of renewing it, and with more prospect of success in obtaining a
hearing. “My son,” said she, “if it be not painful to you,
pray tell me what are the reasons that have given you so great an
aversion to marriage. If you have none stronger than the art and
wickedness of women, believe me, you could not have chosen any more
weak or unreasonable. I will not undertake the defence of artful
women, for that there are numbers of that description, I am well
persuaded; but it is the most flagrant injustice to accuse the whole
sex of this crime. Surely my son, you do not form your opinion from
the few examples which your books mention, and who have, I confess,
occasioned great disorder and confusion in the world; such, I will
not attempt to justify; but why, on the other hand, do not you
remark also, the many monarchs, sultans, and inferior princes, whose
tyranny, barbarity, and cruelty excite the deepest horror in those
histories, which I have read as well as yourself. For one woman, who
has been guilty of such crimes, you will find a thousand of these
barbarians and tyrants. And do you think the poor women who have the
misfortune to be married to these wretches, and who are, perhaps,
good and prudent wives, can be very happy?”
“Madam,” replied Camaralzaman, “I do not doubt, that there is
in the world a great number of prudent, good, and virtuous women, of
gentle dispositions and good morals. Would to God they all resembled
you! But what deters me is the doubtful choice a man is obliged to
make, when marrying; or rather the dread, that he is often deprived
of the liberty of making that choice himself.
“Let us suppose,” continued he, “that I had consented to form
a matrimonial engagement, as the sultan my father so impatiently
wishes; what wife would he give me? a princess, in all probability,
whom he would request of some neighbouring prince, and who would, no
doubt, think it a great honor. Handsome or ugly, she must be
received; but even supposing she excels every other princess in
beauty, who can ensure that her mind will be equal to her person?
That she will be gentle, obliging, affable, and engaging? that her
conversation will not be frivolous; of dress, of ornaments, of
appearance, and a thousand other trifles, which must create contempt
in a man of good sense? In a word, that she is not proud, haughty,
irascible, disdainful, and one who will ruin a whole kingdom by her
frivolous expenses in dresses, jewels, trinkets, or in tasteless and
empty magnificence.
“Now you see, madam, on one subject only, how many things there
are to give rise to my antipathy to matrimony; but even if this
princess be so perfect and so accomplished, that she is
irreproachable on all these points, I have a great number of reasons
still stronger than any I have expressed, to make me continue in the
same opinion, and adhere to my resolution.”
“What, my son!” exclaimed Fatima, “can you add more objections
to those you have already stated? I was going to answer you, and
refute your arguments with one word.”--“That need not prevent
you, madam,” replied the prince, “I shall probably have some
reply to make to your answers.”
“I was going to say, my son,” resumed Fatima, “that it is easy
for a prince, who should have the misfortune to marry a princess,
such as you describe, to leave her, and also to adopt such measures
as might prevent her ruining the state.”
“Well, madam,” said prince Camaralzaman, “and do you not
consider what a cruel mortification it must be to a prince to be
under the necessity of having recourse to such extremities? Is it
not much better both for his peace of mind, and for his reputation,
not to expose himself to it?”
“But, my son,” replied Fatima, “from the way you treat this
matter, I conclude that you intend to be the last king of the race
from which you are descended; and which has so gloriously filled the
throne of the island of the children of Khaledan.”
“Madam,” continued the prince, “I have no wish of surviving
the king my father. Even should I die before him, he ought not to be
surprised, since there are so many examples of children dying before
their parents. But it is always glorious for a race of kings to
finish with a prince so worthy of being a sovereign as I should
endeavour to be, by imitating my predecessors and him, with whom the
line began.”
After this, Fatima frequently had conversations of the same nature
with the prince, her son: and she left no means untried, by which
she hoped to eradicate his aversion. But he confuted all the reasons
she could produce, by others equally strong, to which she knew not
what to reply; and he remained unshaken in his determination.
The year passed on, and prince Camaralzaman, to the great regret of
the sultan Schahzaman, did not show the least appearance of having
altered his sentiments. At length one day, when the grand council
met, and the first vizier, the other viziers, the principal officers
of the crown, and the generals of the army were assembled, the
sultan thus addressed the prince: “It is now a long time, my son,
since I expressed to you the anxious desire I have of seeing you
married: and I expected from you a greater attention to the wishes
of a father who required of you nothing but what was reasonable.
After so long a resistance on your part, which has entirely
exhausted my patience, I now repeat the same thing to you, in the
presence of my council. It is not only, that by persisting in your
refusal, you disoblige your father, but the welfare of my dominions
requires your compliance, and all these nobles join with me in
requesting it. Declare your sentiments before them, that from the
answer you make me, I may know what measures to adopt.
