Entering one of the doors which was standing open I found myself in a vasthall where forty young ladies, magnificently dressed, and of perfect beauty,were reclining. As soon as they saw me they rose and uttered words of welcome,and even forced me to take possession of a seat that was higher than their own,though my proper place was at their feet. Not content with this, one brought me splendid garments, while another filled a basin with scented water and pouredit over my hands, and the rest busied themselves with preparing refreshments.After I had eaten and drunk of the most delicate food and rarest wines, the ladies crowded round me and begged me to tell them all my adventures. By the time I had finished night had fallen, and the ladies lighted up the castle with such a prodigious quantity of tapers that even day could hardly have been brighter. We then sat down to asupper of dried fruits and sweetmeats, after which some sang and others danced.I was so well amused that I did not notice how the time was passing, but at length one of the ladies approached and informed me it was midnight, and that,as I must be tired, she would conduct me to the room that had been prepared for me. Then, bidding me good-night, I was left to sleep. I spent the next thirty-nine days in much the same way as the first, but at the close of that time the ladies appeared (as was their custom) in my room one morning to inquire how I had slept, and instead of looking cheerful and smiling they were in floods of tears. "Prince," said they, "we must leave you, and never was it so hard to part from any of our friends. Most likely we shall never see you again, but if you have sufficient self-command perhaps we may yet look forward to a meeting." "Ladies," I replied, "what is the meaning of these strange words-- I pray you to tell me?" "Know then," answered one of them, "that we are allprincesses-- each a king's daughter. We live in this castle together, in the way that you have seen, but at the end of every year secret duties call us awayfor the space of forty days. The time has now come; but before we depart, we will leave you our keys, so that you may not lack entertainment during our absence. But one thing we would ask of you. The Golden Door, alone, forbear to open, as you value your own peace, and the happiness of your life. That door once unlocked, we must bid you farewell for ever." Weeping, I assured them of my prudence,and after embracing me tenderly, they went their ways. Every day I opened two or three fresh doors, each of which contained behind it so many curious things that I had no chance of feeling dull, much asI regretted the absence of the ladies. Sometimes it was an orchard, whose fruit far exceeded in bigness any that grew in my father's garden. Sometimes it was acourt planted with roses, jessamine, daffodils, hyacinths and anemones, and athous and other flowers of which I did not know the names. Or again, it would bean aviary, fitted with all kinds of singing birds, or a treasury heaped up with precious stones; but whatever I might see, all was perfect of its own sort. Thirty-nine days passed away more rapidly than I could have conceived possible, and the following morning the princesses were to return to thecastle. But alas! I had explored every corner, save only the room that was shut in by the Golden Door, and I had no longer anything to amuse myself with. I stood before the forbidden place for some time, gazing at its beauty; then a happy inspiration struck me, that because I unlocked the door it was not necessary that I should enter the chamber. It would be enough for me to stand outside and view whatever hidden wonders might be therein. Thus arguing against my own conscience, I turned the key, when a smellrushed out that, pleasant though it was, overcame me completely, and I fell fainting across the threshold. Instead of being warned by this accident,directly I came to myself I went for a few moments into the air to shake of the effects of the perfume, and then entered boldly. I found myself in a large,vaulted room, lighted by tapers, scented with aloes and ambergris, standing in golden candle-sticks, whilst gold and silver lamps hung from the ceiling. Though objects of rare workmanship lay heaped around me, I paid them scant attention, so much was I struck by a great black horse which stood in one corner, the handsomest and best-shaped animal I had ever seen. His saddle andbridle were of massive gold, curiously wrought; one side of his trough was filled with clean barley and sesame,and the other with rose water. I led the animal into the open air, and then jumped on his back, shaking the reins as I did so, but as he never stirred, I touched him lightly with a switch I had picked up in his stable. No sooner did he feel the stroke, than he spread his wings (which I had not perceived before), andflew up with me straight into the sky. When he had reached a prodigious height,he next darted back to earth, and alighted on the terrace belonging to a castle, shaking me violently out of the saddle as he did so, and giving me such a blow with his tail, that he knocked out my right eye.
发表于 2014-8-19 21:48:40
QQ空间
腾讯微博
腾讯朋友
转播
分享
收藏
