OF THE ENVIOUS MAN, AND OF HIM WHO WAS ENVIED.
In a town of no inconsiderable importance, there were two men, who lived next door to each other. One of them was so excessively envious of the other, that the latter resolved to change his abode, and go and reside at some distance from him; supposing, that nearness of residence alone was the cause of his neighbour’s animosity; for although he was continually doing him some friendly office, he perceived that he was not the less hated. He therefore sold his house, and the small estate he had there, and went to the capital of the kingdom, which was at no great distance: and bought a small piece of ground about half a league from the town, on which there stood a very convenient house. He had also a good garden, and a moderate court, in which there was a deep cistern, that was not now used.
The good man having made this purchase, put on the habit of a dervise, in order to pass his life more quietly; and made also many cells in his house, where he soon established a small community of dervises. The report of his virtue was soon more generally spread abroad, and failed not to attract the attention and visits of great numbers of the principal inhabitants, as well as common people. At length he became honoured and noticed by almost every one. They came from a great distance to request him to offer up his prayers for them; and all, who remained in retirement with him, published an account of the blessings they thought they received from Heaven through his means.
The great reputation of this man at length reached the town from whence he came; and the envious man was so vexed, that he left his house and all his affairs, with the determination to go and destroy him. For this purpose, he went to the convent of dervises, whose chief, his former neighbour, received him with every possible mark of friendship. The envious man told him, that he was come for the express design of communicating an affair of great importance to him, and which he could only inform him of in private. “In short,” said he, “in order that no one may hear us, let us, I beg of you, walk in your court; and when night comes on, order all the dervises to their cells.” The chief of the dervises did as he requested.
When the envious man found himself alone with the good man, he began to relate to him whatever came into his thoughts, while they walked from one end of the court to the other, till observing they were just at the edge of the well, he gave him a push, and threw him into it; without there being any witness of so wicked an act. Having done this, he directly went away, got to the gate of the house, passed out unseen, returned home well satisfied with his journey, and highly pleased that the object of his envy was at length no more. In this, however, he was deceived.
It was a most fortunate thing for the dervise, that this well was inhabited by fairies and genii, who were ready to assist him. They both caught and supported him in their arms in such a way, that he received not the least injury. He naturally supposed there was something very extraordinary in having had such a fall, as ought to have cost him his life; and yet he could neither see nor perceive any thing. He soon after, however, heard a voice say, “Do you know any thing of this man, to whom we have been so serviceable?” when some other voices answered, “No.” The first then replied, “I will inform you. This man, with the most charitable and benevolent intentions in the world, left the town where he lived, and came to fix himself in this place, with the hopes of being able to cure one of his neighbours of the envy and hatred he had conceived against him. He soon became so universally esteemed, that the envious man could not endure it, and determined, therefore, to put an end to his existence. This design he would have executed, had it not been for the assistance we afforded this good man, whose reputation is so great, that the sultan, who resides in the neighbouring town, was coming to visit him to-morrow, in order to recommend the princess, his daughter, to his prayers.”
Another voice then asked what occasion the princess had for the prayers of the dervise, to which the first answered; “Are you ignorant then, that she is possessed by the power of the Genius Maimoun, the son of Dimdim, who has fallen in love with her? But I know how this good dervise can cure her. The thing is by no means difficult, as I will inform you. In his monastery there is a black cat, which has a white spot at the end of her tail, about the size of a small piece of money. Let him only pull out seven hairs from this while spot, and burn them; and then with the smoke perfume the head of the princess. From that moment she will be so thoroughly cured, and free from Maimoun, the son of Dimdim, that he will never again be able to come near her.”
The chief of the dervises did not lose a single syllable of this conversation between the Fairies and Genii, who, from this time, remained silent the whole night. The next morning, as soon as the day began to break, and the different objects became discernible, the dervise perceived, as the wall was decayed in many places, a hole, by which he could get out without any difficulty.
