Part 43

‘Your precious letter had a great effect upon me, but not so great as I could have wished. You endeavour to comfort me for the loss of Ebn Thaher; alas! however sensible I am of this, it is but the least of my troubles. You know these troubles, and you know also that your presence alone can cure me. When will the time come that I shall enjoy it without fear of being deprived of it? how long does it seem to me! or shall we flatter ourselves that we may ever see it? You command me to preserve myself; I will obey you, since I have renounced my own will to follow only yours. Adieu.’

After the jeweller had read this letter, he gave it again to the confidant; who said, as she was going away, I will desire my mistress to put the same confidence in you that she did in Ebn Thaher: you shall hear of me to-morrow. Accordingly next day she returned with a pleasant countenance. Your very looks, said he to her, inform me that you have brought Schemselnihar to the point you wished for. It is true, said the confidant, and you shall hear how I effected it. I found yesterday, continued she, Schemselnihar expecting me with impatience; I gave her the prince of Persia’s letter, and she read it with tears in her eyes; and when she had done, I saw that she had abandoned herself to her usual sorrow. Madam, said I to her, it is doubtless Ebn Thaher’s removal that troubles you; but suffer me to conjure you, in the name of God, to alarm yourself no farther on that head. We have found another who offers himself to oblige you with equal zeal, and, what is yet more important, with greater courage. Then I spoke to her of you, continued the slave, and acquainted her with the motive which led you to the prince of Persia’s house: in short, I assured her that you would inviolably keep the secret betwixt her and the prince of Persia, and that you was resolved to favour their amour with all your might. She seemed to be much relieved by my discourse. Ah! what obligations, said she, are the prince of Persia and I under to that honest man you speak of! I must be acquainted with him and see him, that I may hear from his own mouth what you tell me, and thank him for such an unheard-of piece of generosity towards persons that he is no way obliged to concern himself with. The sight of him will give me pleasure, and I shall omit nothing to confirm him in those good sentiments. Fail not to bring him to me to-morrow. Therefore, sir, be so good as to go with me to the palace.

The confidant’s discourse perplexed the jeweller. Your mistress, replied he, must allow me to say, that she has not duly considered what she requires of me. Ebn Thaher’s access to the caliph gave him admission every where, and the officers who knew him, allowed him free access to Schemselnihar’s palace; but as for me, how dare I enter? You see clearly that it is impossible. I entreat you to represent to Schemselnihar the reasons which prevent me from giving her that satisfaction, and acquaint her with all the ill consequences that would attend it. If she considers it ever so little, she would find that it would expose me needlessly to very great danger.

The confidant endeavoured to encourage the jeweller: Can you believe, said she, that Schemselnihar is so unreasonable as by bringing you to her, to expose you to the least danger, from which she expects so important services? Consider with yourself that there is not the least appearance of risk for you; my mistress and I are too much interested in this affair to involve you in any danger. You may depend upon me, and leave yourself to my conduct. After the thing is over, you will be the first to confess that your fear was groundless.

The jeweller yielded to the confidant’s discourse, and rose up to follow her; but notwithstanding his boasted courage, he was seized with such terror, that his whole body trembled. In your present state, said she, I perceive it will be better for you to stay at home, and that Schemselnihar should take other measures to see you. It is not to be doubted, but that to satisfy her desire, she will come hither herself; the case being so, sir, I would not have you go. I am persuaded it will not be long ere you see her come to you. The confidant foresaw this; for she no sooner informed Schemselnihar of the jeweller’s fear, but she prepared to go to his house.

He received her with all the expressions of profound respect. When she sat down, being a little fatigued with coming, she unveiled herself, and let the jeweller see such beauty, as convinced him that the prince of Persia was excusable in giving his heart to the caliph’s favourite. Then she saluted the jeweller with a graceful air, and said to him, I could not hear with what zeal you have engaged in the prince of Persia’s concerns and mine, without immediately forming a design to express my gratitude in person. I thank heaven for having so soon made up Ebn Thaher’s loss.

Schemselnihar said many other obliging things to the jeweller, after which, she returned to her palace. The jeweller went immediately to give an account of this visit to the prince of Persia, who said to him as soon as he saw him, I have expected you impatiently. The trusty slave has brought me a letter from her mistress, but it does not relieve me. Whatever the lovely Schemselnihar says, I dare not hope for any thing; my patience is at an end; I know not now what measures to take. Ebn Thaher’s departure makes me despair: he was my only support --I lost all by losing him; I flattered myself with some hopes by reason of his access to Schemselnihar.

