him an exact detail of the conversation he had had with Ebn Thaher;
and thus let him know, that he was apprised of the intercourse that
subsisted between him and Schemselnihar; he did not omit telling
him, that Ebn Thaher, alarmed at the danger which his office of
confidant placed him in, had imparted to him the design he had
formed, of quitting Bagdad for Balsora, where he intended to remain
until the storm, which he dreaded, was appeased. “This he has put
in execution,” continued the jeweller, “and I am surprised how
he could prevail on himself to abandon you in the state which he
described you to be in. As for me, prince, I confess to you, that I
was moved with compassion for your sufferings, and I come to offer
you my services; and if you will do me the honor to accept them, I
promise to observe the same fidelity towards you as Ebn Thaher has
done; and engage, moreover, to continue more firm and constant. I am
ready to sacrifice my life and honor in your service; and, that you
may have no doubts of my sincerity, I swear by every thing most
sacred in our holy religion, to preserve your secret inviolably. Be
assured, then, prince, that in me you will find a friend equal to
the one you have lost.”
This speech afforded the prince of Persia great consolation, and
reconciled him to the voluntary banishment of Ebn Thaher. “I feel
great satisfaction,” said he, “in finding in you so good a
substitute for the loss I have suffered. I cannot sufficiently
express how much I think myself indebted to you; and, I trust, that
God will amply recompense your generosity. I accept, therefore, with
great pleasure, the kind offer you have made me. Should you
suppose,” continued the prince, “that Schemselnihar’s
confidential slave has just been talking to me of you? She told me,
that it was you who advised Ebn Thaher to leave Bagdad. These were
the very last words she said, as she left me; and she seemed
thoroughly persuaded of their truth. She did you, however, great
injustice; and, after every thing you have now informed me of, I
have no doubt but she was completely deceived.”--“Prince,”
replied the jeweller, “I have had the honor to give you both a
literal and a faithful narrative of the conversation that took place
between Ebn Thaher and myself. It is true, that when he told me of
his intention of retiring to Balsora, I did not oppose his design: I
even told him, I thought him both prudent and wise; but this ought
not to prevent you from putting your whole confidence in me; for I
am ready to afford you all my services; and to exert myself most
warmly and indefatigably in your cause. If you think otherwise, and
decline my interference, I will, nevertheless, as I have most
solemnly sworn, religiously preserve your secret.”--“I have
already told you,” replied the prince, “that I place not the
least confidence in any thing the slave has said. It is her zeal
only that has raised these suspicions in her mind, and which have
not, in fact, the least foundation. You ought, therefore, like
myself, to excuse her on that account.”
They continued their conversation for some time longer, and
consulted together about the best and most suitable means of keeping
open a correspondence between the prince and Schemselnihar. The
first thing they settled was, that it was necessary to undeceive the
confidant, who was so unjustly prejudiced against the jeweller. The
prince took upon himself the task of explaining this matter the
first time she came to him; and also to desire her, whenever she
brought any more letters, or had any message from her mistress, to
carry them directly to the jeweller. In fact, they thought it
improper, that she should make her appearance at the prince’s
house so often; because she might by those means, perhaps, cause a
discovery of what it was so much the interest of all parties to
conceal. The jeweller then got up; and after having again assured
the prince he might place an entire confidence in him, took his
leave.
As the jeweller was going from the prince of Persia’s, he observed
a letter in the street, which some one seemed to have dropped. As it
was not sealed, he unfolded it, and found it written in the
following terms:
“SCHEMSELNIHAR TO THE PRINCE OF PERSIA.
“I am now about to inform you, by means of my slave, of a
circumstance which gives me no less affliction than it will occasion
you. By losing Ebn Thaher we truly suffer a great deal; but do not
let this, my dear prince, prevent you from taking care of yourself.
