" Then the King's daughter wished to have them all brought; but he
said, "It would take many days, and so great is the quantity that your
palace has not halls enough in it to place them around." Then her
curiosity and desire were still more excited, and at last she said,
"Take me to the ship; I will go myself and look at your master's
treasure."
The faithful John conducted her to the ship with great joy, and the
King, when he beheld her, saw that her beauty was still greater than the
picture had represented, and thought nothing else but that his heart
would jump out of his mouth. Presently she stepped on board, and the
King conducted her below; but the faithful John remained on deck by the
steersman, and told him to unmoor the ship and put on all the sail he
could, that it might fly as a bird through the air. Meanwhile the King
showed the Princess all the golden treasures--the dishes, cups, bowls,
the birds, the wild and wonderful beasts. Many hours passed away while
she looked at everything, and in her joy she did not remark that the
ship sailed on and on. As soon as she had looked at the last, and
thanked the merchant, she wished to depart. But when she came on deck,
she perceived that they were upon the high sea, far from the shore, and
were hastening on with all sail. "Ah," she exclaimed in affright, "I am
betrayed; I am carried off and taken away in the power of a strange
merchant.
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