beckoned to him to draw near: she then
motioned to the servants, who left the apartment. He threw himself on
his knees by the couch and wept, mourned her affliction, and regretted
that he had not paid more attention to her warnings.

"I know how it has happened," she said; "still, the worst has not
happened. You have been forced to leave the talisman in her hands:
take care that she does not keep it with your consent. I am now weak
and ill: I shall become still weaker; but so long as you possess the
earnest wish to recover the talisman, my life will be preserved.
Return, now, whence you came, and let not the King see you. He is
angry with you because he is sure you are the cause of my illness."

He obeyed her will, and returned to the hunting-seat by daybreak. He
would not lose the vivid recollection of Haschanascha's mournful
condition by going to sleep; but went immediately into the garden, and
when the sun had sufficient influence to dry the dew on the flowers,
he again saw the butterfly settle on a poppy. This time he kept his
turban on his head, and tried to catch the butterfly with his hand;
but it eluded him, and a wasp within the same flower stung his hand,
so that it swelled very much. The butterfly flew away, and did not
return to the garden. The hours passed very slowly, and would have
seemed longer if his mind had not been agitated by various plans to
recover the talisman. To do this, he must find its present possessor,
and he reproached himself with having allowed the butterfly to escape
by his awkwardness. At noon he returned to the palace, to the great
astonishment of his servants, who were now accustomed not to see him
all day. When he had eaten, he reposed a few hours on his couch, and,
on his awaking, a messenger had come from the city with the news that
the Princess was better since the morning. Thus the day concluded with
more inward peace than heretofore: only one fear made him sad, that
perhaps the butterfly had disappeared for ever from the garden, and
then he could never recover his talisman.

But the next morning, when he went into the garden, he found the
butterfly perched on a poppy in the sunshine. He threw his turban over
it, and again the maiden stood before him. He asked her why she had
not come the previous day, and she answered,

"Oh, there was a clumsy peasant in the garden who tried to catch me in
his hand, like an ugly fly! He would have rubbed the beautiful dust
off my wings; and