If the friend, in whom we trusted, has abandoned us through a dread
of the consequences, let us consider it as an evil we could not
avoid; we must, therefore, console ourselves under the misfortune. I
own to you, that Ebn Thaher has forsaken us at a time when his
presence and aid is most necessary; but let us fortify ourselves
with patience under this most unexpected event; nor let our
affection fail us even for an instant. Strengthen your mind against
this disastrous event. Remember, we seldom obtain what we wish,
without difficulty. Do not then let this damp our courage; let us
hope, that Heaven will be favorable; and, after all our numerous
sufferings, we shall at last arrive at the full and happy completion
of our wishes. Farewell.”
While the jeweller had been engaged with his visit to the prince of
Persia, the confidant had had time to return to the palace, and
inform her mistress of the unpleasant intelligence of Ebn Thaher’s
departure. Schemselnihar had in consequence immediately written the
foregoing letter, and sent her slave back to carry it to the prince
without delay; and the confidant, as she went along, had
accidentally dropped it.
The jeweller was much pleased at finding it, as it afforded him an
excellent method of justifying himself in the mind of the confidant,
and bringing the matter to the point he wished. As he finished
reading it, he perceived the slave herself, who was looking about
with great distress and anxiety to recover it. He directly folded it
up, and put it in his bosom, but the confidant, having observed his
motions, ran up to him; “Sir,” said she, “I have dropped the
letter, which you had just now in your hand; I beg you to have the
goodness to return it me.” The jeweller pretended not to hear her,
and continued walking on, till he got home, without answering a
word: he did not shut the door after him, that the confidant, who
still followed him, might, if she pleased, come in. This she did not
fail to do, and when she had reached his apartment, she said to him,
“Sir, you can make no use of the letter you have found, and you
would have no difficulty in giving it me again, if you knew from
whom it came, and to whom it is addressed. Give me leave to tell you
also, that you do not act justly by detaining it.”
Before he returned any answer to the slave, the jeweller made her
sit down; he then said to her, “Is it not true, that the letter in
question is from Schemselnihar, and that it is addressed to the
prince of Persia?” The slave, who did not expect this question,
changed colour; “This inquiry seems to embarrass you,” continued
he, “but understand that indiscreet curiosity is not my motive for
asking this; I could have given you the letter in the street, but I
wished to induce you to follow me here, because I am desirous of
explaining my motives to you. Tell me, is it just to impute a
disastrous event to any one who has not in the most distant manner
contributed to it. This, however, is exactly what you did, when you
told the prince of Persia, that I advised Ebn Thaher to leave Bagdad
for his own security. I will not, however, lose time in justifying
myself to you; it is enough that the prince of Persia is fully
persuaded of my innocence in this point. I will only say, that
instead of having aided Ebn Thaher in his departure, I am extremely
mortified at it; not so much through my friendship for him, as
through compassion for the situation in which he left the prince,
whose intercourse with Schemselnihar he made me acquainted with. As
soon as I was certain that Ebn Thaher was no longer in Bagdad, I ran
and presented myself to the prince, with whom you found me; I
informed him of this news, and, at the same time, offered him the
same services which Ebn Thaher had afforded him. I have succeeded in
my design, and provided you place as much confidence in me as you
did in Ebn Thaher, it will be your own fault if I am not equally
useful. Give an account to your mistress of what I have now said to
you, and assure her, that though I may lose my life by engaging in
so dangerous an enterprise, I shall never repent having sacrificed
myself for two lovers so worthy of each other.”
The confidential slave listened to what the jeweller said with great
satisfaction. She requested him to pardon her for the bad opinion
she had entertained of him, which arose merely from the zeal she
felt for Schemselnihar’s interests. “I much rejoice,” added
she, “that the Favorite and the prince of Persia have been so
fortunate as to find in you so proper a person to supply the place
of Ebn Thaher: and I will not fail to give my mistress a favorable
account of the strong inclination you have to serve her.
