Although her lover’s wound was mortal, she yet contrived by her enchantments to preserve in him that kind of existence, which can be called neither dead or alive. As I traversed the garden to return to the palace, I heard the queen weeping bitterly, and judging of her grief by her cries, I was not sorry to have left him alive. When I reached my chamber I went again to bed, and feeling satisfied with the punishment I had inflicted on the wretch who had offended me, I fell asleep. On waking the next morning, I found the queen by my side; I cannot say whether she was asleep or feigned it, but I got up without disturbing her, and retired to my closet, where I finished dressing: I afterwards attended the council; and, on my return, the queen, dressed in mourning, her hair dishevelled and torn, presented herself before me. “Sire,” said she, “I come to entreat your majesty not to be displeased at the state in which you now see me. I have just received intelligence of three events, which occasion the grief I so strongly feel, but can ill express.” --“What are these events, madam?” I inquired.--“The death of the queen, my beloved mother,” replied she; “that of the king, my father, who was killed in battle; and also of my brother, who fell down a precipice.” I was not sorry that she had invented this pretext to conceal the true cause of her affliction, and I imagined, that she did not suspect me of having been the murderer of her lover. “Madam,” said I, “I do not blame your sorrow; on the contrary, I assure you that I am not insensible to the cause. I should be much surprised if you were not affected by such a loss; weep, for your tears are an undoubted proof of your good heart; I hope, nevertheless, that time and reason will restore to you your wonted cheerfulness.” She retired to her apartment, where, abandoning herself to her grief, she passed a whole year in weeping and bewailing the death of her lover. At the expiration of that time, she requested my permission to build a mausoleum for herself in the centre of the palace, where she said she wished to pass the remainder of her days. I did not refuse her, and she erected a magnificent palace with a dome, which may be seen from hence, and she called it the Palace of Tears. When it was finished, she had her lover removed from the place, whither she had transported him on the night I wounded him, and brought to this mausoleum. She had till that period preserved his life by giving him certain potions, which she administered herself, and continued to give him daily, after his removal to the Palace of Tears.