As soon as the young man had finished this speech I wrapped myself up in the sheep-skin, and took the knife which they had given me. After they had taken the trouble to sew me up in it, they left me in that place, and retired into their apartment. It was not long before the roc which they had mentioned made its appearance, plunged down upon me, took me up in its talons as if I were a sheep, and transported me to the summit of a mountain. When I perceived that I was upon the ground, I did not fail to make use of the knife. I ripped open the skin, threw it off, and appeared before the roc, who flew away the instant it saw me. This roc is a white bird of an enormous size; its strength is such, that it will lift up elephants from the ground, and carry them to the tops of mountains, where it devours them.
My impatience to arrive at the castle was such, that I lost no time; indeed I made so much haste that I reached it in less than half a day; and I may add, that I found it much more beautiful than it had been described. The gate was open, and I entered into a square court of such vast extent that in it were ninety-nine doors, made of sandal wood and aloes, and one of gold: without reckoning those of many magnificent stair cases, which led to the upper apartments; and some others which I did not see. The hundred doors I have mentioned, formed the entrances either into the gardens or magazines filled with riches, or into some other places which contained things most surprising to behold.
Opposite to me I saw an open door, through which I entered into a large saloon, where forty young females were sitting, whose beauty was so perfect, that it was impossible for the imagination to form to itself any thing beyond it. They were all very magnificently dressed; and as soon as they perceived me, they got up, and, without waiting for my paying my compliments, they called out with appearance of great joy, “Welcome, my brave lord, you are welcome;” and one of them speaking for the rest, said, “We have a long time expected a person like you. Your manner sufficiently shows that you possess all the good qualities we could wish, and we hope that you will not find our company either disagreeable or unworthy of you.” After much resistance on my part, they forced me to sit down on a place that was more raised than theirs; and when I showed them it was unpleasant to me, they said, “it is your place; from this moment you are our lord, our master, and our judge; we are your slaves, and ready to obey your commands.” Nothing in the world could have astonished me more than the desire and the eagerness these females professed to render me every possible service. One brought me some warm water to wash my feet; another threw some perfumed water over my hands; some brought me whatever was necessary to change my dress; and others served up a magnificent collation, while another party presented themselves before me with a glass in their hands, ready to pour out the most delicious wine. All this was done without any confusion, and in such admirable order and such a pleasant way, that I was quite charmed. I eat and drank; after which all the ladies, placing themselves around me, asked me to relate my journey. I gave them an account of my adventures so fully, that it lasted till the beginning of the night. When I had finished the relation of my history to the forty ladies, some of those who were seated nearest to me, waited to entertain me; while others, observing it was night, went out to seek for lights. They returned with such a prodigious quantity, that they produced almost the brilliancy of day; but they were arranged with so much symmetry and taste, that we could hardly wish for it.
Some of the other ladies covered the tables with dried fruits, sweetmeats, and whatever else was adapted to excite a desire for drinking; they also furnished the sideboard with many sorts of wine and liquors, while the remainder of the ladies came with several musical instruments. When every thing was ready, they invited me to sit down at table; the ladies sat down with me, and we remained there a considerable time. Those who entertained us with the instruments, accompanied them with their voices, and formed a delightful concert. The rest began a sort of ball, and danced in pairs one after the other in the most graceful and elegant manner possible. It was past midnight before all these amusements were concluded. One of the ladies then, addressing me, said, “You are fatigued with the distance you have come to-day, and it is time you should take some repose. Your apartment is prepared; but before you retire, you are requested to point out from amongst us all, her who most pleases you; and she is destined to pass the night in your chamber. I answered, “it was impossible to make the choice they required, since they were all equally beautiful and engaging, and worthy both of my respect and services; and that I could not be guilty of the incivility of preferring any one to the rest.”
The lady who had first spoken to me, answered, “We are all very well persuaded of your good intentions, and we are well assured that the fear of giving rise to any jealousy amongst us, is what prevents you, but do not let this stop you, for the happiness of her whom you shall choose will not make us jealous, because we have agreed, that every day each shall have the same honour in her turn, and at the end of forty days we shall begin again. Choose then freely, and do not waste that time which you ought to give to the repose you stand so much in need of. I was obliged to yield to their entreaties; and I presented my hand therefore to the lady who had spoken for the rest; she immediately gave me hers, and they conducted us to a magnificent apartment. The other ladies then left us there, and retired to their own.
