“As soon as the caliph had departed, my mistress gave me a sign to come near her.  She asked me earnestly concerning you:  I assured her that you had been gone a long time, which made her easy on that head.  I took care not to speak of the prince of Persia’s fainting, lest she should fall into the same state, from which we had so much trouble to recover her:  but my precautions were in vain, as you shall hear. ‘Prince,’ exclaimed she, ‘I henceforth renounce all pleasure as long as I am deprived of the sight of you.  If I have understood your heart right, I only follow your example.  You will not cease to weep and mourn until I see you.’  At these words, which she uttered in a manner expressive of the violence of her passion, she fainted a second time in my arms.

“My companions and I were a long time recovering her; at last she came to herself; and then I said to her, ‘Madam, are you resolved to kill yourself, and to make us also die with you?  I entreat you, in the name of the prince of Persia, who is so deeply interested in your life, to preserve it.’ ‘I am much obliged to you,’ replied she, ‘ for your care, your zeal, and your advice; but alas! they are useless to me:  you are not to flatter us with any hopes, for we can expect no end of our torment but in the grave’

“One of my companions would have diverted these sad thoughts by playing on the lute, but she commanded her to be silent, and ordered all of them to retire, except me, whom she kept all night with her.  O heavens! what a night it was! she passed it in tears and groans, and incessantly naming the prince of Persia.  She lamented her lot, that had destined her to the caliph, whom she could not love, and not for him whom she loved so dearly.

“Next morning, as she was not commodiously lodged in the saloon, I helped her to her chamber, which she had no sooner reached, than all the physicians of the palace came to see her, by order of the caliph, who was not long before he arrived himself.  The medicines which the physicians prescribed to Schemselnihar were ineffectual, because they were ignorant of the cause of her malady, which was augmented by the presence of the caliph.  She got a little rest however this night, and as soon as she awoke, she charged me to come to you, to learn some news of the prince of Persia.”  “I have already informed you of his case,” said Ebn Thaher; “so return to your mistress, and assure her, that the prince of Persia waits for some account of her with an impatience equal to her own.  Above all, exhort her to moderation, and to overcome her feelings, for fear she should drop before the caliph some word, which may prove fatal to us all.”  “As for me,” replied the confidant, “I confess I dread her transports.  I have taken the liberty to tell her my mind, and am persuaded that she will not take it ill that I tell her this from you.”