The Arabian Nights Entertainments - Volume 01Anonymous
General
The Arabian Nights Entertainments - Volume 01
Anonymous
Arabs -- Folklore; Fairy tales; Folklore -- Arab countries
When the noise of this tragical event had spread itself through
the palace and the city, all the people bewailed the misfortune
of the princess, the lady of beauty, and were sensible of the
sultan's affliction. Every one was in deep mourning for seven
days, and a great many ceremonies were performed: The ashes of
the genie were thrown into the air, but those of the princess
were gathered into a precious urn, to be kept; and the urn was
set in a stately tomb, which was built for that purpose, on the
same place where the ashes had lain.
The grief which the sultan conceived for the loss of his daughter
threw him into a fit of sickness, which confined him to his
chamber for a whole month. He had not fully recovered strength
when he sent for me: Prince, said he, hearken to the orders that
I now give you; it will cost you your life if you do not put them
in execution. I assured him of exact obedience; upon which he
went on thus: I have constantly lived in perfect felicity, and
never was crossed by any accident; but by your arrival all the
happiness I possessed is vanished; my daughter is dead, her
governor is no more, and it is through a miracle that I am yet
alive. You are the cause of all those misfortunes, for which it
is impossible that I should be comforted; therefore depart from
hence in peace, but without further delay, for I myself must
perish, if you stay any longer: I am persuaded that your presence
brings mischief along with it. This is all I have to say to you.
Depart, and take care of ever appearing again in my dominions;
there is no consideration whatsoever that shall hinder me from
making you repent of it. I was going to speak, but he stopped my
mouth by words full of anger; and so I was obliged to remove from
his palace, rejected, banished, thrown off by all the world, and
not knowing what would become of me. Before I left the city, I
went into a bagnio, where I caused my beard and eye-brows to be
shaved, and put on a calender's habit. I began my journey, not so
much deploring my own miseries as the death of the two fair
princesses of which I had been the occasion. I passed through
many countries without making myself known; at last I resolved to
come to Bagdad, in hopes to get myself introduced to the
commander of the faithful, to move his compassion by giving him
an account of my strange adventures. I came hither this evening,
and the first man I met was this calender, our brother, that
spoke before me. You know the remaining part, madam, and the
cause of my having the honour to be here.
When the second calender made an end of his story, Zobeide, to
whom he had addressed his speech, told him, It is very well, you
may go which way you please; I give you leave: but, instead of
departing, he also petitioned the lady to show him the same
favour she had vouchsafed to the first calender, and went and sat
down by him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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