Fairy Tales from the Arabian Nights | Page 8

transport of joy, the window being
open, he sprang out, and plunged with him into the sea.
The King of Persia, who expected no such sight, set up a hideous cry,
verily believing that he should either see the dear prince his son no
more, or else that he should see him drowned; and he nearly died of
grief and affliction. 'Sir,' said Queen Gulnare (with a quiet and
undisturbed countenance, the better to comfort him), 'let your majesty
fear nothing; the young prince is my son as well as yours, and I do not
love him less than you do. You see I am not alarmed; neither in truth
ought I to be so. He runs no risk, and you will soon see the king his
uncle appear with him again, and bring him back safe and sound. For

he will have the same advantage his uncle and I have, of living equally
in the sea and upon the land.' The queen his mother and the princesses
his relations confirmed the same thing; yet all they said had no effect
on the king's fright, from which he could not recover till he saw Prince
Beder appear again before him.
The sea at length became troubled, when immediately King Saleh arose
with the young prince in his arms, and holding him up in the air, he
re-entered at the same window he went out at. The King of Persia being
overjoyed to see Prince Beder again, and astonished that he was as
calm as before he lost sight of him, King Saleh said, 'Sir, was not your
majesty in a great fright, when you first saw me plunge into the sea
with the prince my nephew?'
'Alas! Prince,' answered the King of Persia, 'I cannot express my
concern. I thought him lost from that very moment, and you now
restore life to me by bringing him again.'
'I thought as much,' replied King Saleh, 'though you had not the least
reason to apprehend any danger; for, before I plunged into the sea with
him I pronounced over him certain mysterious words, which were
engraven on the seal of the great Solomon, the son of David. We do the
same to all those children that are born in the regions at the bottom of
the sea, by virtue of which they receive the same privileges that we
have over those people who inhabit the earth. From what your majesty
has observed, you may easily see what advantage your son Prince
Beder has acquired by his birth, for as long as he lives, and as often as
he pleases, he will be at liberty to plunge into the sea, and traverse the
vast empires it contains in its bosom.'
Having so spoken, King Saleh, who had restored Prince Beder to his
nurse's arms, opened a box he had fetched from his palace in the little
time he had disappeared. It was filled with three hundred diamonds, as
large as pigeons' eggs, a like number of rubies of extraordinary size, as
many emerald wands, each half a foot long, and thirty strings or
necklaces of pearl, consisting each of ten feet. 'Sir,' said he to the King
of Persia, presenting him with this box, 'when I was first summoned by
the queen my sister, I knew not what part of the earth she was in, or

that she had the honour to be married to so great a monarch. This made
us come empty handed. As we cannot express how much we have been
obliged to your majesty, I beg you to accept this small token of
gratitude, in acknowledgment of the many particular favours you have
been pleased to show her.'
It is impossible to express how greatly the King of Persia was surprised
at the sight of so much riches, enclosed in so little compass. 'What!
Prince,' cried he, 'do you call so inestimable a present a small token of
your gratitude? I declare once more, you have never been in the least
obliged to me, neither the queen your mother nor you. Madam,'
continued he, turning to Gulnare, 'the king your brother has put me into
the greatest confusion; and I would beg of him to permit me to refuse
his present, were I not afraid of disobliging him; do you therefore
endeavour to obtain his leave that I may be excused accepting it.'
'Sir,' replied King Saleh, 'I am not at all surprised that your majesty
thinks this present so extraordinary. I know you are not accustomed
upon earth to see precious stones of this quality and quantity: but if you
knew, as I do, the mines whence these jewels were taken, and that it is
in my power to form a treasure greater than those of all the kings of