The other dervises, who were seeking after him, were delighted at his appearance. He related to them, in a few words, the cunning and wickedness of the guest he had entertained the day before, and then retired to his cell. It was not long before the black cat, which had been mentioned in the discourse of the Fairies and Genii, came to him to be taken notice of as usual. He then took it up, and plucked out seven hairs from the white spot in its tail, and put them aside, in order to make use of whenever he should have occasion for them.
The sun had not long risen above the horizon, when the sultan, who wished to neglect nothing, from which he thought there was any chance of curing the princess, arrived at the gate. He ordered his guards to stop, and went in with the principal officers who accompanied him. The dervises received him with the greatest respect. The sultan directly took the chief aside, and said to him, “Worthy sheik, you are perhaps already acquainted with the cause of my visit.”—“If, Sire,” the dervise modestly answered, “I do not deceive myself, it is the malady of the princess that has been the occasion of my seeing you; an honour of which I am unworthy.”—“It is so,” replied the sultan, “and you will restore almost my life to me, if, by means of your prayers, I shall obtain the re-establishment of my daughter’s health.”—“If your majesty,” answered the worthy man, “will have the goodness to suffer her to come here, I flatter myself, that with the help and favor of God she shall return in perfect health.”
The prince, transported with joy, immediately sent for his daughter, who soon appeared, accompanied by a numerous train of females and eunuchs; and veiled in such a manner, that her face could not be seen. The chief of the dervises made them hold a shovel over the head of the princess; and he no sooner threw the seven white hairs upon some burning coals, which he had ordered to be brought in it, than the Genius Maimoun, the son of Dimdim, uttered a violent scream, and left the princess quite at liberty. In the mean time nothing at all could be seen. The first thing she did was to put her hand to the veil, which covered her face, and lift it up to see where she was. “Where am I?” she cried; “Who has brought me here?” At these words the sultan could not conceal his joy; he embraced his daughter; he kissed her eyes: and then took the hand of the dervise and kissed that. “Give me,” said he to his officers, “your opinion; what return does he deserve, who has cured my daughter.”—They all answered that he was worthy of her hand.—“This is the very thing I was meditating,” he cried, “and from this moment I claim him for my son-in-law.”
Soon after this the first vizier died, and the sultan immediately advanced the dervise to the situation. The sultan himself afterwards dying without any male issue, this excellent man was proclaimed sultan by the general voice of the different religious and military orders.
The good dervise, being thus raised to the throne of his father-in-law, observed one day, as he was walking with his courtiers, the envious man among the crowd, who were in the road. He called one of his viziers, who accompanied him, told him in a whisper to bring that man, whom he pointed out to him, and to be sure not to alarm him. The vizier obeyed; and when the envious man was in the presence of the sultan, the latter addressed him in these words; “I am very happy, my friend, to see you: go,” said he, speaking to an officer, “and count out directly from my treasury a thousand pieces of gold. Nay more, deliver to him twenty bales of the most valuable merchandize my magazines contain; and let a sufficient guard escort him home.” After having given the officer this commission, he took his leave of the envious man, and continued his walk.
When I had told this history to the Genius, who had assassinated the princess of the Isle of Ebony, I made the application to myself, “O Genius,” I said to him, “you may observe how this benevolent monarch acted towards the envious man, and was not only satisfied in forgetting that he had attempted his life, but even sent him back with every benefit and advantage I have mentioned.” In short, I employed all my eloquence to persuade him to imitate so excellent an example, and to pardon me. But to alter his resolution was impossible.
