Upon which, turning to me,
And thou, said he, dost thou hot know her?
I should have been the most ungrateful wretch, and the most
perfidious of all mankind, if I had not shown myself as faithful
to the princess as she was to me, who had been the cause of her
misfortunes. Therefore I answered the genie, How should I know
her, that never saw her till now? If that be so, said he, take
the scimitar and cut off her head. On this condition I will set
thee at liberty, for then I will be convinced that thou never saw
her till this very moment, as thou sayest thyself. With all my
heart, replied I, and took the scimitar in my hand.
Do not think, madam, that I drew near to the fair princess of the
isle of Ebone, to be the executioner of the genie's barbarity; I
did it only to demonstrate by my behaviour, as much as possible,
that as she had shown her resolution to sacrifice her life for my
sake, so I would not refuse to sacrifice mine for her's. The
princess, notwithstanding her pain and suffering, understood my
meaning, which she signified by an obliging look, and made me
understand her willingness to die for me; and that she was
satisfied to see also how willing I was to die for her. Upon this
I stepped back, and threw the scimitar on the ground. I shall for
ever, says I to the genie, be hateful to all mankind, should I be
so base as to murder, I do not only say a person whom I do not
know, but also a lady like this, who is ready to give up the
ghost; do with me what you please since I am in your power; I
cannot obey your barbarous commands.
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