The
officer related it to her majesty, and she came forthwith: but she
no sooner saw the bird, than she covered her face with her veil,
and would have retired. The king, surprised at her proceeding,
asked the reason of it.
'Sir,' answered the queen, 'your majesty will no longer be
surprised when you understand that this bird is not, as you take
it, a bird, but a man.'
'Madam,' said the king, more astonished than before, 'you are
making fun of me; you shall never persuade me that a bird can be a
man.'
'Sir,' replied the queen, 'far be it from me to make fun of your
majesty; nothing is more certain than what I have had the honour to
tell you. I can assure your majesty it is the King of Persia, named
Beder, son of the celebrated Gulnare, princess of one of the
largest kingdoms of the sea, nephew of Saleh, king of that kingdom,
and grandson of Queen Farasche, mother of Gulnare and Saleh; and it
was the Princess Giauhara, daughter of the King of Samandal, who
thus metamorphosed him into a bird.' That the king might no longer
doubt of what she affirmed, she told him the whole story, how and
for what reason the Princess Giauhara, had thus revenged herself
for the ill-treatment of King Saleh towards the king of Samandal,
her father.
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