life, than another presents himself to share the same fate; it appears
as though they took a pleasure in sacrificing themselves. What
blindness! Reconsider the step you are taking, and be less prodigal of
your blood; you inspire me with more pity than any who have hitherto
come to seek their destruction; I feel a growing inclination towards
you, and wish to do all in my power to hinder you from perishing.
Return to your father's kingdom, and do not inflict upon him the pain
of learning from strangers' lips the sad intelligence that he will
never more behold his only son."
"My lord," replied Khalaf, "I am overjoyed to hear, from your
majesty's own lips, that I have the honour of pleasing you; I draw a
happy presage from it. It may be that Heaven, touched by the
misfortunes caused by the beauty of the princess, will use me as a
means of putting an end to them, and securing you, at the same time,
tranquillity for the remainder of your life, which the necessity of
authorizing these cruel deeds disturbs. Can you be sure that I shall
not be able to answer the questions that may be put to me? What
certainty have you that I shall perish? If others have been unable to
fathom the depths of the obscure propositions of Tourandocte, is it to
be concluded that I cannot penetrate their meaning? No, my lord, their
example shall never make me renounce the brilliant honour of having
you for a father-in-law."
"Ah! unhappy prince," replied the king, melting into tears, "you wish
to die; all the princes who have presented themselves before you, to
answer the fatal questions put by my daughter, used the same language;
they all hoped that they could penetrate her meaning, and not one was
able to do so. Alas! you will be the dupe of your own confidence. Once
more, my son, let me dissuade you. I love you, and wish to save you;
do not frustrate my good intentions by your obstinacy; whatever
confidence you may feel, distrust it. You deceive yourself, if you
imagine that you will be able to answer upon the spot what the
princess may propose to you; you will, it is true, have seven minutes
to answer in; that is the rule. But if in that time you do not give a
satisfactory reply, and one that shall be approved of by all the
doctors and wise men who are appointed the judges, that moment you
will be declared worthy of death, and on the following night will be
conducted to execution. So, prince, retire; pass the rest of the day
in considering what is your duty in reference to the step you propose
to take; consult wise persons, reflect well, and to-morrow let me know
your determination." When the king had finished speaking, he dismissed
Khalaf, who immediately quitted the palace, much mortified that he was
obliged to wait till the next day, for he was no way daunted by what
the king had said. He returned to his hostess without exhibiting the
least concern about the danger to which he had determined to expose
himself. As soon as he presented himself to the widow, and had related
all that had passed at the palace, she began to remonstrate with him
afresh, and bring every argument she could think of into play to
dissuade him from his enterprise; but her efforts were crowned with no
better success, and she had the mortification of seeing that they only
inflamed her young guest more, and strengthened him in his resolution.
The next day the prince returned to the palace, and was announced to
the king, who received him in his cabinet, not wishing any one to be
present at their interview.
"Well, prince," began Altoun-Khan, "am I to rejoice or grieve at your
presence here to-day? What is your determination?"
"My lord," replied Khalaf, "I am in the same mind as yesterday. Before
I had the honour of presenting myself then before your majesty, I had
thoroughly reflected upon the matter; and I am still prepared to
suffer the same punishment as my rivals, if Heaven has not otherwise
ordained." At these words the king smote his breast, rent his
clothes, and plucked the hairs from his beard.
"Wretched man that I am!" cried he, "that I should have conceived such
friendship for him. The death of the others has not caused me half the
pain which his will occasion me. Ah! my son," continued he, embracing
the prince of the Nagaeis with a tenderness that caused him deep
emotion, "yield to my grief, if my arguments are not able to shake
thee. I feel that the blow which takes thy life will strike my heart
with deadly force. Renounce, I conjure thee, the hope of possessing my
cruel daughter; thou wilt find in the world plenty of other princesses
whom thou mayst gain with more ease and as much honour. Why persevere
in the pursuit of an inhuman creature whom thou wilt never be able to
obtain? Remain, if thou wilt, in my court; thou shalt hold the first
rank after me; thou shalt have beautiful slaves; pleasures shall
follow thee wherever thou goest; in a word, I will look on thee as my
own son. Desist from thy pursuit of Tourandocte. Oh! let me at least
have the joy of rescuing one victim from the sanguinary princess."
