Part 41

At last the prince of Persia, after they had thrown water on his face, recovered his spirits. Prince, said Ebn Thaher to him, we run the risk of perishing, if we stay here any longer: exert yourself, therefore; let us endeavour to save our lives. He was so feeble, that he could not rise alone; Ebn Thaher and the confidant lent him their hands, and supported him on each side. They came to a little iron gate which opens towards the Tigris, went out at it, and came to the side of a little canal which has a communication with the river. The confidant clapped her hands, and immediately a little boat appeared, and came towards them with one rower. Ali Ebn Becar and his comrade went aboard, and the confidant staid at the side of the canal. As soon as the prince sat down in the boat, he stretched out one hand towards the palace, and laying the other upon his heart, Dear object of my soul, cried he, with a feeble voice, receive my faith with this hand, while I assure you with the other, that my heart shall for ever preserve the fire with which it burns for you.

In the mean time the boatman rowed with all his might, and Schemselnihar’s confidant accompanied the prince of Persia and Ebn Thaher, walking along the side of the canal, until they came to the Tigris, and when she could go no further, she took leave of them, and returned.

The prince of Persia continued very feeble: Ebn Thaher comforted him, and exhorted him to take courage. Consider, said he to him, that when we are landed, we have a great way to go before we reach my house; and I would not advise you to go to your lodging, which is a great deal farther than mine, at this hour, and in this condition. At last they went out of the boat, but the prince had so little strength, that he could not walk, which put Ebn Thaher into great perplexity. He recollected he had a friend in the neighbourhood, and carried the prince thither with great difficulty. His friend received him very cheerfully, and when he made them sit down, he asked them where they had been so late. Ebn Thaher answered him, I heard this evening that a man who owed me a considerable sum of money was setting out on a long voyage. I lost no time to find him, and by the way I met with this young nobleman whom you see, and to whom I am under a thousand obligations; for, knowing my debtor, he did me the favour to go along with me. We had a great deal of trouble to bring the man to reason. We have at length succeeded, and this is the cause of our being so late. In our return home, this good lord, to whom I am for ever bound to show all possible respect, was attacked by a sudden illness, which made me take the liberty to knock at your door, flattering myself that you would be pleased to lodge us this night.

Ebn Thaher’s friend took all this for truth, told them they were welcome, and offered the prince of Persia, whom he knew not, all the assistance he could desire; but Ebn Thaher spoke for the prince, and said, that his distemper was of that nature as required nothing but rest. His friend understood by this that they desired to go to bed. Upon which he conducted them to an apartment, where he left them.

Though the prince of Persia slept, he was interrupted by troublesome dreams, which represented Schemselnihar in a swoon at the caliph’s feet, and increased his affliction. Ebn Thaher was very impatient to be at home, and doubted not but his family was under great apprehension, because he never used to sleep out. He arose and departed early in the morning, after he had taken leave of his friend, who rose at break of day to prayers. At last he came home, and the first thing the prince of Persia did, who had walked so far with much trouble, was to lie down upon a sofa, as weary as if he had gone a long journey. Being not in a condition to go to his own house, Ebn Thaher ordered a chamber to be made ready for him, and sent to acquaint his friends with his condition and where he was. In the mean time he begged him to compose himself, to command in his house, and to dispose of all things as he pleased. I thank you heartily for those obliging offers, said the prince of Persia; but that I may not be any way troublesome to you, I conjure you to deal with me as if I were not at your house. I would not stay one moment, if I thought my presence would incommode you in the least.

As soon as Ebn Thaher had time to recollect himself, he told his family all that had passed at Schemselnihar’s palace, and concluded by thanking God, who had delivered him from the danger he was in. The prince of Persia’s principal domestics came to receive his orders at Ebn Thaher’s house, and in a little time there arrived several of his friends who had notice of his indisposition. Those friends passed the greatest part of the day with him; and though their conversation could not extinguish those sad ideas which were the cause of his trouble, yet it gave him some relief. He would have taken his leave of Ebn Thaher towards the evening; but this faithful friend found him still so weak, that he obliged him to stay till next day, and in the mean time, to divert him, he gave him a concert of vocal and instrumental music in the evening; but this concert served only to put him in mind of the preceding night, and renewed his trouble, instead of assuaging it; so that next day his distemper seemed to increase. Upon this Ebn Thaher did not oppose his going home, but took care to accompany him thither; and when he was with him alone in his chamber, he represented to him all those arguments which might influence him to a generous effort to overcome that passion which in the end would neither prove lucky to himself nor to the favourite. Ah! dear Ebn Thaher, cried the prince, how easy is it for you to give this advice, but how hard is it for me to follow it! I am sensible of its importance, but am not able to profit by it. I have said already, that I shall carry to the grave with me the love that I bear to Schemselnihar. When Ebn Thaher saw that he could gain nothing upon the prince, he took his leave of him, and would have retired.

