also a brother named Saleh, and my mother is of the women of the sea;
and I quarrelled with my brother, and swore that I would throw myself
into the hands of a man of the inhabitants of the land. Accordingly I
came forth from the sea, and sat upon the shore of an island in the
moonlight, and there passed by a man who took me and sold me to this man
from whom thou tookest me, and he was an excellent, virtuous man, a
person of religion and fidelity and kindness. But had not thy heart
loved me, and hadst thou not preferred me above all thy wives, I had not
remained with thee one hour; for I should have cast myself into the sea
from this window, and gone to my mother and my people. I was ashamed,
however, to go to them; for they would imagine evil of me, and would not
believe me, even though I should swear to them, were I to tell them that
a king had purchased me with his money, and chosen me in preference to
his other wives and all that his right hand possessed. This is my story,
and peace be on thee!" And when he heard her words, he thanked her, and
kissed her between the eyes, and said to her: "By Allah, O my mistress,
and light of my eyes, I cannot endure separation from thee for one hour;
and if thou quit me, I shall die instantly. How then shall the affair
be?" She answered: "O my master, the time of the birth is near, and my
family must come." "And how," said the king, "do they walk in the sea
without being wetted?" She answered: "We walk in the sea as ye walk upon
the land, through the influence of the names engraved upon the seal of
Solomon, the son of David, upon both of whom be peace! But, O King,
when my family and my brethren come, I will inform them that thou
boughtest me with thy money, and hast treated me with beneficence, and
it will be meet that thou confirm my assertion to them. They will also
see thy state with their eyes, and will know that thou art a king, the
son of a king." And thereupon the king said: "O my mistress, do what
seemeth fit to thee, and what thou wishest; for I will comply with thy
desire in all that thou wilt do." And the damsel said: "Know, O King of
the age, that we walk in the sea with our eyes open, and see what is in
it, and we see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the sky as on
the face of the earth, and this hurteth us not. Know also, that in the
sea are many peoples and various forms of all the kinds that are on the
land; and know, moreover, that all that is on the land,