Malayan literature; comprising romantic tales, epic poetry and royal ...

THE PRINCESS DJOUHER-MANIKAM 129
power of God the most high, placed its neck upon the neck
of the princess Djouher-Manikam, saying,
''
I will take the
place of the princess Djouher-Manikam." And the little
gazelle was killed by Minbah-Chahaz. That done he unbound
his eyes and saw a little gazelle lying dead with its
throat cut, by the side of his young sister the princess Djouher-
Manikam.
At this sight, Minbah-Chahaz was stricken with astonish-
ment. He thought
in his heart :
" Since it is so with my
sister, she must be entirely innocent, and cannot have commited
the least fault. Nevertheless, although I am confident
that she was calumniated by the cadi I must tell my father
that I have killed her."
Minbah-Chahaz set out then for Mecca, to find the prince
his father. When he had arrived at Mecca he presented to his
father the cutlass still stained with blood. The King Haroun-
er-Raschid cried, " Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds.
Our shame is now effaced, since you have poniarded your
sister and she is dead." Such were the deeds of this first
story.
The princess Djouher-Manikam, having awakened after the
departure of Minbah-Chahaz, saw that her brother was no
longer there, but that at her side there was a little gazelle with
its throat cut. She thought in her heart: "The cadi has
slandered me to my father, and that is why my brother came
here with orders to kill me." The princess Djouher-Manikam
felt a great shame and thought in her heart, " Since it is so, I
must retire to a hidden place." Now in the King's park there
was a solitary place in the midst of a vast deserted plain. There
was a pond of very agreeable appearance there, many kinds
of fruit-trees and flowers, and an oratory beautifully built.
The princess Djouher-Manikam set out and retired to this
place to pray to God the most high and worthy of all praise.
She was established there for some time when, by the will of
God the most high, a certain thing happened.