The better to discover the truth himself, he ordered the tomb to be removed, and caused the grave and the coffin to be opened in his presence; but when he saw the linen wrapped round the wooden image, he durst not proceed any farther.  This devout caliph thought it would be a sacrilegious act to suffer the body of the dead lady to be touched; and this scrupulous fear prevailed over his love and curiosity.  He doubted not of Fetnah’s death.  He caused the coffin to be shut up again, the grave to be filled, and the tomb to be made as it was before.

The caliph thinking himself obliged to pay some respect to the grave of his favourite, sent for the ministers of religion, the officers of the palace, and the readers of the Koraun; and, whilst they were collecting together, he remained in the mausoleum, moistening with his tears the marble that covered the phantom of his mistress.  When all the persons he had sent for were come, he stood before the tomb, and recited long prayers; after which the readers of the Koraun read several, chapters.

The same ceremony was performed every day for a whole month, morning and evening, the caliph being always present, with the grand vizier, and the principal officers of the court, all of them in mourning, as well as the caliph himself, who all the time ceased not to honour the memory of Fetnah with his tears, and would not hear of any business.

The last day of the month, the prayers and reading of the Koraun lasted from morning till break of day the next morning.  The caliph, being tired with sitting up so long, went to take some rest in his apartment, and fell asleep upon a sofa, between two of the court ladies, one of them sitting at the bed’s-head, and the other at the feet, who, whilst he slept, were working some embroidery, and observed a profound silence.

She who sat at the bed’s-head, and whose name was Nouron-Nihar, perceiving the caliph was asleep, whispered to the other, called Nagmatos Sohi,"There is great news!  The commander of the believers our master will be overjoyed when he awakes, and hears what I have to tell him; Fetnah is not dead, she is in perfect health.”  “O heavens!” cried Nagmatos Sohi, in a transport of joy, “is it possible, that the beautiful, the charming, the incomparable Fetnah should be still among the living?” She uttered these words with so much vivacity, and so loud, that the caliph awoke.  He asked why they had disturbed his rest?  “Alas! my sovereign lord,” answered the slave, “pardon me this indiscretion; I could not without transport hear that Fetnah is still alive; it caused such emotion in me, as I could not suppress.”  “What then is become of her,” demanded the caliph, “if she is not dead?” “Chief of the believers,” replied the other, “I this evening received a note from a person unknown, written with Fetnah’s own hand; she gives me an account of her melancholy adventure, and orders me to acquaint you with it.  I thought fit, before I fulfilled my commission, to let you take some few moments’ rest, believing you must stand in need of it, after your fatigue; and——­”