mp and magnificence
never yet beheld; which will plainly shew that you are my queen
and my lawful wife. This should long ago have been done, had you
sooner convinced me of my error: for from the first moment of my
seeing you, I have been of the same opinion as now, to love you
always, and never to place my affections on any other.

"But that I may satisfy myself, and pay you all the respect that
is your due, I beseech you, madam, to inform me more particularly
of the kingdom and people of the sea, who are altogether unknown
to me. I have heard much talk, indeed, of the inhabitants of the
sea, but I always looked upon such accounts merely as tales or
fables; by what you have told me, I am convinced there is nothing
more true; and I have a proof of it in your own person, who are
one of them, and are pleased to condescend to be my wife; which
is an honour no other inhabitant on the earth can boast. There is
one point however which yet perplexes me; therefore I must beg
the favour of you to explain it; that is, I cannot comprehend how
it is possible for you to live or move in water without being
drowned. There are few amongst us who have the art of staying
under water; and they would surely perish, if, after a certain
time, according to their activity and strength, they did not come
up again."

"Sire," replied the Queen Gulnare, "I shall with pleasure satisfy
the king of Persia. We can walk at the bottom of the sea with as
much ease as you can upon land; and we can breathe in the water
as you do in the air; so that instead of suffocating us, as it
does you, it absolutely contributes to the preservation of our
lives. What is yet more remarkable is, that it never wets our
clothes; so that when we wish to visit the earth, we have no
occasion to dry them. Our language is the same with that of the
writing engraved upon the seal of the great prophet Solomon the
son of David.

"I must not forget to inform you further, that the water does not
in the least hinder us from seeing: for we can open our eyes
without any inconvenience: and as we have quick, piercing sight,
we can discern any objects as clearly in the deepest part of the
sea as upon land. We have also there a succession of day and
night; the moon affords us her light; and even the planets and
the stars appear visible to us. I have already spoken of our
kingdoms; but as the sea is much more spacious than the earth, so
there are a great number of them, and of great ext