yet broken out, how can he know the pains of others? he only
knows the degree of this pain who has felt the pangs of love!

'The anguish of love, you must ask of the lover,
Not of him who feigns, but of the true lover.'"

A moment after, coming to himself, he heaved a heart-burning sigh;
the room resounded with it; then I perceived that he was likewise
tortured with the pangs of love, and was suffering from the same
malady [as myself]. On this discovery, I plucked up courage and said,
"I have related to you all my own adventures; now do me the favour to
impart to me the past events [of your life]; I will then first of all
assist you as far as I can, and by exerting myself obtain for you the
desires of your heart." In short, that true lover, conceiving me his
companion and fellow-sufferer, began the relation of his adventures
in the following manner. "Hear, O friend! I whose heart is tortured
with anguish, am the prince of this country of _Nimroz_; the king,
that is to say, my father, at my birth, collected together all the
fortune tellers, astrologers and learned men, and ordered them to cast
and examine my horoscope, to fix my nativity, and to state in full
to his majesty whatever was to befall me every individual moment, and
hour, and _pahar_, and day, and month, and year, [of my life]. They all
assembled according to the king's order, and consulting together, they,
from their mystical science, ascertained my future fate, and said,
'By the blessing of God, the prince has been begotten and born under
such a propitious planet, and in such a lucky moment, that he ought
to be equal to Alexander in extent of dominion, and in justice equal
to _Naushirwan_. He will be, moreover, proficient in every science,
and every [branch of] learning, and towards whatever subject his
heart is inclined, he will accomplish it with perfection. He will
in generosity and bravery acquire such renown, that mankind will no
longer remember _Hatim_ and _Rustam_; but until [he attains] the age
of fourteen, he is exposed to great danger if he sees the sun or moon;
yea, it is to be feared he may become a mad demoniac, and shed the
blood of many; and restless [of living in society], he will fly to
the woods, and associate with beasts and birds; great and strict
pains must be taken that he should never behold the sun by day or
the moon by night, or cast a look even towards the heavens. If this
period [of fourteen years] pass away without