The monarch paid no attention to any of the writing, except mine, which pleased him so much, that he said to the officers, “Take the finest and most richly caparisoned horse from my stable, and also the most magnificent robe of brocade possible, in order to adorn the person of him who has written these six varieties, and bring him to me.” At this order of the sultan the officers could not forbear laughing, which irritated him so much, that he would have punished them, had they not said, “We entreat your majesty to pardon us; these were not written by a man, but by an ape.”—“What do you say?” cried the sultan, “are not these wonderful specimens of writing from the hand of a man?”—“No sire,” answered one of the officers, “we assure your majesty that we saw an ape write them.” This matter appeared too wonderful to the sultan, for him not to be desirous of seeing me. “Do as I command you,” said he to them, “and hasten to bring me this extraordinary ape.”
The officers returned to the vessel, and showed their order to the captain, who said the sultan should be obeyed. They immediately dressed me in a robe of very rich brocade, and carried me on shore; where they set me on the horse of the sultan, who was waiting in his palace for me, with a considerable number of people belonging to the court, whom he had assembled to do me the more honour. The march commenced: while the gate, the streets, public buildings, windows, and terraces of both the palaces and houses, were all filled with an immense number of persons of every age and sex, whom curiosity had drawn together from all quarters of the town to see me: for the report was spread in an instant, that the sultan had chosen an ape for his grand vizier. After having afforded so uncommon a sight to all these people, who ceased not to express their surprise by violent and continued shouting, I arrived at the sultan’s palace.
I found the prince seated on his throne, in the midst of the nobles of his court; I made him three low bows, and the last time I prostrated myself, kissed the earth by his feet. I then got up, and seated myself exactly like an ape. No part of the assembly could withhold their admiration; nor did they comprehend how it was possible for an ape to be so well acquainted with the form and respect attached to sovereigns; nor was the sultan the least astonished. The whole ceremony of audience would have been complete, if I had only been able to add speech to my actions; but apes never speak; and the advantage of having once been a man, did not now afford me that privilege.
The sultan took leave of the courtiers, and there remained with him only the chief of his eunuchs, a little young slave, and myself. He went from the hall of audience into his own apartment, where he ordered some food to be served up. While he was at table, he made me a sign to come and eat with him. As a mark of my obedience, I got up, kissed the ground, and then seated myself at table; I eat, however, with much modesty and forbearance.
Before they cleared the table, I perceived a writing-desk, which, by a sign, I requested them to bring me: as soon as I had got it, I wrote upon a large peach some lines of my own composition, which evinced my gratitude to the sultan. His astonishment at reading them, after I presented the peach to him, was still greater than before. When the things were taken away, they brought a particular sort of liquor, of which he desired them to give me a glass. I drank it, and then wrote some fresh verses, which explained the state in which I now found myself after so many sufferings. The sultan, having read these also, exclaimed, “A man who should be capable of doing thus, would be one of the greatest men that ever lived.” The prince then ordered a chess-board to be brought, and asked me, by a sign, if I could play, and would engage with him. I kissed the ground, and putting my hand on my head, I shewed him I was ready to receive that honour. He won the first game, but the second and third were in my favour; perceiving that this gave him some little pain, I wrote a stanza to amuse him, and presented it to him; in which I said, that two powerful armed bodies fought the whole day with the greatest ardour, but that they made peace in the evening, and passed the night together very tranquilly upon the field of battle.
All these circumstances appearing to the sultan much beyond what he had ever seen or heard of the address and ingenuity of apes, he wished to have more witnesses of these prodigies. He had a daughter, who was called the Queen of Beauty, he therefore desired the chief of the eunuchs to fetch her. “Go,” said he to him, “and bring your lady here, I wish her to partake of the pleasure I enjoy.” The chief of the eunuchs went, and brought back the princess with him. On entering, her face was uncovered, but she was no sooner within the apartment, than she instantly threw her veil over her, and said to the sultan, “Your majesty must have forgotten yourself. I am surprised that you order me to appear before men.”—“What is this, my daughter?” answered the sultan, “it seems that you are the person who has forgotten herself. There is no one here; but the little slave, the eunuch, your governor, and myself; and we are always at liberty to see your face. Why then do you put down your veil, and assert, that I have done wrong, in ordering you to come here?”—“Sire,” replied the princess, “your majesty will be convinced I am not mistaken. The ape which you see there, although under that form, is not an ape, but a young prince, the son of a great king. He has been changed into an ape by enchantment. A Genius, the son of the daughter of Eblis, has been guilty of this malicious action, after having cruelly killed the princess of the Isle of Ebony, daughter of king Epitimarus.”
The sultan was astonished at this speech; and turning to me, asked, but no longer by signs, whether what his daughter said was true. As I could not speak, I put my hand upon my head to show, that she had spoken the truth. “How came you to know, daughter,” said the king, “that this prince had been transformed into an ape by means of enchantment?”—“Sire,” replied the princess, “your majesty may recollect, that when I first came from the nursery, I had an old woman as one of my attendants. She was very well skilled in magic; and taught me seventy rules of that science; by virtue of which, I could instantly cause your capital to be transported to the middle of the ocean, nay beyond mount Caucasus. By means of this science, I know every person who is enchanted, the moment I behold them; not only who they are, but by whom also they were enchanted. Be not, therefore, surprised, that I have at first sight discovered this prince, in spite of the charm, which prevented him from appearing in your eyes such as he really is.”—“My dear daughter,” answered the sultan, “I did not think you were so skilful.”—“Sire,” added the princess, “these things are curious, and worthy of being known, but I do not think it becomes me to boast of them.”—“Since this is the case,” replied the sultan, “you can then dissolve the enchantment of this prince.”—“I can, sire,” said, she “and restore him to his own form.”—“Do so then,” interrupted the sultan, “for you cannot give me greater pleasure, as I wish to have him for my grand vizier and bestow you upon him for a wife.”—“I am ready, sire,” answered the princess, “to obey you in all things you please to command.”
The Queen of Beauty then went to her apartment, and returned with a knife which had some Hebrew characters engraved on the blade. She desired the sultan, the chief of the eunuchs, the little slave, and myself, to go down into a secret court of the palace; and then leaving us under a gallery which surrounded the court, she went into the middle of it, where she described a large circle, and traced several words both in the ancient Arabic characters, and those which are called the characters of Cleopatra.
When she had done this, and prepared the circle in the manner she wished, she went and placed herself in the midst of it, where she began making her abjurations, and repeating some verses from the koran. By degrees the air became obscure as if night was coming on, and the whole world was vanishing. We were seized with the greatest fright, and this was the more increased when we saw the Genius, the son of the daughter of Eblis, suddenly appear in the shape of a large dreadful lion.
The princess no sooner perceived this monster than she said to it, “Dog, instead of cringing before me, how darest thou present thyself under this horrible form, thinking to alarm me?”—“And how darest thou,” replied the lion, “break the treaty which we have made and confirmed by a solemn oath not to injure each other?”—“Ah, wretch,” added the princess, “thou art the person I am to reproach on that account.”—“Thou shalt pay dearly,” interrupted the lion, “for the trouble thou hast given me of coming here.” In saying this, he opened his horrible jaws and advanced forward to devour her. But she, being on her guard, jumped back, and had just time to pluck out a hair, and pronouncing two or three words, she changed it into a sharp scythe, with which she immediately cut the lion in pieces through the middle.