The waiting-woman took the bird; and, in executing the princess’s orders, had compassion on king Beder’s destiny. It would be great pity, said she to herself, to let a prince, so worthy to live, die of hunger and thirst. The princess will, it may be, repent of what she has ordered, when she comes again to herself: it were better that I carried him to a place where he may die a natural death. She then carried him to a well-frequented island, and left him on a charming plain, planted with all sorts of fruit-trees, and watered by divers rivulets.
Let us now return to king Saleh, who, after he had sought a good while for the princess Giahaure, and ordered others to seek for her, to no purpose, caused the king of Samarcand to be shut up in his palace, under a good guard; and, having given the necessary orders for governing the kingdom in his absence, he returned to give the queen his mother an account of what he had done. The first thing he asked, upon his arrival, was, Where was the king his nephew? and he was answered, to his great surprise and astonishment, that he disappeared soon after he left him. News being brought me, said the queen, of the danger you was in at the palace of the king of Samarcand, while I was giving orders to send troops for you to revenge yourself, he disappeared. He must necessarily have been frightened at the hearing of your being in so great danger, and did not think himself in sufficient security with us.
This news exceedingly afflicted king Saleh, who now repented of his being so easily wrought upon by king Beder, as to carry him away with him without his mother’s consent. He sent every where after him; but whatever diligence was used, he could hear no news of him; and instead of the joy he conceived at having carried on the marriage so far, which he looked upon as his own work, he felt a grief for this accident that was mortifying to him. While he was under suspense about his nephew, he left his kingdom to the administration of his mother, and went and governed that of the king of Samarcand, whom he continued to keep with great vigilance, though with all due respect to his character.
The same day that king Saleh returned to the kingdom of Samarcand, queen Gulnare, mother to king Beder, arrived at the court of the queen her mother. The princess was not at all surprised to find her son did not return the same day he set out; because it was common for him to go farther than he proposed, in the heat of the chase: but when she saw he neither returned the next day nor the day after that, she began to be alarmed, as may easily be imagined, from the kindness she professed for him. This alarm was considerably augmented, when the officers who had accompanied the king, and were retired, after they had for a long time sought in vain both for him and his uncle, came and told her majesty they must of necessity have come to some harm, since, whatever diligence they had used, they had heard no tidings of them. Their horses, indeed, they had found; but, as for their persons, they knew not where to look for them. The queen, hearing this, dissembled and concealed her affliction, bidding the officers go and search once more with their utmost diligence; but in the mean time, saying nothing to any body, she went and plunged into the sea, to satisfy herself in the suspicion she had that king Saleh must have carried away his nephew along with him.
This great queen would have been the more affectionately received by the queen her mother, had she not, upon first sight of her, guessed the occasion of her coming. Daughter, said she, I plainly perceive you are not come hither to visit me; you come only to inquire after the king your son; and I can only tell you such news of him as will augment both your grief and mine. I must confess, I no sooner saw him arrive in our territories, than I greatly rejoiced: yet, when I came to understand he had come away without your knowledge, I began to partake with you in the concern you must needs have at it. Then she related to her with what zeal king Saleh went to demand the princess Giahaure in marriage for king Beder, and what happened upon it, till such time as her son disappeared. I have sent diligently after him, added she; and the king my son, who is just gone to govern the kingdom of Samarcand, has done all that lay in his power on his part. All our endeavours have hitherto proved unsuccessful; but we hope nevertheless to see him again, perhaps when we least expect it.
Comfortless queen Gulnare was not satisfied with this hope: she looked upon the king her dear son as lost; and she lamented him grievously, laying all the blame upon the king his uncle. The queen her mother made her to consider the necessity there was of her not yielding too much to her grief. The king your brother, said she, ought not, it is true, to have talked to you so inconsiderately about that marriage, nor ever have consented to carry away the king your son without your privacy: yet, since it is not certain that the king of Persia is absolutely lost, you ought to neglect nothing to preserve his kingdom for him. Lose then no more time; but return to your capital: your presence there will be necessary; and it will not be hard for you to preserve the public peace, by causing it to be published that the king of Persia was gone to visit his grandmother.
This reason was sufficient to oblige queen Gulnare to submit to it. She took leave of the queen her mother, and was got back to the palace of her capital of Persia before she had been missed. She despatched immediately persons to recall the officers she had sent after the king, and to tell them she knew where his majesty was, and that they should soon see him again. She also caused the same report to be spread throughout the city, and governed, in concert with the prime minister and council, with the same tranquillity as if the king had been present.
To return to king Beder, whom the princess Giahaure’s waiting-woman had carried and left in the island before mentioned. That monarch was not a little surprised when he found himself alone, and under the form of a bird. He esteemed himself more unhappy, in that he knew not where he was, nor in what part of the world the kingdom of Persia lay. But if he had known, and sufficiently knew the force of his wings to traverse so vast watery regions, what could he have gained by it, but the mortification to continue still in the same ill plight, not to be accounted so much as a man, in the lieu of being acknowledged for king of Persia? He was then in a manner constrained to remain where he was, and live upon such nourishment as birds of his kind were wont to have.
A few days after, a peasant, who was skilled in taking birds with nets, chanced to come to the place where he was; when, perceiving this fine bird, the like of which he had never seen, though he had used that sport for a long while, he began greatly to rejoice. He employed all his art to become master of him; and at length used such proper methods, that he took him. Overjoyed at so great a prize, which he looked upon to be of more worth than all the other birds he commonly took, by reason of its being so great a rarity, he shut it up in a cage, and carried it to the city. As soon as he was come into the market, a citizen stopped him, and asked him how much he would have for that bird.
Instead of answering, the peasant demanded of the citizen what he would do with him in case he should buy him. What wouldst thou have me do with him, answered the citizen, but roast and eat him? Very well, replied the peasant; and so, I suppose, you would think me very well paid if you should give me the smallest piece of money for him: but know, I set a much greater value upon him; and you should not have him for a large piece of gold. Although I am pretty well advanced in years, I never saw such a bird in my life. I intend to make a present to the king of him; and I am sure he will know the worth of him better than you.