The Arabian Nights Entertainments, vol 3 | Page 7

thought might induce me to return
his passion. When he saw that fair means would not prevail upon me,
he attempted to use force: but I soon made him repent of his insolence.
He resolved to sell me, which he did to the merchant who brought me
hither, and sold me to your majesty. He was a prudent, courteous,
humane man; and during the whole of the long journey, never gave me
the least reason to complain.
"As for your majesty," continued the princess Gulnare, "if you had not
shown me all the respect you have hitherto done (for which I am
extremely obliged to your goodness), and given me such undeniable
marks of your affection, that I can no longer doubt of it; if you had not
immediately sent away your women; I hesitate not to tell you, that I
should not have remained with you. I would have thrown myself into

the sea out of this window, where you accosted me when you first came
into this apartment; and have gone in search of my mother, my brother,
and the rest of my relations. I should have persisted in that design, and
would have put it in execution, if after a certain time I had found
myself deceived in the hopes of being with child; but in the condition I
am in, all I could say to my mother or my brother would never
convince them that I have been a slave to a king like your majesty.
They would never believe it, but would for ever upbraid me with the
crime I have voluntarily committed against my honour. However, sire,
be it a prince or princess that I may bring into the world, it will be a
pledge to engage me never to be parted from your majesty; and
therefore I hope you will no longer regard me as a slave, but as a
princess worthy your alliance."
In this manner the Princess Gulnare discovered herself to the king of
Persia, and finished her story. "My charming, my adorable princess,"
cried he, "what wonders have I heard! and what ample matter for my
curiosity, to ask a thousand questions concerning those strange and
unheard of things which you have related! But first, I ought to thank
you for your goodness and patience in making trial of the truth and
constancy of my passion. I thought it impossible for me to love you
more than I did; but since I know you to be a princess, I love you a
thousand times more. Princess! did I say, madam? you are no longer so;
but you are my queen, the queen of Persia; and by that title you shall
soon be proclaimed throughout the whole kingdom. To-morrow the
ceremony shall be performed in my capital with a pomp and
magnificence never yet beheld; which will plainly shew that you are
my queen and my lawful wife. This should long ago have been done,
had you sooner convinced me of my error: for from the first moment of
my seeing you, I have been of the same opinion as now, to love you
always, and never to place my affections on any other.
"But that I may satisfy myself, and pay you all the respect that is your
due, I beseech you, madam, to inform me more particularly of the
kingdom and people of the sea, who are altogether unknown to me. I
have heard much talk, indeed, of the inhabitants of the sea, but I always
looked upon such accounts merely as tales or fables; by what you have
told me, I am convinced there is nothing more true; and I have a proof
of it in your own person, who are one of them, and are pleased to

condescend to be my wife; which is an honour no other inhabitant on
the earth can boast. There is one point however which yet perplexes me;
therefore I must beg the favour of you to explain it; that is, I cannot
comprehend how it is possible for you to live or move in water without
being drowned. There are few amongst us who have the art of staying
under water; and they would surely perish, if, after a certain time,
according to their activity and strength, they did not come up again."
"Sire," replied the Queen Gulnare, "I shall with pleasure satisfy the
king of Persia. We can walk at the bottom of the sea with as much ease
as you can upon land; and we can breathe in the water as you do in the
air; so that instead of suffocating us, as it does you, it absolutely
contributes to the preservation of our lives. What is yet more
remarkable is, that it never wets our clothes; so that when we