Selim was from that moment the implacable foe of his successful rival. He could not bear to hear the hated name mentioned in his presence, and, with cowardly vindictiveness, determined upon his destruction. He kept these feelings a secret from his father, who esteemed the Turkoman too highly to approve of the prince’s hostility towards him, and had, moreover, expressed his satisfaction at the latter’s marriage with Mher-ul-Nissa. Selim, however, secretly fomented jealousies among the Omrahs against the popular as well as imperial favourite. These were easily excited; for there will never be found wanting persons ready to traduce those to whom they are conscious of being inferior in moral excellence; and especially in courts where ambition is the ruling passion, nothing can be less difficult than to provoke the envy of men whose sole aim is aggrandisement, and who are therefore naturally disposed to think ill of any who happen to contravene those aims, or to cross the path of their ambition. The prince, therefore, had little difficulty in accomplishing his purpose. He secretly disseminated calumnies to the injury of Shere Afkun, who in disgust retired from court into Bengal, where he obtained from the governor the vicegerency of Burdwan, a considerable district in that province. Here he lived undisturbed until the death of Akbar, which caused the sincere regret of the whole nation, who in mourning the decease of their Emperor deplored the loss of a great and a good man. When Prince Selim became sovereign, his passion for the daughter of Aiass revived in full force. The restraint being removed under which the smothered flame had been so long and so painfully suppressed, it burst forth with increased fierceness. He was now absolute; and being determined to possess the object of his disappointed love, he made advances towards a reconciliation with Shere Afkun; but the brave Turkoman for a time resisted all his importunities, perceiving their object, and resolving to part neither with his wife nor with his honour, as he could not resign the one without relinquishing the other. His strength was prodigious, and his bravery equal to his strength; his integrity was unimpeached, his reputation high, and he was alike feared and respected by all classes. Upon every occasion where danger was imminent, he was foremost to encounter it; while his desperate valour was the theme of many a romance and of many a song. His bodily vigour was so great, that he had slain a lion single handed; from which circumstance he obtained the cognomen of Shere Afkun, or the Lion-slayer, his original name being Asta Jillo. He was, however, no less esteemed for his virtues than for his bravery; and Mher-ul-Nissa fully appreciated his rare endowments. She was proud of his reputation. To her the Emperor’s feelings were no secret; but she avoided his presence, in obedience to the wishes of her husband, who was not altogether without