After these words, which the prince pronounced with so much eagerness, that he gave the jeweller no time to interrupt him, he said to the prince, No man can take more interest in your affliction than I do; and if you will have patience to hear me, you will perceive that I can relieve you. Upon this, the prince held his peace, and listened to him. I see very well, said the jeweller, that the only way to give you satisfaction is to fall upon a plan that will afford you an opportunity to converse freely with Schemselnihar. This I wish to procure you, and tomorrow will set about it. You must by no means expose yourself to enter Schemselnihar’s palace; you know by experience the danger of that step: I know a fitter place for this interview, where you will be safe. When the jeweller had finished speaking, the prince embraced him with transports of joy. You revive, said he, by this charming promise, a wretched lover, who was condemned to die. I see that you have fully repaired the loss of Ebn Thaher: whatever you do will be well done; I leave myself entirely to your conduct.

After the prince had thus thanked him for his zeal, the Jeweller returned home, and next morning Schemselnihar’s confidant came to him. He told her that he had given the prince of Persia hopes that he should see Schemselnihar speedily. I am come on purpose, answered she, to concert measures with you for that end. I think, continued she, this house will be convenient enough for their interview. I could receive them very well here, replied he; but I think they will have more liberty in another house of mine, where nobody lives at present; I will quickly furnish it for their reception. There remains nothing then for me to do, replied the confidant, but to bring Schemselnihar to consent to it. I will go and speak to her, and return speedily with an answer.

She was as diligent as her promise; and returning to the jeweller, told him that her mistress would not fail to keep the appointment in the evening. In the mean time, she gave him a purse, and told him it was to prepare a collation. He carried her immediately to the house where the lovers were to meet, that she might know whither to bring her mistress; and when she was gone, he went to borrow from his friends gold and silver plate, tapestry, rich cushions, and other furniture, with which he furnished the house very magnificently; and when he had put all things in order, he went to the prince of Persia.

You may easily conceive the prince of Persia’s joy, when the jeweller told him that he came to conduct him to the house he had prepared to receive him and Schemselnihar. This news made him forget all his former troubles. He put on a magnificent robe, and went without his retinue along with the jeweller, who led him through several by-streets, that nobody might observe them, and at last brought him to the house, where they conversed together until Schemselnihar came.

They did not stay long for this passionate lover; she came after evening prayer with her confidant and two other slaves. It is impossible to express the excess of joy that seized those two lovers when they saw one another: they sat down together upon a sofa, looking upon one another for some time, without being able to speak, they were so much overjoyed, but when their speech returned, they soon made up for their silence. They said to each other so many tender things, as made the jeweller, the confidant, and the two other slaves weep. The jeweller, however, restrained his tears, to attend to the collation, which he brought in himself. The lovers ate and drank little, after which they sat down again upon the sofa. Schemselnihar asked the jeweller if he had a lute, or any other instrument. --The jeweller, who took care to provide all that could please her, brought her a lute; she spent some time in tuning it, and then sung.

While Schemselnihar was charming the prince of Persia, and expressing her passion by words composed extempore, a great noise was heard, and immediately the slave whom the jeweller had brought with him, came in a great fright, to tell him, that some people were breaking in at the gate, that he asked who it was, but instead of any answer, the blows were redoubled. The jeweller being alarmed, left Schemselnihar and the prince to go and inform himself of the truth of this bad news. No sooner was he got into the court, than he saw, notwithstanding the darkness of the night, a company of men, armed with bayonets and scimitars, who had broken the gate, and came directly towards him. He stood close to a wall for fear of his life, and saw ten of them pass without being perceived by them. Finding he could give no great assistance to the prince of Persia and Schemselnihar, he contented himself with lamenting their fate, and fled for refuge to a neighbour’s house, who was not yet gone to bed. He did not doubt but this unexpected violence was by the caliph’s order, who, he thought, had been informed of his favourite’s meeting the prince of Persia there. He heard a great noise in his own house, which continued till midnight; and when all was quiet, as he thought, he desired his neighbour to lend him a scimitar; and being thus armed, went on till he came to the gate of his own house. He entered the court full of fear, and perceived a man, who asked him who he was; he knew by his voice, that it was his own slave. How did you manage, said he, to avoid being taken by the watch? Sir, answered the slave, I hid myself in a corner of the court, and I went out so soon as I heard the noise. But it was not the watch who broke into your house; they were robbers, who, within these few days, robbed another house in the neighbourhood; they, doubtless, had notice of the rich furniture you brought hither, and had that in view.

