From these commendations, which regarded only the wonderful conduct and surprising wit of king Beder, king Saleh came to speak of the perfections of his body, which he extolled after a mighty rate, as having nothing equal to them, either upon the earth, or the kingdoms under the waters, which he was well acquainted with. Sister, said he in an ecstasy, so beautiful as he is, and of such excellent endowments, I wonder you have not thought of marrying him ere this: if I mistake not, he is at present in his twentieth year, and at that age no prince ought to be suffered to be without a wife. I will think of a match for him myself, since you will not, and marry him to some princess of our lower world, that may be worthy of him. Brother, replied queen Gulnare, you call to my remembrance a thing, I must own, I have never thought of to this very moment. As he never discovered any inclination for marriage, I never thought of mentioning it to him; and I am glad you have now spoken of it to me. I like your proposing one of your princesses; and I desire you to name one who may be beautiful and well accomplished, that the king my son may be obliged to love her. I know one that will be proper, replied king Saleh, softly; but before I will tell you who she is, let us see if the king my nephew sleeps or not, and I will tell you afterwards why it is necessary we should take that precaution. Queen Gulnare then looked upon her son, and thought she had no reason to doubt but he was profoundly asleep, (king Beder nevertheless, very far from sleeping, redoubled his attention, as being unwilling to lose any thing the king his uncle said upon that subject.) There is no necessity for your speaking so low, said the queen to the king her brother; you may speak out with all freedom, without fear of being heard. It is by no means proper, replied king Saleh, that the king my nephew should as yet have any knowledge of what I am going to say. Love, you know, sometimes enters the ear; and it is not necessary he should love this lady I am about to name, after that sort: in short, I see many difficulties to surmount in this case, not on the lady’s part, as I hope, but on that of her father. I need only mention to you the princess Giahaure[2], and the king of Samarcand. How, brother, replied queen Gulnare, is not the princess Giahaure yet married? I remember to have seen her a little before I left your palace; she was then about eighteen months old, and surprisingly beautiful, and must needs be the wonder of the world, if her charms have increased equal with her years. The few years she is older than the king my son, ought not to hinder our doing our utmost to bring the match about. Let me know but the difficulties that are to be surmounted, and I will warrant we will do well enough.