Sir, replied the queen Gulnare, I shall take a great deal of pleasure in satisfying the king of Persia in any thing that lies in my power. You must know, then, that we can walk at the bottom of the sea with as much ease as you can upon the dry land; and can breathe in the water as well as you do in the air; so that instead of suffocating us, as it does you, it is absolutely necessary for the preservation of our lives. What is yet more remarkable is, that it never wets our clothes: so that when we have a mind to visit your upper world, we have no occasion of drying them. Our vulgar language is the same in which the writing upon the seal of the great prophet Solomon, the son of David, was engraven.
I must not forget to tell you, that the water does not in the least hinder us from seeing in the sea; for we can open and shut our eyes when we please, without any manner of inconveniency; and as we have generally a very quick, piercing sight, so we can discern any object as clearly in the deepest part of the sea, as upon land. We have also a succession there of day and night; the moon affords us her light, and even the planets and the stars appear very visible to us. I have already spoken of their kingdoms; but as the sea is a great deal larger than the earth, so there are a greater number of them, and of vaster extent. They are divided into provinces, and in every province there are several great cities, well peopled; and, in short, there are an infinite number of nations, differing in manners and customs, as well as upon the earth.
The palaces of the kings and princes are very sumptuous and magnificent. There are some of them of marble of various colours; others of rock-crystal, mother-of-pearl, coral, and of other materials more valuable; gold, silver, and all sorts of precious stones, are more plentiful there than with you. I say nothing of the pearls, since the largest that ever was seen upon the earth would not be valuable amongst us; and none but the very lowest rank of citizens would wear them.
As we have a marvellous and almost incredible agility of transporting ourselves whither we please in the twinkling of an eye, so we have no occasion for any coaches or horses: not but that every king has his stables, and his breed of sea-horses; but they seldom make use of them, but upon public feasts and rejoicing days. After they have been well managed, they set riders upon their backs, who show their skill and dexterity in the art of riding: others are put to chariots of mother-of-pearl, adorned with an infinite number of shells of all sorts, of the liveliest colours in the world. These chariots are open; and in the middle there is a throne on which the king sits, and exposes himself to the public view of his subjects. The horses are trained up to draw by themselves, so that there is no occasion for a coachman to guide them. I pass over a thousand other particulars relating to these sea-countries, full of wonder and curiosity, which would be very entertaining to your majesty; but I believe, sir, you will be pleased I should defer it, to speak of something of much greater consequence; which is, that the method of delivering, and the way of managing the women of the sea in their lying-in, is quite different from those of the women of the earth; and I am afraid to trust myself in the hands of the midwives of this country. Therefore, sir, since my safe delivery is a thing which equally concerns us both, with your majesty’s permission, I think it proper to send for my mother and my cousins to assist at my labour; at the same time to desire my brother’s company, to whom I have a great desire to be reconciled. They will be very glad to see me again, after I have related my story to them, and when they understand that I am wife to the mighty king of Persia. I beseech your majesty to give me leave to send for them: I am sure they will be proud to pay their respects to you; and I dare say you will be extremely pleased to see them.
Madam, said the king of Persia, you are mistress, and so do whatever you please; I will endeavour to receive them with all the honours they deserve. But I would fain know how you would acquaint them with what you desire, and when they will arrive; that I may make some preparation for their reception, and go myself in person to meet them.
Sir, replied the queen Gulnare, there is no need of any of these ceremonies; they will be here in a moment: and if your majesty will be pleased but to step into the closet and look through the lattice, you shall see the manner of their arrival.
As soon as the king of Persia was gone into the closet, the queen Gulnare ordered one of her women to bring her a perfuming-pan, with a little fire in it. After that, she bade her retire, and shut the door. When she was alone, she took a little piece of aloes out of a box, and put it into the perfuming-pan. As soon as she saw the smoke arise, she repeated some mystical words, utterly unknown to the king of Persia, who observed with great attention what she was doing. She had no sooner ended her charm, than the sea began to be disturbed. The closet that the king was in was so contrived, that looking through the lattice, on the same side with the windows that faced the sea, he could plainly perceive it.
In short, the sea opened at some distance; presently there appeared a tall handsome young man, with whiskers of a sea-green colour; a little behind him, a lady well in years, but of a stately majestic air, attended by five young ladies, nothing inferior in beauty to queen Gulnare.
The queen Gulnare immediately came to one of the windows, and saw the king her brother, the queen her mother, and the rest of her relations, who at the same time perceived her also. The company came forward, not walking, but carried, as it were, upon the surface of the waves. When they came to the brink of the sea, they nimbly, one after another, leaped in at the window, from whence the queen Gulnare was retired, to make room for them. The king Saleh, the queen her mother, and the rest of her relations, embraced her tenderly, with tears in their eyes, upon their first entrance.
After the queen Gulnare had received them with all the honour imaginable, and placed them upon a sofa, the queen her mother addressed herself to her after a very tender manner. Daughter, said she, I am overjoyed to see you again, after so long an absence; and I am confident that your brother and your relations are no less so than I. Your leaving us, without acquainting any body with it, put us into an inexpressible concern; and it is impossible to tell you how many tears we have shed upon that account. We know of no other reason that could induce you to take such a surprising resolution, but the discourse that passed between your brother and you, of which he afterwards informed me. The advice he gave you seemed very advantageous to him at that time, for settling you handsomely in the world; and was then very suitable to the posture of our affairs. However, if you had not approved of his proposals, you ought not to have been so much alarmed; and give me leave to tell you, you took the thing quite otherwise than you ought to have done. But no more of this discourse, which serves only to renew the occasion of our sorrows and complaints, that we and you ought to bury for ever in oblivion. Give us now a relation of all that has happened to you since you left us, and also an account of the present circumstances you are in; but especially let us know if you are pleased and contented.