The History of the Young King of the Black Isles

"You must know, my lord," said the wretched prisoner,
"that my father, named Mahmoud, was monarch of this country.
This is the kingdom of the Black Isles, which takes its name
from the four small neighbouring mountains; for those moun-
tains were formerly isles, and the capital where the king, my
father, resided was situated on the spot now occupied by the
lake you have seen. The sequel of my history will inform you of
the reason for those changes.

" The king, my father, died when he was seventy years of age;
I had no sooner succeeded him than I married, and the lady I
chose to share the royal dignity with me was my cousin. I had
so much reason to be satisfied with her affection, and, on my part,
loved her with so much tenderness, that nothing could surpass the
harmony of our union. This lasted five years, at the end of
w hich time I perceived the queen ceased to delight in my atten-
tions.

"One day, after dinner, while she was at the bath, I found
myself inclined to repose, and lay down upon a sofa. Two of
her ladies, who w^ere then in my chamber, came and sat down,
one at my head and the other at my feet, with fans in their
hands to moderate the heat, and to prevent the flies from dis-
turbing me. They thought I was asleep, and spoke in whispers;
but as I only closed my eyes, I heard all their conversation.

"One of them said to the other, 'Is not the queen wrong, not
to love so amiable a prince ? ' ' Certainly,' replied her companion ;
'I do not understand the reason, neither can I conceive why she
goes out every night, and leaves him alone! Is it possible that he
does not perceive it .^ ' ' Alas ! ' said the first, ' how should he ?
She mixes every evening in his liquor the juice of a certain herb,
which makes him sleep so sound all night that she has time to
go where she pleases, and as day begins to appear she comes
and wakes him by the smell of something she puts under his
nostrils.'

"You may guess, my lord, how much I was surprised at this
conversation, and with what sentiments it inspired me; yet
whatever emotion it excited I had sufficient self-command to
dissemble, and feigned to awake without having heard a word.

"The queen returned from the bath, w^e supped together, and
she presented me with a cup full of such liquid as I w^as accus-
tomed to drink ; but instead of putting it to my mouth, I went to a
window that w^as open, threw out the water so quickly that she
did not perceive it, and returned.

"Soon after, believing that I was asleep, she arose with so
little precaution, that she whispered loud enough for me to hear
her distinctly, 'Sleep on, and may you never wake again!' and
so saying, she dressed herself, and went out of the chamber.

*'As soon as the queen, my wife, was gone, I arose in haste,
took my cimeter, and followed her so quickly that I soon heard the
sound of her feet before me, and then walked softly after her.
She passed through several gates, which opened upon her pro-
nouncing some magical words, and the last she opened was that
of the garden, which she entered. I stopped at this gate, that she
might not perceive me as she passed along a parterre; then
looking after her as far as the darkness of the night permitted,
I saw her enter a little wood, whose walks were guarded by thick
palisadoes. I went thither by another way, and concealing
myself, I saw her walking there with a man.

'I did not fail to lend the most attentive ear to their discourse,
and heard her address herself thus to her gallant: 'I do not
deserve,' she said, *to be reproached by you for want of diligence.
You well know the reason ; but if all the proofs of affection I have
already given you be not sufficient to convince you of my sincerity,
I am ready to give you others more decisive : you need but com-
mand me, you know my power; I will, if you desire it, before
sunrise convert this great city, and this superb palace, into
frightful ruins, inhabited only by wolves, owls, and ravens. If
you would have me transport all the stones of those walls so
solidly built, beyond Mount Caucasus, the bounds of the habit-
able world, speak but the word, and all shall be changed.'

"As the queen finished this speech she and her companion
came to the end of the walk, turned to enter another, and passed
before me. I had already drawn my cimeter, and the man
being next me, I struck him on the neck, and brought him to the
ground. I concluded I had killed him, and therefore retired
speedily without making myself known to the queen, whom I
chose to spare, because she was my kinswoman.

