Edmund Dulac's Picture-Book for the French Red Cross

In the Book of the Ten Thousand Wonders there are three hundred and thirty-three stories about the bird called Feng and this is one of them.Ta-Khai Prince of Tartary dreamt 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 in the most accomplished willow-leaf style he drew her image on a piece of precious silk and in one corner he wrote these lines:The flowers of the pæony 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 any one could tell him the name of the beautiful maiden; but they all shook their heads and stroked their beards. They knew not 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. But they all had to confess their ignorance. Ta-Khai then called upon the magicians of the kingdom to find out by their art the name of the princess of his dreams but their answers were so widely different that the prince suspecting their ability 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 exalted travellers came in every day gazed upon the beautiful face and came out again. None could tell who she was.Meanwhile the days were weighing heavily upon the shoulders of Ta-Khai and his sufferings cannot be described; he ate no more he drank no more and ended by forgetting which was day and which was night what was in and what was out what was left and what was right. He spent his time roaming over the mountains and through the woods crying aloud to the gods to end his life and his sorrow.It was thus one day that he came to the edge of a precipice. The valley below was strewn with rocks and the thought came to his mind that he had been led to this place to put a term to his misery. He was about to throw himself into the depths below when suddenly the bird Feng flew across the valley and appeared before him saying:'Why is Ta-Khai the mighty Prince of Tartary standing in this place of desolation with a shadow on his brow?'CONTENTSTHE STORY OF THE BIRD FENG: a Fairy Tale from ChinaYOUNG ROUSSELLE: a French Song of the Olden TimeLAYL� AND MAJNÚN: a Persian Love StoryTHE NIGHTINGALE: after a Fairy Tale by Hans AndersenTHREE KINGS OF ORIENT: a CarolSINDBAD THE SAILOR: a Tale from the Thousand and One NightsTHE LITTLE SEAMSTRESS: a French Song of the Olden TimeTHE REAL PRINCESS: after a Fairy Tale by Hans AndersenMY LISETTE: an Old French SongCINDERELLA: a Fairy Tale from the FrenchTHE CHILLY LOVER: a Song from the FrenchTHE STORY OF AUCASSIN AND NICOLETTE: an Old World IdyllBLUE BEARD: an Old Tale from the FrenchCERBERUS THE BLACK DOG OF HADESTHE LADY BADOURA: a Tale from the Thousand and One NightsTHE SLEEPER AWAKENED: a Tale from the Thousand and One NightsJUSEF AND ASENATH: a Love Story of EgyptILLUSTRATIONSJUSEF AND ASENATH : Asenath THE STORY OF THE BIRD FENG : The wonderful bird like a fire of many colours come down from heaven alighted before the princess dropping at her feet the portrait YOUNG ROUSSELLE : What do you think of Young Rousselle? LAYL� AND MAJNÚN In a high chamber of the palace—it was as wondrous as that of a SultanIf the desert were my home—then would I let the world go byShe would sit for hours with the bird perched on the back of her hand listening to its soft intonation of that one word 'Majnún' THE NIGHTINGALE : Even the poor fisherman would pause in his work to listenTHREE KINGS OF ORIENT : O Star of Wonde