THIS captivating abode is full of illusion, and a temporary mansion, deceiving the weak, subject to the vicis­situdes of double-faced chance, and the perpetual revolutions of changeful skies. For the gracers of the assembly of bor­rowed existence, and the haughty adorn­ers of the carpets of wind-passing life, the fabric of whose duration depends, like the water bubble, upon air, (though they be Cæsars or Keikobauds in glory) to depart in disappointment, and breaking the frail connections of sense and the bands of mortality, alike with the lowly to hasten with the burden of their actions on their shoulders to the regions of eternity—is one of the immutable laws and established regulations in the court of divine will. For us wanderers in the vapoury desart of earthly being to speed empty-handed and naked to the wilder­ness of death, and, quitting suddenly the avocations of vanity and frailty, to sink into the recess of dissolution, is the natu­ral conclusion of this world of mortality. Fate had now decreed, that the carpet of the Jumlike Jehaundar’s existence, being rolled up, should occasion disorder in the affairs of the world, and that so lofty a cypress of the grove of royalty, being uprooted by the wintry storm of death, should convert the garden of empire into a thorny wild.

The virtuous Jehaundar, having with wakeful eye and thoughtful mind, observed the warning of the angel of death, proclaiming that “All things must perish, and every creature return from whence it came,” reconciled his bosom to the inevitable journey; and, after the custom of the prudent, engaged in preparation for his departure. Having called to him his intended successor in the throne, and revolved in his breast a series of advice, he said,

“Beware, my son, and take advice, ere thou art old. Fortune is of fickle disposition, and the skies full of vicissitudes; while life passes rapidly as a current, and fleeting as the breeze. If from the heedlessness of youth, want of experience, or the intoxication of high spirits, admonition may not already have made impression on the tablet of thy mind or the surface of thy bosom; yet now reflect seriously on my condition; like virtuous youths, accept advice, and give not up the advantage of the lessons of the experienced; especially as thou wishest to take upon thee the important trust of ruling a great empire, a most weighty burden for the shoulders of humanity.

“Be vigilant, that the assaults of the wolf of oppression disturb not the repose of thy flock; for connivance at oppression is disgraceful to the fame of the shepherd. Be ready to encourage the deserving, and let the bride of empire be always adorned with the ornaments of impartiality and jus­tice. Cherish thy soldiery, for the cultivation of the plains of empire can only be nurtured by the water of the sword.

When Jehaundar had thus impressed the clear tablet of the mind of his worthy son with admonition, he placed the empire under the controul of his signet, and resigned to the grasp of his authority the reins of administration; after which, in the order of their rank, he summoned to him singly the several officers of state; and having conferred upon them the precious jems of advice, requested their approval of the measures of his reign.

Finally, having greeted Bherawir Banou with his last farewell, he listened to the command of “Return to thy Lord;” and sounding the drums of march from this frail world, speeded to the expansive regions of paradise.

Bherawir Banou, at this soul-afflict­ing event, was involved in the net of despondency and sorrow. From the vases of her eyes she shed tears like rose-water on the pallidcheek of the sojourner of paradise; and from her mournful bosom heaved heaven-piercing and planet-wasting sighs, that might have pene­trated the heart of the rock, as the thorn tears the vesture of the rose.

As, however, the affection of Bherawir Banou was immeasurable, resolved to maintain the honour of love, and fulfil the duties of attachment, she made prepa­rations to accompany her beloved. Like the devoters of life in the path of true regard, she adorned herself with her bridal robes, and perfuming her body and cloaths with precious essences and various unguents, having approached the pillow of Jehaundar, without trembling or hesitating, like the moth at the flame, made an offering of existence at the feet of his corpse. Thus did she stamp a perpetual memorial of herself on the records of time, and write her name on the pages of years and months in characters of love and constancy.