The prince of Persia stopt him, and said, Kind Ebn Thaher, since I have declared to you that it is not in my power to follow your wise counsels, I beg you would not charge it on me as a crime, nor forbear to give me the usual testimonies of your friendship; you cannot do me a greater favour than to inform me of the destiny of my dear Schemselnihar, when you hear any news of her: the uncertainty I am in concerning her fate, and the mortal apprehensions her fainting has occasioned in me, keep me in this languishing condition you reproach me with. --My lord, answered Ebn Thaher, you have reason to hope that her fainting was not attended with any bad consequences; her confidant will quickly come and inform me of the issue; and as soon as I know the particulars, I will not fail to impart them.

Ebn Thaher left the prince in this hope, and returned home, where he expected Schemselnihar’s confidant all the rest of the day, but in vain; nor did she come next day. His uneasiness to know the state of the prince of Persia’s health would not suffer him to stay any longer without seeing him; he went to his lodging to exhort him to patience, and found him lying on his bed as ill as ever, surrounded by a great many of his friends, and several physicians, who made use of all their art to discover the cause of his distemper. As soon as he saw Ebn Thaher, he looked upon him smiling, to signify that he had two things to tell him; the one, that he was glad to see him; the other, how much the physicians, who could not discover the cause of his distemper, were out in their reasonings.

His friends and physicians retired one after another, so that Ebn Thaher being alone with him, came near his bed to ask him how he did since he saw him. I must tell you, answered the prince, that my passion, which continually gathers new strength, and the uncertainty of the lovely Schemselnihar’s destiny, augment my distemper every moment, and cast me into such a state, as afflicts my kindred and friends, and breaks the measures of my physicians, who do not understand it. You cannot think, added he, how much I suffer by seeing so many people about me, who importune me, and whom I cannot in civility put away. Your company alone relieves me; but I conjure you not to dissemble with me: What news do you bring me of Schemselnihar? Have you seen her confidant? What said she to you? --Ebn Thaher answered, that he had not seen her yet; and no sooner had he told the prince of Persia this sad news, but the tears came into his eyes; he could not answer one word, his heart was so oppressed. Prince, added Ebn Thaher, suffer me to tell you, that you are too ingenious in tormenting yourself. In the name of God, wipe away your tears: if any of your people should come in, they would discover you by this, notwithstanding the care you ought to take to conceal your thoughts. Whatever this judicious confidant could say, it was not possible for the prince to refrain from weeping. Wise Ebn Thaher, said he, when he had recovered his speech, I may indeed hinder my tongue from revealing the secrets of my heart, but I have no power over my tears, upon such an alarming subject as Schemselnihar’s danger. If that adorable and only object of my desires be no longer in the world, I shall not survive her a moment. --Reject so afflicting a thought, replied Ebn Thaher; Schemselnihar is yet alive, you need not doubt of it; if you have heard no news of her, it is because she could find no opportunity to send to you, and I hope you will hear from her to-day. To this he added several other consoling arguments, and then withdrew.

Ebn Thaher was scarce at his own house when Schemselnihar’s confidant arrived with a melancholy countenance, which he reckoned a bad omen. He asked news of her mistress: Tell me yours first, said the confidant, for I was in great trouble to see the prince of Persia go away in that condition. Ebn Thaher told her all that she wished to know, and when he had done, the slave began thus:-- If the prince of Persia, said she, has suffered, and does still suffer, for my mistress, she suffers no less for him. After I departed from you, continued she. I returned to the saloon, where I found Schemselnihar not yet recovered from her swoon, notwithstanding all the help they endeavoured to give her. The caliph was sitting near her with all the signs of real grief; he asked all the women, and me in particular, if we knew the cause of her distemper; but we kept all secret, and told him we were altogether ignorant of it. In the mean time, we all wept to see her suffer so long, and forgot nothing that might any way help her. In a word, it was almost midnight before she came to herself. The caliph, who had the patience to wait the event, was rejoiced at her recovery, and asked Schemselnihar the cause of her distemper. As soon as she heard him speak, she endeavoured to recover her seat; and after she had kissed his feet, before he could hinder her, Sir, said she, I have reason to complain of heaven, that it did not allow me to expire at your majesty’s feet, to testify thereby how sensible I am of your favours.

