'Her Majesty has expressed herself with infinite exactitude and with
condescending propriety,' said the chief minister.
The Queen was silent for a moment, thoughtful, and then waved gracefully
her hands; whereupon the chamber was immediately cleared. The princes,
instructed by Keferinis, alone remained, with the exception of the
minister, who, at the desire of his sovereign, now seated himself, but
not on the divan. He sat opposite to the Queen on the floor.
'Princes,' said the Queen, 'you are welcome to Gindarics, where nobody
ever comes. For we are people who wish neither to see nor to be seen. We
are not like other people, nor do we envy other people. I wish not for
the ships of the Queen of the English, and my subjects are content to
live as their fathers lived before them. Our mountains are wild and
barren; our vales require for their cultivation unceasing toil. We have
no gold or silver, no jewels; neither have we silk. But we have some
beautiful and consoling thoughts, and more than thoughts, which are
shared by all of us and open to all of us, and which only we can value
or comprehend. When Darkush, who dwells at Damascus, and was the servant
of my father, sent to us the ever-faithful messenger, and said that
there were princes who wished to confer with us, he knew well it was
vain to send here men who would talk of the English and the Egyptians,
of the Porte and of the nations of Fran-guestan.
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