{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_60889/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_60889","id":"gutenberg_60889","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60889","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Adventure","Category: Classics of Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Fairy tales","Tales -- Arab countries"],"text":"[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration: \u200f\u200f\u0644\u0627 \u0644\u0627\u0628\u0631\u0627\u0631 \u0643\u0644\u0651 \u0634\u064a \u062a\u0628\u0631\u200e\u200e]\n\n \u201cTO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARE PURE.\u201d\n (Puris omnia pura)\n\n \u2014_Arab Proverb._\n\n \u201cNiuna corrotta mente intese mai sanamente parole.\u201d\n\n \u2014\u201c_Decameron_\u201d\u2014_conclusion_.\n\n \u201cErubuit, posuitque meum Lucretia librum\n Sed coram Bruto. Brute! recede, leget.\u201d\n\n \u2014_Martial._\n\n \u201cMieulx est de ris que de larmes escripre,\n Pour ce que rire est le propre des hommes.\u201d\n\n \u2014RABELAIS.\n\n\u201cThe pleasure we derive from perusing the Thousand-and-One Stories makes\nus regret that we possess only a comparatively small part of these truly\nenchanting fictions.\u201d\n\n \u2014CRICHTON\u2019S \u201c_History of Arabia_.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n Supplemental\n Nights\n _TO THE BOOK OF THE_\n Thousand Nights and a Night\n _WITH NOTES ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND EXPLANATORY_\n VOLUME III.\n\n\n BY\n\n RICHARD F. BURTON\n\n[Illustration]\n\n PRINTED BY THE BURTON CLUB FOR PRIVATE SUBSCRIBERS ONLY\n\n\n\n\n Shammar Edition\n\nLimited to one thousand numbered sets, of which this is\n\n Number ____\n\n\n PRINTED IN U. S. A.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n TO\n\n HENRY EDWARD JOHN, LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY,\n\n THIS\n\n THE MOST INNOCENT VOLUME OF THE NIGHTS\n\n IS INSCRIBED BY HIS OLD COMPANION,\n\n THE AUTHOR.\n\n\n\n\n FOREWORD.\n\n\nThe peculiar proceedings of the Curators, Bodleian Library, Oxford, of\nwhich full particulars shall be given in due time, have dislocated the\norder of my volumes. The Prospectus had promised that Tome III. should\ncontain detached extracts from the MS. known as the Wortley-Montague,\nand that No. IV. and part of No. V. should comprise a reproduction of\nthe ten Tales (or eleven, including \u201cThe Princess of Dary\u00e1b\u00e1r\u201d), which\nhave so long been generally attributed to Professor Galland.\nCircumstances, however, wholly beyond my control have now compelled me\nto devote the whole of this volume to the Frenchman\u2019s stories.\n\nIt will hardly be doubted that for a complete receuil of The Nights a\nretranslation of the Gallandian _histoires_ is necessary. The learned\nProfessor Gustav Weil introduced them all, Germanised literally from the\nFrench, into the Dritter Band of his well-known version\u2014Tausend und eine\nNacht; and not a few readers of Mr. John Payne\u2019s admirable translation\n(the Villon) complained that they had bought it in order to see Ali\nBaba, Aladdin, and others translated into classical English and that\nthey much regretted the absence of their old favourites.\n\nBut the modus operandi was my prime difficulty. I disliked the idea of\nan unartistic break or change in the style, ever\n\n \u201cT\u00e2chant de rendre mien cet air d\u2019antiquit\u00e9,\u201d\n\nand I aimed at offering to my readers a homogeneous sequel. My first\nthought for securing uniformity of treatment was to render the French\ntext into Arabic, and then to retranslate it into English. This process,\nhowever, when tried was found wanting; so I made inquiries in all\ndirections for versions of the Gallandian histories which might have\nbeen published in Persian, Turkish, or Hindustani. Though assisted by\nthe Prince of London Bibliopoles, Bernard Quaritch, I long failed to\nfind my want: the vernaculars in Persian and Turkish are translated\ndirect from the Arabic texts, and all ignore the French stories. At last\na friend, Cameron MacDowell, himself well known to the world of letters,\nsent me from Bombay a quaint lithograph with quainter illustrations\nwhich contained all I required. This was a version of Tot\u00e1r\u00e1m Sh\u00e1y\u00e1n\n(No. III.), which introduced the whole of the Gallandian Tales: better\nstill, these were sufficiently orientalised and divested of their\ninordinate Gallicism, especially their longsome dialogue, by being\nconverted into Hindustani, the Urd\u00fa Zab\u00e1n (camp or court language) of\nUpper India and the Lingua Franca of the whole Peninsula.