“All that I can do for you,” he said, “is to spare your life; yet do not flatter yourself that I shall suffer you to return safe and well. I must at least make you feel what I can do by means of my enchantments.” At these words he violently seized me, and carrying me through the vaulted roof of the subterranean palace, which opened at his approach, he elevated me so high, that the earth appeared to me only like a small white cloud. From this height he again descended as quick as lightning, and alighted on the top of a mountain. On this spot he took up a handful of earth, and pronouncing, or rather muttering, certain words, of which I could not comprehend the meaning, threw it over me: “Quit,” he cried, “the figure of a man, and assume that of an ape.” He immediately disappeared, and I remained quite alone, changed into an ape, overwhelmed with grief, in an unknown country, and ignorant whether I was near the dominions of the king, my father.
I descended the mountain, and came to a flat level country, the extremity of which I did not reach till I had travelled a month; when I arrived at the sea-coast. There was at this time a profound calm, and I perceived a vessel about half a league from the shore. That I might not omit taking advantage of so fortunate a circumstance, I broke off a large branch from a tree, and dragged it after me to the sea-side. I then got astride it, with a stick in each hand by way of oar. In this manner I rowed myself along towards the vessel, and when I was sufficiently near to be seen, I presented a most extraordinary sight to the sailors and passengers, who were upon deck. They looked at me with the greatest admiration and astonishment. In the mean time I got along-side, and taking hold of a rope, I climbed up to the deck. But as I could not speak, I found myself in the greatest embarrassment. And in fact, the danger I now ran was not less imminent than what I had before experienced, when I was in the power of the Genius.
The merchants, who were on board, were both scrupulous and superstitious, and thought that I should be the cause of some misfortunes happening to them during their voyage, if they received me. “I will kill him,” cried one, “with a blow of this handspike.”—“Let me shoot an arrow through his body,” exclaimed another: “and then let us throw him into the sea,” said a third. Nor would they have desisted from executing their different threats, if I had not run to the captain, and thrown myself prostrate at his feet. In this supplicating posture I laid hold of the bottom of his dress; and he was so struck with this action, as well as with the tears that fell from my eyes, that he took me under his protection, declaring he would make any one repent, who should offer me the least injury. He even caressed and encouraged me. In order to make up for the loss of speech, I in return showed him, by means of signs, how much I was obliged to him.
The wind which succeeded this calm was not a strong, but it was a favourable one. It did not change for fifty days; and we then happily arrived in the harbour of a large, commercial, well-built, and populous city. Here we cast anchor. This city was of still more considerable importance, as it was the capital of a powerful kingdom. Our vessel was immediately surrounded with a multitude of small boats, filled with those who came either to congratulate their friends on their arrival, or to enquire of whom and what they had seen in the country they had come from; or simply from mere curiosity to see a ship which had arrived from a distance.
Among the rest some officers came on board, who desired, in the name of the sultan, to speak to the merchants that were with us. “The sultan, our sovereign,” said one of them to the merchants, who immediately appeared, “has charged us to express to you how much pleasure your arrival gives him, and entreats each of you to take the trouble of writing upon this roll of paper a few lines. In order to make you understand his motive for this, I must inform you, that he had a first vizier, who, besides his great abilities in the management of affairs, wrote in the greatest perfection. This minister died a few days since. The sultan is very much afflicted at it, and as he values perfection in writing beyond every thing, he has taken a solemn oath to appoint any person to the same situation, who shall write as well. Many have presented specimens of their abilities, but he has not yet found any one throughout the empire whom he has thought worthy to occupy the vizier’s place.
Each of those merchants who thought they could write well enough to aspire to this high dignity, wrote whatever they thought proper. When they had done, I advanced and took the paper from the hands of him who held it. Every body, and particularly the merchants who had written, thinking that I meant either to destroy it or throw it into the water, instantly called out; but they were soon satisfied, when they saw me hold the paper very properly, and make a sign, that I also wished to write in my turn. Their fears were now changed to astonishment. Yet as they had never seen an ape that could write, and as they could not believe I was more skilful than others, they wished to take the roll from my hands; but the captain still continued to take my part. “Suffer him to try,” he said, “let him write; if he only blots the paper, I promise you I will instantly punish him: but if, on the contrary, he writes well, as I hope he will, for I have never seen any ape more clever and ingenious, nor one who seemed so well to understand every thing, I declare that I will acknowledge him as my son. I once had one, who did not possess half so much ability as he does.”
