Camaralzaman thanked the honest gardener for his advice, and the
security he offered him in his house. He would have said more;
but the good man interrupted him, saying, Let us wave
complimenting; you are weary, and want to refresh yourself. Come
in; eat what we have, and lie down to rest; you are very welcome.
He conducted him into his little hut, which, though small, was
clean, and well defended from the injuries of the weather. He
ordered the best provisions he had to be brought forth, and
entertained the prince so heartily, that he was charmed with it,
and at his request told him how he came there.
When he had ended his story, without hiding any part of it, he
asked him which was the nearest way to his father's territories?
For it is in vain, said he, to think of finding my princess where
I left her, wandering, as I have been, eleven days from that
place. Ah, continued he, how do I know that she is alive! and,
saying this, he burst out into tears that would have melted the
most cruel and obdurate. The gardener replied, that there was no
possibility of his going thither by land, the ways were so
difficult, and the journey so long; besides, there was no manner
of convenience for his subsisting; and if there was, he must
necessarily pass through many barbarous nations; that he would
never reach his father's; that the quickest passage would be to
go to the isle of Ebene, whence he might easily transport himself
to the isles of the children of Khaledan; that there was a ship
which sailed from the port where he was every year to Ebene, and
he might take that opportunity of returning to those islands.
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