\n\nDuring one of my sundry visits to the British Museum, I was introduced\nby Mr. Alexander G. Ellis to Mr. James F. Blumhardt, of Cambridge, who\npointed out to me two other independent versions, one partly rhymed and\npartly in prose.\n\nThus far my work was done for me. Mr. Blumhardt, a practical orientalist\nand teacher of the modern Prakrit tongues, kindly undertook, at my\nrequest to english the Hindustani, collating, at the same time, the\nrival versions; and thus, at a moment when my health was at its worst,\nhe saved me all trouble and labour except that of impressing the manner\nwith my own sign manual, and of illustrating the text, where required,\nwith notes anthropological and other.\n\nMeanwhile, part of my plan was modified by a visit to Paris in early\n1887. At the Biblioth\u00e8que Nationale I had the pleasure of meeting M.\nHermann Zotenberg, keeper of Eastern manuscripts, an Orientalist of high\nand varied talents, and especially famous for his admirable _Chronique\nde Tabari_. Happily for me, he had lately purchased for the National\nLibrary, from a vendor who was utterly ignorant of its history, a MS.\ncopy of The Nights, containing the Arabic originals of Zayn al-Asnam and\nAlaeddin. The two volumes folio are numbered and docketed \u201cSuppl\u00e9ment\nArabe, Nos. 2522\u201323;\u201d they measure 31 cent. by 20; Vol. i. contains 411\nfolios (822 pages) and Vol. ii. 402 (pp. 804); each page numbers fifteen\nlines, and each _folio_ has its catchword. The paper is French, English\nand Dutch, with four to five different marks, such as G. Gautier; D. and\nC. Blaew; Pro Patri\u00e2 and others. The highly characteristic writing,\nwhich is the same throughout the two folios, is easily recognised as\nthat of Michel (Mikha\u00edl) Sabb\u00e1gh, the Syrian, author of the _Colombe\nMessag\u00e8re_, published in Paris A.D. 1805, and accompanied by a\ntranslation by the celebrated Silvestre de Sacy (Chrestomathie iii.\n365). This scribe also copied, about 1810, for the same Orientalist, the\nIkhw\u00e1n al-Saf\u00e1.\n\nI need say nothing more concerning this MS., which M. Zotenberg purposes\nto describe bibliographically in volume xxviii. of _Notices et extraits\ndes Manuscrits de la Biblioth\u00e8que nationale publi\u00e9s par l\u2019Acad\u00e9mie des\ninscriptions et belles lettres_. And there will be a tirage \u00e0 part of\n200\u2013300 copies entitled _Histoire d\u2019 \u2018Al\u00e1 al-D\u00een ou La Lampe\nMerveilleuse, Texte Arabe, publi\u00e9 par H. Zotenberg; Paris, Imprimerie\nNationale, 1888_; including a most important contribution:\u2014_Sur quelques\nManuscrits des Mille et une Nuits et la traduction de Galland_.[1]\n\nThe learned and genial author has favoured me with proof sheets of his\nlabours: it would be unfair to disclose the discoveries, such as the\nManuscript Journals in the Biblioth\u00e8que Nationale (Nos. 15277 to 15280),\nwhich the illustrious Galland kept regularly till the end of his life,\nand his conversations with \u201cM. Hanna, Maronite d\u2019Halep,\u201d alias Jean Dipi\n(Dippy, a corruption of Diab): suffice it to say that they cast a clear\nand wholly original light upon the provenance of eight of the Gallandian\nhistories. I can, however, promise to all \u201cAladdinists\u201d a rich harvest\nof facts which wholly displace those hitherto assumed to be factual. But\nfor the satisfaction of my readers I am compelled to quote the colophon\nof M. Zotenberg\u2019s great \u201cfind\u201d (vol. ii.), as it bears upon a highly\nimportant question.\n\n \u201cAnd the finishing thereof was during the first decade of Jam\u00e1di the\n Second, of the one thousand and one hundred and fifteenth year of\n the Hegirah (= A.D. 1703) by the transcription of the neediest of\n His slaves unto Almighty Allah, Ahmad bin Mohammed al-Tar\u00e1d\u00ed, in\n Baghdad City: he was a Sh\u00e1fi\u2019\u00ed of school, and a Mosuli by birth, and\n a Baghdadi by residence, and he wrote it for his own use, and upon\n it he imprinted his signet. So Allah save our lord Mohammed and his\n Kin and Companions and assain them! Kab\u00edkaj.\u201d[2]\n\nNow as this date corresponds with A.D. 1703, whereas Galland did not\nbegin publishing until 1704\u20131705, the original MS. of Ahmad al-Tar\u00e1d\u00ed\ncould not have been translated or adapted from the French; and although\nthe transcription by Mikhail Sabbagh, writing in 1805\u201310, may have\nintroduced modifications borrowed from Galland, yet the scrupulous\nfidelity of his copy, shown by sundry marginal and other notes, lays the\nsuspicion that changes of importance have been introduced by him.