The jeweller thought his slave’s conjecture probable enough; he visited the house, and saw that the robbers had taken all the furniture out of the chamber where he received Schemselnihar and her lover; that they had also carried off the gold and silver plate, and, in a word, had left nothing. --Being in this condition, O heaven! cried he, I am irrecoverably undone! What will my friends say, and what excuse can I make, when I shall tell them that the robbers have broken into my house, and robbed me of all they had generously lent me? I shall never be able to make up their loss. Besides, what is become of Schemselnihar and the prince of Persia? This business will be so public, that it will be impossible but it must reach the caliph’s ears. He will get notice of this meeting, and I shall fall a sacrifice to his fury! The slave, who was very much attached to him, endeavoured to comfort him. As to Schemselnihar, said he, the robbers probably would content themselves with stripping her, and you have reason to think, that she is retired to her palace with her slaves. The prince of Persia is probably in the same condition; so that you have reason to hope the caliph will never know this adventure. As for the loss your friends have sustained, that is a misfortune that you could not avoid. They know very well the robbers are numerous, that they have not only pillaged the house I have already spoken of, but many other houses of the principal noblemen of the court; and they are not ignorant, that notwithstanding the orders given to apprehend them, nobody has been yet able to seize any of them. You will be acquitted by restoring your friends the value of the things that are stolen, and blessed be God, you will have enough left.

Waiting till day, the jeweller ordered the slave to mend the street door, which was broken, as well as he could; after which he returned to his usual residence with his slave, making melancholy reflections upon what had happened. Ebn Thaher, said he to himself, has been wiser than I: he foresaw the misfortune into which I have blindly thrown myself; would to God I had never meddled in this intrigue, which will, perhaps, cost me my life!

It was scarce day when the report of the robbery spread through the city, and a great many of his friends and neighbours came to his house to express their concern for his misfortune, but were curious to know the particulars. He thanked them for their affection, and had at least the consolation, that he heard nobody mention Schemselnihar or the prince of Persia, which made him believe they were at their houses, or in some secure place.

When the jeweller was alone, his servants brought him something to eat, but he could not eat a bit. About noon one of his slaves came to tell him there was a man at the gate, whom he knew not, that desired to speak with him. The jeweller, not choosing to receive a stranger into his house, rose up, and went to speak with him. Though you do not know me, said the man, yet I know you, and I am come to talk to you about an important affair. The jeweller desired him to come in. No, answered the stranger; if you please, rather take the trouble to go with me to your other house. How know you, replied the jeweller, that I have another house? I know very well, answered the stranger; follow me, and do not fear any thing: I have something to communicate to you which will please you. The jeweller went immediately with him; and after he had considered by the way how the house they were going to was robbed, he said to him, that it was not fit to receive him.

When they were before the house, and the stranger saw the gate half broken down, said he to the jeweller, I see you have told me the truth; I will carry you to a place where we shall be better accommodated. --When he had said this, he went on, and walked all the rest of the day without stopping. The jeweller being weary with walking, vexed to see night approach, and that the stranger went on without telling him where he was going, began to lose his patience, when they came to a path which led to the Tigris; and as soon as they came to the river, they embarked in a little boat, and went over. The stranger led the jeweller through a long street, where he had never been before in his life: and after he had brought him through I know not how many by-streets, he stopped at a gate, which he opened. He caused the jeweller to go in: then he shut and bolted the gate with a huge iron bolt, and conducted him to a chamber, where there were ten other men, all of them as great strangers to the jeweller as he that brought him hither.

These ten men received the jeweller without any compliments. They bade him sit down, of which he had great need: for he was not only out of breath with walking so far, but the fear he was in, to find himself with people whom he thought he had reason to be afraid of, would have disabled him from standing. They waited for their leader to go to supper, and as soon as he came it was served up. They washed their hands, obliged the jeweller to do the like, and to sit at table with them. After supper, the men asked him if he knew whom he spoke to? He answered, No, and that he knew not the place he was in. Tell us your last night’s adventure, said they to him, and conceal nothing from us. The jeweller, being astonished at this discourse, answered, Gentlemen, it is probable you know it already. That is true, replied they; the young man and the young lady, who were at your house yester-night, told it us; but we would know it from your own mouth. The jeweller needed no more to inform him that he spoke to the robbers who had broken into and plundered his house. Gentlemen, said he, I am much troubled for that young man and lady; can you give me any tidings of them?

Upon the jeweller’s inquiry of the thieves, if they knew any thing of the young man and the young lady, they answered, Be not concerned for them --they are safe and well. So saying, they showed him two closets, where they assured him they were separately shut up. They added, We are informed you alone know what relates to them, which we no sooner came to understand, but we showed them all imaginable respect, and were so far from doing them any injury, that we treated them with all possible kindness on your account. We answer for the same, proceeded they, for your own person; you may put unlimited confidence in us.

