So the rebel minister started, and entered the tent of the princess, and asked her to marry him. He found her seated by her three children, occupied in chasing away the mosquitoes. When the princess saw him enter her tent she asked him: "O my minister, what brings you to my tent at this hour in the middle of the night?"
The minister answered, "I have come to beg you to marry me."
The princess then said: "Is that what brings you here? And it was to you that the King intrusted me on account of your great age, and as if you were my father. It was in you that he put all his confidence that you would take us safely, me and my children, to my venerable father, King Haroun-er-Raschid. What must be your nature, that you should so betray his trust?"
The wretched minister replied: "If you refuse to marry me, I will kill your children."
"Never," said the princess, "never shall I consent to marry you. And if you kill my children, what can I do against the decree of God, save to invoke his name?"
The minister killed one of the children. When it was dead, he made the same demand on the princess for the second time, and she answered: "Never shall I consent to marry you."
The minister said: "If you refuse, I shall kill another of your children."
The Princess Djouher-Manikam answered: "If you slay my child, it is by the decree of God, and I submit to his will."
The minister killed the second child.
"No," repeated the princess. "Never shall I consent to wed you."