The son of Timurtasch was deeply moved by the friendship which the
king of China exhibited towards him; but he replied, "My lord, let me
for pity's sake expose myself to the danger from which you seek to
deter me; the greater it is, the more do I feel myself tempted to
encounter it. I must avow that even the cruelty of the princess
stimulates my love. I feel an inward pleasure in the thought that I am
the happy mortal who is to triumph over this proud beauty. For
Heaven's sake, your majesty," pursued he, "cease to oppose a design
which my glory, my repose, my life even render it necessary for me to
prosecute; for, truly, I cannot live unless I obtain Tourandocte."
Altoun-Khan, perceiving that Khalaf was not to be moved, was
overwhelmed with affliction. "Ah! rash youth," said he, "thy
death-warrant is sealed, since thou art still determined to persist in
demanding my daughter. Heaven is witness that I have done all in my
power to inspire thee with rational thoughts. Thou rejectest my
counsel, and lovest rather to perish than follow it; let us say no
more; thou wilt receive the reward of thy mad constancy. I consent to
thy undertaking to answer the questions of Tourandocte, but I must
first pay thee the honour which I am accustomed to bestow upon princes
who seek my alliance."
At these words he called the chief of his first band of eunuchs; he
ordered him to conduct Khalaf into the princes' palace, and to assign
him two hundred eunuchs to wait upon him.
The prince of the Nagaeis had scarcely entered the palace to which the
eunuch conducted him, before the principal mandarins came to salute
him, which they did in the following manner: they placed themselves on
their knees before him, bowed their heads to the ground, saying one
after the other, "Prince, the perpetual servant of your illustrious
race comes to make his obeisance to you." They then all made him
presents and retired.
The king, who felt the greatest friendship for the son of Timurtasch,
and pitied him, sent for the most learned professor of the royal
college, and said to him, "There is a new prince, who has come to my
court to demand the hand of my daughter. I have spared no pains to
induce him to renounce his intention, but without success. I wish thee
to exert thine eloquence in endeavouring to make him listen to reason.
It is for this I have sent for thee." The professor obeyed. He went to
Khalaf and entered into a long conversation with him; after which he
returned to Altoun-Khan, and said, "My lord, it is impossible to
dissuade this young prince; he will absolutely deserve the princess or
die. When I saw the futility of attempting to conquer his resolution,
I had the curiosity to try and ascertain whether his obstinacy did
not proceed from some other cause than his love. I interrogated him
upon several different subjects, and I found him so well informed that
I was surprised at his learning. He is a Moslem, and appears to me
perfectly instructed in all that concerns his religion; in fact, to
confess the truth to your majesty, I believe if any prince is capable
of replying to the questions of the princess it is he."
"O wise man," cried the king, "I am overjoyed at thy report. Heaven
grant that he may become my son-in-law. From the moment he appeared
before me I felt an affection for him; may he be more fortunate than
the others who came to this city only to seek a grave."
After prayers and sacrifices, the Chinese monarch sent his calao to
the prince of the Nagaeis with notice that he was to hold himself in
readiness to reply to the princess's questions on the next day, and to
tell him that the proper officers would come at the right time to
conduct him to the divan; and that the persons who were to compose the
assembly had already received orders to attend.
Notwithstanding his inflexible determination to persevere in this
adventure, Khalaf did not pass a quiet night; if at one time he dared
to trust to his genius, and promise himself success, at another,
losing confidence, he represented to himself the shame he should
endure if his replies did not please the divan; at another time he
thought of Elmaze and Timurtasch. "Alas!" said he, "if I die, what
will become of my father and mother?"
Day surprised him occupied with these conflicting thoughts. Presently
he heard the ringing of bells and beating of drums. He concluded that
this was to call to the council all those who were ordered to attend.
