The princess demanded what all these preparations were for.
'Madam,' answered the astrologer, 'they are to exorcise the evil
spirit that possesses you, to shut him up in this pot, and throw
him into the sea.'
'Foolish astrologer,' replied the princess, 'I have no occasion for
any of your preparations, but am in my perfect senses, and you
alone are mad. If your art can bring him I love to me, I shall be
obliged to you; otherwise you may go about your business, for I
have nothing to do with you.'
'Madam,' said the astrologer, 'if your case be so, I shall desist
from all endeavours, believing that only the king your father can
remedy your disaster.' So putting up his apparatus again, he
marched away, very much concerned that he had so easily undertaken
to cure an imaginary malady.
Coming to give an account to the king of what he had done, he began
thus boldly: 'According to what your majesty published in your
proclamation, and what you were pleased to confirm to me yourself,
I thought the princess was distracted, and depended on being able
to recover her by the secrets I have long been acquainted with, but
I soon found that your majesty alone is the physician who can cure
her, by giving her in marriage the person whom she desires.
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