The princess Djouher-Manikam descended from the roof, and mounted the horse while Hestri was yet sleeping. She sat on the horse waiting till Hestri should awake. But an Æthiopian robber, who had come to rob the storehouse of Biyapri, saw the horse whose bridle was attached to the belt of Hestri. He unfastened the bridle and led the horse to the middle of the plain. In the mind of the princess it was Hestri who was thus leading the horse. But the moon having risen, the Æthiopian saw seated upon the horse a woman of a striking and marvellous beauty. The heart of the Æthiopian was filled with joy. He said in his heart:
"For a very long time have I been stealing riches. Truly, I have acquired no small store of jewels, pearls, precious stones, gold and silver, and magnificent vestments of all sorts. But all that is nothing in comparison with the marvel I have just now found and who will become my wife, the light of my eyes, and the fruit of my heart. Now shall I enjoy in peace the happiness of having such a wife."
The house of the Æthiopian robber was seated on the top of a hill. He conducted the princess thither, showed her all it contained, and gave it to her, saying: "O my future bride, it is to you that all which this house contains belongs. Make use of it according to your good pleasure." The princess said, "First of all, be tranquil." And she thought in her heart: "This is my destiny. First I was with Biyapri, and now I have fallen into the hands of an Aethiopian robber. It is by the will of God that this has happened to his servant." The Æthiopian robber was bent on having the marriage celebrated at once, but the princess said: "I cannot be married now, for I have made a vow to God the most high not to see the face of a man for three days."
The Æthiopian robber desired to drink, and said: "Come, let us drink together."
"In my opinion," observed the princess, "if we begin to drink both together you will become heavy with wine, and I, too. Then they will take me far from you and kill you. Come, I will fill your cup and you shall drink first. When you have drunk enough, then I will drink in my turn, and you shall fill my cup."
The Æthiopian robber was very joyful at these words of the princess. "What you say is true," said he. He received with great pleasure the cup from the hands of the princess and drank. After emptying the cup many times he fell down in the stupor of intoxication, losing his senses and becoming like a dead man. The princess Djouher-Manikam put on a magnificent costume of a man, and adding a weapon something like a kandjar, went out of the house. Then mounting her horse she rode forward quickly and came to the foot of the hill. She directed her course toward the country of Roum, and continuing her journey from forest to forest, and from plain to plain, she reached the gate of the fortifications of the city of Roum at the moment when the King of that country had just died.
When the princess Djouher-Manikam had arrived outside the fortifications of Roum, she sat down in the _baley, near the fort. She was marvellously beautiful, and her vestments, all sparkling with gold, were adorned with precious stones, pearls, and rubies. A man happening to pass by saw her, and was seized with astonishment and admiration. For in the country of Roum there was nobody who could compare with this young man, so handsome and so magnificently attired. He asked:
"Whence come you and why did you come here?"
The princess answered: "I know not the place where I am at this moment.
I came from the city of Damas."
This citizen of Roum took leave and went away to present himself to the vezir and tell what he had seen. The vezir, having heard him, went out promptly to find the young man. As soon as he had approached him and had seen his remarkable beauty and his splendid vestments decorated with precious stones, pearls, and rubies, the vezir seated himself by him and said: