the most distressing that can possibly happen to any one so much in
love as I am, and who thought herself almost at the completion of
her wishes. When I saw the robbers enter, with a sabre in one hand
and a poniard in the other, I concluded the very last moment of my
existence was at hand, and that the prince of Persia was in equal
danger. I did not indeed lament my own death from the satisfaction I
felt, that we should die together. Instead, however, of instantly
falling upon us, and plunging their weapons into our hearts, as I
fully expected, two of the robbers were ordered to guard us, while
the others were engaged in packing up whatever they could find in
the room where we were, and in the other apartments. When they had
done this, and had taken all the plunder upon their shoulders, they
went out, and made us go with them.
“‘While we were on the way, one of those, who accompanied us,
demanded our names. I told him, that I was a dancer. He asked the
same question of the prince, who said, that he was a citizen.
“‘When we had arrived at their dwelling, we experienced new
alarms. They first collected round me, and after examining my dress,
and the valuable jewels with which I was adorned, they seemed very
much to doubt my rank. ‘A dancing girl,’ said they, ‘is not
likely to be dressed like you. Tell us truly who you are.’
“‘As they found I was not inclined to give them any answer, they
put the same question to the prince of Persia. ‘Inform us,’ they
cried, ‘who you are. We see well enough, that you are not a common
person, as you wish us to believe by your former answer.’ He,
however, gave them no greater satisfaction than I had done. He only
told them, that he had come on a visit to a certain jeweller, whose
name he mentioned, in order to amuse himself, and that the house
where they found us belonged to him.
“‘I know that jeweller,’ cried one of the robbers, who seemed
to have some authority among them; ‘and I am under some
obligations to him, although he is not perhaps aware of it: I know,
also, that he has another house. To-morrow I will make it my
business to bring him hither, and we will not release you till we
know from him who you are. In the mean time, be assured that no harm
shall be done to you.’
“‘The jeweller was brought here the next day, and as he thought
to oblige us, and in fact he did so, he informed the robbers
precisely who we were. They immediately came and begged my pardon,
and I believe they did the same to the prince, who was in another
apartment. They protested to me, at the same time, that if they had
known that the house where they discovered us belonged to the
jeweller, they would not have broken it open. They then took us all
three, and conducted us to the banks of the Tigris; they made us go
on board a boat, by which we crossed the water; but, at the very
instant of landing, a party of the guard came up to us on horseback.
“‘I took the commander aside, told him my name, and also that on
the evening before, as I was visiting one of my friends, the robbers
met and stopped me, and then carried me with them; and that it was
not till I had informed them who I was, that they would release me.
That on my account, also, they set at liberty the two persons he
then saw with me, because I assured them I knew who they were. The
officer of the guard immediately alighted, as a mark of his respect,
and after expressing his joy at being able to oblige me in any
thing, he ordered two boats to come to the shore, into one of which
he put me and two of his people, whom you saw, and who escorted me
hither. The prince of Persia and the jeweller embarked in the other
with two more of his soldiers, who went with and conducted them
safely home.
“‘I hope,’ added Schemselnihar, with her eyes swimming in
tears, as she finished this account, ‘that no fresh misfortune has
happened to them since our separation, and I firmly believe, that
the grief and distress of the prince is equal to mine. The jeweller,
who has served us with so much zeal and affection, deserves, at
least, to be recompensed for the loss he has sustained through his
friendship for us; do not, therefore, fail to take him to-morrow
morning, as from me, two purses with a thousand pieces of gold in
each; and gain, at the same time, some intelligence from him
concerning the prince of Persia.’
“When my good mistress had concluded her story, I endeavoured, on
her giving me this last order, to obtain some information of the
prince of Persia, to persuade her to make use of every method to
conquer her feelings after the danger she had just encountered, and
from which she had escaped only, as it were, by a miracle. ‘Make
no reply,’ she called out, ‘but do as I command you.’
