Dinarzade was so impatient to hear out the story, that she called
her sister next morning sooner than usual, and said to her, sister,
pray continue the wonderful story you began, but could not make an
end of yesterday morning. I agree to it, replies the sultaness;
hearken, then:
You may easily imagine, continued she, that the sultan was strangely
surprised, when he saw the deplorable condition of the young man.
That which you show me, says he, while it fills me with horror,
excites my curiosity, so that I am impatient to hear your history,
which, no doubt, is very extraordinary, and I am persuaded that the
pond and the fishes make some part of it; therefore I conjure you to
tell it me; you will find some comfort in it, since it is certain,
that unfortunate people will find some sort of ease in telling their
misfortunes. I will not refuse you this satisfaction, replies the
young man, though I cannot do it without renewing my grief. But I
give you notice beforehand, to prepare your ears, your mind, and
even your eyes, for things which surpass all that the most
extraordinary imagination can conceive.
The History of the young King of the Black Isles.
You must know, my lord, continued he, that my father, who was called
Mahmoud, was king of this country. This is the kingdom of the Black
Isles, which takes its name from the four little neighbouring
mountains; for those mountains were formerly isles: the capital,
where the king my father had his residence, was where that pond you
now see is. The sequel of my history will inform you of all those
changes.
The king my father died when he was seventy years of age; I had no
sooner succeeded him, but I married, and the lady I chose to share
the royal dignity with me, was my cousin. I had all the reason
imaginable to be satisfied in her love to me; and, for my part, I
had so much tenderness for her, that nothing was comparable to the
good understanding betwixt us, which lasted five years, at the end
of which time I perceived the queen, my cousin, had no more delight
in me.
One day, while she was at the bath, I found myself inclined to sleep
after dinner, and lay down upon a sofa. Two of her ladies, who were
then in my chamber, came and sat down, one at my head, and the other
at my feet, with fans in their hands, to moderate the heat, and to
hinder the flies from troubling me in my sleep. They thought I was
fast, and spoke very low; but I only shut my eyes, and heard every
word they said.
One of them says to the other, Is not the queen much in the wrong,
not to love such an amiable prince as this? Certainly, replies the
other; for my part, I do not understand it; and I know not why she
goes out every night, and leaves him alone! Is it possible that he
does not perceive it! Alas! says the first, how would you have him
perceive it? She mixes every evening in his drink, the juice of a
certain herb, which makes him sleep so sound all night, that she has
time to go where she pleases; and as day begins to appear, she comes
and lies down by him again, and wakes him by the smell of something
she puts under his nose.
You may guess, my lord, how much I was surprised at this
conversation, and with what sentiments it inspired me; yet, whatever
emotions it excited in me, I had command enough over myself to
dissemble, and feigned to awake without having heard one word of it.
The queen returned from the bath, we supped together, and before we
went to bed, she, with her own hand, presented me with a cup full of
such water as I was accustomed to drink: but instead of putting it
into my mouth, I went to a window that was open, and threw out the
water so quickly, that she did not perceive it, and I put the cup
again into her hands, to persuade her that I had drank it.
We went to bed together, and soon after, believing that I was
asleep, though I was not, she got up with so little precaution, that
she said so loud that I could hear it distinctly, Sleep, and may you
never wake again! She dressed herself speedily, and went out of the
chamber. As Scheherazade spoke these words, she saw day appear, and
stopped.
Dinarzade had heard her sister with a great deal of pleasure, and
Schahriar thought the history of the king of the Black Isles so
worthy of his curiosity, that he rose up full of impatience for the
rest of it.