Then raising his thoughts to Mahomet, "O great prophet," said he, "you
behold my difficulties and know my doubts. Inspire me, and reveal to
me whether I must go to the divan, or must confess to the king that
the danger terrifies me!" He had scarcely pronounced these words,
before he felt all his fears vanish and his confidence return. He rose
and dressed himself in a caftan, and mantle of red silk worked with
gold flowers, which Altoun-Khan had sent him, with stockings and
slippers of blue silk.
When he had finished dressing, six mandarins, booted and dressed in
very wide robes of crimson, entered his apartment, and after having
saluted him in the same manner as on the previous day, informed him
that they came from the king to lead him to the divan. He immediately
rose and accompanied them; they traversed a court between a double
file of soldiers, and when they arrived in the first council-chamber
found more than a thousand singers and players upon instruments, who
performing in concert produced a wonderful noise. From thence they
advanced into the hall, where the council was sitting, and which
communicated with the interior palace.
All the persons who were to assist at this assembly were already
seated under canopies of different colours arranged round the hall.
The mandarins of the highest rank were on one side, the calao with the
professors of the college on the other, and several doctors, renowned
for their erudition, occupied other seats. In the middle were placed
two thrones of gold raised upon triangular pedestals.
As soon as the prince of the Nagaeis appeared, the noble and learned
assembly saluted him with gestures of great respect, but without
speaking a word; for every body, being in expectation of the king's
arrival, preserved the strictest silence.
The sun was upon the point of rising. As soon as the first rays of
that brilliant luminary were perceived, two eunuchs drew aside the
curtains which hung before the door of the inner palace, and
immediately the king appeared, accompanied by the princess
Tourandocte, who wore a long robe of silk and gold tissue, whilst her
face was concealed by a veil of the same material. When the king and
princess had taken their seats upon their thrones, which they ascended
by five steps of silver, two young girls of perfect beauty approached
and stationed themselves, one on the side of the king and the other
near the princess. They were slaves of the harem of Altoun-Khan; their
faces and necks were exposed; they wore large pearls in their ears;
and they stood each with pen and paper, ready to transcribe what the
king or the princess might desire. All this time the whole assembly,
who had risen upon the entrance of Altoun-Khan, stood up with great
gravity and their eyes half closed. Khalaf alone looked about him, or
rather looked only at the princess, whose majestic demeanour filled
him with admiration.
When the powerful monarch of China had ordered the mandarins and
doctors to be seated, one of the six nobles who had conducted Khalaf,
and who stood with him at fifteen cubits' distance from the two
thrones, kneeled down and read a petition, which contained the demand
of the stranger prince for the hand of the princess Tourandocte. He
then rose and told Khalaf to make three salutations to the king. The
prince of the Nagaeis acquitted himself with so much grace, that
Altoun-Khan could not refrain from smiling and expressing the pleasure
he experienced in seeing him.
The calao then rose from his place and read with a loud voice the
fatal edict, which condemned to death all the rash lovers who should
fail to reply satisfactorily to the questions of Tourandocte. Then
addressing Khalaf, "Prince," said he, "you have just heard the
conditions upon which alone the princess's hand is to be obtained. If
the sense of danger makes any impression upon you, there is still time
to retire."
"No, no!" said the prince; "the prize to be carried off is too
precious to be lost by cowardice."
The king, seeing Khalaf ready to reply to the questions of
Tourandocte, turned towards the princess and said, "My daughter, it
is for you to speak; propose to this young prince the questions which
you have prepared; and may all the spirits to whom sacrifices were
offered yesterday grant that he may penetrate the meaning of your
words."
Tourandocte thereupon said, "I take the prophet Jacmouny to witness,
that I behold with sorrow the death of so many princes; but why do
they persist in desiring to wed me? why will they not leave me to live
in peace without making attempts on my liberty? Know then, rash young
man," added she, addressing Khalaf, "that you cannot reproach me if
you suffer a cruel death; you have the examples of your rivals before
your eyes; you alone are the cause of your own destruction; I do not
oblige you to come and ask my hand."
