ier, the grandees of the
kingdom, enraged against a Prince whose administration was held forth
in such odious colours, concerted together, from one province to
another, and assured Asphand that, upon the first signal given by him,
they would take the field with the troops under their command. The
Vizier at the same time warned the Princes who remained at Issessara
to hold themselves in readiness against the day on which he should
come to complete his revenge, and to free the State from a tyrant who
was sunk in effeminacy.

The plot was executed before Bohetzad had the smallest suspicion of
it. The city of Issessara was completely invested by the army of
Asphand. On receiving this news, the King armed in haste; he ordered
the troops who were about his person to follow him; but they had been
gained over, and were devoted to his enemy. He saw no safety for
himself but in flight. He saddled, with his own hands, one of his
finest coursers; and, taking Baherjoa behind him, endeavoured to gain
the desert. He made a passage for himself through the midst of his
mutinous subjects, whom he trod under his feet. The young hero, whose
courage seemed only to be increased by love, burst like a torrent
through a troop of those who wished to interrupt his passage; his
invincible spear spared none of the rebels; and his horse, as vigorous
as swift, soon carried him out of sight of his enemies.

He was now in the midst of the desert; and, night obliging him to
allow some repose to his wife, fatigued with so violent an expedition,
he stopped at the foot of a frightful mountain. On this spot the
Queen, exhausted with weariness, gave birth to her first-born child,
and the Prince received in his arms a young boy, no less beautiful
than his mother.

The tender pair loaded him with caresses, and soon forgot, in their
new joy, the fatigue, uneasiness, and horror of their situation. The
child was wrapped in a part of the Queen's robes; and, in this
solitude, they enjoyed a profound sleep. The returning day invited
them, however, to pursue their journey. The affectionate mother nursed
her infant tenderly, but it pined away, and the mother herself was in
danger. Bohetzad then saw himself under the cruel necessity of
sacrificing nature to duty. He perceived a limpid fountain, on the
borders of which there was a green bank, defended from the rays of the
sun by the neighbouring willows. Here the unhappy parents abandoned to
the care of Providence t