"The wound I had given her companion was mortal; but
by her enchantments she preserved him in an existence in which
he could not be said to be either dead or alive. As I crossed the
garden to return to the palace, I heard the queen loudly lament-
ing, and judging by her cries how much she was grieved, I was
pleased that I had spared her life.

"As soon as I had reached my apartment, I went to bed, and
being satisfied with having punished the villain who had injured
me, fell asleep.

"Next morning I arose, went to my closet, and dressed myself.
I afterward held my council. At my return, the queen, clad in
mourning, her hair dishevelled, and part of it torn off, presented
herself before me, and said: *I come to beg your majesty not to
be surprised to see me in this condition. My heavy affliction is
occasioned by intelligence of three distressing events which I
have just received.' *Alas! what are they, madam.?' said I.
'The death of the queen, my dear mother,' she replied,* that of
the king, my father, killed in battle, and of one of my brothers,
who has fallen down a precipice.'

"I was not displeased that she used these pretexts to conceal
the true cause of her grief. 'Madam,' said I, 'so far from blam-
ing, I assure you I heartily commiserate your sorrow. I should
feel surprise if you were insensible to such heavy calamities:
weep on ; your tears are so many proofs of your tenderness ; but
I hope that time and reflection will moderate your grief.'

"She retired into her apartment, where, giving herself wholly
up to sorrow, she spent a whole year in mourning and lamenta-
tion. At the end of that period, she begged permission to erect
a burying-place for herself, within the bounds of the palace,
where she would continue, she told me, to the end of her days:
I consented, and she built a stately edifice, and called it the
Palace of Tears. When it was finished, she caused the object
of her care to be conveyed thither; she had hitherto prevented
his dying, by potions which she had administered to him; and
she continued to convey them to him herself every day after he
came to the Palace of Tears.

"Yet, with all her enchantments, she could not cure the
wretch; he was not only unable to walk or support himself,
but had also lost the use of his speech, and exhibited no sign of
life except in his looks.

Every day the queen made him two long visits. I was well
apprised of this, but pretended ignorance. One day my curiosity
induced me to go to the Palace of Tears, to observe how my
consort employed herself, and from a place where she could not
see me, I heard her thus address the wounded ruflSan: *I am
afilicted to the highest degree to behold you in this condition/
she cried, ' I am as sensible as yourself of the tormenting pain you
endure; but, dear soul, I am continually speaking to you, and
you do not answer me : how long will you remain silent ? Speak
only one w ord : alas ! the sweetest moments of my life are these
I spend here in partaking of your grief.'

"At these words, which were several times interrupted by her
sighs, I lost all patience : and discovering myself, came up to her,
and said, 'Madam, you have w^ept enough, it is time to give over
this sorrow, which dishonours us both; you have too much
forgotten what you owe to me and to yourself.' 'Sire,' said she,
'if you have any kindness or compassion for me left, I beseech
you to put no restraint upon me; allow me to indulge my grief,
which it is impossible for time to assuage.'

"When I perceived that my remonstrance, instead of restoring
her to a sense of duty, served only to increase her anguish, I
ceased speaking and retired. She continued every day to visit
her charge, and for two whole years abandoned herself to grief
and despair.

"I went a second time to the Palace of Tears, while she was
there. I concealed myself again, and heard her thus cry out:
* It is now three years since you spoke one word to me ; you answer
not the proofs I give you of my devotion by my sighs and lamenta-
tions. Is it from insensibility, or contempt.'^ O tomb! tell
me by what miracle thou becamest the depository of the rarest
treasure the world ever contained.'

