Dinarzade failed not to call the sultaness a good while before day.
My dear sister, said she, if you be not asleep, I pray you resume
the story of the calender. I consent to it, said Scheherazade; and
so continued it in these words:
Here you see me, said the calender, alone, wounded, destitute of
help, and in a strange country: I durst not betake myself to the
high road, fearing I might fall again into the hands of these
robbers. When I had bound up my wound, which was not dangerous, I
walked on the rest of the day, and arrived at the foot of a
mountain, where I perceived a passage into a cave; I went in, and
staid there that night with little satisfaction, after I had eaten
some fruits that I gathered by the way.
I continued my journey for several days following, without finding
any place of abode; but after a month’s time, I came to a large
town, well inhabited, and situated so much the more advantageously,
as it was surrounded with several rivers, so that it enjoyed
perpetual spring.
The pleasant objects which then presented themselves to my view
afforded me some joy, and suspended for a time the sorrow with which
I was overwhelmed to find myself in such a condition. My face,
hands, and feet, were black and sun-burnt; and, by my long journey,
my shoes and stockings were quite worn out, so that I was forced to
walk bare-footed; and besides, my clothes were all in rags. I
entered into the town to inform myself where I was, and addressed
myself to a tailor that was at work in his shop; who, perceiving by
my air that I was a person of more note than my outward appearance
bespoke me to be, made me sit down by him, and asked me who I was,
from whence I came, and what had brought me thither? I did not
conceal any thing of all that had befallen me, nor made I any
scruple to discover my quality.
The tailor listened with attention to my words; but after I had done
speaking, instead of giving me any consolation, he augmented my
sorrow. Take heed, said he, how you discover to any person what you
have now declared to me; for the prince of this country is the
greatest enemy that the king your father has, and he will certainly
do you some mischief, when he comes to hear of your being in this
city. I made no doubt of the tailor’s sincerity, when he named the
prince: but since the enmity which is between my father and him has
no relation to my adventures, I must beg your pardon, madam, if I
pass it over with silence.
I returned the tailor thanks for his good advice, and showed myself
inclinable wholly to follow his counsel, and assured him that his
favours should never be forgotten by me. And as he believed I could
not but be hungry, he ordered something to be brought for me to eat,
and offered me at the same time a lodging in his house, which I
accepted. Some days after, finding me pretty well recovered of the
fatigue I had endured by a long and tedious journey, and reflecting
that most princes of our religion did apply themselves to some art
or calling that might be serviceable to them upon occasion, he asked
me if I had learned any thing whereby I might get a livelihood, and
not be burdensome to any man? I told him that I understood the laws,
both divine and human; that I was a grammarian and poet; and above
all, that I understood writing perfectly well. By all this, said he,
you will not be able in this country to purchase yourself one morsel
of bread: nothing is of less use here than those sciences; but if
you will be advised by me, said he, dress yourself in a labourer’s
habit; and since you appear to be strong, and of a good
constitution, you shall go into the next forest, and cut fire wood,
which you may bring to the market to be sold: and I can assure you
it will turn to so good an account that you may live by it, without
dependance upon any man; and by this means you will be in a
condition to wait for the favourable minute, when Heaven shall think
fit to dispel those clouds of misfortune that thwart your happiness,
and oblige you to conceal your birth: I will take care to supply you
with a rope and a hatchet.
The fear of being known, and the necessity I was under of getting a
livelihood, made me agree to this proposal, notwithstanding all the
meanness and hardships that attended it. The day following the
tailor bought me a rope, a hatchet, and a short coat, and
recommended me to some poor people who gained their bread after the
same manner, that they might take me into their company. They
conducted me to the wood, and the first day I brought in as much
upon my head as brought me half a piece of gold, which is the money
of that country: for though the wood is not far distant from the
town, yet it was very scarce there, by reason that few or none would
be at the trouble to go and cut it. I gained a good sum of money in
a short time, and repaid my tailor what he had advanced for me.
I continued this way of living for a whole year; and one day, that
by chance I was gone farther into the wood than usual, I happened to
light on a very pleasant place, where I began to cut down wood; and
in pulling up the root of a tree, I espied an iron ring, fastened to
a trap-door of the same metal. I took away the earth that covered
it, and having lifted it up, saw stairs, which I went down, with my
axe in my band.
When I was come to the bottom of the stairs, I found myself in a
large palace, which put me into great consternation, because of a
great light, which appeared as clear in it as if it had been above
ground, in the open air. I went forward along a gallery, supported
by pillars of jasper, the base and capitals of massy gold; but
seeing a lady of a noble and free air, and extremely beautiful,
coming towards me, my eyes were taken off from beholding any other
object but her alone.
Here Scheherazade stopped, because day appeared: but Dinarzade said,
Dear sister, I confess I am extremely well pleased with what you
have told us to-day, and I imagine that the following part must be
no less surprising. --You are not mistaken, said the sultaness, for
the remainder of this story of the second calender is better worth
my ford the sultan’s attention, than all that he has hitherto
heard. --I doubt that, said Schahriar, as he was getting up; but we
shall know that to-morrow.