Prince Camaralzaman answered with so little temper, or rather with
so much warmth, that the sultan, justly irritated by the behaviour
of his son before the full council, exclaimed, “What, undutiful
son! have you the insolence to speak thus to your father and your
sultan?” He immediately ordered him to be arrested by the officers
present, and to be conducted to an ancient tower which had been long
neglected, where he was confined, with only a bed and very little
furniture, a few books, and one slave to attend him.
Camaralzaman, satisfied with having the liberty of amusing himself
with his books, looked on his imprisonment with indifference.
Towards evening, he washed himself, repeated his prayers, and after
having read some chapters in the Koran with the same tranquillity as
if he had been in his own apartment in the palace of the sultan, he
lay down without extinguishing his lamp, which he left by his
bed’s side, and fell asleep.
In this tower there was a well, which, during the day, formed a
retreat for a fairy, called Maimounè, the daughter of Damriat, the
king or chief of a legion of Genii. It was about midnight when
Maimounè lightly darted to the top of the well, to prepare for her
nightly excursion, as was her usual custom, and wander about the
world, wherever curiosity might lead her. She was much surprised to
see a light in the chamber of Camaralzaman. She entered it; and
without being stopped by the slave, who was stationed at the door,
she approached the bed, the magnificence of which attracted her
attention, but her surprise was much increased, at observing that
somebody was in it.
Camaralzaman’s face was half concealed by the covering of the bed.
Maimounè raised it a little, and beheld the handsomest youth she
had ever seen in any part of the habitable world, through all of
which she had frequently traversed. “What brilliancy,” said she
to herself, “or rather what a prodigy of beauty must those eyes
display, when no longer concealed, as they now are, by such
well-formed eye-lids! What cause can he have given to be treated in
a manner so unworthy of his rank?” for she had already heard of
his disgrace, and did not doubt who it was.
Maimounè could not cease admiring the beauty of prince
Camaralzaman; at length, however, having gently kissed him on the
cheek, and on the middle of his forehead, without waking him, she
replaced the covering as it was before, and took her flight through
the air. When she had risen very high towards the middle region, she
was suddenly struck with the sound of wings, which inclined her to
fly to the quarter from whence it came. On approaching she found it
to be a Genius, who occasioned the noise; but one of those who had
rebelled against God. Maimounè was, on the contrary, one of those,
whom the great Solomon had compelled to acknowledge his power.
This Genius, who was named Danhasch, and who was the son of
Schamhourasch, recognised Maimounè, though not without very great
terror. In fact, he knew that she possessed considerable superiority
over him, in consequence of her submission to God. He would fain,
therefore, have avoided this meeting, but he found he was so close
to her, that he must either encounter a battle, or submit.
Danhasch was the first to speak; “Good Maimounè,” said he, in a
supplicating tone, “swear to me, by the great name of God, that
you will not hurt me, and I promise you on my part not to annoy
you.”
“Cursed Genius,” cried Maimounè, “what harm canst thou do to
me? I fear thee not. But I will grant thee this favor, and I make
the oath thou requirest. Now tell me whence thou comest, what thou
hast seen, and what thou hast done this night?”--“Beautiful
lady,” replied Danhasch, “we meet opportunely for you to hear
something wonderful. Since you wish it, I will tell you that I come
from the extremity of China, where its coast overlooks the farthest
islands of this hemisphere. But, charming Maimounè,” interrupted
Danhasch, who trembled with fear in the presence of this fairy, and
had some difficulty in speaking before her, “you promise at least
to forgive me, and to permit me to depart, when I shall have
satisfied your curiosity?”
“Go on, go on, wretch,” replied Maimounè, “and fear nothing.
Dost thou think I am as perfidious as thyself, and that I am capable
of breaking the terrible oath I have taken? take care only to relate
nothing but what is true; otherwise I will cut thy wings, and shall
treat thee as thou deservest.”
Danhasch felt a little relieved by these words of Maimounè; “my
dear lady,” continued he, “I will tell you nothing but what is
very true; have but the goodness to listen to me. The country of
China, from whence I come, is one of the largest and most powerful
kingdoms in the world; and attached to it are the most extreme isles
of this hemisphere, of which I spoke just now. The present king is
named Gaiour, who has an only daughter, the most beautiful creature
that ever was beheld on earth, since this world has been a world.