I must confess, my lord, I was enraged at these expressions;
for, in truth, this adored mortal was by no means what you
would imagine him to have been. He was a black Indian, one
of the original natives of this country. I was so enraged at the
language addressed to him, that I discovered myself, and apostro-
phising the tomb in my turn, I cried, *0 tomb! why dost thou
not swallow up that. monster so revolting to human nature, or
rather why dost thou not swallow up this pair of monsters ? '

"I had scarcely uttered these words, when the queen, who
sat by the black, rose up like a fury: 'Miscreant!' said she,
*thou art the cause of my grief; do not think I am ignorant of
this, I have dissembled too long. It was thy barbarous hand
that brought the object of my fondness into this lamentable
condition; and thou hast the cruelty to come and insult me.'
'Yes,' said I, in a rage, 'it was I who chastised that monster,
according to his desert; I ought to have treated thee in the same
manner ; I now repent that I did not ; thou hast too long abused
my goodness.' As I spoke these words, I drew out my cimeter,
and lifted up my hand to punish her; but regarding me stead-
fastly, she said with a jeering smile, 'Moderate thine anger/
At the same time she pronounced words I did not understand;
and afterward added, 'By virtue of my enchantments, I com-
mand thee to become half marble and half man.' Immediately,
my lord, I became what you see, a dead man among the living,
and a living man among the dead. After this cruel sorceress,
unworthy of the name of queen, had metamorphosed me thus,
and brought me into this hall, by another enchantment she
destroyed my capital, which was very flourishing and populous;
she annihilated the houses, the public places and markets, and
reduced the site of the whole to the lake and desert plain you have
seen; the fishes of four colours in the waters are the four kinds
of inhabitants, of different religions, which the city contained.
The white are the Mussulmans; the red, the Persians, who
worship fire; the blue, the Christians; and the yellow, the Jews.
The four little hills were the four islands that gave name to this
kingdom. I learned all this from the enchantress, who, to add to
my affliction, related to me these effects of her rage. But this
is not all ; her revenge not being satisfied with the destruction of
my dominions, and the metamorphosis of my person, she comes
every day, and gives me over my naked shoulders a hundred
lashes with a whip until I am covered with blood. When she
has finished this part of my punishment, she throws over me a
coarse stuff of goat's hair, and over that this robe of brocade, not
to honour, but to mock me."

When he came to this part of his narrative, the young king
could not restrain his tears ; and the sultan was himself so affected
by the relation, that he could not find utterance for any words
of consolation. Shortly after, the young king, lifting up his eyes
to heaven, exclaimed, "Mighty creator of all things, I submit
myself to Thy judgments, and to the decrees of Thy providence:

I endure my calamities with patience, since it is Thy will that
things should be as they are; but I hope that Thy infinite goodness
will ultimately reward me."

The sultan, greatly moved by the recital of this affecting
story, and anxious to avenge the sufferings of the unfortunate
prince, said to him: *' Inform me whither this perfidious sorceress
retires, and where may be found the vile wretch, who is entombed
before his death." "My lord," replied the prince, "the Indian,
as I have already told you, is lodged in the Palace of Tears, in a
superb tomb constructed in the form of a dome: this palace joins
the castle on the side in which the gate is placed. As to the
queen, I cannot tell you precisely whither she retires, but every
day at sunrise she goes to visit her charge, after having executed
her bloody vengeance upon me; and you see I am not in a condi-
tion to defend myself. She carries to him the potion with which
she has hitherto prevented his dying, and always complains of
his never having spoken to her since he was wounded."

"Prince," said the sultan, "your condition can never be suf-
ficiently deplored : no one can be more sensibly affected by your
misfortune than I am. Never did anything so extraordinary befall
any man ! One thing only is wanting ; the revenge to which you
are entitled, and I will omit nothing in my power to effect it."

In his subsequent conversation with the young prince the
sultan told him who he was, and for what purpose he had entered
the castle; and afterward informed him of a mode of revenge
which he had devised. They agreed upon the measures they
were to take for accomplishing their design, but deferred the
execution of it till the following day. In the meantime, the night
being far spent, the sultan took some rest; but the young prince
passed the night as usual, without sleep, never having slept since
he was enchanted. Wheti he came to this part of his narrative the young Una could not restrain his tears.


