THE TENDER STORY OF PRINCE JASMINE AND PRINCESS ALMOND
ON THE ONE THOUSANDTH NIGHT
Sheherazade said:
Princess Almond folded the two wings of the letter, slipped a grain of pure musk into it, and handed it to her favorite. And the young girl took it, brought it to her lips and to her forehead, placed it on her heart, and went, like a pigeon, to the wood where Prince Jasmine was playing the flute. And she found him sitting under a cypress tree, his flute by his side, and singing this short ghazal.
“What will I say when I see my heart?
It is the cloud, the lightning, the mercury, and the bloody ocean.
When the night of absence is over,
We will be reunited like the swan and the river.»
And the young girl, after having kissed Prince Jasmine's hand, handed him the letter from his mistress Almond. And he read it and almost flew away with joy. And he no longer knew whether he was sleeping or awake. And his mind became tumultuous and his heart like a furnace. And when he had calmed down a little, the young girl showed him the means of reaching her mistress, gave him her last instructions, and retraced her steps.
And so, at the appointed hour and at the favorable moment, Prince Jasmine, led by the angel of union, took the path that led to the garden of Almond. And he succeeds in entering the place, a detached piece of paradise. And, at that moment, the sun disappeared on the western horizon, and the moon showed its face under the veils of the East. And the young man with the gait of a fawn, noticed the tree which the young girl had indicated to him, and climbed up to hide between its branches.
And Princess Almond, with the step of a partridge, came with the night in the garden. And she was dressed in blue, and had a blue rose in her hand. And she raised her lovely head towards the tree, trembling like the foliage of the willow. And, in her emotion, she did not know, this gazelle, if, in the branches, the face that appeared was that of the full moon or the shining face of Prince Jasmine. But here! Like a flower ripened by desire, or like a fruit loosened by its precious weight, the violet-haired youth detached himself from between the branches and was at the feet of the paling Almond. And she recognized the one she loved with hope, and found him more beautiful than the image of her dream. And, for his part, Prince Jasmine saw that the dervish had not deceived him, and that this moon was the crown of moons. And they both felt their hearts fixed by the bonds of tender friendship and real affection. And their happiness was as deep as that of Majnun and Leila, and as pure as that of old friends.
And, after very sweet kisses and the expansions of their charming souls, they invoked the Master of perfect love, so that the tyrannical firmament would never rain on their tenderness the stones of trouble and tear the seam of their reunion.
Then, to protect themselves henceforth from the poison of separation, the two lovers reflected on their own, and thought that they should, without delay, address themselves to King Akbar himself, who, loving his daughter Almond, had nothing to refuse her.
And so, leaving her beloved under the trees, the suppliant Almond went to find the king, her father, and, with joined hands, she said to him: “O meridian of the two worlds, your servant comes to make a request of you." And her father, extremely astonished and charmed at the same time, lifted her with both hands and pressed her to his chest, and said to her: "Certainly, O Almond of my heart, your request must be of extreme urgency, since you do not hesitate to leave your bed, in the middle of the night, to come and beg me to grant it to you. Be that as it may, O light of the eye, explain yourself without fear, trusting in your father." And kind Almond, after hesitating for a few moments, raised her head and gave her father this skillful speech, saying: "O my father, excuse your daughter if she comes at this hour of the night to disturb the sleep of your eyes. But here the strength of health returned to me, after a nocturnal walk with my servants in the meadow. And I come to tell you that I have noticed that our herds of oxen and sheep are badly cared for and neglected. And I thought if I met a trustworthy servant, I would introduce him to you, and you would charge him to watch over our flocks. Now, by a happy encounter, I instantly found this active and diligent man. He is young, well-intentioned, suitable for everything, and fears neither fatigue nor pain; for laziness and nonchalance are parasangs away from him. Charge him therefore, O my father, with our oxen and our sheep."
When King Akbar heard his daughter's speech, he was astonished bordering on astonishment, and stood for a moment with wide eyes. Then he answered: “By my life! I never heard of herdsmen being hired in the middle of the night. And this is the first time that such an adventure has happened to us. But, O my daughter, I really want, because of the pleasure that you give to my heart by your sudden healing, to access to your request and accept the young man in question as guardian of our flocks. However, I would like to see him with the eyes of my head, before entrusting him with these functions."
As soon as she had heard these words from her father, Princess Almond flew away with the wings of joy towards the blessed Jasmine, and, taking him by the hand, she led him to the palace. And she said to the king: “Behold, O my father, this excellent shepherd! His staff is strong, and his heart is tried." And King Akbar, whom Allah had endowed with sagacity, easily noticed that the adolescent presented to him by his daughter Almond was not one of those who herd cattle. And he was in his inner soul full of perplexity. However, in order not to upset his daughter Almond, he did not want to dwell on or insist on these details, which were important. And the amiable Almond, who guessed what was going on in his mind, said to him in a voice already ready to be moved, and with joined hands: "The outside, O my father, is not always showing what the interior is. And I tell you that young man is a herder of lions." And, willy-nilly, Almond's father, to satisfy this amiable and charming woman, put his finger of consent over his own eye, and named Prince Jasmine, in the middle of the night, shepherd of his flocks...
— At this point in her narration, Sheherazade saw the morning appear and, discreetly, as usual, fell silent.
And her sister, the young Doniazade, who had become a desirable adolescent in every respect, and who, day by day and night by night, was growing more charming and more beautiful and more developed and more understanding and more silent and more attentive, half rose from the carpet where she was snuggled, and said to her: “O Sheherazade, my sister, how sweet and savory and joyful and delectable are your words! And Sheherazade smiled at her, and kissed her, and said to her: "Yes, my darling, but what is that compared to the sequel that I am going to tell next night, if however our master is not tired of hearing me, that well-bred and well-mannered King?" And Sultan Schahriar exclaimed: “O Sheherazade, what are you saying? me, tired of hearing it? But you instruct my mind and calm my heart! And the blessing is on the country since I am with you! You can therefore, with complete certainty, tell us tomorrow the rest of this delicious story and you can even, if you are not tired yourself, continue it for us tonight. Because, in truth, I want to know what will happen to Prince Jasmine and Princess Almond! And Sheherazade, because of her discretion, did not want to abuse the permission, and smiled and thanked, without saying anything more that night.
And King Schahriar pressed her to his heart, and slept by her side until the next day. So he arose and went out to preside over the affairs of his justice. And he saw his vizier arrive, father of Schahrazade, who, as usual, held under his arm the shroud intended for his daughter whom he expected to see condemned to death every morning, because of the King's oath concerning women. But Schahriar, without telling him anything about it, presided over the diwan of justice. And the officers and the dignitaries and the plaintiffs went in. And he judged, and appointed to offices, and removed, and finished the pending business, and gave his orders, and this until the end of the day. And the vizier, father of Sheherazade and Doniazade, was, more and more, on the verge of perplexity and astonishment.
As for King Schahriar, when he had closed the session and finished the diwan, he hastened to return to his apartments, near Sheherazade.