“I was, therefore, obliged to hold my tongue, and immediately set
out to obey her orders. I first proceeded to your house, where I did
not find you; and, from the uncertainty whether I should meet with
you at the place where they told me you were gone, I was on the
point of going to the prince of Persia’s, but was afraid to make
the attempt. I left the two purses, as I went past, with a person of
my acquaintance. If you will wait here a little while for me, I will
go and fetch them.”
The confidential slave then departed, but returned to the mosque,
where she had left the jeweller, almost directly. “Here,” said
she, giving him the two purses, “take these, and make a
compensation to your friends for their losses.”--“There is much
more,” replied the jeweller, “than is necessary for that
purpose: but I dare not refuse the present, which so kind and
generous a lady wishes to make to the humblest of her slaves. I beg
you to assure her, that I shall for ever preserve the recollection
of her kindness.” He then made an agreement with the confidant,
that she should come and inquire for him at the house where she had
first met him, whenever she had any thing to communicate from
Schemselnihar, or wished to gain any intelligence of the prince of
Persia. After this they separated.
The jeweller returned home very well satisfied, not only with the
ample sum of money he had received for the purpose of making up the
loss his friends had suffered, but also from the idea, that he was
sure no person in Bagdad knew that the prince of Persia and
Schemselnihar had been discovered in his other house, which had been
robbed. It is true, he had acquainted the robbers themselves with
it, but he was tolerably secure of their secrecy, from its being
mutual. Besides, they, he thought, did not mix sufficiently with the
world to fear any danger from them, even if they did divulge it. The
next morning he saw those friends, to whom he was under such
obligations, and he had no difficulty in giving them perfect
satisfaction. And, after all, he had enough money remaining to
furnish his other house again very properly. He did this, and sent
some of his domestics to inhabit it. While thus employed, he quite
forgot the danger which he had so lately escaped from; and in the
evening he went to visit the prince of Persia.
The officers and attendants of the prince, who received him, told
him he arrived very opportunely, for that the prince, since he left
him, was in such a state as to alarm them for his life; and that
they had not been able to get him to speak a single word. They
introduced him into his chamber without making the least noise; and,
he found the prince lying in his bed, with his eyes shut, and in a
state which very much excited his compassion. He saluted him, took
him by the hand, and exhorted him to keep up his spirits.
The prince of Persia perceived that it was the jeweller who spoke to
him; he opened his eyes, and gave him such a look as plainly evinced
how much he was afflicted, and how much more he now suffered than
when he first saw Schemselnihar. He took hold of him, and pressed
his hand as a mark of his friendship; and, at the same time said,
though in the most feeble tone of voice, how much he felt himself
obliged to him for the trouble he took in coming to see so
unfortunate and wretched a being as he was.
“Talk not, I beseech you, prince,” said the jeweller, “of the
obligations you are under to me. I wish, most earnestly, that the
good offices which I endeavor to do you were attended with more
success. Let us only think of your health. From the state you are
now in, I fear you suffer yourself to be too much depressed, and
that you do not take so much nourishment as is absolutely
necessary.”
The attendants who were in waiting, seized this opportunity to
inform the jeweller, that they had tried every method in their power
to induce him to eat something, but all their efforts were
ineffectual, and that the prince had taken nothing for a great
length of time. This compelled the jeweller to request the prince of
Persia to suffer his servants to bring some nourishment for him to
take, and after much entreaty he at length obtained his consent.
When the prince of Persia had eaten, through the persuasions of the
jeweller, much more than he had hitherto done, he ordered his people
to retire, that he might be alone with him. And after they were gone
out, he addressed these words to him: “Added to the misfortune
which overwhelms me, I feel very great pain for the loss that you
have suffered from your regard to me; and, it is but just, that I
should think of some means to recompense you: but in the first
place, after requesting you most earnestly to pardon me, I entreat
you to inform me, if you have heard any thing of Schemselnihar,
after I was compelled to separate myself from her.”
