while Hestri was yet sleeping. She sat on the horse waiting till Hestri should
awake. But an Æthiopian robber, who had come to rob the storehouse of Biyapri,
saw the horse whose bridle was attached to the belt of Hestri. He unfastened the
bridle and led the horse to the middle of the plain. In the mind of the princess it
was Hestri who was thus leading the horse. But the moon having risen, the
Æthiopian saw seated upon the horse a woman of a striking and marvellous
beauty. The heart of the Æthiopian was filled with joy. He said in his heart:
"For a very long time have I been stealing riches. Truly, I have acquired no small
store of jewels, pearls, precious stones, gold and silver, and magnificent
vestments of all sorts. But all that is nothing in comparison with the marvel I
have just now found and who will become my wife, the light of my eyes, and the
fruit of my heart. Now shall I enjoy in peace the happiness of having such a
wife."
The house of the Æthiopian robber was seated on the top of a hill. He conducted
the princess thither, showed her all it contained, and gave it to her, saying: "O
my future bride, it is to you that all which this house contains belongs. Make use
of it according to your good pleasure." The princess said, "First of all, be
tranquil." And she thought in her heart: "This is my destiny. First I was with
Biyapri, and now I have fallen into the hands of an Aethiopian robber. It is by
the will of God that this has happened to his servant." The Æthiopian robber was
bent on having the marriage celebrated at once, but the princess said: "I cannot
be married now, for I have made a vow to God the most high not to see the face
of a man for three days."
The Æthiopian robber desired to drink, and said: "Come, let us drink together."
"In my opinion," observed the princess, "if we begin to drink both together you
will become heavy with wine, and I, too. Then they will take me far from you
and kill you. Come, I will fill your cup and you shall drink first. When you have
drunk enough, then I will drink in my turn, and you shall fill my cup."
The Æthiopian robber was very joyful at these words of the princess. "What you
say is true," said he. He received with great pleasure the cup from the hands of
the princess and drank. After emptying the cup many times he fell down in the
stupor of intoxication, losing his senses and becoming like a dead man. The
princess Djouher-Manikam put on a magnificent costume of a man, and adding a
weapon something like a kandjar, went out of the house. Then mounting her