THE HISTORY OF THE SECOND CALENDER, THE SON OF A KING.

TO obey your commands, lady, and that you may understand the strange adventure by which I lost my right eye, I must give you an account of my whole life.

“I too am a Prince by birth. I was scarcely more than an infant, when the King, my father, observing that I possessed great quickness of intellect, began to devote great pains to my education. He summoned from every part of his dominions, the men most famous in science, and for their knowledge of the fine arts, that they might instruct me. I no sooner knew how to read and write, than I learnt by heart the whole of the Koran,^h that admirable book, in which we find the basis, the precepts, and regulations of our religion. That my knowledge might not be shallow and superficial, I perused the works of the most approved authors who have written on that subject, and who have explained and illustrated the Koran by their commentaries. To this study I added an acquaintance with all the traditions received from the mouth of our prophet, by those illustrious men who were his contemporaries. Not satisfied with possessing a deep and extensive knowledge of our religion, I made a particular study of our histories, and became master of polite literature, of poetry and versification. I then applied myself to geography and chronology, and was anxious to attain a knowledge of our own language in its greatest purity; and all this I effected without neglecting the manly exercises in which a Prince should be proficient. It was in caligraphy however that I most delighted, and at length I excelled in forming the characters of our Arabic language; I surpassed all the writing masters of our kingdom, even those who had acquired the greatest reputation.

“Fame bestowed upon me even more honour than I deserved. She was not satisfied with spreading a report of my talents throughout the dominions of the King, my father, but even carried the account of them to the court of the Indies, whose powerful monarch became so curious to see me, that he sent an ambassador bearing the richest presents to my father, with the request that I would visit him. This embassy, for many reasons, delighted my father. He felt assured that it was the best possible thing for a Prince of my age to travel to foreign courts; and he was very well pleased with the opportunity of forming a friendship with the Sultan of India. I set out with the ambassador; but I had very few attendants, and little baggage, on account of the length and difficulties of the way.

“We had been about a month on our journey, when we saw in the distance an immense cloud of dust; and soon afterwards we discovered fifty horsemen, well armed. They were robbers, and approached us at full speed. As we had ten horses laden with our baggage, and the presents which I was to make to the Sultan in my father’s name, and as our party consisted but of very few persons, you may easily imagine that the robbers attacked us without hesitation. Unable to repel force by force, we told them we were the ambassadors of the Sultan of India, and that we hoped they would do nothing contrary to the respect they owed to him. By this appeal we thought we should preserve both our equipage and our lives; but the robbers insolently answered, ‘Why do you suppose we shall respect the Sultan your master? We are not his subjects, nor even within his realm.’ Having said this, they immediately surrounded and attacked us on all sides. I defended myself as long as I could; but finding that I was wounded, and seeing the ambassador and all our attendants overthrown, I took advantage of the remains of strength in my horse, which was also wounded, and escaped from them. I pushed the poor creature on as far as he would carry me; he then suddenly fell under my weight, quite dead from fatigue, and loss of blood. I disentangled myself from the fallen steed as fast as possible; and finding that no one pursued me, I supposed the robbers had their attention engrossed by the plunder they had seized.

“Thus I was left alone, wounded, destitute of every help, in a country where I was an entire stranger. I was afraid to return to the high road, from the dread of falling once more into the hands of the robbers. I bound up my wound, which was not dangerous, and walked on for the rest of the day; in the evening I arrived at the entrance of a cave. I went in, ate some fruits which I had gathered as I came along, and passed the night in the cave quite unmolested.

“For some days I continued my journey, without coming to any place where I could rest; but at the end of about a month I arrived at a very large city, populous, and most delightfully and advantageously situated; for several rivers flowed round it, and the climate was like a perpetual spring. The number of agreeable objects which presented themselves to my eyes, excited in my bosom so great a joy, that it stifled for the moment the bitter regret I felt at my miserable position. My whole face, my hands and my feet were of a brown tawny colour, for the sun had quite burnt me: and my slippers were so completely worn out by walking, that I was obliged to travel barefoot; besides this, my clothes were all in rags.