Next morning the sultan arose with the dawn, and prepared
to execute his design, by proceeding to the Palace of Tears.
He found it lighted up with an infinite number of flambeaux of
white wax, and perfumed by a delicious scent issuing from
several censers of fine gold of admirable workmanship. As
soon as he perceived the bed where the Indian lay, he drew his
cimeter and deprived him of his wretched life, dragged his
corpse into the court of the castle, and threw it into a well.
After this he went and lay down in the black's bed, placed
his cimeter under the covering, and waited to complete his
design.

The queen arrived shortly after. She first went into the
chamber of her husband, the king of the Black Islands, stripped
him, and with unexampled barbarity gave him a hundred stripes.
The unfortunate prince filled the palace with his lamentations,
and conjured her in the most affecting tone to take pity on him;
but the cruel wretch ceased not till she had given the usual num-
ber of blows. **You had no compassion," said she, "and you
are to expect none from me."

After the enchantress had given her husband a hundred
blows with the whip, she put on again his covering ©f goat's
hair, and his brocade gown over all; she went afterward to the
Palace of Tears, and as she entered renewed her tears and
lamentations; then approaching the bed, where she thought the
Indian lay: "Alas!" said she, addressing herself to the sultan,
conceiving him to be the black, "My sun, my life, will you always
be silent ? Are you resolved to let me die without affording me
the comfort of hearing your voice?"

The sultan, as if he had awaked out of a deep sleep, and
counterfeiting the pronunciation of the blacks, answered the
queen with a grave tone: "There is no strength or power but in

God alone, who is almighty." At these words the enchantress,
who did not expect them, uttered a loud exclamation of joy.
*'My dear lord," cried she, "do I not deceive myself; is it certain
that I hear you, and that you speak to me ? " " Unhappy woman,"
said the sultan, "art thou worthy that I should answer thee?"
"Alas!" replied the queen, "why do you reproach me thus?"
"The cries," returned the sultan, "the groans and tears of thy
husband, whom thou treatest every day with so much indignity
and barbarity, prevent my sleeping night or day. Hadst thou
disenchanted him, I should long since have been cured, and have
recovered the use of my speech. This is the cause of my silence,
of which you complain." "Well," said the enchantress, "to
pacify you, I am ready to execute your commands; would you
have me restore him?" "Yes," replied the sultan; "make
haste to set him at liberty, that I be no longer disturbed by his
lamentations." The enchantress went immediately out of the
Palace of Tears ; she took a cup of water, and pronounced some
words over it, which caused it to boil, as if it had been on the
fire. She afterward proceeded to the young king, and threw the
water upon him, saying: "If the Creator of all things did form
thee as thou art at present, or if He be angry with thee, do not
change; but if thou art in that condition merely by virtue of my
enchantments, resume thy natural shape, and become what thou
wast before." She had scarcely spoken these words when the
prince, finding himself restored to his former condition, rose up
and returned thanks to God. The enchantress then said to him,
"Get thee from this castle, and never return on pain of death."
The young king, yielding to necessity, went away without replying
a word, and retired to a remote place, where he patiently awaited
the event of the design which the sultan had so happily begun.
Meanwhile the enchantress returned to the Palace of Tears, and
supposing that she still spoke to the black, said, *'Dear love, I
have done what you required ; nothing now prevents your rising
and giving me the satisfaction of which I have so long been
deprived."

The sultan, still counterfeiting the pronunciation of the
black, said: "What you have now done is by no means sufficient
for my cure; you have only removed a part of the evil; you must
cut it up by the root." "My lovely black," resumed the queen,
*'what do you mean by the root ?'' "Wretched woman," replied
the sultan, "understand you not that I allude to the town and
its inhabitants, and the four islands, destroyed by thy enchant-
ments ? The fish every night at midnight raise their heads out
of the lake, and cry for vengeance against thee and me. This
is the true cause of the delay of my cure. Go speedily, restore
things to their former state, and at thy return I will give thee
my hand, and thou shalt help me to arise."

