I have but one thing more to recommend to
you; and that is, if you should ever happen to part with the mare,
be sure not to give up the bridle.' King Beder promised to remember
it; and having taken leave of the good old man, he departed.
The young King of Persia no sooner got out of the city, than he
began to reflect with joy on the deliverance he had had, and that
he had the sorceress in his power, who had given him so much cause
to tremble. Three days after he arrived at a great city, where,
entering the suburbs, he met a venerable old man. 'Sir,' said the
old man, stopping him, 'may I presume to ask from what part of the
world you come?' The king stopped to tell him, and as they were
discoursing together, an old woman came up; who, stopping likewise,
wept and sighed bitterly at the sight of the mare.
King Beder and the old man left off discoursing, to look at the old
woman, whom the king asked what cause she had to lament so much,
'Alas! sir,' replied she, 'it is because your mare resembles so
perfectly one my son had, which I still mourn the loss of on his
account. I should think yours were the same, did I not know she was
dead. Sell her to me, I beseech you: I will give you more than she
is worth, and thank you too.
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