'I can
assure you,' replied the lady, 'that this is but a small part of my
palace, and you will say so when you have seen all the apartments.'
Then she sat down on a sofa; and when the prince at her entreaty
had seated himself, she said, 'You are surprised, you say, that I
should know you, and not be known by you; but you will no longer be
surprised when I inform you who I am. You cannot be ignorant that
the world is inhabited by genies as well as men: I am the daughter
of one of the most powerful and distinguished of these genies, and
my name is Pari Banou: therefore I know you, the sultan your
father, the princes your brothers, and the Princess Nouronnihar. I
am no stranger to your love or your travels, of which I could tell
you all the circumstances, since it was I myself who exposed for
sale the artificial apple which you bought at Samarcand, the carpet
which Prince Houssain met with at Bisnagar, and the tube which
Prince Ali brought from Schiraz. This is sufficient to let you know
that I am not unacquainted with anything that relates to you. The
only thing I have to add is, that you seemed to me worthy of a
still better fortune than that of marrying the Princess
Nouronnihar.
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