Her great beauty, and the sweetness and civility wherewith she received me, emboldened me to say to her, 'Madam, before I have the honour to satisfy your curiosity, give me leave to tell you that I am infinitely pleased with this unexpected meeting, which offers me an occasion of consolation in the midst of my affliction; and perhaps it may give me an opportunity to make you also more happy than you are.' I gave her a true account by what strange accident she saw me, the son of a king, in such a condition as I then presented to her eyes; and how fortune directed that I should discover the entrance into that magnificent prison where I had found her according to appearances in an unpleasant situation.
'Alas! prince,' said she, sighing once more, 'you have just cause to believe this rich and pompous prison cannot be otherwise than a most wearisome abode; the most charming place in the world being no way delightful when we are detained there contrary to our will. You have heard of the great Epitimarus, King of the Isle of Ebony, so called from that precious wood, which it produces in abundance: I am the princess his daughter.
'The king, my father, had chosen for me a husband, a prince that was my cousin; but in the midst of the rejoicing at the court, before I was given to my husband, a genie took me away. I fainted at the same moment, and lost my senses; and when I came to myself again, I found myself in this place. I was for a long time inconsolable, but time and necessity have accustomed me to the genie. Twenty-five years, as I told you before, I have continued in this place; where, I must confess, I have everything that I can wish for necessary to life, and also everything that can satisfy a princess fond of dress and fashions.
'Every ten days,' continued the princess, 'the genie comes hither to see me. Meanwhile, if I have occasion for him by day or night, as soon as I touch a talisman which is at the entrance into my chamber, the genie appears. It is now the fourth day since he was here, and I do not expect him before the end of six more; so, if you please, you may stay five days and keep me company, and I will endeavour to entertain you according to your rank and merit.'
I thought myself too fortunate in having obtained so great a favour without asking it to refuse so obliging an offer. The princess made me go into a bath, which was the most sumptuous that could be imagined; and when I came forth, instead of my own clothes, I found another very costly suit, which I did not esteem so much for its richness as because it made me look worthy to be in her company. We sat down on a sofa covered with rich tapestry, with cushions to lean upon of the rarest Indian brocade; and soon after she covered a table with several dishes of delicate meats. We ate together, and passed the remaining part of the day with much satisfaction.
The next day, as she contrived every means to please me, she brought in, at dinner, a bottle of old wine, the most excellent that ever was tasted; and out of complaisance she drank some part of it with me. When my head grew hot with the agreeable liquor, 'Fair princess,' said I, 'you have been too long thus buried alive: follow me, and enjoy the real day, from which you have been deprived so many years, and abandon this false light that you have here.'
'Prince,' replied she, with a smile, 'stop this discourse; if out of ten days you will grant me nine, and resign the last to the genie, the fairest day that ever was would be nothing in my esteem.'
'Princess,' said I, 'it is the fear of the genie that makes you speak thus; for my part, I value him so little that I will break his talisman in pieces. Let him come, I will expect him; and how brave or redoubtable soever he be, I will make him feel the weight of my arm: I swear, solemnly that I will extirpate all the genies in the world, and him first.' The princess, who knew the consequences, conjured me not to touch the talisman; 'for that would be a means,' said she, 'to ruin both you and me: I know what belongs to genies better than you.' The fumes of the wine did not suffer me to hearken to her reasons; but I gave the talisman a kick with my foot, and broke it in several pieces.
The talisman was no sooner broken, than the palace began to shake, and was ready to fall with a hideous noise like thunder, accompanied with flashes of lightning and a great darkness. This terrible noise in a moment dispelled the fumes of my wine, and made me sensible, but too late, of the folly I had committed. 'Princess,' cried I, 'what means all this?'
She answered in a fright, and without any concern for her own misfortune, 'Alas! you are undone, if you do not escape immediately.'