“My sultana!” he said, “here is the prince’s [[149]]clown. If you command, we will have him within and, perhaps, gain some amusement.”
“I would have that done which will please you,” was the careful answer.
Accordingly, as the clown was examining the outer walls of the palace, the fairy prince threw an enchanted rose down upon him; which the clown, seeing, picked up, and when he had smelled it said: “O, how sweetly does this rose smell! Say, you, there! Can you, also, smell?” And, although there was no sense in the words, he kept repeating them.
It became noised about the streets that the prince’s clown was losing his senses. And all who saw him, to the number of fifty or sixty persons, stopped to hear the foolish utterance and to shake the head, saying, “Alas! yes; the clown is crazy!”
Let us return to the true prince.
After two hours had passed without the return of the clown, he began to be troubled, and ordered the chamberlain to go out and learn what had become of the old man; also, to bring him back to the palace.
The chamberlain had gone but a little way, when he noticed a large crowd in the public square and went near, to learn the cause of the gathering. To [[150]]his surprise, he saw that the clown was in the very middle. Making his way to this side, he said, “The prince sends for you.”
Only the words caused by the enchantment came in answer: “Your rose smells sweet. Can you also smell?” But this time was added, as the speaker looked at the chamberlain: “If they throw a rose to you, from the palace yonder, be warned! Do not pick it up!”
These words served only to arouse the curiosity of the chamberlain. He desired to look more closely at this marvelous palace.
The fairy prince saw him approaching and said to the princess: “Aha! we have here the prince’s chamberlain. Shall he be invited to enter?”