Madam, replied king Beder, I can assure your majesty that I have not been under less disquiets on your account; but I could not refuse to stay a little longer than ordinary with an uncle who loves me so dearly, and had not seen me for so long a while. He would have kept me still longer, but I tore myself away from him to come and pay my vows where they are so much due. Of all the collations he prepared for me, I have only brought away this cake, which I desire your majesty to accept. King Beder had wrapped up one of the two cakes in a handkerchief very neatly, took it out, and presented it to the queen, saying, I beg your majesty to accept of it, though it be so inconsiderable a present.
I do accept of it with all my heart, replied the queen, receiving it, and will eat it cheerfully for yours and your good uncle’s sake: but before I taste of it, I desire you will eat a piece of mine, which I have made for you during your absence. Fair queen, answered king Beder, receiving it with great respect, such hands as your majesty’s can never make any thing but what is excellent; and the favour hereby done me will exact an eternal acknowledgment.
King Beder then substituted, in the place of the queen’s cake, the other which old Abdallah had given him, and having broken off a piece, he put it to his mouth, and cried, while he was eating, Ah! queen, I never tasted any thing so charming in my life. They being near a cascade, the sorceress seeing him swallow one bit of the cake, and ready to eat another, she took a little water in the palm of her hand, and throwing it on the king’s face, said, Wretch! quit that form of a man thou bearest, and take that of a vile horse, lame and blind.
These words not having the desired effect, the sorceress was strangely surprised to find king Beder still in the same form, and that he only started, being a little frightened. Blushes came suddenly into her cheeks; and as she saw that she had missed her aim, Dear Beder, cries she, this is nothing, recover thyself; I did not intend thee any harm; what I did, was only to see what thou wouldst say. I should be the most miserable and execrable of women, should I attempt aught against thy tranquillity; I do not only say, after all the oaths I made to the contrary, but even after so many testimonies of love as I have given thee.
Puissant queen, replied king Beder, however well satisfied I were, that what your majesty did was only to divert yourself, yet I could not help being a little frightened with the surprise. Also, what could hinder me from being a little moved at the pronouncing of such terrible words, as are capable of making so strange a transformation? But, madam, continued he, let us set aside this discourse; and since I have ate of your cake, I desire you would do me the like favour by tasting of mine.
Queen Labe, who could no better justify herself than by putting this confidence in the king of Persia, broke off a piece of his cake and ate it; which she had no sooner done, than she appeared much troubled, and remained, as it were, motionless. King Beder, seeing his time, took water out of the same basin she had done, and, throwing it in her face, cried, Abominable sorceress! quit that form of a woman, and be turned instantly into a mare.
The same instant queen Labe was transformed into a very beautiful mare; and she was so concerned to find herself in that condition, that she shed tears in great abundance, which perhaps no mare before had been ever known to do. She bowed her head with great obeisance to king Beder, thinking to move him to compassion; but, though he could have been so moved, it was absolutely out of his power to repair the damage he had done her. He led her then into the stable belonging to the palace, and put her into the hands of a groom, to bridle and saddle; but of all the bridles he tried upon her, not one would fit her. This made him cause two horses to be saddled, one for the groom and the other for himself; and the groom led the mare after him to old Abdallah’s.
Abdallah, seeing king Beder coming with the mare at a distance, doubted not but he had done what he advised him. Cursed sorceress! said he immediately to himself very joyfully. Heaven has at length punished thee as thou deservest. King Beder alighted at Abdallah’s door, and entered with him into the shop embracing and thanking him for all the signal services he had done him. He related to him the whole matter, with all its circumstances; and moreover told him, he could find no bridle fit for the mare. Abdallah found one that fitted exactly; and as soon as king Beder had sent back the groom, he said to him, My lord, you have no reason to stay any longer in this city; take the mare, mount her, and return to your kingdom. I have but one thing more to recommend to you; and that is, if ever you should happen to part with the mare, be sure to deliver her bridle. King Beder promised to observe all his commands, and this especially; and so, having taken leave of the good old man, he departed.
The young king of Persia no sooner got out of the city, than he began to reflect on the deliverance he had had, and to rejoice he had the sorceress in his power, who had given him so much cause to tremble. Three days after, he arrived at a great city, where, entering the suburbs, he met a venerable old man, walking on foot towards a pleasure-house he had hard by: Sir, said the old man to him, stopping, may I presume to ask from what part of the world you come? The king stopped to satisfy him; and, as they were discoursing together, an old woman chanced to come by, who, stopping likewise, wept and sighed bitterly at the sight of the mare.
King Beder and the old man left off discoursing, to look on the old woman, whom the king asked, whom she had to lament so much. Alas! sir, replied she, It is because your mare resembles so perfectly one my son had, and which I still mourn the loss of on this account, and should think yours were the same, did I not know she was dead. Sell her to me, sir, I beseech you, and I will give you even more than she is worth, for the sake of the person that once owned her likeness.