After the confidant had thus expressed the pleasure it afforded her
to find the jeweller so disposed to be useful to Schemselnihar and
the prince of Persia, he took the letter out of his bosom and gave
it her. “Take it,” he cried, “and carry it immediately to the
prince; and then come back this way, that I may see the answer which
he sends. And do not also forget to give him an account of our
conversation.” The slave took the letter, and carried it to the
prince of Persia, who answered it without any delay. She then
returned to the jeweller’s, to show him the answer, which
contained these words:
“THE PRINCE OF PERSIA TO SCHEMSELNIHAR.
“Your dear letter has produced a great effect upon me: but yet not
so great as I could wish. You endeavour to console me for the loss
of Ebn Thaher. Alas! however sensible I may be of it, this is only
the least part of the evils I endure. You know these evils; and you
know, that your presence can alone cure them. When, alas, will the
period arrive, in which I can enjoy that dear leisure without the
dread of being again deprived of it? How distant does it appear to
me! Rather, perhaps, we ought not to flatter ourselves, that we
shall ever meet again. You tell me to take care of myself. I will
obey you, since I have made every inclination of my heart
subservient to you. Farewell.”
When he had read this letter, the jeweller returned it to the
confidant, who, as she was departing, said to him; “I am going,
sir, to induce my mistress to place the same confidence in you which
she did in Ebn Thaher. To-morrow you will have some intelligence
from me.” And he saw her, in fact, arrive the very next day with
great satisfaction marked in her countenance. “The sight of you
alone,” said he, “proves to me, that you found Schemselnihar in
the disposition of mind you wished.”--“It is true,” she
answered, “and you shall hear the manner in which I brought it
about. I found her yesterday,” continued the confidant, “waiting
for me with the greatest impatience. I put the letter of the prince
into her hand, and she read it, while her eyes were bathed in tears.
As I perceived she was going to give herself up to her accustomed
grief, ‘Madam,’ said I, ‘it is, without doubt, the departure
of Ebn Thaher which so much afflicts you: but permit me to conjure
you, in the name of God, not to alarm yourself any more on that
subject. We have found another like himself, who has offered to
engage in your service with equal zeal, and what is of more
consequence, with greater courage!’ I then mentioned you to
her,” continued the slave, “and told her the motives which
induced you to go to the prince of Persia. In short, I assured her,
that you would ever preserve the secret intercourse between her and
the prince inviolable, and that you were determined to aid their
attachment with all your power. She appeared greatly consoled at
this speech, ‘What obligation,’ she exclaimed, ‘ought we to
feel ourselves under to the excellent man you have mentioned! I wish
to know him, to see him, to hear from his own lips what you have now
told me; and to thank him for his almost unheard-of generosity
towards persons who have not the slightest reason to expect him to
interest himself in so fervent a manner. His sight will afford me
pleasure; and I will omit nothing that I think will confirm him in
his good opinions and intentions. Do not neglect to go to him
to-morrow morning and bring him here.’ You must therefore, sir, if
you please, take the trouble to go with me to her palace.”
This speech of the confidant’s very much embarrassed the jeweller.
“Your mistress,” he replied, “must permit me to say, that she
has not thought sufficiently of what she has required of me. The
free access which Ebn Thaher had to the caliph, gave him admission
every where; and the officers and attendants, who knew him, suffered
him to go backwards and forwards to the palace of Schemselnihar
without molestation. But how dare I enter it! You must yourself see
that the thing is impossible. I entreat you, therefore, to explain
to Schemselnihar the reasons which ought to prevent me from giving
her this satisfaction, and represent to her all the unpleasant
consequences that might happen from it. And if she will consider the
matter again in the slightest degree, she will easily see, that she
exposes me to a very great danger without the least use.”
The confidential slave endeavoured to encourage the jeweller. “Do
you suppose,” she said, “that Schemselnihar is so regardless as
to expose you, from whom she expects a continuance of the most
important services, to the least danger, in ordering you to come to
her? Recollect yourself; and you will find, there is not even the
appearance of danger. Both my lady and myself are too much
interested in this affair to engage you in it without due
consideration. You may, therefore, very safely trust me to conduct
you: and after it is all finished, you will readily enough
acknowledge, that your alarms are without any foundation.”
