"Is there no child?" asked the princess.
"The King has left a child," answered the vezir, "but he is still very
little, and incapable of governing his subjects. That is why we will
make you King of this country."
The princess Djouher-Manikam answered: "Why not? What prevents? If you
all will follow my counsel I will accept the throne of this country."
The ministers said, "And why should we not follow the commands of my
lord?"
The vezir conducted her to the palace. All the ministers of state and
the high officers assembled to proclaim as their king the princess
Djouher-Manikam. That done, the princess took the name of Radja Chah
Djouhou.
After reigning some time her spirit of justice and her perfect equity
in the government of her subjects rendered her name celebrated in all
the foreign countries. Radja Chah Djouhou said to her minister:
"O minister, have built for me a _baley_ outside the fort." And the
ministers and the officers commanded them in haste to construct the
_baley_. As soon as it was built they came to announce it to the King.
The latter said:
"O my vezir, is there in my kingdom a man who knows how to paint?"
"Yes, my lord, king of the world, there is a very skilful painter
here."
"Let him come to me."
"Immediately, my lord," said the vezir, and he ordered a slave to go
and summon the painter. The painter came in all haste and entered the
presence of Radja Chah Djouhou, bowing his head to the floor. The
prince said to him:
"O painter, have you a daughter who knows how to paint?"
The painter answered: "Yes, my lord, king of the world, I have a
daughter very skilful in the art of painting."
"Tell your child to come here."
The painter bowed again and went to find his daughter. "O my child," he
said, "the fruit of my heart, come, the King calls you."
Then the painter's daughter quickly set out, accompanied by her father.
They together entered the presence of the King, who was still
surrounded by his ministers and his officers. The painter and his
daughter bowed their heads to the floor. The prince said:
"Painter, is this your daughter?"
"O my lord, king of the world, yes, this is my daughter."
"Come with me into the interior of the palace." And at the same time
the prince started and entered his apartments, followed by the daughter
of the painter. He led the way to a retired place, and said: "My
daughter, make my portrait, I pray you, and try to have the resemblance
good." Then the princess Djouher-Manikam clothed herself in woman's
raiment, and in this costume she was ravishingly beautiful. That done,
she commanded the artist to paint her thus. She succeeded perfectly and
the portrait was a remarkable likeness, for the daughter of the painter
was very skilful. When her work was finished she received a large sum
in gold. The prince said to her:
"Come, sister, let this remain a secret. Reveal it not to anyone in the
world. If you tell it I will slay you, with your father and your
mother."
The daughter of the painter said: "O my lord, king of the world, how
could your servant disobey your Majesty's commands?"
She bowed low, and asked permission to go home.
Radja Chah Djouhou, in the presence of his ministers and his subjects,
said to the vizier: "O vizier, place this portrait in the _baley_
outside the fort, and have it guarded by forty men. If anyone coming to
this portrait begins to weep or kiss it, seize him and bring him before
me." The portrait hung in the _baley_, and the vezir ordered an officer
to guard it with forty soldiers.
When the Æthiopian robber came out of his drunken slumber he saw that
the princess Djouher-Manikam was no longer in his house. So he went
out-of-doors weeping, and took up his journey, going from country to
country until he arrived at the city of Roum. There he saw a _baley_,
and hanging there a portrait which bore a perfect resemblance to the
princess Djouher-Manikam. Quickly he climbed to the _baley_, and,
holding the portrait in his arms, he wept and covered it with kisses.
"O unhappy man that I am! Here is the portrait of my well-beloved for
whom I was seeking. Where can she be?"
The guards of the _baley_, seeing the act of the Æthiopian, seized him
and bore him before the King. They told the deed.
The prince said: "Æthiopian robber, why did you act thus in reference
to this picture?"
The Æthiopian answered: "O my lord, king of the world, I ask you a
thousand and a thousand pardons. Your servant will tell the truth. If
they kill me I shall die; if they hang me I shall be lifted very high;
if they sell me I shall be carried very far away. O king of the world,
hear the words of your humble slave. A certain night I had started out
to rob. I found a horse, and on its back there was a woman of the most
marvellous beauty. I took her to my house. I fell asleep in my cups. My
beloved one disappeared. I became mad, and so it is, O king of the
world, that your slave came to the fort and saw the portrait hanging at
the _baley_. This portrait is the faithful picture of my well-beloved.