“I entered the town in order to hear the language spoken, and thence to find out where I was. I addressed myself to a tailor, who was at work in his shop. Struck by my youth, and by a certain manner about me, which intimated that my rank was higher than my appearance betokened, he made me sit down near him. He asked me who I was, whence I came, and what had brought me to that place? I concealed nothing from him, but informed him of every circumstance that had happened to me, and did not even hesitate to reveal my name. The tailor listened to me very attentively; but, when I had finished my narration, instead of giving me any consolation, he increased my anxieties. ‘Beware,’ said he to me, ‘how you impart to any one else the information you have given me; for the Prince, who reigns in this kingdom, is the greatest enemy of the King your father; and if he should be informed of your arrival in this city, I doubt not but he will inflict some evil upon you. I readily believed that the tailor spoke sincerely when he told me the name of the Prince; but as the enmity between my father and that King has no connection with my adventures, I shall not enter into any detail of it.

 

The young Prince makes his escape.

“I thanked the tailor for the advice he had given me; and told him that I placed implicit faith in his good counsel, and should never forget the favour he had shown me. As he supposed I must be hungry, he brought me something to eat, and even offered me an apartment at his house; and I accepted his hospitality.

“Some days after my arrival, the tailor, remarking that I was tolerably recovered from the effects of my long and painful journey, and knowing that most of the Princes of our religion take the precaution to make themselves acquainted with some art or trade, that they may be prepared in case of a reverse of fortune to guard against want, asked me if I knew any thing by which I could earn a livelihood, without being chargeable to any one. I told him that I was well versed in the science of laws, both human and divine, that I was a grammarian, a poet, and above all, that I wrote remarkably well. ‘With all this,’ he replied, ‘you will not in this country procure a morsel of bread; this kind of knowledge here is entirely valueless. If you choose to follow my advice,’ he added, ‘you will procure a short jacket; and as you are strong and hardy, you may go into the neighbouring forest, and cut wood for fuel. You may then go and offer it for sale in the market; and I assure you that you may gain a comfortable little income, that shall keep you independent of every one. By these means you will be enabled to wait, till Heaven shall become favourable to you; and till the cloud of bad fortune, which hangs over you, and obliges you to conceal your birth, shall have blown over. I will furnish you with a cord and a hatchet.’

“The fear of being known, and the necessity of supporting myself, determined me to pursue this plan, in spite of the degradation and labour it involved.

“The next day the tailor brought me a hatchet and a cord, and also a short jacket, and recommending me to some poor people who obtained their livelihood in the same manner, he begged that I might be allowed to go with them. They led me to the forest; and from that day I regularly brought back upon my head a large bundle of wood, which I sold for a small gold coin, current in that country; for although the forest was not far off, wood was nevertheless dear in that city, because there were few men who gave themselves the trouble of going to cut it. I soon acquired a considerable sum, and was enabled to repay the tailor what he had expended on my account.

“I had earned my livelihood thus for more than a year; when happening one day to go deeper into the forest than usual, I came to a very pleasant spot, where I began to cut my wood. In cutting up the root of a tree, I discovered an iron ring fastened to a trapdoor of the same metal. I immediately cleared away the earth that covered the door, and on lifting it up, I perceived a staircase, by which I descended with my hatchet, in my hand. When I came to the bottom of the stairs, I found myself in a vast palace, which struck me very much by the great brilliancy with which it was illuminated; indeed it was as light, as if it had been built on the most open spot above ground. I went forward along a gallery supported on columns of jasper, with bases and capitals of massive gold; but I stopped suddenly on beholding a lady who appeared to have so noble and graceful an air, and to possess such extraordinary beauty, that my attention was removed from every other object, and my eyes fixed on her alone.

“That this beautiful lady might not have the trouble of coming to me, I made haste to approach her; and while I was making a most respectful obeisance, she said to me, ‘What are you, a man or a Genie?’ ‘I am a man, madam,’ I answered, rising, ‘nor have I any commerce with genii.’ ‘By what chance,’ she asked, with a deep sigh, ‘do you come here? I have remained here more than twenty-five years, and during the whole of that time I have seen no man but yourself.’

