The next morning my steward desired to speak with me in private. “I am come,” said he, “to give you some information, which, I trust, will afford you pleasure. I have a daughter, who has some little knowledge of magic; and as I was bringing the calf back yesterday which you were unwilling to sacrifice, I observed, that she smiled at seeing it, and the next moment began to weep. I enquired of her the cause of these two contrary emotions. ‘My dear father,’ she answered, ‘that calf, which you bring back, is the son of our master; I smiled with joy at seeing him still alive, and wept at the recollection of his mother, who was yesterday sacrificed in the shape of a cow. These two metamorphoses have been contrived by the enchantments of our master’s wife, who hated both the mother and the child.’—This,” continued the steward, “is what my daughter said, and I come to report it to you.” Imagine, O Genius, my surprise at hearing these words: I immediately set out with my steward, to speak to his daughter myself. On my arrival I went first to the stable, where my son had been placed; he could not return my caresses; but he received them in a way, which convinced me that he was really my son.
When the daughter of the steward made her appearance, I asked her if she could restore him to his former shape. “Yes,” replied she, “I can.”—“Ah,” exclaimed I, “if you can perform such a miracle, I will make you the mistress of all I possess.”—She then answered with a smile, “You are our master, and I know how much we are bound to you; but I must mention, that I can restore your son to his own form, only on two conditions; first, that you bestow him upon me for my husband; and secondly, that I may be permitted to punish her who changed him into a calf.”—“To the first,” I replied, “I agree with all my heart; I will do still more, I will give you, for your own separate use, a considerable sum of money, independant of what I destine for my son. In short, you shall perceive how I can acknowledge the important service you do me. I agree also to that which regards my wife; a person, who has been capable of so criminal an action, is worthy of punishment. I abandon her to you, do what you please with her; I only entreat you to spare her life.”—“I will treat her then,” she said, “in the same manner as she has treated your son.”—To this I gave my consent, provided she first restored my son to me.
The damsel then took a vessel full of water, and pronouncing over it some words I did not understand, she thus addressed herself to the calf: “O calf, if thou hast been created by the all-powerful Sovereign of the world, as thou now appearest, retain that form; but if thou art a man, and hast been changed by enchantment into a calf, reassume, by permission of thy divine Creator, thy natural figure!”—In saying this she threw the water over him, and he instantly regained his own form.
“My child! my dear child,” I immediately exclaimed, and embraced him with a transport I could not restrain; “it is the Almighty, who hath sent this damsel to us, to destroy the horrible charm with which you were surrounded, and to avenge the evil that has been done to you and your mother. I am sure gratitude will induce you to accept her for a wife, as I have already promised for you.”—He joyfully consented; but before they were united the damsel changed my wife into this hind, which you see here. I wished her to have this form in preference to any other more unpleasant, that we might see her, without repugnance, in our family.
Since this, my son is become a widower, and is now travelling. Many years have passed since I have heard any thing of him; I have therefore now set out with a view to gain some information; and as I did not like to trust my wife to the care of any one during my search, I thought proper to carry her along with me. This is the history of myself and this hind; can any thing be more wonderful?”—“I agree with you,” said the Genius, “and in consequence I grant a third of my pardon to this merchant.”
“As soon as the first old man, Sire, had finished his history,” continued the sultana, “the second, who led the two black dogs, said to the Genius, “I will relate to you what has happened to me and these two dogs which you see, and I am sure you will find my history still more astonishing than that which you have heard. But when I have told it, will you grant to this merchant another third of his pardon?—“Yes,” answered the Genius, “provided your history surpasses that of the hind.” This being settled, the second old man began.”
THE HISTORY
OF THE SECOND OLD MAN AND THE TWO BLACK DOGS.
Great Prince of the Genii, you must know, that these two black dogs, which you see here, and myself, are three brothers. Our father left us, when he died, one thousand sequins each. With this sum we all embarked in the same profession; namely, as merchants. Soon after we had opened our warehouse, my eldest brother, who is now one of these dogs, resolved to travel, and carry on his business in foreign countries. With this view he sold all his goods, and bought such other sorts of merchandize as were adapted to the different countries he proposed visiting.
He set out, and was absent a whole year. At the end of this time, a poor man who seemed to me to be asking charity, presented himself at my warehouse, “God help you,” said I.—“And you also,” answered he: “is it possible you do not know me?”—On looking attentively at him, I recognized his person, “Ah, my brother,” I cried, embracing him, “how should I possibly know you in this state?” I made him come in directly, and enquired both after his health and the success of his voyage.—“Do not ask me,” he replied; “in beholding me you see the whole. To enter into a detail of all the misfortunes that I have suffered in the last year, and which have reduced me to the state you see, would only be to renew my affliction.”