As the jeweller had before received the whole account from
Schemselnihar’s confidential slave, he now related what he knew of
her arrival at her own palace, and of the state she had been in from
that moment, till she felt herself so much better as to be able to
send her confidant to get some intelligence of him.
To this speech of the jeweller the prince answered only by his sighs
and tears. He then made an effort to get up; he called his people,
and went himself to the room where he kept his valuables, and
ordered it to be opened; he then made them take out many pieces of
rich furniture and plate, and ordered them to be carried to the
jeweller’s.
The jeweller wished to decline accepting the present of the prince
of Persia; but although he represented to him, that Schemselnihar
had already sent him much more than sufficient to replace every
thing that his friends had lost, the prince nevertheless would be
obeyed. The only thing, therefore, the jeweller could do, was to
acknowledge how much he felt confused at his great liberality, and
to assure him, he could not be sufficiently thankful for his
kindness. He then wished to take his leave; but the prince desired
him to remain, and they passed the greatest part of the night in
conversation.
The jeweller saw the prince again the next morning before he went
away, when the latter made him sit down near him. “You know very
well,” said he, “that there must be an end to every thing. The
sole object and end of a lover is to obtain possession of her he
loves, without restraint: if he once loses sight of this hope, it is
certain, that he can no longer wish to live. This, you must be well
convinced, is the miserable situation in which I am. Twice, when I
have fancied myself at the very consummation of my wishes, at that
very instant have I been torn from the object of my affections in
the most cruel manner. I have now, therefore, only to think of
death. I would myself be the cause of its immediate presence, but
that my religion prevents my becoming a self-murderer. I feel,
however, that I have no occasion to hasten its approach; because I
am well convinced I shall not have long to expect it.” With these
words he concluded his speech, and then gave full scope to his
tears, nor did he endeavour to suppress his sighs and his
lamentations.
The jeweller, who knew not what better method to pursue, to lead his
attention from this hopeless and despairing train of thinking, than
by recalling Schemselnihar to his recollection, and holding out some
slight ray of hope, told him, that he was afraid the confidant was
already come; and it would not, therefore, be right that he should
lose any time in going home. “I permit you to go,” said the
prince, “but if you see her, I entreat you to urge her to assure
Schemselnihar, that if I die, as I expect will very soon be the
case, I shall adore her with my last breath, nor will my affection
cease even in the tomb.”
The jeweller then returned home, and remained there, in hopes that
the slave would soon make her appearance. She, in fact, arrived a
few hours after; but bathed in tears, and in the greatest disorder.
Greatly alarmed at seeing her in this condition, the jeweller
eagerly inquired what was the matter.
“We are all undone,” cried she; “Schemselnihar, the prince of
Persia, you, myself, every one of us are lost. Listen to the
terrible news I learnt yesterday, when I left you and returned to
the palace.
“Schemselnihar had ordered one of the two slaves, who were with us
at your house, to be punished for some fault or other. Enraged at
this ill-treatment, this slave, finding a door of the palace open,
ran out, and we have no doubt but that she went and told every thing
to one of the eunuchs of our guard, who has afforded her a retreat.
“Nor is this all: the other slave, her companion, is also fled,
and has taken refuge in the palace of the caliph, to whom, we have
every reason to believe, she has revealed all she knew; and what
confirms this opinion is, that the caliph sent this morning twenty
eunuchs to bring Schemselnihar to his palace. I found the means to
steal away, and to come and give you information of all this. I know
not what has passed, but I conjecture nothing good. Whatever it may
be, I entreat you to be quite secret.
The confidant then added, that she thought it would be proper to go,
without losing a moment, and find the prince of Persia, and to
inform him of the whole affair, that he might hold himself in
readiness for any turn the event might take; and also that he might
be true and faithful to the common cause. She said not another word,
but suddenly went away, without even waiting for an answer.
And what indeed could the jeweller have answered in the state this
speech put him in! He remained motionless, like a person stunned by
a blow. He was nevertheless aware, that the business required
decisive and prompt measures. He, therefore, made all the haste he
could to the prince of Persia’s, and as soon as he saw him, he
accosted him in a way that instantly showed he was the messenger of
bad news. “Prince,” he cried, “arm yourself with patience,
constancy, and courage; prepare for an attack, the most dreadful you
have ever encountered.”