“Her great beauty, which had already made a deep impression on me, together with the mildness and good humour with which she received me, gave me courage to say, ‘Before, madam, I have the honour of satisfying your curiosity, permit me to tell you, that I feel highly delighted at this unexpected interview, which offers me the means both of consoling myself under my own affliction, and perhaps of making you happier than you now are.’ I then faithfully related to her my strange adventures, assured her that she saw in me the son of a King, told why I appeared to her in that condition, and explained how accident had discovered to me the entrance into the magnificent prison in which I found her, and of which to all appearance she was heartily tired. ‘Alas, Prince!’ she replied, again sighing, ‘you may truly call this rich and superb prison unpleasing and wearisome. The most enchanting spots cannot afford delight when we are detained in them against our will. Is it possible you have never heard any one speak of the great Epitimarus, King of the Ebony Isle, a place so called from the great quantity of that precious wood which it produces? I am the Princess, his daughter.

“The King, my father, had chosen for my husband a Prince who was my cousin; but on the very night of our nuptials, in the midst of the rejoicings held by the court in the capital of the Isle of Ebony, and before I had been given to my husband, a Genie carried me away. I fainted almost at the moment when he seized me, and lost all recollection, and when I recovered my senses, I found myself in this place. For a long time I was inconsolable; but habit and necessity have reconciled me to the sight and company of the Genie. Twenty-five years have passed, as I have already told you, since I was brought to this place, in which I must own that the bare expression of a wish procures me not only everything necessary for life, but whatever can satisfy a Princess who is fond of decoration and dress.

“ ‘Every ten days,’ continued the Princess, ‘the Genie comes and passes the night here; he never sleeps here oftener, and gives as a reason that he is married to another lady, who would be jealous of the infidelity of which he was guilty, should it come to her knowledge. In the meantime, if I have wish for his presence, I have only to touch a talisman, which is placed at the entrance of my chamber, and he comes. It is now four days since he was here, and I have therefore to wait six days more before he again makes his apparance. You may thus remain five days with me, and keep me company if it be agreeable to you; and I will endeavour to regale and entertain you as befits your merit and quality.’

“I should have thought myself but too happy to obtain so great a favour by asking it; the more unhesitatingly did I therefore accept the hospitality thus obligingly offered. The Princess then conducted me to the most elegant, convenient, and sumptuous bath you can possibly imagine. When I came out I found, instead of my own dress, a very rich suit, which I put on, less for its magnificence than to render myself more worthy of my hostess’s notice.

“We seated ourselves on a sofa, covered with superb drapery, and cushions of the richest Indian brocade. The Princess then set before me a variety of the most delicate and rare dishes. We ate together, and passed our time very agreeably in one another’s company.

“Anxious to devise every method of entertaining me, she produced next day at dinner a flask of very old wine, the finest I ever tasted; and to please me, she drank several glasses with me. So soon as my head became heated with this agreeable liquor, I said, ‘Beautiful Princess, you have been buried here alive much too long; follow me, and go and enjoy the brightness of the genuine day, of which for so many years you have been deprived. Abandon this false, glaring light that surrounds you here.’ She answered, smiling, ‘Prince, let us talk no further on this subject. I value not the most beautiful day in the world, if you will pass nine with me here, and give up the tenth to the Genie.’ ‘Princess,’ I replied, ‘I see very well, that it is the dread you have of the Genie which makes you speak in this fashion. As for myself, I fear him so little, that I am determined to break his talisman in pieces, with the magic spell, that is inscribed upon it. Let him then come; I will confront him; and however brave, however formidable he may be, I will make him feel the weight of my arm. I have taken an oath to exterminate all the genii in the world, and he shall be the first to feel my vengeance.’ The Princess, who knew the consequence of this conduct, conjured me not to touch the talisman. ‘It will be the means,’ she said, ‘of destroying both you and myself. I am better acquainted with the nature of genii than you can be.’ But the wine I had drunk prevented me from understanding the propriety of her reasons; I kicked down the talisman, and broke it in pieces.

