ssed with a
thousand tormenting thoughts, which are lost the 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 a reed to write."

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, "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.

"I was plunged in the deepest grief when I received your letter,
but at the sight of it I was transported with unspeakable joy.
When I beheld the characters written by your fair hand, my eyes
were enlightened by a stronger light than they lost, when yours
were suddenly closed at the feet of my rival. The words contained
in your kind epistle are so many rays which have dispelled the
darkness wherewith my soul was obscured; they shew me how much
you suffer from your love of me, and that you are not ignorant of
what I endure on your account. Thus they comfort me in my
afflictions. On the one hand they cause me to shed tears in
abundance; and on the other, inflame my heart with a fire which
supports it, and prevents my dying of grief. I have not had one
moment's rest since our cruel separation. Your letter alone gave
me some ease. I kept a mournful silence till the moment I
received it, and then recovered my speech. I was buried in
profound melancholy, but it inspired me with joy, which
immediately appeared in my eyes and countenance. But my surprise
at receiving a favour which I had not yet deserved was so great,
that I knew not how to begin to testify my thankfulness. In a
word, after having kissed it several times, as a precious pledge
of your goodness, I read it over and over, and was confounded at
the excess of my good fortune. You would have me declare that I
always love you. Ah! did I not love you so perfectly as I do, I
could not forb