after consulting together
we decided to let things remain as they were. "Do not blame me then,"
continued Thelamis, "if you will not accept my offer. But take the two
pastilles, and if it ever happens that you are decapitated a second
time, make use of them in the way I have shown you, and each will get
back his own head." So saying he presented us with the pastilles, and we
all returned to the castle.

'However, the troubles caused by the unfortunate exchange were only just
beginning. My head, without thinking what it was doing, led the prince's
body to my apartments. But my women, only looking at the dress, declared
I had mistaken the corridor, and called some slaves to conduct me to his
Highness's rooms. This was bad enough, but when--as it was still
night--my servants began to undress me, I nearly fainted from surprise
and confusion, and no doubt the Prince's head was suffering in the same
manner at the other end of the castle!

'By the next morning--you will easily guess that we slept but little--we
had grown partly accustomed to our strange situation, and when we looked
in the mirror, the prince had become brown-skinned and black-haired,
while my head was covered with his curly golden locks. And after that
first day, every one in the palace had become so accustomed to the
change that they thought no more about it.

'Some weeks after this, we heard that the king of the Isle of Black
Marble was dead. The prince's head, which once was mine, was full of
ambitious desires, and he longed to ride straight to the capital and
proclaim himself king. But then came the question as to whether the
nobles would recognise the prince with a girl's body, and indeed, when
we came to think of it, which was prince and which was girl?

'At last, after much argument, my head carried the day and we set out;
but only to find that the king had declared the Princess Okimpare his
successor. The greater part of the senators and nobles openly professed
that they would much have preferred the rightful heir, but as they could
not recognise him either in the Prince or me, they chose to consider us
as impostors and threw us into prison.

'A few days later Tezila and Thelamis, who had followed us to the
capital, came to tell us that the new queen had accused us of high
treason, and had herself been present at our trial--which was conducted
without us. They had been in mortal terror as to what would be our
sentence, but by a piece of extraordi