“This was no sooner done than the whole palace shook, as if ready to fall to atoms. This earthquake was accompanied by a most dreadful noise like thunder, and by flashes of lightning, which deepened the intermediate darkness. The terrible appearances in a moment dissipated the fumes of the wine from my brain, and made me own, though too late, the fault I had committed. ‘Princess,’ I exclaimed, ‘what does all this mean?’ Without thinking of her own peril, and fearful only for me, she answered in great alarm, ‘Alas! you are undone, unless you save yourself by flight.’

“I followed her advice; and my fear was so great, that I forgot my hatchet and my cord. I had hardly gained the staircase, by which I descended, when the enchanted palace opened, and the Genie entered. ‘What has happened to you, and why have you called me?’ he demanded of the Princess, in an angry tone. She replied hastily: ‘A violent pain obliged me to search for the bottle you see; I drank two or three glasses, and unfortunately making a false step I fell against the talisman, which I thus broke. This is the whole matter.’ At this answer the Genie, in the utmost rage, exclaimed: ‘Shameless and deceitful woman, how then came this hatchet and this cord here?’ ‘I have never seen them,’ replied she, ‘till this instant. Perhaps, in the haste and impetuosity with which you came, you have taken them up in passing through some place, and have brought them here, without being aware of it.’

The Genie replied only by reproaches, and by blows, of which I could plainly distinguish the sound. It distressed me beyond measure to hear the cries and sobs of the Princess, who was being thus cruelly used. I had already taken off the habit which she had made me put on, and resumed my own, which I had carried to the staircase the day before, after I had been in the bath. I proceeded up the stairs, and felt the more penetrated with grief and compassion, as I considered myself the cause of this misfortune: and felt as if I were the most criminal and ungrateful of men, and that I had sacrificed the most beautiful Princess on earth to the barbarity of an implacable Genie. ‘It is true,’ said I to myself, ‘that she has been a prisoner for-five-and twenty years; but, excepting liberty, she had everything to make her happy. My conduct has put an end to her peace, and raised against her the cruel hatred of a merciless demon. I then shut down the trap-door, covered it over with the earth, and returned to the city with a load of wood, which I collected, without even knowing what I was about, so much was I unnerved and afflicted at what had happened.

“My host, the tailor, expressed great joy at my return. ‘Your absence,’ said he, ‘has caused me much uneasiness on account of the secret of your birth, with which you have entrusted me. I knew not what to think, and began to fear some one might have recognized you. God be praised that you are come back!’ I thanked him much for his sympathy and affection, but did not inform him of anything that had happened; nor did I tell the reason why I returned without my hatchet and cord. I retired to my chamber, where I reproached myself a thousand times for my great imprudence. ‘Nothing,’ I cried, ‘could have equalled the mutual happiness of the Princess and myself, if I had been satisfied, and had not broken the talisman.’

“While I was abandoning myself to these afflicting thoughts, the tailor entered my apartment and said that an old man, a stranger, had brought my hatchet and cord, which he had found on his way. ‘Your companions,’ added the tailor, ‘who went to cut wood with you, have told him that you live here. Come and speak to him, as he wishes to deliver the hatchet and cord into your own hands.’ At this speech I changed colour, and trembled from head to foot. The tailor inquired the cause of my emotion. I was about to reply, when suddenly the floor of my chamber opened. The old man, who had not the patience to wait, appeared, and presented himself to us with the hatchet and cord. This old man was in fact the Genie, who had carried off the beautiful Princess of the Isle of Ebony, and who had thus come in disguise, after having treated her with the greatest barbarity. ‘I am a Genie,’ he said to us, ‘a son of the daughter of Eblis, Prince of the Genii. Is not this thy hatchet?’ added he, addressing me, ‘and is not this thy cord?’

 

The genie brings the hatchet and cord.

