The story of prince Ta-Khai & princess Sai-Jen / Part 1

 

Ta-Khai, Prince of Tartary, dreamed one night that he saw in a place where he had never been before an enchantingly beautiful young maiden who could only be a princess. He fell desperately in love with her, but before he could either move or speak, she had vanished. When he awoke he called for his ink and brushes, and drew her image on a piece of precious silk, and in one corner, he wrote these lines:

 

The flowers of the peony
Will they ever bloom?
A day without her
Is like a hundred years.

 

He then summoned his ministers, and, showing them the portrait, asked if anyone could tell him the name of the beautiful maiden; but they all shook their heads and stroked their beards. They did not know who she was.

 

So displeased was the prince that he sent them away in disgrace to the most remote provinces of his kingdom. All the courtiers, the generals, the officers, and every man and woman, high and low, who lived in the palace, came in turn to look at the picture. However, they all had to confess their ignorance.

 

Ta-Khai then called upon the magicians of the kingdom to find out in magic ways the name of the princess of his dreams, but their answers were so widely different that the prince condemned them all to have their noses cut off.  The portrait was shown in the  outer court of the palace from sunrise till sunset, and travelers from all over the world came in every day, gazed upon the beautiful face, and came out again. No-one could tell who she was...

 

Stay tuned for the next part...

 

Contributed by my dear friend, Mr.Jaap Verraes.