Rasselas and Pekuah: Reunion and the Quest for Happiness

Rasselas: Episodes 35–43 — Reunion and the Astronomer

Princess, Pekuah, and the Search Continues

35. The princess is disheartened by Pekuah's absence. Rasselas hires musicians and makes every effort to amuse her, but is not successful. All the while she asks Imlac about the search. Imlac tells her to amuse herself and be entertained, to which she replies that she will always remember her friend. Rasselas orders a more diligent search to calm the princess and remove from her mind the idea of isolation.

36. The princess recovers from the loss of her friend, albeit reluctantly. She occupies her mind with other activities and reserves an hour each day to remember her friend. She preserves her love for Pekuah, and asks Imlac to continue the search.

37. Seven months after the princess's promise, news arrives that the maid is in the hands of an Arab chieftain. They agree to meet at a place and pay money for her. Everything goes as planned, and the princess and the maid are reunited. Then Pekuah recounts what happened during her abduction.

38. Pekuah describes what happened to her in the Arab camp. There was a confusion with a princess, and the other women in the camp treated her with respect.

39. Pekuah was taken to the chieftain's palace and treated like a genuine princess. The other women envied her, yet did her favors. She felt a tremendous boredom, because the women who lived there were not curious and had no interesting conversations. Everything changed when the ransom for the kidnapping was paid and the chieftain could not keep her there any longer.

The Astronomer and the Power Over Weather

40. Rasselas decides to renew the search for happiness, and the poet tells the story of an astronomer who lived shut up to investigate the heavens. Only a few friends visited him. His happiness was focused on the study of the things that intrigued him.

41. One day the astronomer invited the poet to his house to reveal the cause of his unease, explaining that he could influence the climate and the seasons. He considers Imlac a trusted man who would not abuse such power.

42. The characters listen to a story about a drought: one day the astronomer ordered rain to fall, but it got out of hand and became a flood. Therefore he chose Imlac as responsible for that power, considering him a man capable of bearing that weight.

43. The astronomer tells the poet not to abuse that power, but to use it responsibly and fairly. The smallest change can create great harm in the world (tilting the axis, altering the orbit of the sun, etc.).