“The Genie gave me no time to answer these questions; nor indeed should I have been able to reply, as his dreadful appearance took away all my presence of mind. He seized me by the middle of my body, and carrying me out of the chamber, sprang into the air, and rose me up towards the clouds with such rushing velocity, that I seemed to feel the great height to which I ascended, before I was aware of the distance I had travelled in a very short space of time. He then descended towards the earth; and having caused it to open, by striking his foot against it, he sank into it, and I instantly found myself in the enchanted palace, and in the presence of the beautiful Princess of the Isle of Ebony. But alas! what a sight! It pierced my very inmost heart. This Princess was covered with blood, and lay prostrate on the ground more dead than alive, with her face bathed in tears.

“Perfidious wretch,’ said the Genie, holding me up to her, ‘is not this thy lover?’ She cast her languid eyes upon me, and in a sorrowful tone answered, ‘I know him not, nor have I ever seen him till this instant.’ ‘What!’ cried the Genie, ‘dare you affirm you do not know him, although he is the cause of your being punished as I have justly chastised you?’ ‘If he is a stranger to me,’ she replied, ‘do you wish me to utter a falsehood, which would prove his destruction?’ ‘Well then,’ exclaimed the Genie, drawing his scimitar, and offering it to the Princess, ‘if you have never seen him, take this scimitar, and cut off his head.’ Alas!’ she answered, ‘how can I do what you require of me? My strength is so exhausted, that I cannot lift up my arm; and even were I able, do you think I could put to death an innocent person, whom I do not know?’ ‘This refusal, then,’ added the Genie, ‘completely proves to me your crime.’ And then turning to me, he said, ‘Are you too acquainted with her?’

“I should have been the most ungrateful and most perfidious of men, if I had not preserved the same fidelity towards her which she had shown towards me; I therefore said, ‘How should I know her, when this is the first time I have ever set eyes upon her? ‘If that is true,’ he replied, ‘take the scimitar and cut off her head. It is the price I set on your liberty, and the only way to convince me you have never seen her before, as you affirm.’ ‘With all my heart!’ I answered, and took the scimitar in my hand. Do not, however, imagine, that I approached the beautiful Princess of the Isle of Ebony, for the purpose of becoming the instrument of the Genie’s barbarity. I did it only to show her by my actions, as well as I could, that as she had the courage to sacrifice her life from love of me, I could not refuse to give my own life to save hers. The Princess understood my meaning; and in spite of her pain and suffering gave me to understand by her looks, that she should willingly die, and was well satisfied to know that I was equally ready. I then drew back, and throwing the scimitar on the ground, said to the Genie, ‘I should be eternally condemned by all men, if I had the cowardice to murder, not only a person whom I do not know, but a lady, like the one I now see before me, ready to expire. You may treat me as you please, for I am in your power; but I will never obey your barbarous commands.’

“ ‘I am well aware,’ said the Genie, ‘that both of you brave my rage, and insult my jealousy; but you shall find what I can do by the manner in which I shall treat you.’ At these words, the monster took up the scimitar, and cut off one of the hands of the Princess, who had barely time to bid me an eternal farewell with the other, before the great loss of blood from her former wounds, increased by this last outrage, extinguished her life, not two moments after the perpetration of this last cruelty; at the sight of which I fainted.

“When I recovered my senses, I complained to the Genie, for allowing me to remain in expectation of death. ‘Strike!’ I cried, ‘I am ready to receive the mortal wound, and expect it from you as the greatest favour you can bestow.’ Instead, however, of complying with my request, he said, ‘You have now seen how Genii treat women, whom they suspect of infidelity. She received you here; and if I were convinced that she had done me any farther wrong, I would this instant annihilate you; but I shall content myself with changing you into a dog, an ass, a lion, or a bird. Make your choice; I wish not to control you.’ These words gave me some hopes of softening him; I said, ‘Moderate, O powerful Genie, your wrath, and since you have decided to spare my life, grant it me in a generous manner. If you pardon me, I shall always remember your clemency; and you will act like as one of the best of men pardoned his neighbour, that bore him a most deadly envy.’ The Genie asked me what had happened between these two neighbours? I told him, if he would have the patience to listen to me, I would relate the history.