"Lovely princess," replied the prince of the Nagaeis, "I am fully alive
to all that has been said upon this subject; propound, if you please,
your questions, and I will endeavour to unravel their meaning."
"Well then," said Tourandocte, "tell me what creature is that which
belongs to every land, is a friend to the whole world, and will not
brook an equal?"
"Madam," replied Khalaf, "it is the sun."
"He is right," exclaimed all the doctors, "it is the sun."
"What is that mother," resumed the princess, "who, after having
brought her children into the world, devours them when they are grown
up?"
"It is the sea," replied the prince of the Nagaeis; "because the
rivers, which draw their sources from the sea, discharge themselves
into it again."
Tourandocte, seeing that the prince gave correct replies to her
questions, was so vexed that she resolved to spare no effort to
destroy him. Exerting all her ingenuity, she next asked, "What tree is
that whose leaves are white on one side and black on the other?" She
was not satisfied with proposing the riddle alone; the malignant
princess, in order to dazzle and confuse him, raised her veil at the
same moment, and allowed the assembly to see all the beauty of her
countenance, the haughty charms of which were only enhanced by the
violence of her emotions. Her head was adorned with natural flowers
arranged with infinite art, and her eyes shone more brilliantly than
the stars. She was as lovely as the sun in all his splendour, when he
emerges from a thick cloud. The son of Timurtasch, at the sight of
this incomparable princess, remained mute and motionless; so much so,
that all the divan, who were deeply interested in him, were seized
with terror; the king himself grew pale, and thought that the prince
was lost for ever.
But Khalaf, recovering from the surprise that the beauty of
Tourandocte had caused him, quickly reassured the assembly by
resuming, "Charming princess, I pray you pardon me if I remained for
some moments speechless; I could not behold so much loveliness without
being disturbed. Have the goodness to repeat the question, for I no
longer remember it; your charms have made me forget every thing."
"I asked you," said Tourandocte, "what tree is that whose leaves are
white on one side and black on the other?"
"That tree," replied Khalaf, "is the year, which is composed of days
and nights."
This reply was again applauded in the divan. The mandarins and the
doctors said that it was correct, and bestowed a thousand praises on
the young prince. Altoun-Khan said to Tourandocte, "Come, my daughter,
confess thyself vanquished, and consent to espouse thy conqueror; the
others were not able to reply to even one of thy questions, and this
one, thou seest, has answered them all."
"He has _not_ gained the victory," angrily retorted the princess,
replacing her veil to conceal her confusion and the tears she was not
able to repress; "I have others to propose to him. But I will defer
them till to-morrow."
"No," replied the king, "I will certainly not permit you to propose
questions without end: all that I can allow you is to ask him one
more, and that immediately."
The princess objected, saying that she had only prepared those which
had just been answered, and entreated the king, her father, for
permission to interrogate the prince on the following day.
"I will certainly not grant it," cried the monarch of China, in a
rage; "you are only endeavouring to perplex this young prince, while I
am eagerly grasping at the prospect of escaping from the frightful
oath I had the imprudence to make. Ah! cruel one, you breathe nothing
but blood, and the death of your lovers is a pleasant sight to you.
The queen, your mother, touched by the first misfortunes your cruelty
caused, died of grief at having brought into the world so barbarous a
child; and I, you know well, am plunged into a state of profound
melancholy, which nothing can dissipate, whilst I behold the fatal
results of the love I entertained for you; but, thanks to the sun, and
the moon, and the spirits who preside in the heavens, and by whom my
sacrifices have been regarded with a propitious eye, no more of those
horrible executions which have rendered my name execrable shall be
committed in my palace. Since this prince has answered your questions
satisfactorily, I ask all this assembly if it is not right that you
should become his wife?"
The mandarins and the doctors expressed their assent in murmurs, and
the calao took upon himself to speak. "My lord," said he, addressing
the king, "your majesty is no longer bound by the oath you made, to
execute your severe edict; it is for the princess to fulfil her
engagement. She promised her hand to him who should answer her
questions correctly; a prince has answered them, to the satisfaction
of the whole divan; she must keep her promise, or we cannot doubt that
the spirits who preside over the punishment of perjurers will quickly
take vengeance upon her."
