reduced to, and the reason why the king of China had ordered her to be thus treated, Marzavan asked her, if she could not procure him a secret interview, without the knowledge of the king. The nurse meditated for some minutes; she then said, “I cannot say any thing to such a proposition at present; but expect me to-morrow at this hour, and I will give you an answer.”

As no one except the nurse had access to the apartment of the princess, without first obtaining permission of the eunuch who commanded the guard at the door, the nurse, knowing that he had been only lately appointed to that office, and was ignorant of what had previously taken place at court, addressed herself to him. “You know,” said she, “that I have nursed and brought up the princess from her earliest infancy; but, perhaps, you do not also know, that I nursed a daughter of my own at the same time, who was of the same age. She is lately married, and the princess, who still does her the honor of feeling attached to her, desires to see her; but she wishes an interview could be contrived without any one seeing her come in or go out.”

The nurse was going to add more, but the eunuch stopped her. “Enough,” said he, “I will always, with the greatest pleasure, do every thing in my power to oblige the princess: you may either tell your daughter to come, or go yourself to conduct her hither at night, after the king has retired; the door shall be open to you.” As soon as night came on, the nurse went to her son Marzavan. She disguised him in woman’s clothes, so that no one could have discovered him to be the other sex, and took him with her. The eunuch, who had no suspicion that he was not her daughter, opened the door and let them both go in.

Before she presented Marzavan to the princess, the nurse went to her. “Madam,” said she, “this is not a woman, whom you see; it is my son Marzavan, who is just arrived from his travels, and whom I have found means to introduce into your chamber, disguised by this dress. I hope you will not refuse him the honor of paying his respects to you.”

At the name of Marzavan the princess expressed great joy. “Come forward, brother,” cried she to Marzavan, “and take off that veil; it is not forbidden to a brother and sister to see each other uncovered.” Marzavan saluted her with great respect, but without allowing him time to say any thing, “I am delighted,” continued the princess, “to see you again in good health, after an absence of so many years, during which time no one ever received any intelligence from you, nay, not even your good mother.”

“I am infinitely obliged to you for your kindness, my princess,” replied Marzavan. “I expected and hoped on my arrival to receive better accounts of you than those I have heard, and which I witness the truth of with the greatest affliction. I feel very happy, however, that after the repeated failure of so many others, I am arrived in time to administer the remedy you are in need of for your disorder. If I should derive no other advantage of my studies and travels than that of being instrumental to your recovery; I should deem it sufficient recompense.”

As he uttered these words, Marzavan drew out a book and other things he had furnished himself with, which he supposed would be necessary, from the accounts his mother had given him of the indisposition of the princess. She no sooner perceived these preparations than she exclaimed, “What, brother, are you too of the number of those who imagine that I am mad? Listen to me, and be undeceived.”

The princess then related to Marzavan all her history, without omitting the most trifling circumstance, nor even that of the ring, which had been exchanged for hers, and which she showed him. “I have disguised nothing from you,” continued she, “in what I have told you; I acknowledge, that there is something mysterious, which I cannot comprehend, and leads them all to suppose, that I am not in my right senses; but they pay no attention to the other circumstances, which are exactly as I have related.”

When the princess had ceased speaking, Marzavan, who was filled with wonder and astonishment, remained for some time with his eyes fixed on the ground, and unable to pronounce a syllable. At length raising his head, he said, “If, princess, what you have now told me be true, as indeed I am persuaded it is, I do not despair of procuring you the gratification you so anxiously desire. I only entreat you to arm yourself with patience for some time longer, until I shall have visited those countries which I have not yet been in; when you hear of my return, be assured, that he, for whom you now sigh with so much love and tenderness, will not be very distant from you.” Having said this, Marzavan took his leave of the princess, and set out on the following day.

Marzavan travelled from city to city, from province to province, and from island to island. Wherever he went, he heard of nothing but the princess Badoura, (thus was the princess of China called) and of her extraordinary history. At the expiration of four months our traveller arrived at Torf, a large and populous maritime town, where he no longer heard of the princess Badoura, but every one was talking of prince Camaralzaman, who was said to be ill; and whose history was nearly similar to that of the princess of China. Marzavan experienced a transport of joy that cannot be described; he inquired in what part of the world this prince resided, and he was told the place. There were two ways to it, one by land, and the other by sea, the latter of which was the shortest. Marzavan chose this, and embarked in a merchant vessel, which had a good voyage till within sight of the capital of the kingdom of Schahzaman. But, unfortunately, through the unskilfulness of the pilot, as the vessel was entering the harbour, it struck on a rock, went to pieces, and sunk just in sight of the castle in which prince Camaralzaman passed his life, and where his father, king Schahzaman, was at that moment conversing with his grand vizier.

Marzavan could swim extremely well; he therefore did not hesitate to throw himself into the sea, and he steered his course to the castle of king Schahzaman, where he was received, and every assistance given him, according to the orders of the grand vizier, who had received the king’s commands so to do. He had his dress changed, and was treated with the greatest kindness: when he had recovered from his fatigue, he was conducted before the grand vizier, who had desired to see him.

As Marzavan was a youth of a good person and engaging air, this minister treated him with the utmost civility on receiving him, and soon conceived a great esteem for him, from the sensible and proper answers he made to all the questions he asked him; he discovered almost insensibly, that he had numberless sources of information; at length he could not refrain from saying to him, “I plainly perceive, from conversing with you, that you are not a man of common understanding; would to God, that in the course of your travels, you had learned some secret that could cure a young man, whose illness has plunged this court in the deepest affliction for some time past.”

Marzavan replied, that if he were made acquainted with the disease which the person was labouring under, perhaps he might be able to find a remedy for it. The grand vizier then explained to Marzavan the state in which prince Camaralzaman was; taking up his history from the very beginning. He concealed nothing from him; his so much wished-for birth, his education, the desire of king Schahzaman to see him married at an early age, the extraordinary aversion the prince had shown to enter into an engagement of so serious a nature, his behaviour before the council, his subsequent imprisonment, the extravagant excesses he committed in prison, which had suddenly changed into a violent love for an unknown lady, for which there was no other foundation than a ring, which, as the prince pretended, had belonged to this lady, who, perhaps, was not in existence; in short, the vizier related every circumstance with the most faithful exactness.

This account gave Marzavan great joy, because, in consequence of his shipwreck, he had so fortunately met with the object of his search and inquiry. He felt convinced, beyond any doubt, that prince Camaralzaman was the person, with whom the princess of China was so deeply enamoured, and that this princess was no less the object of the prince’s ardent vows. He did not mention his thoughts to the grand vizier; he only said to him, that if he saw the prince, he should be better able to judge what remedies it might be necessary to administer. “Follow me,” said the vizier, “you will find the king with him, who has already expressed a wish of seeing you.”

The first thing that met the eyes of Marzavan, when he entered the chamber, was the figure of the prince lying in his bed, with a languishing air, and his eyes closed. Notwithstanding the situation in which he found him, and regardless of king Schahzaman, who was seated by the side of the bed, as well as of the prince, whom such an exclamation might have alarmed and agitated, he cried, “Heavens! nothing on earth can bear a stronger resemblance.” He meant the resemblance of the princess of China; for, in fact, there was a great similitude in their features.