As soon as the caliph was gone, 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 as to that matter.  I took care not to speak of the prince of Persia’s fainting, lest it should make her fall into the same condition from which we had so much trouble to recover her; my precautions were all in vain, as you shall hear.  Prince, said she, I henceforth renounce all pleasure as long as I am deprived of a sight of you.  If I have understood your heart right, I only follow your example.  Thou wilt not cease to weep until thou seest me again; it is but just, then, that I weep and mourn till I see you!  At these words, which she uttered in such a manner as expressed the violence of her passion, she fainted in my arms a second time.

My comrades and I, said she, were long in 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 beg of you to be persuaded, in the name of the prince of Persia, for whom it is your interest to live, to save yourself, as you love yourself, as you love the prince, and for our sakes, who are so faithful to you!  I am very much obliged to you, replied she, for your care, zeal, and advice; but alas! these are useless to me!  You are not to flatter us with hopes; for we can expect no end of our torment but in the grave!  One of my companions would have diverted those sad ideas by playing on her 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 was it!  She passed it in tears and groans, always naming the prince of Persia; lamented her lot, which had destined her to the caliph, whom she could not love, and not to him she loved so dearly.

Next morning, because she was not commodiously lodged in the saloon, I helped her to her chamber, where she no sooner arrived, than all the physicians of the palace came to see her by order of the caliph, who was not long in coming himself.  The medicines which the physicians prescribed for Schemselnihar were to no purpose, because they were ignorant of the cause of her distemper, and the presence of the caliph augmented it.  She got a little rest, however, this night; and as soon as she awoke, she charged me to come to you to hear concerning 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 to hear from her with the like impatience that she does from him; besides, exhort her to moderation, and to overcome herself, lest she drop some words before the caliph, which may prove fatal to us all.  As for me, replied the confident, I confess I dread her transport; 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.