I am persuaded you love me, said the caliph to her, and I command you to preserve yourself for my sake. You have probably exceeded in something to-day, which has occasioned this indisposition: take care, I entreat you; abstain from it for the future. I am very glad to see you better, and I advise you to stay here to-night, and not to return to your chamber, for fear the motion affect you. He then commanded a little wine to be brought her, in order to strengthen her; and taking leave of her, returned to his apartment.

As soon as the caliph was gone, my mistress gave me a sign to come near her. She asked me earnestly concerning you; I assured her that you had been gone a long time, which made her easy on that head: I took care not to speak of the prince of Persia’s fainting, lest it should make her fall into the same state, from which we had so much trouble to recover her; but my precautions were in vain, as you shall hear. Prince, said she, I henceforth renounce all pleasure us long as I am deprived of the sight of you. If I have understood your heart right, I only follow your example. You will not cease to weep until you see me again; it is but just that I weep and mourn until I see you. At these words, which she uttered in a manner expressive of the violence of her passion, she fainted a second time in my arms.

Schemselnihar’s confidant continued to tell Ebn Thaher all that had happened to her mistress after the first fainting. My companions and I, said she, were a long time recovering her; at last, she came to herself; and then I said to her, Madam, are you resolved to kill yourself, and to make us also die with you? I entreat you, in the name of the prince of Persia, who is so deeply interested in your life, to preserve it, as you love yourself; be persuaded to this effort, as you love the prince, and for our fidelity to you. I am very much obliged to you, replied she, for your care, your zeal, and your advice; but, alas! they are useless to me: you are not to flatter us with any hopes, for we can expect no end of our torment but in the grave.

One of my companions would have diverted these sad thought by playing on the lute, but she commanded her to be silent, and ordered all of them to retire except me, whom she kept all night with her. O heavens! what a night it was! she passed it in tears and groans, and incessantly naming the prince of Persia. She lamented her lot, that had destined her to the caliph, whom she could not love, and not for him whom she loved so dearly.

Next morning, because she was not commodiously lodged in the saloon, I helped her to her chamber, where she no sooner arrived than all the physicians of the palace came to see her by order of the caliph, who was not long in coming himself. The medicines which the physicians prescribed to Schemselnihar were ineffectual, because they were ignorant of the cause of her distemper; and the presence of the caliph augmented it. She got a little rest, however, this night, and as soon as she awoke, she charged me to come to you, to hear news of the prince of Persia. I have already informed you of his case, said Ebn Thaher; so return to your mistress, and assure her, that the prince of Persia waits for news from her with the like impatience that she does from him; above all, exhort her to moderation, and to overcome herself, for fear she drop before the caliph some word which may prove fatal to us all. As for me, replied the confidant, I confess I dread her transports; I have taken the liberty to tell her my mind, and am persuaded that she will not take it ill that I tell her again this from you.

Ebn Thaher, who had but just come from the prince of Persia’s lodgings, thought it not convenient to return so soon, and neglect his own important affairs, and therefore went not till the evening; the prince was alone, and no better than in the morning; Ebn Thaher said he to him, as soon as he saw him, you have doubtless many friends, but they do not know your worth, which you discover to me by your zeal, your care, and the trouble you give yourself to oblige me. I am confounded with all that you do for me with so great affection, and I know not how I shall be able to express my gratitude. Prince, answered Ebn Thaher, do not speak so, I entreat you; I am ready, not only to give one of my eyes, to save one of yours, but to sacrifice my life for you. But this is not the present business; I come to tell you that Schemselnihar sent her confidant to ask me about you, and at the same time, to inform me of her condition. You may assure yourself, that I said nothing but what might confirm the excess of your passion for her mistress, and the constancy with which you love her. Then Ebn Thaher gave him a particular account of all that had passed betwixt the trusty slave and him.

The prince listened with all the different emotions of fear, jealousy, affection, and compassion, which this conversation could inspire him with, making upon every thing which he heard, all the afflicting or comforting reflections that so passionate a lover was capable of.

Their conversation continued so long, that the night was far advanced, so that the prince of Persia obliged Ebn Thaher to stay with him. The next morning, as his trusty friend returned home, there came to him a woman, whom he knew to be Schemselnihar’s confidant, and immediately she spoke to him thus: My mistress salutes you, and I am come to entreat you in her name to deliver this letter to the prince of Persia. The zealous Ebn Thaher took the letter, and returned to the prince, accompanied by the confidant slave.

