Good woman, replied king Beder, I am heartily sorry I cannot comply with your request; my mare is not to be sold. Alas! sir, continued the old woman, do not refuse me this favour, for the love of God. I conjure you to do it out of pure charity, since my son and I shall certainly die with grief if you do not grant it. Good mother, replied the king, I would grant it with all my heart, if I was disposed to part with so good a beast; but if I were so disposed, I believe you would hardly give a thousand pieces of gold for her, which is the lowest price I shall ever put upon her. Why should I not give so much? replied the old woman: if that be the lowest price, you need only say you will take it, and I will fetch you the money. King Beder, seeing the old woman so poorly dressed, could not imagine she could find the money; therefore, to try her, he said, not thinking to part with his mare for all that, Go fetch me the money, and the mare is yours. The old woman immediately unloosed a purse she had fastened to her girdle, and desiring him to alight, bade him tell over the money: and, in case he found it came short of the sum demanded, her house was not far off, and she could quickly fetch the rest. The surprise king Beder was in at the sight of this purse was not small. Good woman, said he, do you not perceive I have bantered you all this while? I will assure you my mare is not to be sold. The old man, who had been witness to all that was said, now began to speak: Son, quoth he to king Beder, it is necessary you should know one thing, which I find you are ignorant of; and that is, that in this city it is not permitted any one to lie, on any account whatsoever, and that on pain of death: now, you having made this bargain with this old woman, you must not refuse her money, and delivering your mare according to the agreement; and this you had better do without any noise, than expose yourself to what may ensue. King Beder, sorely afflicted to find himself thus trapped by his rash proffer, was nevertheless forced to alight and perform his agreement. The old woman stood ready to seize the bridle; which when she had done, she immediately unbridled the mare, and taking some water in her hand from a spring that ran in the middle of the street, she threw it in the mare’s face, uttering these words: Daughter, quit that bestial form, and reassume thy own. The transformation was effected in a moment; and king Beder, who swooned as soon as he saw queen Labe appear, would have fallen to the ground, if the old man had not hindered him. The old woman, who was mother to queen Labe, and who had instructed her in all her magic, had no sooner embraced her daughter, than in an instant, she, by whistling, caused a genie to rise, of a gigantic form and stature: this genie immediately took king Beder on one shoulder, and the old woman with the magic queen on the other, and transported them in a few minutes to the palace of queen Labe, in the city of enchantments.