I had hardly finished dressing myself in the morning, before the other thirty-nine ladies came into my apartment, differently adorned from the preceding day. They paid their compliments to me, and made inquiries after my health. They then conducted me to a bath, where they employed themselves in washing me, and rendering me every service I wanted, although contrary to my inclination; and when I came out, they brought me another dress still more magnificent than the first. We passed the greatest part of the day at table, and when the hour of retiring came, they again entreated me to make choice of another amongst them, to remain as my companion. In short, madam, not to tire you by repeating the same thing over again, I may tell you at once, that I passed a whole year with these forty ladies, taking each of them in their turn for my mistress, and that during the whole of this time the voluptuous life I led was not interrupted by the least uneasiness.
I was never more surprised than at the end of the year, when the forty ladies, instead of presenting themselves to me with their accustomed good spirits, and making inquiries after my health, one morning entered my apartment with their countenances bathed in tears. They each came and embraced me, and said, “Adieu, dear prince, adieu, we are now compelled to leave you.”
Their tears affected me very much. I entreated them to inform me of the cause of their grief, and why they were obliged, as they said, to leave me. “In the name of God, my beautiful ladies,” I exclaimed, “tell me, I beseech you, is it in my power to console you, or will my aid and assistance prove useless?” Instead of answering me in a direct manner, they said, “Would to God we had never seen or known you. Many men have done us the honour of visiting us previous to yourself, but no one possessed the elegance, the softness, the power of pleasing, the merit of yourself; nor do we know how we shall be able to live without you.” Upon this they renewed their tears. “Amiable ladies,” I cried, “do not, I beg of you, keep me any longer in suspense, but tell me the cause of your sorrow?”—“Alas!” answered they, “what else could afflict us but the necessity of separating ourselves from you. Perhaps we shall never meet again. Yet still, if you really wished it, and had sufficient command over yourself for the purpose, it is not absolutely impossible to us to rejoin you.”—“In truth, ladies,” I replied, “I do not at all understand what you mean; speak, I conjure you, more openly.”—“Well then,” said one of them, “to satisfy you, we must inform you we are all princesses and the daughters of kings. You have seen in what manner, and under what conditions, we live here; but at the end of each year we are compelled to absent ourselves forty days, to fulfil some duties which cannot be dispensed with; but which we are not at liberty to reveal; after this, we again return to this castle. Yesterday the year finished, and today we must leave you. This is the great cause of our affliction. Before we go, we will give you the keys of every thing; and particularly of the hundred doors, within which you will find ample room to gratify your curiosity and amuse your solitude during our absence. But for your own sake, and for our particular interest, we entreat you to refrain from opening the golden door. If you do open it, we shall never see you again; and the fear we are in lest you should, increases our sorrow. We hope you will profit by the advice we have given you. Your repose, your happiness, nay your life, depends upon it, therefore be careful. If you indiscreetly yield to your curiosity, you will also do us a considerable injury. We conjure you, therefore, not to be guilty of this fault, and to afford us the consolation of finding you here at the end of the forty days. We would take the key of the golden door with us, but it would be an offence to such a prince as you are, to doubt your circumspection and discretion.”
This speech affected me very sensibly. I made them understand that their absence would cause me much pain, and thanked them very much for the good advice they gave me. I assured them I would profit by it; and would perform things much more difficult if it would procure me the happiness of passing the remainder of my life with ladies of such rare and extraordinary merit. We took the most tender leave of each other; I embraced them all; and they departed from the castle, in which I remained quite alone.
The pleasantness of their company, good living, concerts, and various amusements, had so entirely engrossed my time during the whole year, that I had nor the least opportunity, nor indeed inclination, to examine the wonders that were contained in this enchanted palace. I had not even paid any attention to the multitude of extraordinary objects which were continually before my eyes; so much was I taken up with the charms and accomplishments of the ladies, and the pleasure I felt at finding them always employed in endeavouring to amuse me. I was very much afflicted at their departure; and although their absence was to last only forty days, this time, when deprived of their society, seemed to me an age.