Dinarzade awaking some time before day, called upon the sultaness,
and said, My dear sister, if you be not asleep, I would pray you to
finish the story of the second calender. Scheherazade resumed her
discourse, and went on as follows:
The calender always directing his speech to Zobeide, told her,
Madam, the sultan suffered the princess, the Lady of Beauty, to go
on with the recital of her combat, and when she had done, he spoke
to her in a tone that sufficiently testified his grief. My daughter,
said he, you see in what condition your father is; alas! I wonder
that I am yet alive! Your governor, the eunuch, is dead; and the
prince whom you have delivered from his enchantment has lost one of
his eyes. He could speak no more, for his tears, sighs, and sobs,
made him speechless; his daughter and I were exceeding sensible of
his sorrow, and wept with him.
In the mean time, while we were vying with each other in grief, the
princess cried, I burn! I burn! She found that the fire which
consumed her, had at last seized upon her whole body, which made her
still cry, I burn, until death had made an end of her intolerable
pains. The effect of that fire was so extraordinary, that in a few
moments she was wholly reduced to ashes, as was the genie.
I cannot tell you, madam, how much I was grieved at so dismal a
spectacle; I had rather all my life have continued an ape or a dog,
than to have seen my benefactress thus miserably perish. The sultan
being afflicted beyond all that can be imagined, cried out
piteously, and beat himself on his head and stomach, until being
quite overcome with grief, he fainted away, which made me fear for
his life. In the mean time the eunuchs and officers came running at
the sultan’s cries, and with very much ado brought him to himself
again. There was no need for that prince and me to give them a long
narrative of this adventure, in order to convince them of their
great loss. The two heaps of ashes, into which the princess and the
genie had been reduced, were sufficient demonstration. The sultan
was hardly able to stand, but was forced to be supported by them
till he could get to his apartment.
When the noise of the tragical event had spread itself through the
palace and the city, all the people bewailed the misfortune of the
princess, the Lady of Beauty, and were much affected by the
sultan’s affliction. Every one was in deep mourning for seven
days, and many ceremonies were performed. The ashes of the genie
were thrown into the air, but those of the princess were gathered
into a precious urn, to be kept, and the urn was set in a stately
tomb, which was built for that purpose on the same place where the
ashes had lain.
The grief which the sultan conceived for the loss of his daughter
threw him into a fit of sickness, which confined him to his chamber
for a whole month. He had not fully recovered strength when he sent
for me: Prince, said he, hearken to the orders that I now give you;
it will cost you your life if you do not put them into execution. I
assured him of exact obedience; upon which he went on thus: I have
constantly lived in perfect felicity, and was never crossed by any
accident; but by your arrival all the happiness I possessed is
vanished: my daughter is dead, her governor is no more, and it is
through a miracle that I am yet alive. You are the cause of all
those misfortunes, for which it is impossible that I should be
comforted; therefore depart from hence in peace, without further
delay, for I myself must perish, if you stay any longer: I am
persuaded that your presence brings mischief along with it. This is
all I have to say to you. Depart, and take care of ever appearing
again in my dominions; no consideration whatsoever shall hinder me
from making you repent of it. I was going to speak, but he stopped
my mouth by words full of anger: and so I was obliged to remove from
his palace, rejected, banished, an outcast from the world, and not
knowing what would become of me. Before I left the city I went into
a bagnio, where I caused my beard and eyebrows to be shaved, and put
on a calender’s habit. I began my journey, not so much deploring
my own miseries, as the death of the two fair princesses, of which I
have been the occasion. I passed through many countries without
making myself known; at last I resolved to come to Bagdad, in hopes
to get myself introduced to the commander of the faithful, to move
his compassion by giving him an account of my strange adventures. I
came hither this evening, and the first man I met was this calender,
our brother, who spoke before me. You know the remaining part,
madam, and the cause of my having the honour to be here.
When the second calender made an end of his story, Zobeide, to whom
he had addressed his speech, told him, It is well, you may go which
way you please; I give you leave: but instead of departing, he also
petitioned the lady to show him the same favour she had vouchsafed
to the first calender, and went and sat down by him. But, sir, said
Scheherazade, as she spoke these words, it is day, and I must not
proceed: I dare however assure you, that how agreeable soever this
story of the second calender may seem to you, that of the third will
be no less worthy of your hearing, if your majesty be pleased to
have patience. The sultan being desirous to know whether it would
appear so wonderful as the last, got out of bed with a resolution to
prolong Scheherazade’s life farther, though the delay he had
granted was determined several days before.