THE KING OF THE BLACK ISLES, 45

One evening, having had previously an interview with the
lady, in which she avowed her preference for my rival, I was
walking in the neighbourhood of the palace when I heard her
footsteps. I moved out of the way and concealed myself till
she passed, having determined to watch her movements.

I followed her closely and stealthily, passing through several
doors, which opened by virtue of some magic words she pro-
nounced ; the last she opened was that of the garden, which she
entered. I stopped at this door that she might not see me,
while she crossed a parterre; and following her with my eyes,
as well as the obscurity of the night would permit, I remarked
that she went into a little wood, the walks of which were en-
closed by a thick hedge. I repaired thither by another way,
and hiding myself behind the hedge of one of the paths, I per-
‘ceived that she was walking with the Indian. I did not fail to
listen attentively to their discourse, when I heard her say, “I da
not deserve your reproaches. I will, if you wish it, before the sun
rises, change this great city and this beautiful palace into fright-
ful ruins, which shall be inhabited only by wolves, and owls, and
ravens. Shall I transport all the stones with which these walls
are so strongly built beyond Mount Caucasus, and farther than
the boundaries of the habitable world? You have only to
speak, and.all this place shall be transformed.”

As the lady finished this speech, she and her companion, hav-
ing reached the end of the walk, turned to enter another, and
passed before me: I had already drawn my scimitar, and as the
man was next me, I struck him on the neck, and he fell. I be-
. lieved I had killed him, and with this persuasion, I retired pre-
cipitately, without discovering myself.

Although the man’s wound was mortal, my cousin yet con-
trived, by her enchantments, to preserve in him that kind of
existence which can be called neither dead nor alive. As I
traversed the garden to return to the palace, I heard her weeping
bitterly. She retired to her apartments, where, abandoning her-
self to her grief, she passed a whole year in mourning. At the
expiration of that time, she requested my permission to build a
mausoleum for herself in the centre of the palace, where she said
she wished to pass the remainder of her days. I did not refuse
her, and she erected a magnificent palace with a dome, which
may be seen from hence, and she called it the Palace of Tears.