nd continued unaltered.

The year expired, and, to the great regret of the sultan, prince
Kummir al Zummaun gave not the least proof of having changed his
sentiments. One day, therefore, when there was a great council
held, the prime vizier, the other viziers, the principal officers
of the crown, and the generals of the army being present, the
sultan thus addressed the prince: "My son, it is now a long while
since I expressed to you my earnest desire to see you married,
and I imagined you would have had more complaisance for a father,
who required nothing unreasonable of you, than to oppose him so
long. But after such a resistance on your part, which has almost
worn out my patience, I have thought fit to propose the same
thing once more to you in the presence of my council. It is not
merely to oblige a parent that you ought to have acceded to my
wish, the well-being of my dominions requires your compliance,
and this assembly join with me in expecting it: declare yourself,
then; that your answer may regulate my proceedings."

The prince answered with so little reserve, or rather with so
much warmth, that the sultan, enraged to see himself thwarted by
him in full council, exclaimed, "How, unnatural son! have you the
insolence to talk thus to your father and sultan?" He ordered the
guards to take him away, and carry him to an old tower that had
been long unoccupied; where he was shut up, with only a bed, a
little furniture, some books, and one slave to attend him.

Kummir al Zummaun, thus deprived of liberty, was nevertheless
pleased that he had the freedom to converse with his books, which
made him regard his confinement with indifference. In the evening
he bathed and said his prayers; and after having read some
chapters in the Koraun, with the same tranquillity of mind as if
he had been in the sultan's palace, he undressed himself and went
to bed, leaving his lamp burning by him while he slept.

In this tower was a well, which served in the daytime for a
retreat to a certain fairy, named Maimoune, daughter of Damriat,
king or head of a legion of genies. It was about midnight when
Maimoune sprung lightly to the mouth of the well, to wander about
the world after her wonted custom, where her curiosity led her.
She was surprised to see a light in the prince's chamber. She
entered, and without stopping at the slave who lay at the door,
approached the bed.

The prince had but half covered his face with the bed-clothes,