the Talisman © : Be 167
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notice myself that I was waiting for him, and waited a long time;
but as he did not come, and the wind was good, I was afraid of
losing it, and so set sail’

The princess answered, ‘No matter; bring them ashore; we
will make a bargain for them.’ ,

The captain sent his boat aboard, and in a little time it
returned with the pots of olives. The princess demanded how
much the fifty pots might be worth in the Isle of Ebony. «Sir,
said the captain, ‘the merchant is very poor, and your majesty
will do him a singular favour if you give him a thousand pieces
of silver.’

‘To satisfy him,’ replied the princess, ‘and because you tell
me he is poor, I will order you a thousand pieces of gold for him,
which do you take care to give him. The money was accordingly,
paid, and the pots carried to the palace in her presence.

Night was drawing on when the princess withdrew into the inner
palace, and went to the Princess Haiatalnefous’ apartment, ordering
the fifty pots of olives to be brought thither. She opened one,
to let the Princess Haiatalnefous taste them, and poured them into
a dish. Great was her’ astonishment when she found the olives
mingled with gold-dust. ‘What can this mean?’ said she, ‘it is
wonderful beyond comprehension.” ‘Her curiosity increasing, she
ordered Haiatalnefous’ women to open and empty all the pots
in her presence; and her wonder was still greater, when she saw
that the olives in all of them were mixed with gold-dust; but when
she saw her talisman drop out of that into which the prince had
put it, she was so surprised that she fainted away. The Princess
Haiatalnefous and her women restored the Princess Badoura by
throwing cold water on her face. When she recovered her senses,
she took the talisman and kissed it again and again; but not being
willing that the Princess Haiatalnefous’s women, who were ignorant
of her disguise, should hear what she said, she dismissed them.