The courtier did not fail to be at the vizier's at the appointed
hour; and Khacan, finding the lovely slave so much beyond his
expectation, immediately gave her the name of the Fair Persian.
As he had an infinite deal of wit and learning, he soon
perceived, by her conversation, that it was in vain to search any
further for a slave that surpassed her in any of those
qualifications required by the king, and therefore he asked the
courtier at what rate the Persian merchant valued her.
Sir, replied the courtier, he is a man of few words in
bargaining, and tells me, that the very lowest price he seeks for
her is ten thousand pieces of gold: he has also sworn to me,
that, without reckoning his pains and trouble from the time of
his first taking care of her, he has laid out pretty nearly that
sum upon her education, in masters to instruct and teach her,
besides clothes and maintenance; and as he always thought her fit
for a king, so from her infancy, in which he bought her, he has
not been sparing in any thing that might contribute towards
advancing her to that high honour. She plays upon all sorts of
instruments to perfection; she dances, sings, writes better than
the most celebrated authors, understands poetry, and, in short,
there are few books but what she has read: so that there never
was a slave of so great capacity.
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