Page:Fairy tales from the Arabian nights.djvu/56

 majesty; nothing is more certain than what I have had the honour to tell you. I can assure your majesty it is the King of Persia, named Beder. son of the celebrated Gulnare, princess of one of the largest kingdoms of the sea, nephew of Saleh, king of that kingdom, and grandson of Queen Farasche, mother of Gulnare and Saleh; and it was the Princess Giauhara, daughter of the King of Samandal, who thus metamorphosed him into a bird.' That the king might no longer doubt of what she affirmed, she told him the whole story, how and for what reason the Princess Giauhara had thus revenged herself for the ill-treatment of King Saleh towards the King of Samandal, her father.

The king had less difficulty in believing this assertion of the queen in that he knew her to be a skilful magician, one of the greatest in the world. And as she knew everything which took place, he was always by her means timely informed of the designs of the kings his neighbours against him, and prevented them. His majesty had compassion on the King of Persia, and earnestly besought his queen to break the enchantment, that he might return to his own form.

The queen consented to it with great willingness. 'Sir,' said she to the king, 'be pleased to take the bird into your room, and I will show you a king worthy of the consideration you have for him.' The bird, which had ceased eating, and attended to what the king and queen had said, would not give his majesty the trouble to take him, but hopped into the room before him; and the queen came in soon after, with a vessel full of water in her hand. She pronounced over the vessel some words unknown to the king, till the water began to boil, when she took some of it in her hand, and, sprinkling a little upon the bird, said, 'By virtue of these holy and mysterious words I have just pronounced, quit that form of a bird, and reassume that which thou hast received from thy Creator.'

The words were scarcely out of the queen's mouth, when, instead of a bird, the king saw a young prince. King Beder immediately fell on his knees, and thanked God for the favour that had been bestowed upon him. Then he took the king's hand, who helped him up, and kissed it in token of gratitude; but the king embraced him with great joy. He would then have made his acknowledg-