324 THE ARABIAN NIGHTS ENTERTAINMENTS.

 

Had she followed her inclination, she would have run to him, and dis-
covered herself by her tender embraces; but she restrained her emo-
tions, as she thought it for the interest of both that she should continue
to sustain the character of king for some time longer before she made
herself known. She contented herself with recommending him par-
ticularly to the care of an officer who was present, charging him to be
attentive, and treat him well until the following day.

When the Princess Badoura had ordered everything that related to
Prince Camaralzaman, she turned towards the captain, and restored all
his merchandise, and dismissed him with a present of a rich and
precious diamond, and bade him keep the thousand pieces of gold which
had been paid for the jars of olives.

The next day, the Princess of China, under the disguise and authority
of the King of the Isle of Ebony, after taking care to have Prince
Camaralzaman conducted to the bath very early in the morning, and
dressed in the robe of an emir, introduced him into the council, where
he attracted the attention of all the nobles who were present by his
majestic air and princely bearing.

After he had taken his place in the rank of emirs, according to her
directions, ‘ My lords,’ said she, addressing the other emirs, ‘Camaralza-
man, whom I this day present to you as your colleague, is not unworthy
of the dignity he occupies amongst you. I have had sufficient ex-
perience of his worth in my travels, to be able to answer for him, and I
can assure you that he will make himself admired by you, as much for
his valour and a thousand other good and amiable qualities, as by the
superior greatness of his mind.’

Camaralzaman was extremely surprised when he heard the king of
the Isle of Ebony, whom he little suspected to be a woman, and his
wife, call him by his name, and assure the assembly that he knew him,
when he was himself convinced that he had never met him in any place.

When he had left the council, the prince was conducted by an officer
to a large mansion, which the Princess Badoura had ordered to be
prepared for his reception. He there found officers and servants ready
to receive his commands, and a stable filled with very fine horses,
the whole suited to the dignity of an emir; and when he went into
his closet, his steward presented him with a coffer full of gold for his
expenses.

Camaralzaman would have been the happiest of men, but in the
midst of all his splendour he never ceased to lament the loss of his
princess, and to grieve that he could gain no information respecting her
in a country where he concluded she must have passed some time, since
he had been separated from her by an accident so unfortunate for both.
He might have suspected something if the Princess Badoura had retained
the name of Camaralzaman, but when she ascended the throne, she
changed it for that of Armanos, in compliment to the former king, her
father-in-law ; so that she was now known only by the name of King
Armanos the younger.