The jeweller yielded to the arguments of the confidant; and got up
to follow her. In spite, however, of all the courage he piqued
himself upon possessing, his fears so far got the better of him,
that he trembled from head to foot. “From the state which I
perceive you are in,” cried she, “I am sure you had better
remain at home, and Schemselnihar pursue some other mode of seeing
you: and I have no doubt, from the great desire she feels, that she
will come and find you out herself. This being the case, sir, do not
go out; for I am convinced it will not be long before you will see
her arrive.” The confidant was not wrong in her conjectures; for
she had no sooner informed Schemselnihar of the fright of the
jeweller, than the latter instantly made preparations to go to his
house.
He received her with every mark of the most profound respect. As
soon as she had sat down, for she was a little fatigued with her
walk, she took off her veil, and discovered so much beauty to the
eyes of the jeweller, that he instantly confessed, in his own mind,
how excusable it was in the prince of Persia to have devoted his
heart to the Favorite of the caliph. She then accosted the jeweller
in the kindest manner, and said to him, “I could not possibly
become acquainted with the great interest you take in the welfare of
the prince of Persia and myself, without instantly forming the
design of thanking you in person; and I am truly grateful to Heaven
for having so soon, and so well, supplied the great loss we suffered
in Ebn Thaher.”
Schemselnihar added many other obliging things in her speech to the
jeweller; and then returned to her palace. The jeweller himself
instantly went, and gave the prince of Persia an account of this
visit; who, when he saw him arrive, called out, “I have been
waiting for you with the greatest impatience. The confidential slave
has brought me a letter from her mistress: but this letter has
afforded me no comfort. Although the amiable Schemselnihar may
endeavour to give me every encouragement, yet I dare not indulge my
hopes, and my patience is quite exhausted. I know not what plan to
follow. The departure of Ebn Thaher has thrown me into despair. He
was my support; and, in losing him, I have lost every thing; for in
the free access he had to Schemselnihar, I did flatter myself with
some hopes.”
At these words, which the prince uttered in a very expressive
manner, and so rapidly that the jeweller had no opportunity of
putting in a word before, he said, “No one, prince, can take a
greater interest in your misfortunes than I do; and if you will have
the patience to listen to me, you will find, that I can afford you
some comfort. At this speech the prince held his tongue, and was
attentive, “I very clearly see,” added the jeweller, “that the
only means of satisfying you, is to enable you to converse with and
see Schemselnihar without any restraint. This is a satisfaction I
wish to procure you; and I will set about it to-morrow. It will not,
I trust, be necessary to expose you to the risk of going to the
palace of Schemselnihar? you know, from experience, how dangerous a
plan that is. I am acquainted with a much more proper place for this
interview; and where you will both be in safety.” When the
jeweller had finished this speech, the prince embraced him with the
greatest transport.
“You reanimate, by this delightful promise,” he exclaimed, “an
unfortunate lover, who felt himself already condemned to death. From
what I already hear, I am sure I have fully repaired the loss of Ebn
Thaher. Whatever you undertake will, I know, be done well; and I
give myself entirely up to your direction.”
After the prince had thanked the jeweller for the zeal he had shown
in his service, the latter returned home; where the confidential
slave of Schemselnihar came the next morning to seek him. He
informed her, that he had given the prince of Persia some hopes of
seeing Schemselnihar very soon. “I am come expressly,” she
cried, “to concert some measures with you for that purpose. It
appears to me,” she added, “that this very house is well adapted
for their meeting.”--“I should not have the least objection to
their coming here,” replied the jeweller, “but I think they will
be much more at liberty in another house which I have, and which is
inhabited by no one. I will immediately have it handsomely furnished
to receive them.”--“This being the case,” rejoined the slave,
“nothing more remains to be done, but to get the Favorite to agree
to it. I will go and speak to her on the subject, and will return in
a very short time, and give you her answer.”