Finding that no one any longer opposed my design, I took the pen, and did not leave off till I had given an example of six different sorts of writing used in Arabia. Each specimen contained a distich, or impromptu stanza of four lines, in praise of the sultan. My writing not only excelled that of the merchants, but I dare say they had never seen any so beautiful, even in that country. When I had finished, the officers took the roll and carried it to the sultan.
The monarch paid no attention to any of the writing, except mine, which pleased him so much, that he said to the officers, “Take the finest and most richly caparisoned horse from my stable, and also the most magnificent robe of brocade possible, in order to adorn the person of him who has written these six varieties, and bring him to me.” At this order of the sultan the officers could not forbear laughing, which irritated him so much, that he would have punished them, had they not said, “We entreat your majesty to pardon us; these were not written by a man, but by an ape.”—“What do you say?” cried the sultan, “are not these wonderful specimens of writing from the hand of a man?”—“No sire,” answered one of the officers, “we assure your majesty that we saw an ape write them.” This matter appeared too wonderful to the sultan, for him not to be desirous of seeing me. “Do as I command you,” said he to them, “and hasten to bring me this extraordinary ape.”
The officers returned to the vessel, and showed their order to the captain, who said the sultan should be obeyed. They immediately dressed me in a robe of very rich brocade, and carried me on shore; where they set me on the horse of the sultan, who was waiting in his palace for me, with a considerable number of people belonging to the court, whom he had assembled to do me the more honour. The march commenced: while the gate, the streets, public buildings, windows, and terraces of both the palaces and houses, were all filled with an immense number of persons of every age and sex, whom curiosity had drawn together from all quarters of the town to see me: for the report was spread in an instant, that the sultan had chosen an ape for his grand vizier. After having afforded so uncommon a sight to all these people, who ceased not to express their surprise by violent and continued shouting, I arrived at the sultan’s palace.
I found the prince seated on his throne, in the midst of the nobles of his court; I made him three low bows, and the last time I prostrated myself, kissed the earth by his feet. I then got up, and seated myself exactly like an ape. No part of the assembly could withhold their admiration; nor did they comprehend how it was possible for an ape to be so well acquainted with the form and respect attached to sovereigns; nor was the sultan the least astonished. The whole ceremony of audience would have been complete, if I had only been able to add speech to my actions; but apes never speak; and the advantage of having once been a man, did not now afford me that privilege.
The sultan took leave of the courtiers, and there remained with him only the chief of his eunuchs, a little young slave, and myself. He went from the hall of audience into his own apartment, where he ordered some food to be served up. While he was at table, he made me a sign to come and eat with him. As a mark of my obedience, I got up, kissed the ground, and then seated myself at table; I eat, however, with much modesty and forbearance.
Before they cleared the table, I perceived a writing-desk, which, by a sign, I requested them to bring me: as soon as I had got it, I wrote upon a large peach some lines of my own composition, which evinced my gratitude to the sultan. His astonishment at reading them, after I presented the peach to him, was still greater than before. When the things were taken away, they brought a particular sort of liquor, of which he desired them to give me a glass. I drank it, and then wrote some fresh verses, which explained the state in which I now found myself after so many sufferings. The sultan, having read these also, exclaimed, “A man who should be capable of doing thus, would be one of the greatest men that ever lived.” The prince then ordered a chess-board to be brought, and asked me, by a sign, if I could play, and would engage with him. I kissed the ground, and putting my hand on my head, I shewed him I was ready to receive that honour. He won the first game, but the second and third were in my favour; perceiving that this gave him some little pain, I wrote a stanza to amuse him, and presented it to him; in which I said, that two powerful armed bodies fought the whole day with the greatest ardour, but that they made peace in the evening, and passed the night together very tranquilly upon the field of battle.