Tourandocte kept silence during the delivery of this speech; she sat
with her head on her knees, and appeared buried in deep affliction.
Khalaf, perceiving this, prostrated himself before Altoun-Khan, and
said, "Great king, whose justice and goodness have raised the vast
empire of China to such prosperity, I beg of your majesty to grant me
a favour. I see that the princess is in despair at my having been so
fortunate as to reply to her questions; doubtless she would rather it
had so happened that I should have deserved death. Since she exhibits
so strong an aversion to me, that, in spite of her promise, she
refuses to become my wife, I will renounce my right to her, on
condition that she, on her part, replies correctly to a question which
I shall propose."
The whole assembly was surprised at this speech. "Is this young prince
mad," they whispered one to another, "to risk the loss of that for
which he perilled his life? Does he imagine he can propose a question
that will be too difficult for Tourandocte to solve? He must have lost
his senses." Altoun-Khan was also amazed at the request which Khalaf
had the temerity to make. "Prince," said he, "have you reflected upon
the words which have just escaped your lips?"
"Yes, my lord," replied the prince of the Nagaeis, "and I implore you
to grant me this favour."
"I grant it," returned the king; "but, whatever be the result, I
declare that I am no longer bound by the oath I made, and that,
henceforth, I will not cause another prince to be put to death."
"Divine Tourandocte," resumed the son of Timurtasch, addressing the
princess, "you have heard what I said. Although the decision of this
learned assembly has awarded to me the prize of your hand, although
you are mine, I will give you back your liberty, I will yield up
possession of you, I will despoil myself of a treasure precious to me
above all things, provided you reply at once to a question I shall
ask; but, on your part, swear that if you cannot, you will consent
willingly to complete my happiness and crown my love."
"Yes, prince," replied Tourandocte, "I accept the conditions, and I
take this assembly as witnesses of my oath."
All the divan awaited, in breathless suspense, the question that
Khalaf was to propose to the princess, and there was not one who did
not blame the young prince for exposing himself to the risk of losing
the daughter of Altoun-Khan; they were all amazed at his temerity.
"Lovely princess," said Khalaf, "what is the name of that prince who,
after suffering a thousand hardships, and being reduced even to beg
his bread, finds himself, at this moment, overwhelmed with glory and
joy?"
"It is impossible," said Tourandocte, "for me to reply to that
question on the spot, but I promise that to-morrow I will tell you the
name of that prince."
"Madam," cried Khalaf, "I asked no time for consideration, and it is
not right to grant you any; still, I will grant you your wish; I hope,
after that, you will look more favourably on me, and not oppose any
further difficulty to your becoming my bride."
"She must make up her mind to that," said Altoun-Khan, "if she cannot
reply to the question proposed. Let her not think by falling ill, or
pretending to do so, that she will thereby escape. Even if my rash
oath should not bind me to grant him her hand, and she were not his
according to the tenor of the edict, I would rather let her die, than
send this young prince away. Where would it be possible for her to
meet with one more perfectly worthy of her?" With these words, he rose
and dismissed the assembly. He re-entered the inner palace with the
princess, who retired to her own apartments.
As soon as the king had left the divan, all the mandarins and doctors
complimented Khalaf upon his wit and understanding. "I admire," said
one, "your ready and easy conception." "No!" said another, "there is
not a bachelor licentiate, or doctor even, of greater penetration than
you. Not one of all the princes who has presented themselves hitherto,
in the least degree approached your merit, and we feel the most
heartfelt joy at your success." The prince of the Nagaeis had no light
task to perform in thanking all those who pressed round him to
congratulate him. At length, the six mandarins who had conducted him
to the council-chamber, led him back to the same palace whence they
had brought him, whilst the others, together with the learned doctors
retired, not without anxiety about the answer which the daughter of
Altoun-Khan would return to the question.