“Tell me,” exclaimed the prince, “in two words, what has
happened, and do not thus keep me in suspense. I am ready to die, if
it be necessary.”
The jeweller then related to him every thing he had heard from the
confidential slave. “You see,” added he, “that your
destruction is inevitable. Get up then, and endeavour instantly to
save yourself. The time is precious. You ought not to expose
yourself to the rage of the caliph, still less to confess any thing,
although you should be in the midst of torments.”
Very little more would at this moment have actually destroyed the
prince, so much was he already broken down by affliction, sorrow,
and terror. He at length recollected himself, and inquired of the
jeweller what plan he advised him to pursue in so critical a
conjuncture, and when he had only an instant to take advantage of
it. “There is nothing to be done,” replied the jeweller, “but
to get on horse-back as soon as possible, take the road to Anbar,
and endeavour to arrive there before daylight to-morrow. Let as many
of your people accompany you as you think necessary, and some good
horses, and suffer me to save myself with you.”
The prince of Persia, who knew of no better method to pursue, gave
orders to have prepared barely as much as was necessary for the
journey; carried some money and jewels with him, and after taking
leave of his mother, set out, and hastened as much as possible to
get at a distance from Bagdad, in company with the jeweller, and the
attendants he had chosen.
They travelled the rest of the day, and most of the following night,
without making any stop on the road, till about two or three hours
before day, when the fatigue of so long a journey, and the absolute
inability of their horses to proceed, compelled them to alight, and
take some little repose.
They had hardly had time to breathe, before they were attacked by a
considerable troop of robbers. They defended themselves for some
time with the greatest courage, till all the attendants of the
prince were killed: the prince and the jeweller then laid down their
arms, and yielded at discretion. The robbers gave them their lives;
and after taking their horses and baggage, they rifled and even
stripped their persons, and then retiring with their plunder, left
them in the same place.
The robbers were no sooner at some distance, than the prince said to
the jeweller, who was in the utmost distress, “Well, what think
you of our late adventure, and the state we are now left in? Do you
not rather wish that I had remained at Bagdad waiting there for my
death, in what manner soever it might have been
inflicted!”--“Prince,” replied the jeweller, “we must submit
to the decrees of the Almighty. It is his will that we should suffer
affliction upon affliction. Our business is not to murmur, but to
receive every thing, whether good or evil, from his hands with
absolute submission. Let us not, however, stop here; but proceed,
and endeavour to find out some place, where we shall be able to
obtain relief under our misfortune.”
“Let me alone,” cried the prince of Persia, “and suffer me to
end my days in this place; for of what consequence is it where I
breathe my last. Perhaps, at the very instant we are now speaking,
Schemselnihar is herself no more; and it is neither my wish nor even
in my power, to live a moment after her.” The jeweller at length,
with much intreaty, persuaded him to move. They walked on for a long
time, and at last came to a mosque, which they found open. They went
in, and passed the rest of the night there.
At day-break, there was only one person came into the mosque. He
said his prayers, and when he had finished them, as he was going out
he perceived the prince of Persia and the jeweller, who were seated
in one corner. He went up to them, and saluted them with great
civility. “You seem to me,” he said to them, “if I may judge
from your appearance, to be strangers.” The jeweller, who took
upon himself to speak, answered, “You are not wrong in your
supposition. Last night, in coming along the road from Bagdad, we
were robbed, as you may conjecture from the state we are in; and we
have great need of assistance, but know not to whom to
apply.”--“If you will take the trouble,” replied the stranger,
“to come to my house, I will very readily give you all the help
and assistance in my power.”
On hearing this obliging offer, the jeweller turned towards the
prince of Persia, and whispered in his ear, that he thought this man
did not know either of them, and that they had some reason to think
it possible another might come, who would recognise them. “We
ought not, therefore,” said he, “to refuse the favor which this
good man does us.”--“You are master,” replied the prince, “I
agree to every thing you wish.”
