“How is that?” said Ciad.
She said: “A year ago I married Blue Gold, the son of the King of Africa, and on my marriage day he was carried away by force by Mountain of Fierceness, son of the King of Greece, and turned into a pigeon in the Eastern Skies. I have sat here for a year sending off these messengers to find him, but not one of them has come back.”
“I am very sorry for you,” said Ciad.
“And I am very sorry for you,” said Pearl Mouth.
“How is that?” said Ciad.
“Because my father, the King of Persia,” she said, “cannot be conquered by living man; so you can never force from him the bottle of loca and the Riches of the World.”
“Then I’ll die in trying,” said Ciad.
“Isn’t it better to get them and live ?” Pearl Mouth said.
“But I cannot do that,” Ciad said.
“If you are a very great hero there is just a chance for you,” said Pearl Mouth.