'
'Princess,' said I, 'it is the fear of the genie that makes you
speak thus; for my part, I value him so little that I will break
his talisman in pieces. Let him come, I will expect him; and how
brave or redoubtable soever he be, I will make him feel the weight
of my arm: I swear, solemnly that I will extirpate all the genies
in the world, and him first.' The princess, who knew the
consequences, conjured me not to touch the talisman; 'for that
would be a means,' said she, 'to ruin both you and me: I know what
belongs to genies better than you.' The fumes of the wine did not
suffer me to hearken to her reasons; but I gave the talisman a kick
with my foot, and broke it in several pieces.
The talisman was no sooner broken, than the palace began to shake,
and was ready to fall with a hideous noise like thunder,
accompanied with flashes of lightning and a great darkness. This
terrible noise in a moment dispelled the fumes of my wine, and made
me sensible, but too late, of the folly I had committed.
'Princess,' cried I, 'what means all this?'
She answered in a fright, and without any concern for her own
misfortune, 'Alas! you are undone, if you do not escape
immediately.'
I followed her advice, and my fears were so great that I forgot my
hatchet and cords.
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