THE THREE PRINCES AND THE PRINCESS NOURONNIHAR.



There was once a sultan of India who had three sons. These, with
the princess his niece, were the ornaments of his court. The eldest
of the princes was called Houssain, the second Ali, the youngest
Ahmed, and the princess his niece, Nouronnihar. The Princess
Nouronnihar was the daughter of the younger brother of the sultan,
to whom the sultan in his lifetime allowed a considerable revenue.
But that prince had not been married long before he died, and left
the princess very young. The sultan, out of brotherly love and
friendship, took upon himself the care of his niece's education,
and brought her up in his palace with the three princes, where her
singular beauty and personal accomplishments, joined to a sprightly
disposition and irreproachable conduct, distinguished her among all
the princesses of her time.

The sultan, her uncle, proposed to get her married, when she
arrived at a proper age, to some neighbouring prince, and was
thinking seriously about it, when he perceived that the three
princes his sons had all fallen in love with her. He was very much
concerned, owing to the difficulty he foresaw whether the two
younger would consent to yield to their elder brother. He spoke to
each of them apart; and after having remonstrated on the