All these circumstances appearing to the sultan much beyond what he had ever seen or heard of the address and ingenuity of apes, he wished to have more witnesses of these prodigies. He had a daughter, who was called the Queen of Beauty, he therefore desired the chief of the eunuchs to fetch her. “Go,” said he to him, “and bring your lady here, I wish her to partake of the pleasure I enjoy.” The chief of the eunuchs went, and brought back the princess with him. On entering, her face was uncovered, but she was no sooner within the apartment, than she instantly threw her veil over her, and said to the sultan, “Your majesty must have forgotten yourself. I am surprised that you order me to appear before men.”—“What is this, my daughter?” answered the sultan, “it seems that you are the person who has forgotten herself. There is no one here; but the little slave, the eunuch, your governor, and myself; and we are always at liberty to see your face. Why then do you put down your veil, and assert, that I have done wrong, in ordering you to come here?”—“Sire,” replied the princess, “your majesty will be convinced I am not mistaken. The ape which you see there, although under that form, is not an ape, but a young prince, the son of a great king. He has been changed into an ape by enchantment. A Genius, the son of the daughter of Eblis, has been guilty of this malicious action, after having cruelly killed the princess of the Isle of Ebony, daughter of king Epitimarus.”
The sultan was astonished at this speech; and turning to me, asked, but no longer by signs, whether what his daughter said was true. As I could not speak, I put my hand upon my head to show, that she had spoken the truth. “How came you to know, daughter,” said the king, “that this prince had been transformed into an ape by means of enchantment?”—“Sire,” replied the princess, “your majesty may recollect, that when I first came from the nursery, I had an old woman as one of my attendants. She was very well skilled in magic; and taught me seventy rules of that science; by virtue of which, I could instantly cause your capital to be transported to the middle of the ocean, nay beyond mount Caucasus. By means of this science, I know every person who is enchanted, the moment I behold them; not only who they are, but by whom also they were enchanted. Be not, therefore, surprised, that I have at first sight discovered this prince, in spite of the charm, which prevented him from appearing in your eyes such as he really is.”—“My dear daughter,” answered the sultan, “I did not think you were so skilful.”—“Sire,” added the princess, “these things are curious, and worthy of being known, but I do not think it becomes me to boast of them.”—“Since this is the case,” replied the sultan, “you can then dissolve the enchantment of this prince.”—“I can, sire,” said, she “and restore him to his own form.”—“Do so then,” interrupted the sultan, “for you cannot give me greater pleasure, as I wish to have him for my grand vizier and bestow you upon him for a wife.”—“I am ready, sire,” answered the princess, “to obey you in all things you please to command.”
The Queen of Beauty then went to her apartment, and returned with a knife which had some Hebrew characters engraved on the blade. She desired the sultan, the chief of the eunuchs, the little slave, and myself, to go down into a secret court of the palace; and then leaving us under a gallery which surrounded the court, she went into the middle of it, where she described a large circle, and traced several words both in the ancient Arabic characters, and those which are called the characters of Cleopatra.
When she had done this, and prepared the circle in the manner she wished, she went and placed herself in the midst of it, where she began making her abjurations, and repeating some verses from the koran. By degrees the air became obscure as if night was coming on, and the whole world was vanishing. We were seized with the greatest fright, and this was the more increased when we saw the Genius, the son of the daughter of Eblis, suddenly appear in the shape of a large dreadful lion.
The princess no sooner perceived this monster than she said to it, “Dog, instead of cringing before me, how darest thou present thyself under this horrible form, thinking to alarm me?”—“And how darest thou,” replied the lion, “break the treaty which we have made and confirmed by a solemn oath not to injure each other?”—“Ah, wretch,” added the princess, “thou art the person I am to reproach on that account.”—“Thou shalt pay dearly,” interrupted the lion, “for the trouble thou hast given me of coming here.” In saying this, he opened his horrible jaws and advanced forward to devour her. But she, being on her guard, jumped back, and had just time to pluck out a hair, and pronouncing two or three words, she changed it into a sharp scythe, with which she immediately cut the lion in pieces through the middle.
