Camaralzaman thanked the honest gardener for his advice, and the security he offered him in his house. He would have said more; but the good man interrupted him, saying, Let us wave complimenting; you are weary, and want to refresh yourself. Come in; eat what we have, and lie down to rest; you are very welcome. He conducted him into his little hut, which, though small, was clean, and well defended from the injuries of the weather. He ordered the best provisions he had to be brought forth, and entertained the prince so heartily, that he was charmed with it, and at his request told him how he came there.
When he had ended his story, without hiding any part of it, he asked him which was the nearest way to his father's territories? For it is in vain, said he, to think of finding my princess where I left her, wandering, as I have been, eleven days from that place. Ah, continued he, how do I know that she is alive! and, saying this, he burst out into tears that would have melted the most cruel and obdurate. The gardener replied, that there was no possibility of his going thither by land, the ways were so difficult, and the journey so long; besides, there was no manner of convenience for his subsisting; and if there was, he must necessarily pass through many barbarous nations; that he would never reach his father's; that the quickest passage would be to go to the isle of Ebene, whence he might easily transport himself to the isles of the children of Khaledan; that there was a ship which sailed from the port where he was every year to Ebene, and he might take that opportunity of returning to those islands. The ship departed, said he, but a few nays ago, and it will be almost a year before it makes the voyage again: if you will accept of my house for your habitation so long, you will be as welcome to it as to your own.
Prince Camaralzaman was glad he had met with such an asylum in a place where he had no knowledge of any man, nor any man of him, and where nobody could think it his interest to entertain or preserve him. He accepted the offer, and lived with the gardener till the time that the ship was to sail to the isle of Ebene. He spent his time all day in working in the garden, and ail night in thinking of his dear princess Badoura, in sighs, tears, and complaints. But we must leave him a while, and return to the princess, whom we left asleep in her tent.
THE STORY OF THE PRINCESS BADOURA, AFTER HER SEPARATION FROM PRINCE CAMARALZAMAN.
The princess slept a long time, and, when she awoke, wondered that prince Camaralzaman was not with her. She called her women, and asked them if they knew where he was gone. They told her they saw him enter the tent, but did not see him go out again. While they were talking, she spied her girdle, saw it had been meddled with, and, on examination, found the little purse open, and the talisman gone. She did not doubt but Camaralzaman had taken it in order to examine it, and that he would bring it back. She waited for him impatiently till night, and could not imagine what made him stay away so long.
When it was quite dark, and she could hear nothing of him, she fell into a violent fit of grief: She cursed the talisman, and him that made it; and, had she not been restrained by duty, would have cursed her mother who gave it to her. She was the more troubled, because she could not imagine how her talisman should have caused the prince's separation from her. However, amidst all her sorrow, she retained her judgment, and came to a courageous resolution not common with persons of her sex.
She and her women only knew of the prince's being gone; for his men were then asleep, or refreshing themselves in their tents. The princess, fearing they would betray her if they had any knowledge of it, first composed her mind a little, moderated her grief, and forbade her women to say or do any thing that might make them suspect the truth. Then she undressed herself, and put on prince Camaralzaman's suit; being so like him in it, that the next day, when she came abroad, his men took her for him.
She commanded them to pack up their baggage and march forward; and when all things were ready, she ordered one of her women to go into her sedan; she herself on horseback, riding by her side.
They travelled several months by land and sea; the princess continuing the journey under the name of Camaralzaman. They took the island of Ebene in their way to the isles of the Children of Khaledan. They went to the capital of the island, where reigned a king whose name was Armanos. The persons who first landed giving out that they brought prince Camaralzaman, who was returning from a long voyage towards his own country, and was forced to put in there by a storm, the news of his arrival was presently carried to court.
King Armanos, accompanied by most of his courtiers, went immediately to wait on the prince, and met the princess, just as she had landed, going to the lodgings that had been taken for her. He received her as the son of a king who was his friend, and with whom he had always kept a fair correspondence; and carried her to his palace, where an apartment was prepared for her and all her attendants; though she would fain have excused herself, and lodged in a private house. Besides this, he was so courteous, that doing her common honours would not content him; he entertained her three days together with extraordinary magnificence and royal festivals.