Neither you, nor I, nor the genii of your party, nor of mine, nor
all mankind put together, can find proper terms, words sufficiently
expressive, or eloquence suited to convey the most distant idea of
what she is in reality. Her hair is of a fine brown, and of such a
length, that it reaches below her feet, and in such abundance, that
when she wears it in curls on her head, it resembles a fine bunch of
grapes, of which the fruit is of an extraordinary size. Under her
hair appears her well-formed forehead, as smooth as the finest
polished mirror; her eyes even with it, a brilliant black, and full
of fire; the nose, neither too long nor too short; the mouth small
and tinted with vermillion; her teeth are like two rows of pearls,
which surpass the finest in whiteness; and when she opens her mouth
to speak, she utters a sweet and agreeable voice, and expresses
herself in words which prove the liveliness of her wit. The most
beautiful alabaster is not whiter than her bosom. In short, by this
feeble sketch, you may easily suppose, that there is not a more
perfect beauty in the world.
“Whoever is not well acquainted with the king her father would
imagine, from the various proofs of affection he is continually
giving her, that he is enamoured of her. The most tender lover was
never known to do so much for the most beloved mistress, as he has
done for his daughter. In fact, the most violent jealousy never
invented so much, as his care to render her inaccessible to every
one, except the fortunate person who is destined to marry her; and
that she might not feel the retreat irksome, to which he has
confined her, he has had seven palaces built for her, which surpass
in magnificence every thing that was ever heard of.
“The first palace is composed of rock crystal, the second of
bronze, the third of the finest steel, the fourth of another kind of
bronze, more precious than either the first or steel, the fifth of
touchstone, the sixth of silver, and the seventh of massive gold. He
has furnished them in the most sumptuous style, each in a manner
appropriate to the materials of which it is built. Nor has he
forgotten to embellish the gardens, which are attached to them, with
every thing that can delight the senses; smooth lawns, or pastures
enamelled with flowers; fountains, canals, cascades; groves thickly
planted with trees, through which the rays of the sun never
penetrate, and all differently disposed in each garden. In short,
King Gaiour’s paternal love alone has induced him to incur this
enormous expence.
“The fame of this princess’s incomparable beauty has induced the
most powerful of the neighbouring kings to demand her in marriage by
the most solemn embassies. The King of China received all their
proposals with the same degree of ceremony; but as he had determined
not to marry the princess except with her own entire consent; and as
she did not approve of any of the offers made her, the ambassadors
returned unsuccessful with respect to the purport of their mission,
yet all highly gratified by the civilities and attentions they had
received.
“Sire,” would the princess say to the king of China, “you wish
to marry me, and you think by so doing to make me happy. I know your
motive, and feel obliged to you for your kindness. But where should
I find such superb palaces and such delicious gardens, unless in the
territories of your majesty? Added to which, by your goodness, I am
under no restraint, and I receive the same honors as are paid to
your own person. These are advantages which I should not enjoy in
any other part of the world, whatever prince I might be united to.
Husbands ever will be masters, and I am not of a disposition to
brook command.”
“After several fruitless embassies, one at last arrived from a
king, who was richer and more powerful than any who had before
applied. The king of China proposed him to his daughter, and
enlarged on all the advantages which would result from such an
alliance. The princess entreated him to dispense with her
compliance, urging the same reasons as on former occasions.
“He pressed her to accede; but instead of obeying, she forgot the
respect due to the king, her father, and angrily replied, ‘Sire,
speak to me no more of this, nor of any other marriage; if you
persist in your importunities, I will plunge a dagger in my heart,
and thus free myself from them.’
“The king of China, extremely irritated against the princess,
replied, ‘My daughter, you are mad, and as such I must treat
you.’ In fact, he had her confined to an apartment in one of his
palaces, and allowed her only ten old women to associate with and
attend on her, the principal of whom was her nurse. Then, that the
neighbouring kings, who had sent embassies to request her, might not
entertain any farther prospects of obtaining her, he dispatched
envoys to announce to them all her absolute determination against
marriage. And as he supposed that she really had lost her senses, he
commanded the same envoys to make known in each court, that, if
there were any physician sufficiently skilful to restore her, he
should obtain her in marriage as a recompense.
“Beautiful Maimounè,” continued Danhasch, “things are at
present in this situation, and I do not fail to go regularly every
day to contemplate this wonderful beauty, whom I should grieve to
injure in the slightest degree, notwithstanding my natural malicious
inclinations. I entreat you to come and see her; it is well worth
the trouble. When you are convinced by your own eyes that I do not
tell an untruth, I am sure you will feel obliged to me for having
shown you a princess, who has no equal in beauty. I am ready to
conduct you to her, and you have only to command.”
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.