XII
THE PETRIFIED MANSION
ONCE upon a time there was a prince who set out on his travels into foreign countries, alone, without taking with him any valuables. His sword was his only companion. He crossed mountains, seas, and rivers, and at length came to a grand mansion. He entered it; and great was his surprise to find petrified forms of men and animals in all the apartments through which he passed. Even the weapons in the armoury were not exceptions. There was in one of the halls a stone statue dressed in royal splendour, surrounded by other statues gorgeously equipped. The lonely house greatly frightened the prince, but just as he was on the point of quitting it he happened to notice an open door. Passing through it he reached the presence of a very beautiful damsel reposing on a khat (bed) of gold, and surrounded by lotuses of the same metal. She lay quite motionless and was apparently dead. There was not the softest breath perceptible in her. The prince was enamoured of her beauty and sat with his eyes fixed upon her. But one day he happened to notice a stick of gold near the girl's pillow. He took it up, and was turning it round and round for inspection, when it suddenly touched her forehead; and instantly she started up, fully conscious. The whole house resounded with the clamour of human tongues, the clanking of arms, the songs of birds, and the sounds of domestic animals. It was full of life and joy. Heralds made proclamations, ministers speechified in the court-room, and the king engaged himself in the discharge of his royal duties.