As the stranger saw the prince and the jeweller consulting together,
he thought that they made some difficulty in accepting the proposal
he had made them. He asked, therefore, on what they had determined,
“We are ready to follow you,” replied the jeweller, “but what
affords us the greatest distress is, that we are almost naked, and
are therefore ashamed to appear in this condition.” Fortunately,
however, the man had sufficient clothes about him, to be able to
bestow enough on them to cover them in their way to his house. And
they were no sooner arrived, than their host ordered some clothes to
be brought for each of them; and, as he naturally imagined that they
were greatly in want of food, and would also be much more at ease by
themselves, he sent a female slave with a variety of dishes. They
scarcely, however, touched any thing, particularly the prince, who
was reduced to such a languid state, and was so worn out, that the
jeweller felt considerable alarms for his life.
Their host visited them several times during the day; but he left
them early in the evening, as he knew they stood in great need of
repose. The jeweller, however, was obliged, almost immediately, to
call him again, to help him in attending on the prince of Persia,
who, he thought, was very near dying. He perceived that his
respiration was difficult and rapid, and from this he judged he had
only a few moments to live. He went up to him, when the prince said,
“It is, as you must perceive, all over with me; and I am well
satisfied, that you should be a witness to the last sigh I shall
ever breathe; I resign my life with much satisfaction, nor need I
inform you why I do so. You know it. All the regret I feel is, that
I do not breathe my last in the arms of my dearest mother, who has
always shown the tenderest affection for me; and for whom, I trust,
my respect has ever been such as was proper. She will suffer much,
from not having the melancholy consolation of closing my eyes, and
even of burying me with her own hands. Tell her, I beg of you, the
pain I suffer; and request her, as from me, to have my body conveyed
to Bagdad, chat she may water my grave with her tears, and may
afford me the benefit of her prayers.” He did not forget the
master of the house where he was; and thanked him for the generous
reception he had given him, and after requesting that his body might
be preserved in his house, till they came to bury it, he expired.
The day after the death of the prince of Persia, the jeweller took
advantage of a large caravan, which happened at that time to be
going to Bagdad; where he arrived in safety. He immediately went to
his own house, and having changed his dress, he proceeded to that of
the deceased prince of Persia, where they were all much alarmed at
not seeing the prince himself come back with him. He desired the
attendants to inform the prince’s mother, that he wished to speak
to her; and it was not long before they introduced him into a hall,
where she was surrounded by many of her females. “Madam,” said
the jeweller on entering, but in a tone and manner that evidently
proved he was the messenger of ill news, “may God preserve you,
and heap abundance of his favors upon you. You are not ignorant,
that the Almighty disposes of us as he pleases.”
The lady gave the jeweller no time to say more, “Ah,” she
exclaimed, “you come to announce the death of my son!” She
instantly uttered the most melancholy cries, which, together with
those made by her women, renewed the grief, and made the tears of
the jeweller flow afresh. She continued to suffer these torments,
and remained a long time overcome by affliction, before she would
permit the jeweller to go on with what he had to say. She at length
suppressed for a time her lamentations and tears, and begged him to
continue his account, and not to conceal any circumstance of this
melancholy separation. He satisfied her; and when he had concluded,
she asked him if the prince her son had not charged him with any
thing in particular to say to her, when he was at the extremity of
his life. He assured her, that he only expressed the greatest regret
at breathing his last at a distance from her, and that the only
thing he wished was, that she would take care and have his body
brought to Bagdad. Early, therefore, the next morning, she set out,
accompanied by all her women, and a considerable part of her slaves.
When the jeweller, who had been detained by the mother of the prince
of Persia, had seen her take her departure, he returned home in the
most melancholy state of mind: his eyes cast down, and himself
deeply regretting the death of so accomplished and amiable a prince,
in the very flower of his age.