I gave him a long detail of the tragical cause of my return, and of the sad condition he saw me in.  Alas! cried he, was it not enough for me to have lost my son; but must I have also news of the death of a brother I loved so dearly, and see you also reduced to this deplorable condition?  He told me how uneasy he was; that he could hear nothing of his son, notwithstanding all the diligence and inquiry he could make.  At these words, the unfortunate father burst out into tears, and was so much affected, that, pitying his grief, it was impossible for me to keep the secret any longer; so that, notwithstanding the oath I had made to the prince my cousin, I told the king his father all that I knew.

His majesty listened to me with some sort of comfort, and when I had done, Nephew, says he, what you tell me gives me some hope.  I know that my son ordered that tomb to be built, and I can guess pretty near at the place, and, with the idea you still have of it, I fancy we shall find it; but since he ordered it to be built privately, and you took your oath to keep his secret, I am of opinion that we ought to go in quest of it alone, without saying any thing.

But he had another reason for keeping the matter secret, which he did not then tell me, and an important reason it was, as you will perceive by the sequel of my discourse.

We both of us disguised ourselves, and went out by a door of the garden which opened into the field, and soon found what we sought for.  I knew the tomb, and was so much the more rejoiced at it, because I had formerly sought it a long time in vain.  We entered, and found the iron trap pulled down upon the entrance of the stair-case; we had much ado to raise it, because the prince had fastened it on the inside with the water and mortar formerly mentioned; but at last we got it up.

The king my uncle went down first, I following, and we went down about fifty steps.  When we came to the foot of the stairs, we found a sort of antichamber full of a thick smoke, and an ill scent, which obscured the lamp that gave a very faint light.  From this antichamber we came into another, very large, supported by great columns, and lighted by several branched candlesticks.  There was a cistern in the middle, with provisions of several sorts standing on one side of it; but we were very much surprised to see nobody.  Before us there appeared a high sofa, which we mounted by several steps, and over this there appeared a very large bed, with the curtains drawn close.  The king went up, and, opening the curtains, perceived the prince his son and the lady in bed together, but burnt and changed into a coal, as if they had been thrown into a great fire, and taken out again before they were consumed.

But that which surprised me most of all was, that though this spectacle filled me with horror, the king my uncle, instead of testifying his sorrow to see the prince his son in such a frightful condition, spit in his face, and says to him, with an air, “This is the punishment of this world, but that of the other will last to eternity;” and, not content with this, he pulled off his sandal, and gave his son a great blow on the cheek with it.