That is why I weep."
The prince said: "O my vezir, let this man be carefully guarded. Treat
him well and give him plenty to eat." On the other hand, Biyapri, after
forty days, mounting the roof, saw that the princess Djouher was no
longer there. He became mad, abandoned his house and all his wealth,
and, becoming a dervish, went from country to country seeking the
princess Djouher-Manikam, without ever finding her. Coming to the
country of Roum he saw the _baley_ situated outside the fort, and
stopped there. Then he saw the portrait, and, observing it with the
closest attention, he began to weep. Then he took it in his arms and
covered it with kisses.
"Alas, my well-beloved!" he cried, "here indeed is your picture, but
where can I find you?" He was immediately seized by the guard and led
before the King of Roum.
"Biyapri," said the prince, "whence do you come, and why did you act
thus?" Biyapri answered: "O my lord, king of the world, your slave asks
pardon a thousand and a thousand times. I will tell the whole truth. If
they kill me, I shall die; if they hang me, I shall be lifted very
high; if they sell me, I shall be taken very far away. When I was
engaged in commerce I passed under a tree, and saw that in this tree
there was a woman of the most marvellous beauty. I took her and carried
her to the city of Bassrah and installed her on the roof of my
storehouse. A certain night she disappeared without my knowing where
she had gone. Then, O king of the world, I became as one mad and left
my native land. Arriving at the country of Roum I saw a _baley_ outside
the fort and came to sit down there. Then, my lord, I saw the portrait
hanging at the _baley_. It exactly resembles my beloved, whom I lost. I
pressed it in my arms and covered it with kisses. Such is the truth, O
king of the world."
The prince then said to his minister: "O minister, let this man be
carefully guarded and give him food and clothes."
The King of Damas, after abdicating the throne, had left his kingdom,
and in the costume of a dervish had started to travel through the
different countries. Arriving at Roum, the King Chah Djouhou saw a
_baley_ situated outside of the fort, and went to sit down near it. The
prince looking closely at the portrait, which was exactly like the
princess Djouher-Manikam, burst into a flood of tears and exclaimed:
"Alas! Fruit of my heart, my well-beloved, light of my eyes! It is,
indeed, your picture. But you, whom I seek, oh, where are you?"
Speaking thus, the prince took the portrait in his arms and covered it
with kisses. Seeing this, the guards of the _baley_ seized him and
carried him before the King.
The King said to him: "My lord, whence do you come? How have you
wandered into this country? And why did you behave thus about my
portrait?"
The King Chah Djouhou answered: "Know that my wife, who is named the
princess Djouher-Manikam, has disappeared far from me. It is for that
reason that I have left my kingdom, and that I, dressed as a dervish,
have walked from country to country, from plain to plain, from village
to village, seeking her whom I have never been able to find. But
arriving in your Majesty's country I saw hanging at the _baley_ that
portrait, which is of a striking resemblance to my wife. It is for this
reason that I wept in contemplating this picture."
The princess smiled, and at the same time her heart was softened at
seeing the conduct of her husband. She said to her prime minister: "O
my minister, I confide this person to your care. Treat him worthily,
give him the best of food and a suite of attendants. He is the King of
Damas."
The minister therefore, by command of the princess, departed and
conducted the King of Damas to a fine house, furnished and equipped
according to the needs of kings.
The minister took all the riches which had been intended as presents
for the King Haroun-er-Raschid. The ingots of gold and of silver, the
rich garments in fine stuffs of the country of Rouzoungga, as well as
the vestments of the princess Djouher-Manikam and of her three
children, were transported and sold in the city of Bagdad. But the King
Haroun-er-Raschid, seeing that his name and that of his daughter, the
princess Djouher-Manikam, were graven on these ingots of gold and
silver, seized all these riches.