magnificence.





PRINCE AHMED AND THE FAIRY.



Prince Houssain would not honour the feast with his presence; he
could scarcely endure to see the princess in the arms of Prince
Ali, who, he said, did not deserve her better or love her more than
himself. He left the court, and, renouncing all right of succession
to the crown, turned dervish, and put himself under the discipline
of a famous sheik, who had gained a reputation for his exemplary
life, and had taken up his abode, together with his disciples,
whose number was great, in an agreeable solitude.

Prince Ahmed did not assist at Prince Ali's and the Princess
Nouronnihar's wedding, any more than his brother Houssain, but did
not renounce the world as he had done. He could not imagine what
had become of his arrow, so he stole away from his attendants, and
resolved to search for it, that he might not have anything to
reproach himself with. With this intention, he went to the place
where the Princes Houssain's and Ali's were gathered up, and going
straight forward from thence, looked carefully on both sides of
him. He went so far, that at last he began to think his labour was
in vain; yet he could not help going forwards, till he came to some
steep, craggy rocks, which would have obliged him to return, had he