id you put a force upon her inclinations, and
not allow her to give me her hand, when you must have seen how dearly
we loved each other?--Fled, is she? Well then, she is no longer in your
power; and although I do not at this moment know where to seek for her,
yet am I convinced that I shall find her. There, Leuwenhock, put on
your wig again, and submit to your destiny; that is the best thing you
can do."

The flea-tamer arranged his wig on his bald head with his left hand,
while with his right he caught Pepusch by the arm, exclaiming--

"Pepusch, you are my real friend, for you are the only man in the whole
city of Frankfort, who know that I lie buried in the old church at
Delft, since the year seventeen hundred and twenty-five, and yet have
not betrayed it to any one,--even when you were angry with me on
account of Doertje Elverdink. If at times I cannot exactly get it into
my head that I am actually that Anton van Leuwenhock, who lies buried
at Delft, yet again I must believe it, when I consider my works, and
reflect upon my life; and on that account it is very agreeable to me
that it is not at all spoken of. I now see, my dear Pepusch, that, in
regard to Doertje Elverdink, I have not acted rightly, although in a
very different way from what you may well imagine--that is, I was right
in pronouncing your suit to be an idle struggle,--wrong, in not being
open with you, in not telling you the real circumstances of Doertje
Elverdink; you would then have seen how praiseworthy it was to talk you
out of wishes, the accomplishment of which could not be other than
destructive. Pepusch, sit down by me, and hear a wonderful history."

"That I am likely to do," replied Pepusch with a malicious glance,
sitting down in an armchair, opposite the flea-tamer, who thus began:

"As you are well versed, my dear friend, in history, you know, beyond
doubt, that King Sekakis lived for many years in intimate intercourse
with the Flower-Queen, and that the beautiful Princess Gamaheh was the
fruit of this passion. But it is not so well known, nor can I tell you,
in what way the Princess Gamaheh came to Famagusta. Many maintain, and
not without reason, that the princess wished to conceal herself there
from the odious Leech-Prince, the sworn enemy of the Flower-Queen. Be
this as it may,--it happened once in Famagusta, that the princess was
walking in the cool freshness of the evening, and chanced upon a
pleasant cypress-grove. Allured by the