The two parts of the lion directly disappeared, and the head only remained, which changed into a large scorpion. The princess then took the form of a serpent, and began a fierce combat with the scorpion, which, finding itself in danger of being defeated, changed into an eagle and flew away. But the serpent then became another eagle, black, and more powerful, and went in pursuit of it. We now lost sight of them for some time.
Shortly after they had disappeared, the earth opened before us, and a black and white cat appeared, the hairs of which stood quite on end, and which made a most horrible mewing. A black wolf directly followed, and gave it no respite. The cat being hard pressed changed into a worm, and finding itself near a pomegranate which had fallen by accident from a tree that grew upon the bank of a deep but narrow canal, instantly made a hole in it, and concealed itself there. The pomegranate immediately began to swell, and became as large as a gourd, which then rose up as high as the gallery, and rolled backwards and forwards there several times; it then fell down to the bottom of the court, and broke into many pieces.
The wolf in the mean time transformed itself into a cock, ran to the seeds of the pomegranate, and began swallowing them one after the other as fast as possible. When it could see no more, it came to us with its wings extended, and making a great noise, as if to inquire of us whether there were any more seeds. There was one lying on the border of the canal, which the cock in going back perceived, and ran towards it as quick as possible; but at the very instant in which its beak was upon it, the seed rolled into the canal and changed into a small fish. The cock then flew into the canal, and becoming a pike, pursued the little fish. They were both two hours under water, and we knew not what was become of them, when we heard the most horrible cries, that made us tremble. Soon after we saw the genius and the princess all on fire. They threw the flames against each other with their breath, and at last came to a close attack. Then the fire increased, and every thing about was encompassed with smoke and flame to a great height. We were afraid, and not without reason, that the whole palace would be burnt: but we soon had a much more dreadful cause for terror; for the Genius having disengaged himself from the princess, came towards the gallery where we were, and blew his flames all over us. This would have destroyed us, if the princess, running to our assistance, had not compelled him, by her cries, to retreat to a distance and guard himself against her. In spite, however, of all the haste she made, she could not prevent the sultan from having his head singed and his face scorched; the chief of the eunuchs, too, was stifled and consumed on the spot; and a spark flew into my right eye and blinded me. Both the sultan and myself expected to perish, when we suddenly heard the cry of “Victory, victory!” and the princess immediately appeared to us in her own form, while the Genius was reduced to a heap of ashes.
The princess approached us, and in order to lose no time, she asked for a cupfull of water, which was brought by the young slave whom the fire had not injured. She took it, and after pronouncing some words over it, she threw some of the water upon me, and said, “If thou art an ape by inchantment, change thy figure and take that of a man which thou hadst before.” She had hardly concluded, when I again became a man, the same as before I was changed, except with the loss of one eye.
I was preparing to thank the princess, but she did not give me time before she said to the sultan, her father, “I have gained, sire, the victory over the Genius, as your majesty may see, but it is a victory which has cost me dear. I have but a few moments to live, and you will not have the satisfaction of completing the marriage you intended. The fire in this dreadful combat has penetrated my body, and I feel that it will soon consume me. This would not have happened if I had perceived the last seed of the pomegranate when I was in the shape of a cock, and had swallowed it as I did the others. The Genius had fled to it as his last retreat; and on that depended the success of the combat, which would then have been fortunate and without danger to me. This omission obliged me to have recourse to fire, and fight with that powerful weapon between heaven and earth, as you saw me. In spite of this dreadful power and experience, I convinced him that my knowledge and art were greater than his. I have at length conquered and reduced him to ashes; but I cannot avoid the death which I feel approaching.”
