'
At this discourse the fair slave, who, according to her usual
custom, had hearkened to the king with downcast eyes, and had given
him cause to believe not only that she was dumb, but that she had
never laughed in her life, began to smile a little. The King of
Persia perceived it with a surprise that made him break forth into
an exclamation of joy; and no longer doubting but that she was
going to speak, he waited for that happy moment with an eagerness
and attention that cannot easily be expressed.
At last the fair slave, breaking her long-kept silence, thus
addressed herself to the king: 'Sire,' said she, 'I have so many
things to say to your majesty, that, having once broken silence, I
know not where to begin. However, in the first place, I think
myself in duty bound to thank you for all the favours and honours
you have been pleased to confer upon me, and to implore Heaven to
bless and prosper you, to prevent the wicked designs of your
enemies, and not to suffer you to die after hearing me speak, but
to grant you a long life. Had it never been my fortune to have
borne a child, I was resolved (I beg your majesty to pardon the
sincerity of my intention) never to have loved you, as well as to
have kept an eternal silence; but now I love you as I ought to do.
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