The jeweller being encouraged at this, and overjoyed to hear that the prince of Persia and Schemselnihar were safe, resolved to engage the robbers yet farther in their interest. He commended them, flattered them, and gave them a thousand benedictions. --Gentlemen, said he, I must confess I have not the honour to know you, yet it is no small happiness to me that I am not wholly unknown to you; and I can never be sufficiently grateful for the favours which that knowledge has procured me at your hands. Not to mention your great humanity, I am fully persuaded now that persons of your character are capable of keeping a secret faithfully; and none are so fit to undertake a great enterprise, which you can best bring to a good issue by your zeal, courage, and intrepidity. Confiding in these qualities, which are so much your due, I hesitate not to tell you my whole history, with that of those two persons you found in my house, with all the fidelity you desire me.

After the jeweller had thus secured, as he thought, the confidence of the robbers, he made no scruple to relate to them the whole amour of the prince of Persia and Schemselnihar, from the beginning of it to the time he received them into his house.

The robbers were greatly astonished at all the particulars they heard, and could not forbear crying out, How! is it possible that the young man should be the illustrious Ali Ebn Becar, prince of Persia, and the young lady the fair and celebrated beauty Schemselnihar? The jeweller assured them nothing was more certain, and that they needed not to think it strange, that persons of so distinguished a character should wish not to be known.

Upon this assurance of their quality, the robbers went immediately, one after another, and threw themselves at their feet, imploring their pardon, and protesting that nothing of the kind would have happened to them, had they been informed of the quality of their persons before they broke into the house; and that they would by their future conduct endeavour to make amends for the crime they had thus ignorantly committed. Then turning to the jeweller, they told him, they were heartily sorry they could not restore to him all that had been taken from him, part of it being no longer in their possession; but as for what remained, if he would content himself with his plate, it should be forthwith put into his hand.

The jeweller was overjoyed at the favour done him, and after the robbers had delivered to him the plate, they required of the prince, Schemselnihar, and him, to promise them upon oath, that they would not betray them, and they would carry them to a place whence they might easily go to their respective homes. The prince, Schemselnihar, and the jeweller, replied, that they might rely on their words; but, since they desired an oath of them, they solemnly swore not to discover them. The thieves, satisfied with this, immediately went out with them.

By the way, the jeweller, uneasy at not seeing the confidant and the two slaves, came up to Schemselnihar, and begged her to inform him what was become of them. She answered, she knew nothing of them, and that all she could tell him was, that she was carried away from his house, ferried over the river, and brought to the place from whence they were just now come.

Schemselnihar and the jeweller had no farther discourse: they let the robbers conduct them with the prince to the river’s side, when the robbers immediately took boat, and carried them over to the other side.

While the prince, Schemselnihar, and the jeweller, were landing, they heard the noise of the horse-patrol coming towards them, just as the boat arrived, and had conveyed the robbers back by dint of rowing.

The commander of the brigade demanded of the prince, Schemselnihar, and the jeweller, who they were, and whence they came so late. Frightened as they were, and apprehensive of saying any thing that might prejudice them, they could not speak; but at length it was necessary they should: the jeweller found his tongue, his mind being freer, and said, Sir, I can assure you, we are very honest people of the city, and that those people who have just landed us, and are got back to the other side of the water, are thieves, who having last night broken open the house where we were, pillaged it, and afterwards carried us to their quarters, where, by fair words, we prevailed on them to let us have our liberty; and they brought us hither. They have restored us part of the booty they had taken from us. At which words he showed the parcel of plate he had recovered.

The commander, not satisfied with what the jeweller had told him, came up to him and the prince of Persia, and looking stedfastly at them, said, Tell me truly, who is this lady? How came you to know her? and whereabouts do you live?

This question embarrassed them so much, that neither of them could answer; till at length Schemselnihar extricated them from their difficulty, and taking the commander aside, told him who she was; which he no sooner knew, but he alighted with great expressions of respect and politeness, and ordered his men to bring two boats.

When the boats were come, he put Schemselnihar into one, and the prince of Persia and the jeweller into the other, with two of his people in each boat; with orders to accompany each of them whithersoever they were bound. The two boats took different routes; but we shall at present speak only of that wherein was the prince and jeweller.

The prince, to save his guides trouble, bid them land the jeweller at his house, naming the place. The guide, by this direction, stopped just before the caliph’s palace, which put both him and the jeweller into a mortal fright, though he durst not show it: although they had heard the commander’s orders to his men, they could not help imagining they were to be delivered up to the guard, to be brought before the caliph next morning.