Throughout the whole city, in the houses of the high and the low, wherever one looked, there were merry dances; in their joy, every one, small and great, felt himself a prince.  In the midst of these rejoicings, the sounds of lamentation and weeping issued suddenly from the seraglio; the female servants, of all descriptions, and the eunuchs, ran out, scattering dust upon their heads, and said to the king, “When we had washed and bathed the prince, and delivered him to the bosom of the nurse, a cloud descended from the sky and enveloped the nurse; a moment after, we saw the nurse prostrate and senseless, and the little prince gone; what a dreadful calamity has occurred!” The king was thunderstruck on hearing this wonderful occurrence; and the whole country mourned [for the sad event]; for two days no one dressed any victuals, but fed on their grief, and drank their own blood, for the prince’s loss.

In short, they began to despair of their lives, living in this manner; on the third day the same cloud appeared, and a cradle studded with jewels, and with a covering of pearls, descended from it into the area of the seraglio; the cloud then disappeared, and the servants found the little prince in the cradle sucking his thumb; the royal mother immediately invoking blessings upon him, took him up in her arms, and pressed him fondly to her bosom; she saw that he was dressed in a jacket of fine muslin embroidered with pearls, and had a child’s bib of brocade, and many ornaments set with jewels on his hands and feet, and a necklace with nine gems on his neck, and there was a child’s rattle with golden balls placed by his side.  Through joy all [the female attendants] were transported; and they began to offer up prayers, saying, “May all thy mother’s wishes be gratified, and mayest thou attain a period of mature old age.”

The king ordered a new grand palace to be built and furnished with carpets, and kept the four Darweshes in it; when he was disengaged from the affairs of state, he used to go there, sit with them, and to provide everything for them and wait on them; but on the first Thursday night of every month the same cloud descended, and took away the prince, and after keeping him two days, it used to bring him back, with such rich toys and rarities of every country, and of every description, in his cradle, that on beholding them, the minds of the spectators were confounded with astonishment.  In this manner, the prince reached in safety his seventh year; on the birthday the king Azad Bakht said to the Darweshes, “O holy men, I cannot conceive who carries the prince away and brings him back; it is very wonderful; let us see what will be the end of it.”  The Darweshes said, “Do one thing; write a friendly note to this purport, and put it into the prince’s cradle, viz.:—­’Having seen your friendship and kindness [to my son], my heart wishes most anxiously to meet you, and if by way of amity you favour me with your tidings, my heart will be highly gratified, and my wonder will cease.’” The king, according to the Darweshes’ advice, wrote a note to this purport on paper sprinkled with gold, and put it in the golden cradle.