ments to the queen, but she had already retired to her apartment. The king made him sit at the table with him, and, after dinner was over, prayed him to relate how the Princess Giauhara could have had the inhumanity to transform into a bird so amiable a prince as he was; and the King of Persia immediately told him. When he had done, the king, provoked at the proceeding of the princess, could not help blaming her. 'It was commendable,' said he, 'in the Princess of Samandal to feel hurt at the king her father's ill-treatment; but to carry her vengeance so far, and especially against a prince who was not guilty, was what she will never be able to justify herself for. But let us have done with this discourse, and tell me, I beseech you, in what I can further serve you.'
'Sir,' answered King Beder, 'my obligation to your majesty is so great, that I ought to remain with you all my life to testify my gratitude; but since your majesty sets no limits to your generosity, I entreat you to grant me one of your ships to transport me to Persia, where I fear my absence, which has been but too long, may have occasioned some disorder, and that the queen my mother, from whom I concealed my departure, may be dead of grief, under the uncertainty whether I am alive or dead.'
The king granted what he desired with the best grace imaginable, and immediately gave orders for equipping one of his largest ships, and the best sailer in his numerous fleet. The ship was soon furnished with all its crew, provisions, and ammunition; and as soon as the wind became fair, King Beder embarked, after having taken leave of the king, and thanked him for all his favours.
The ship sailed before the wind for ten days; on the eleventh day the wind changed, and becoming very violent, there followed a furious tempest. The ship was not only driven out of its course, but so violently tossed, that all its masts went by the board; and driving along at the pleasure of the wind, it at length struck against a rock and split open.
The greater part of the people were instantly drowned. Some few were saved by swimming, and others by getting on pieces of the wreck. King Beder was among the latter, and, after having been tossed about for some time by the waves and currents,
