374 The Adventures of Prince Hassan. [OcT. 



delightful recollection of so charming a princess occupied me entirely : I 

 would have wished the enchantment to have endured for ever. Love had 

 already taken possession of my heart. I still cherish those features which, 

 since that time, have caused my greatest sorrows. I remained immove- 

 able. I endeavoured to retrace those charming features which had just 

 disappeared. Alas! love had already painted them on my soul. I 

 demanded of the magician, as a favour, to tell me if this charming prin- 

 cess was only an illusion ; or if it were possible that the gods themselves 

 had created a mortal who would deprive them of the honours which are 

 only due to the divinity. He replied to me in these terms : * The object 

 who has raised such a flame in your heart, at the mere sight of her por- 

 trait, reigns on the borders of the seas ; but you are not fated to behold 

 her, except at the foot of your tomb.' * Will the gods prolong for many 

 years my life ?' cried I. ' Why will they not shorten it, that my shade 

 may enjoy the pleasure of seeing so charming an object? Of what value 

 to me is life, if I retain it only on condition of never beholding her I 

 adore ?' This growing passion so confused me, that I had not perceived 

 the magician quit me, and advance towards a grove, whither I followed 

 him. It was a forest of myrtles, whose sweet perfume was diffused to the 

 skies. All the alleys were of the same width, and were in every respect 

 similar. Between each myrtle was a tomb of black marble, ornamented 

 with magnificent statues of white marble. c This,' said the magician, ' is 

 the sepulchre of my ancestors. There are as many tombs in each alloy as 

 there are persons ; therefore each generation reckons by alleys and ranges 

 of tombs.' I traversed the alleys where had been interred the first magi- 

 cians. The profound silence which reigned in these groves these myrtles, 

 which were never agitated by the slightest breeze these tombs, ranged at 

 equal distances inspired me with a holy fear. We arrived at an alley 

 where the tombs were uncovered. I demanded of the magician the reason. 

 He informed me that they were intended for him and his friends, and that, 

 in a short time, I should see the island repeopled. 



" At that moment I heard a terrible noise. The heavens were darkened 

 -the thunders rattled in the air the earth shook under my feet ; but all 

 these signs gradually subsided, and daylight returned by degrees. I 

 beheld the air filled with an infinite number of cars, which descended in the 

 alley where I was standing. From each of these cars alighted a prin- 

 cess, holding a young man by the hand. They all advanced towards the 

 magicians, who were seated by the side of their tombs. They embraced, 

 and after having delivered their books and their wands to their sons (for 

 these princesses were their spouses), each one entered his tomb, accompa- 

 nied by his wife ; and instantly all the tombs closed over them. The son 

 of the magician who had taken me under his protection advanced to me, 

 and said, that I could remain no longer in the island that profane eyes 

 could not behold the mysteries which they were about to celebrate to the 

 shades of their fathers and I must therefore depart. He embraced me, 

 and gave me, at parting, the portrait of the princess that I had seen at the 

 bottom of the sea. I recognized the features which I had there beheld, 

 and my wound re-opened at this fatal sight. Charmed with a gift so pre- 

 cious, I returned to the coast, my eyes still fixed on the portrait. I 

 embarked. Ever occupied in admiring it, I could do nothing but adore 

 it. I kissed it a thousand times a day ; and I resolved to search the uni- 

 verse over to discover the original. We had departed eight days, when a 



