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.”