`` Try , '' said the dervish , `` by some means to get possession of them . '' ` The inn , though not on the direct road to Constantinople , was a favourite one with merchants , owing to the excellence of the food , and on our arrival we discovered at least six or eight other people who had stopped for refreshment . They greeted us politely , and we sat down to table together . ` In a short time the two men described by the dervish entered the room , and at a sign from him my sister made room at her side for one , while I did the same for the other . ` Now the dervish had happened to mention that `` their brother had danced . '' At the moment we paid no attention to this remark , but it came back to our minds now , and we determined that they should dance also . To accomplish this we used all our arts and very soon bent them to our wills , so that they could refuse us nothing . At the end of the day we remained possessors of the talismans and had left them to their fate , while the Prince and Thelamis fell more in love with us than ever , and declared that we were more lovely than any women in the world . ` The sun had set before we quitted the inn , and we had made no plans as to where we should go next , so we readily consented to the prince 's proposal that we should embark without delay for the Isle of Black Marble . What a place it was ! Rocks blacker than jet towered above its shores and shed thick darkness over the country . Our sailors had not been there before and were nearly as frightened as ourselves , but thanks to Thelamis , who undertook to be our pilot , we landed safely on the beach . ` When we had left the coast behind us , with its walls of jet , we entered a lovely country where the fields were greener , the streams clearer , and the sun brighter than anywhere else . The people crowded round to welcome their prince , whom they loved dearly , but they told him that the king was still full of rage at his son 's refusal to marry his cousin the Princess Okimpare , and also at his flight . Indeed , they all begged him not to visit the capital , as his life would hardly be safe . So , much as I should have enjoyed seeing the home of my beloved prince , I implored him to listen to this wise advice and to let us all go to Thelamis 's palace in the middle of a vast forest . ` To my sister and myself , who had been brought up in a cottage , this house of Thelamis 's seemed like fairyland . It was built of pink marble , so highly polished that the flowers and streams surrounding it were reflected as in a mirror . One set of rooms was furnished especially for me in yellow silk and silver , to suit my black hair . Fresh dresses were provided for us every day , and we had slaves to wait on us .
Ah , why could not this happiness have lasted XXXXX ever !
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