Page:Narrative of the extraordinary adventures of four Russian sailors (1).pdf/21

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King and Fairy Ring
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he discovered so much wickedness and dissimulation, that he could no longer place confidence in any man, The more redoubted and powerful he grew, the less he was beloved; and he found, that even they to whom he had been most bountiful, had no gratitude nor affection toward him.

In this disconsolate condition, he resolved to search through the wide world, till he found a woman complete in beauty snd all good qualities, willing to be his wife; one who would love him, and study to make him happy. Long did he search in vain; and as he saw all without being seen, he discovered the hidden wiles and failings of the sex. He visited all the courts, where he found the ladies insincere, fond of admirers, and so enamoured with their own persons, that their hearts were not capable of entertaining any true love for a husband. He went likewise into all the private families; he found one was of an inconstant, volatile disposition; another was cunning and artful; a third haughty; a fourth capricious; almost all faithless, vain, and full of idolatry to their own charms.

Under these disappointments, he resolved to carry his inquiry through the lowest conditions of life. Whereupon, at last he found the daughter of a poor labourer, fair as the