It was not long before she came back; and she told the jeweller,
that Schemselnihar would not fail to be at the appointed place
towards the close of the day. She at the same time put a purse into
his hands, and told him, it was to procure an excellent collation.
The jeweller directly carried the slave to the house where the
lovers were to meet, that she might know where it was, and be able
to conduct her mistress thither: and, as soon as they parted, he
went to borrow from his friends some gold and silver plate, some
carpets, some very rich cushions, and other furniture, with which he
ornamented the house in the most magnificent manner. When he had got
every thing in readiness, he went to the prince of Persia.
Imagine to yourself the joy of the prince, when the jeweller
informed him, that he was come for the purpose of conducting him to
a house which was prepared on purpose for his and Schemselnihar’s
reception. This intelligence made him forget all his vexations, all
his disappointments, and all his sufferings. He put on a most
magnificent dress, and went out, without even one attendant, with
the jeweller, who led him through many unfrequented streets to his
house, in order that no one might observe them, where he introduced
him, and where they remained in conversation till the arrival of
Schemselnihar.
They did not wait a great while for this too doting fair-one. She
arrived directly after prayers at sun-set, accompanied by her
confidential and two other slaves. It would be useless to attempt to
express to you the excess of joy these two lovers evinced at the
sight of each other; the delineation is almost impossible. They sat
down upon a sofa, and at first looked at each other without being
able to utter a single word, so much were their minds absorbed in
mutual contemplation. But the use of their speech was no sooner
returned, than they made ample amends for their former silence. They
expressed themselves in so tender and affecting a manner, that even
the jeweller, the confidant, and the two slaves, could not refrain
from shedding tears. It was necessary, however, for the jeweller to
dry his tears, and to think about the collation, which he set before
them with his own hands. The lovers eat and drank but very slightly;
after which they returned to the sofa, and Schemselnihar asked the
jeweller, if he happened to have a lute, or any other instrument.
The jeweller, who took care to provide every thing which he thought
might afford them pleasure, immediately brought a lute. The Favorite
spent a few moments in tuning it, and then began to sing.
While Schemselnihar was thus delighting the prince of Persia, by
expressing her love for him in words which she composed at the
moment, they suddenly heard a great noise; and a slave, whom the
jeweller had brought with him, instantly rushed in, frightened to
death, and said, that some people were forcing the door; that he had
demanded of them who it was, when, instead of returning any answer,
they redoubled their blows. The jeweller, greatly alarmed, left
Schemselnihar and the prince of Persia to go and inform himself of
the truth of this bad news. He went as far as the court, when,
through the obscurity of the place, he observed a troop of men,
armed with scimitars, who had already forced the door, and were
coming directly towards him. The jeweller got up close to the wall,
as quickly as possible, and, without being observed, he saw them
pass by, to the number of ten.
As he thought he could be of no use in assisting the prince of
Persia and Schemselnihar, he contented himself with lamenting their
sad situation, and took flight as fast as possible. He ran out of
his own house, and went for safety to that of a neighbour, who was
not yet retired for the night; not doubting, that this unforeseen
and violent attack was made by order of the caliph, who had by some
means been informed of the place of appointment between the Favorite
and the prince of Persia. The house, to which he fled for safety,
was not so far distant, but that he heard the noise they made at his
own; and this noise continued till midnight. Then, as every thing
appeared to him to be silent, he requested his neighbour to lend him
a sabre, and, armed in this manner, he sallied forth. He went to the
door of his own house; and, entering the court, perceived, with
great alarm, a man, who demanded who he was. He instantly recognised
the voice of his slave. “How have you been able,” cried the
jeweller, “to escape being taken by the guard?”--“Sir,”
replied the slave, “I concealed myself in the corner of the court,
and I came out as soon as the noise had ceased. But it was not the
guard that broke in your house; they were robbers, who, for some
days past, have infested this quarter of the city, and pillaged
almost every one. They have, without doubt, remarked, that some rich
furniture has been brought here; and this was certainly their
object.”