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
condition 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 sufficiently
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 the