THE PRINCE FINDS A MAN OF LEARNING
The prince was not much afflicted by this disaster, having suffered
himself to hope for a happier event, only because he had no other means
of escape in view. He still persisted in his design to leave the Happy
Valley by the first opportunity.
His imagination was now at a stand; he had no prospect of entering into
the world; and, notwithstanding all his endeavours to support himself,
discontent by degrees preyed upon him, and he began again to lose his
thoughts in sadness when the rainy season, which in these countries is
periodical, made it inconvenient to wander in the woods.
The rain continued longer and with more violence than had been ever
known; the clouds broke on the surrounding mountains, and the torrents
streamed into the plain on every side, till the cavern was too narrow to
discharge the water. The lake overflowed its banks, and all the level of
the valley was covered with the inundation. The eminence on which the
palace was built, and some other spots of rising ground, were all that
the eye could now discover. The herds and flocks left the pastures, and
both the wild beasts and the tame retreated to the mountains.
This inundation confined all the princes to domestic amusements; and the
attention of Rasselas was particularly seized by a poem, which Imlac
rehearsed, upon the various conditions of humanity. He commanded the
poet to attend him in his apartment, and recite his verses a second
time; then entering into familiar talk, he thought himself happy in
having found a man who knew the world so well, and could so skilfully
paint the scenes of life. He asked a thousand questions about things, to
which, though common to all other mortals, his confinement from
childhood had kept him a stranger. The poet pitied his ignorance, and
loved his curiosity, and entertained him from day to day with novelty
and instruction, so that the prince regretted the necessity of sleep,
and longed till the morning should renew his pleasure.
As they were sitting together, the prince commanded Imlac to relate his
history, and to tell by what accident he was forced, or by what motive
induced, to close his life in the Happy Valley. As he was going to begin
his narrative, Rasselas was called to a concert, and obliged to restrain
his curiosity till the evening.