The princess had no sooner finished this account of the battle, than the sultan, in a tone of voice which showed how much he was agitated by this recital, answered, “You see, my daughter, the state in which your father is. Alas! I am only astonished that I am still alive. The eunuch, your governor, is dead; and the prince whom you have delivered from enchantment, has lost an eye.” He could say no more, for his tears and sobs stopped his utterance. Both his daughter and myself were extremely affected at his sufferings, and mingled our tears with his.
While we were each of us indulging in this excess of sorrow, the princess suddenly exclaimed, “I burn, I burn.” She perceived that the fire which consumed her, had at last seized her whole body, and she did not cease calling out, “I burn,” till death put an end to her almost insupportable sufferings. The effect of this fire was so extraordinary, that in a few minutes she was reduced, like the Genius, to a heap of ashes.
I need not say how much this dreadful and melancholy sight affected us. I would rather have continued an ape or a dog my whole life, than have seen my benefactress perish in such a horrid manner. The sultan too, on his part, was beyond measure afflicted. It is almost impossible to conceive what lamentable cries he uttered, beating himself at the same time most violently on his head and breast, till at last, yielding to despair, he fainted, and I feared even his life would fall a sacrifice.
In the mean time the cries of the sultan brought the eunuchs and officers to his assistance, and they found great difficulty in recovering him. There was no occasion for either the prince or myself giving them a very long detail of this adventure, to convince them of the propriety of our sorrow; the two heaps of ashes to which the princess and the Genius had been reduced, were quite sufficient. As the sultan could scarcely support himself, he was obliged to lean upon them in order to get to his apartment.
As soon as the knowledge of an event so tragical was spread through the palace and the city, every one lamented the melancholy fate of the princess, surnamed the Queen of Beauty; and joined in the grief of the sultan. They put on mourning for seven days, and performed many ceremonies; the ashes of the Genius they scattered in the wind, but collected those of the princess in a costly vase, and preserved them: this vase was then deposited in a superb mausoleum, which was erected on the very spot where the ashes had been found.
The grief which preyed upon the sultan for the loss of his daughter, was the origin of a disease, that confined him to his bed for a whole month. He had not quite recovered his health when he called me to him, and said, “Listen, prince, and attend to the order which I am going to give you; if you fail to execute it your life will be the forfeit.” I assured him I would obey. Resuming then the discourse, he added, “I have always lived in a state of the greatest happiness; nor had any unfortunate event ever occurred. Your arrival has destroyed this enjoyment. My daughter is dead; her governor is no more; and I have escaped with my life only by a miracle. You are the cause of all these misfortunes, for which I am incapable of consolation. These are the reasons which induce me to desire you would leave me in peace: but go immediately, for, if you remain here any longer, it will be the cause of my death also; since I am persuaded your presence is productive only of misfortune. This is all I have to say to you. Go, and take care you never again appear in my kingdom; if you do, no consideration shall prevent my making you repent of it.” I wished to speak, but he prevented me by uttering some angry words, and I was obliged to leave his palace.
Driven about, rejected and abandoned by every one, I knew not what was become of me. Before I left the city I went into a bath, I got my beard and eye-brows shaved, and put on the dress of a calender. I then began my journey, lamenting less my own miserable condition, than the death of the two beautiful princesses which I had been the occasion of. I travelled through many countries without making myself known; at last I resolved to visit Bagdad, in hopes of being able to present myself to the Commander of the Faithful, and excite his compassion by the recital of so strange a history. I arrived here this evening, and the first person I met was the calender, my brother, who has already related his life. You are acquainted, madam, with the sequel, and how I came to have the honour of being at your house.
When the second calender had finished his history, Zobeidè, to whom he had addressed himself, said, “You have done well, and I give you leave to go whenever you please.” But instead of taking his departure, he entreated her to grant him the same favour she had done the other calender, near whom he went and took his place. Then the third calender, knowing it was his turn to speak, addressed himself like the others to Zobeidè, and began his history as follows.