and over him the whole
livelong night; and when he began to get a little sleep, about daybreak,
every bird in the place began to sing, or twitter, or scream, or crow,
or gobble, or chatter, and the Prince might as well have tried to fly as
sleep. About eight o'clock, a man came to feed the birds, and seeing the
Prince in the aviary, he put him out instantly. The Prince was very
angry, and tried to find out what this all meant; but the man told him
he had better not let him catch him in there again, and slammed the door
in his face. As the Prince wandered about the palace, he met a number of
people, all of whom he asked to conduct him to the Princess. Some
laughed at him, and others told him that he had better be careful how he
talked about the beautiful Princess, but no one conducted him to her.

At last a man who seemed to have some authority, came up to the Prince,
and, having heard his story, requested him to follow him. He led the way
to a small door, and, motioning to the Prince to pass through it, shut
and fastened it after him. The Prince found himself out in the street.

Enraged and hungry, he hurried back to his lodgings, where he had left
Trumkard. On the way, he heard a great many people talking of the
beautiful music that, it was reported, the Princess had played at the
palace the evening previous. In fact, this matter seemed to be the town
talk; but the Prince did not stay to listen to much of it, for he was
extremely anxious to get something to eat, and to relate his troubles.

Trumkard did not encourage him much, and proposed that they should
continue their journey; but the Prince would not listen to such advice,
and as soon as he had finished his breakfast, he went back to the palace
in order to try and see his Princess. But all the doors were fastened,
and it was evident that there was no admission for the public that day.
A great crowd stood around the gates, and they were very much excited
about something.

The Prince learned from their discourse that it was thought that the
Princess who played so splendidly, could certainly sing as well, and
there was a suspicion that the Prime Minister, who had governed the
people so long, was afraid of her powers, and had sent her away. Indeed,
a certain Habbed-il-Gabbed, who kept a goat's-cheese shop, and who had a
cousin who was one of the royal-black-eunuch-guards, had heard from him
that the Princess had certainly disappeared, and that the public
suspicions