The enchantress, inspired with hope from these words, cried
out in a transport of joy, "My heart, my soul, you shall soon be
restored to your health, for I will immediately do as you command
me." Accordingly she went that instant, and when she came
to the brink of the lake she took a little water in her hand, and
sprinkling it, she pronounced some words over the fish and the
lake, and the city was immediately restored. The fish became
men, women, and children ; Mohammedans, Christians, Persians,
or Jews ; freemen or slaves, as they were before : every one having
recovered his natural form. The houses and shops were im-
mediately filled with their inhabitants, who found all things as
they were before the enchantment. The sultan's numerous
retinue, who found themselves encamped in the largest square,
were astonished to see themselves in an instant in the middle of
a large, handsome, well-peopled city.

To return to the enchantress: As soon as she had effected
this wonderful change, she returned with all expedition to the
Palace of Tears, that she might receive her reward. "My dear
lord," cried she, as she entered, " I have done all that you required
of me, then pray rise and give me your hand." "Come near,"
said the sultan, still counterfeiting the pronunciation of the
black. She did so. "You are not near enough," he continued;
"approach nearer." She obeyed. He then rose up, and seizing
her by the arm so suddenly that she had not time to discover
him, he with a blow of his cimeter cut her in two, so that one half
fell one way and the other another. This done, he left the body
on the spot, and going out of the Palace of Tears, went to seek
the young king of the Black Isles, who waited for him with great
impatience. When he found him, "Prince," said he, embracing
him, "rejoice; you have now nothing to fear; your cruel enemy
is dead."

The young prince returned thanks to the sultan in a manner
that sufficiently evinced his gratitude, and in return wished him
long life and happiness. "You may henceforward," said the
sultan, "dwell peaceably in your capital, unless you will accom-
pany me to mine, which is near: you shall there be welcome,
and have as much honour shown you as if you were in your own
kingdom." "Potent monarch, to whom I am so much indebted,"
replied the king, "you think, then, that you are near your capital."
"Yes," said the sultan, "I know it is not above four or five hours*
journey." "It will take you a whole year to return," said the
prince. "I do indeed believe that you came hither from your
capital in the time you mention, because mine was enchanted;
but since the enchantment is taken off, things are changed:
however, this shall not prevent my following you, were it to the
utmost corners of the earth. You are my deliverer, and that I
may give you proofs of my acknowledgment of this during my
whole life, I am willing to accompany you, and to leave my
kingdom without regret."

The sultan was extremely surprised to understand that he
was so far from his dominions, and could not imagine how it
could be, but the young king of the Black Islands convinced him
beyond a possibility of doubt. Then the sultan replied: "It is
no matter; the trouble of returning to my own country is suffi-
ciently recompensed by the satisfaction of having obliged you,
and by acquiring you for a son ; for since you will do me the
honour to accompany me, as I have no child, I look upon you
as such, and from this moment appoint you my heir and
successor."

The young prince then employed himself in making prepara-
tions for his journey, which were finished in three weeks, to the
great regret of his court and subjects, who agreed to receive at
his hands one of his nearest kindred for their monarch.

At length the sultan and the young prince began their journey,
with a hundred camels laden with inestimable riches from the
treasury, followed by fifty handsome gentlemen on horseback,
perfectly well mounted and dressed. They had a pleasant jour-
ney; and when the sultan, who had sent couriers to give advice
of his delay, and of the adventure which had occasioned it,
approached his capital, the principal officers came to receive him,
and to assure him that his long absence had occasioned no alter-
ation in his empire. The inhabitants also came out in great
crowds, received him with acclamations, and made public rejoic-
ings for several days.

The day after his arrival the sultan acquainted his courtiers
with his adoption of the king of the Four Black Islands, who was
willing to leave a great kingdom to accompany and live with
him ; and in reward for their loyalty, he made each of them pres-
ents according to their rank.

As for the fisherman, as he was the first cause of the deliver-
ance of the young prince, the sultan gave him a plentiful fortune,
which made him and his family happy the rest of his days.