When Ebn Thaher entered the prince of Persia’s house, with Schemselnihar’s confidant, he prayed her to stay, and wait for him a moment in the drawing room. As soon as the prince of Persia saw him, he asked earnestly what news he had to tell him? The best you can expect, answered Ebn Thaher. You are as dearly beloved as you love; Schemselnihar’s confidant is in your drawing room; she has brought you a letter from her mistress, and waits for your orders to come in. Let her come in, cried the prince, with a transport of joy; and so saying, he sat up to receive her.

The prince’s attendants went from him as soon as they saw Ebn Thaher, and left him alone with their master. Ebn Thaher went and opened the door himself, and brought in the confidant. The prince knew her, and received her with great politeness. My lord, said she to him, I am sensible of the affliction you have endured since I had the honour to conduct you to the boat which waited to bring you back; but I hope the letter I have brought will contribute to your cure. So saying, she presented him the letter. He took it, and after he had kissed it several times, he opened and read it as follows:

A Letter from Schemselnihar to Ali Ebn Becar, Prince of Persia.

‘The person who brings you this letter will give you a better account concerning me than I can do, for I have not been myself since I saw you; being deprived of your presence, I sought to deceive myself by conversing with you by these ill-written lines, with the same pleasure as if I had the good fortune to speak to you.

‘It is said, that patience is a cure for all evils, but it heightens my sufferings, instead of relieving them. Although your picture be deeply engraven in my heart, my eyes, desire speedily once more to see the original, and they will lose all their light if they be any considerable time deprived of it. May I flatter myself that yours have the same impatience to see me? Yes, I can; their tender glances have sufficiently discovered it to me. How happy, prince, should you and Schemselnihar both be, if our united desires were not thwarted by invincible obstacles, which afflict me the more sensibly as they have that effect on you.

‘Those thoughts which my fingers write, and which I express with incredible pleasure, repeating them again and again, proceed from the bottom of my heart, and from the incurable wound which you have made in it, a wound which I bless a thousand times, notwithstanding the cruel torments I endure for your absence. I would reckon all that opposes our love nothing, were I only allowed to see you sometimes with freedom; I should then enjoy you, and what could I desire more?

‘Do not imagine that I say more than I think. Alas! whatever expressions I make use of, I feel that I think more than I can tell you. My eyes, which are continually watching and weeping for your return; my afflicted heart, which desires you alone; the sighs that escape me as often as I think on you, that is every moment; my imagination, which represents no other object to me than my dear prince; the complaints that I make to heaven for the rigour of my destiny; in a word, my grief, my distress, my torments, which give me no ease ever since I lost sight of you, will vouch for what I write.

‘Am I not unhappy to be born to love, without hope of enjoying him whom I love? This afflicting thought oppresses me so that I should die were I not persuaded that you love me: but this sweet comfort balances my despair, and preserves my life. Tell me that you love me always; I will keep your letter carefully, and read it a thousand times a day; I should endure my afflictions with less impatience: I pray heaven may cease to be angry at us, and grant us an opportunity to say, that we love one another without fear; and that we shall never cease to love one another. Adieu. I salute Ebn Thaher, to whom we are so much obliged.’

The prince of Persia was not satisfied with reading the letter once; he thought he had read it with too little attention, and therefore read it again with more leisure; and as he read, sometimes he uttered deep sighs, sometimes he shed tears, and sometimes he broke out into transports of joy and tenderness, as he was affected with what he read. In short, he could not keep his eyes off those characters drawn by so beloved a hand, and was beginning to read it a third time, when Ebn Thaher observed to him, that the confidant had no time to lose, and that he ought to think of giving an answer. Alas! cried the prince, how would you have me answer so kind a letter? In what terms shall I express myself in the disturbed state I am in? My mind is tossed with a thousand tormenting thoughts, which are lost the same moment they are conceived, to make way for others. So long as my body is influenced by the impressions of my mind, how shall I be able to hold the paper, or guide my reed to write? [81]

So saying, he took out of a little desk which was near him, paper, a cane ready cut, and an inkhorn.

The prince of Persia, before he began to write, gave Schemselnihar’s letter to Ebn Thaher, and prayed him to hold it open while he wrote, that by casting his eyes upon it, he might the better see what to answer. He began to write; but the tears that fell from his eyes upon the paper, obliged him several times to stop, that they might fall the more freely. At last, he finished his letter, and giving it to Ebn Thaher, Read it, I pray, said he to him, and do me the favour to see if the disorder of my mind has allowed me to give a favourable answer. Ebn Thaher took it, and read as follows:

The Prince of Persia’s answer to Schemselnihar’s Letter.