Saying this, the nurse went away and quickly returned; he desired me to come to the princess.  The moment I entered her apartment I was struck with amazement.  I could not tell where the door was, or where the walls, for they were covered with Aleppo mirrors, of the height of a man, all around, the frames of which were studded with diamonds and pearls.  The reflection of one fell on the other, and it appeared as if the whole room was inlaid with jewels.  At one end a parda was hung, behind which the princess sat.  The female servant seated herself close to the parda, and desired me to sit down also; then she began the following narrative, according to the princess’s commands—­“Hear, O intelligent youth!  The sultan of this country was a potent king; he had seven daughters born in his house.  One day, the king held a festival, and these seven daughters were standing before him [superbly dressed], with each sixteen jewels, twelve ornaments, and in every hair an elephant pearl.  Something came into the king’s mind, and he looked towards his daughters and said, ’If your father had not been a king, and you had been born in the house of some poor man, then who would have called you princesses?  Praise God that you are called princesses; all your good fortune depends on my life.’

“Six of his daughters being of one mind, replied, ’Whatever your majesty says, is true, and our happiness depends on your welfare alone.’  But the princess now present, though she was younger [than all her sisters], yet even in sense and judgment, even at that age, she was superior to them, all.  She stood silent, and did not join her sisters in the reply they made; for this reason, that to say so was impious.  The king looked towards her with anger, and said, ’Well, my lady, you say nothing; what is the cause of this?’ Then the princess, tying both her hands with a handkerchief, humbly replied, ’If your majesty will grant me safety [of my life], and pardon my presumption, then this humble slave will unfold the dictates of her heart.’  The king said, ‘Speak what thou hast to say.’  Then the princess said, ’Mighty king, you must have heard, that the voice of truth is bitter; for which reason, disregarding life at this moment, I presume to address your majesty; whatever the great Writer has written in [the book of] my destiny, no one can efface, and in no way can it be evaded.  “Whether you bruise your feet [by depending on your own exertions], or lay your head on the carpet [in prayer], your fate [written] on the forehead, whatever it be, shall come to pass.”

“’That Almighty Ruler, who has made you a king, He indeed also has made me a princess.  In the arsenal of his omnipotence, no one has power.  You are my sovereign and benefactor, and if I should apply the dust which lies under your auspicious feet, as a colyrium [for my eyes], then it would become me; but the destinies of every one are with every one.’  The king, on hearing this [speech], became angry; the reply displeased him highly, and he said with wrath, ’What great words issue from a little mouth!  Now let this be her punishment, that you strip off whatever jewels she has on her hands and feet, and let her be placed in a sedan-chair, and set down in such a wilderness, where no human traces can be found; then we shall see what is written in her destinies.’