As it is the will of providence to conceal the fate of his creatures till the appointed time of disclosure, so now an astonishing event occurred on the plain of appearance, the particulars of which are as follow.

A young prince named Hoshung, whose heart had been long captivated in the curly tresses of Mherbanou, and who, though he strove incessantly in the path of her love, had not reached the stage of hope; at this time, when the gates of attainment were closed upon him, through the impulse of all powerful love, like Mujjenou, trod the wilds of madness, in hopes that, some time or other, a breeze from her musky locks might revive the perception of his soul. Like the dust, rising and falling, he pursued each day’s march, and appointed one of his dependents, an artful procuress, to watch for an opportunity of breaking the talisman of his longed-for treasure.

This woman, who was the most skilful of her day in charming the ser­pent of love, having prepared her incantations, one morning repaired, leaning upon crutches, to the tent of Mherbanou; to whom, with floods of tears, she complained of the cruelty of fortune and persecutions of mischance. The princess, commiserating her seeming wretchedness, having given her protec­tion under the shade of her bounty, assigned her a daily allowance, and short­ened the hand of the ravages of time from reaching the collar of her condi­tion, but against the opinion of the prince, who said—

“My beloved Mherbanou, from what I observe in the manners of this old hag, I suspect the deluge of calamity rages in her oven,* and that disturbance is ambushed in her brain. To admit such a person under the shadow of your virtue, is to nourish a serpent in the sleeve and a wolf in the bosom. It is adviseable to dis­charge so artful an hypocrite, and not admit her again into the royal tents, for I cannot be secure against her wickedness.”

Mherbanou replied, “O prince, gracer of the throne of royalty and prosperity, from a wretched matron of such great age and infirmity, whose stature, from the depredations of time, is bent like a crescent; what room can there be for dread and apprehension? To push the hand of refusal against the breast of a suppli­cant, and deny the shade of consolation to the faint in the desart of wretched­ness, is not the custom of the liberal.” In short, the whimsical coquet of vicissi­tude, taking airs upon herself, rent the curtain of circumspection, and the prince, on account of the importunity of Mherbanou, resigned his opinion to her pleasure.

Some days after this, the prince halted on a spot of much pleasantness and inviting verdure, where the freshness of the air and fragrance of the herbage afforded sensations of delight without the assistance of wine, so that high and low enjoyed ease and freedom from care. The prince observing variety of game, resolved to amuse himself, and went to hunt at a distance from camp with his attendants; of which the old woman, ever on the watch for opportunity, without delay informed Hoshung.

This desponding lover, who had always the treasure of his life prepared to sacrifice in the path of his beloved, and had devoted his head to the object of his desires, was night and day watching, like Mujjenou in the desart. Mounting without delay a lightning-paced charger, he came near the tents of the prince, leading with him another horse. The old hag now running with all haste into the princess’s tent, addressed her, saying, “The prince, like Bharam, has just struck a deer to the earth with his arrow, and commanded the assembly of mirth to be prepared in a garden, which, without exaggeration, is an emblem of paradise; but as, with­out the rays of thy beauty, the world seems dark in his eyes, the chamber of his heart has no light without the lamp of thy charms, and he cannot endure absence, he has hastened to fetch thee himself on the wings of speed, now waits at the serrapurda* with a led horse; rise quickly then, and extinguish the flames of his expectation with the water of thy smiles.”

Mherbanou not suspecting the stratagem, having cast the reins of caution from her hands, arose without delay, and throwing a long veil over her moon-like person, commanded all the attendants to retire. Like Shereen,* having mounted the breeze-speeding courser, and unsuspecting that parti-coloured time, like Ferhaad, was strik­ing her foot with its mattock, she supposed Hoshung was Khoosroo, and rode pleased by his side. When he saw that heaven, favouring his schemes, had cast the phœnix from the sky of exaltation into his net, he speeded on like the gale; and holding the reins of Mherbanou’s horse, posted swifter than the storm, till he reached a broad and rapid river; which having crossed, he sunk the boat to impede pursuit, and followed the route to his own kingdom.