ced on reading it, and thanked God
[for His goodness]. As the withered plant revives by water, so the
joyful tidings renovated his drooping spirits; he took all his _amirs_
with him, and advanced for the purpose of receiving me as far as the
banks of a large river, and an order for boats [to cross us over]
was issued to the superintendent of rivers. I saw the royal train
from the opposite bank; from eagerness to kiss my father's feet,
I plunged my horse into the river, and swimming over, I rode up to
the king; he clasped me with eager fondness to his [paternal] bosom.

At this moment, another unforeseen calamity overwhelmed us. The horse
on which I was mounted was perhaps the colt of the mare on which the
princess rode, or they had been perhaps always together, for seeing
my horse plunge into the river, the mare became restive, followed
my horse, and likewise plunged into the river with the princess,
and began to swim. The princess being alarmed, pulled the bridle;
the mare was tender mouthed and turned over; the princess struggled,
and sank with the mare, so that not a trace of either was ever seen
again. On seeing this circumstance, _Bihzad Khan_ dashed into the
river on horseback to afford assistance to the princess; he got into
a whirlpool and could not extricate himself; all his efforts with
his hands and feet were vain, and he also sank. The king seeing these
sad circumstances, sent for nets and had them thrown into the river,
and ordered the boatmen and divers [to look for the bodies]; they
swept the whole river, but could find nothing. [381] O _Darweshes!_
this dreadful occurrence affected me so much that I became mad and
frantic; I became a pilgrim, and wandered about, ever repeating these
words,--"Such has been the fate of these three; that you have seen, now
view the other side." If the princess had vanished or died anywhere,
I should then have some kind of consolation for my heart, for I would
have gone in search of her, or have borne the loss with patience;
but when she perished before my eyes [in this dreadful manner], I
could not support [the shock]. At last, I determined to perish with
her in the stream, that I might perhaps meet my beloved one in death.

I according plunged into that same river one night in order to drown
myself, and went up to the neck in the water; I was on the point of
stepping forward and diving down, when the same veiled horseman who
saved you two, [382] came up and seized my arm;