\nRemains now only to find the original codex of Al-Tar\u00e1d\u00ed.\n\nI have noticed in my translation sundry passages which appear to betray\nthe Christian hand; but these are mostly of scanty consequence in no\nwise affecting the genuineness of the text.\n\nThe history of Zayn al-Asnam was copied from the Sabb\u00e1gh MS. and sent to\nme by M. Houdas, _Professeur d\u2019Arabe vulgaire a l\u2019\u00c9cole des langues\norientales vivantes_; an Arabist, whose name is favourably quoted in the\nFrench Colonies of Northern Africa. M. Zotenberg kindly lent me his own\ntranscription of Alaeddin before sending it to print; and I can only\nregret that the dilatory proceedings of the Imprimerie Nationale, an\nestablishment supported by the State, and therefore ignoring the\ntrammels of private industry, have prevented my revising the version now\nsubmitted to the public. This volume then begins with the two Gallandian\nTales, \u201cZeyn Alasnam\u201d and \u201cAladdin,\u201d whose Arabic original was\ndiscovered by M. Zotenberg during the last year: although separated in\nthe French version, I have brought them together for the sake of\nuniformity. The other eight (or nine, including the Princess of\nDaryabar), entitled\n\n History of Khudadad and his Brothers, and the Princess of Daryabar;\n History of the Blind Man, Baba Abdullah;\n History of Sidi Nu\u2019uman;\n History of Khwajah Hasan al-Habbal;\n History of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves;\n History of Ali Khwajah and the Merchant of Baghdad;\n History of Prince Ahmad and the Fairy Peri-banu;\n History of the two Sisters who envied their Cadette;\n\nare borrowed mainly from the Indian version of Tot\u00e1r\u00e1m Sh\u00e1y\u00e1n.\n\nAnd here I must quote the bibliographical notices concerning the sundry\nversions into Urdu or Hindustani which have been drawn up with great\ndiligence by Mr. Blumhardt.\n\n \u201cThe earliest attempt to translate the Arabian Nights was made by\n Munshi Shams al-D\u00edn Ahmad Shirw\u00e1ni. A prose version of the first two\n hundred Nights made by him \u2018for the use of the College at Fort St.\n George\u2019 was lithographed at Madras in the year A.H. 1252 (A.D. 1836)\n and published in 8vo volumes (pp. 517, 426) under the title \u2018Hikayat\n ool jaleelah\u2019[3] (Hik\u00e1y\u00e1t al-Jal\u00edlah). The translation was made from\n an Arabic original but it does not appear what edition was made use\n of. The translator had intended to bring out a version of the entire\n work, but states in his preface that, being unable to procure the\n Arabic of the other Nights, he could not proceed with the\n translation, and had to be content to publish only two hundred\n nights. This version does not appear to have become popular, for no\n other edition seems to have been published. And the author must not\n be confounded with Shaykh Ahmad Shirw\u00e1ni, who, in A.D. 1814, printed\n an Arabic edition of the Arabian Nights Entertainments (Calcutta,\n Pereira) which also stopped at No. CC.\u201d\n\n \u201cThe next translation was made by Munshi \u2019Abd al-Kar\u00edm, likewise in\n prose. From the preface and colophon to this work it appears that\n \u2019Abd al-Kar\u00edm obtained a copy of Edward Foster\u2019s English version of\n the Arabian Nights, and after two years\u2019 labour completed a\n translation of the whole work in A.H. 1258 (A.D. 1842). It was\n lithographed at the Mustafai Press at K\u00e1np\u00fai (Cawnpore) in the year\n A.H. 1263 (A.D. 1847) and published in four vols., in two royal\n 8vos, lithographed; each containing two Jilds (or parts, pp. 276,\n 274; 214 and 195).\u201d\n\n \u201cA second edition appeared from the same press in A.H. 1270 (A.D.\n 1853) also in two vols. 8vo of two Jilds each (pp. 249, 245; 192,\n 176). Since then several other editions have been published at\n Cawnpore, at Lakhnau[4] and also at Bombay. This translation is\n written in an easy fluent style, omitting all coarseness of\n expression or objectionable passages, in language easily understood,\n and at the same time in good and elegant Hindustani. It is therefore\n extremely popular, and selections from the 4th Jild have been taken\n as text books for the Indian Civil Service examinations. A Romanized\n Urdu version of the first two Jilds according to Duncan Forbes\u2019\n system of transliteration, was made \u2018under the superintendence of T.\n W. H. Tolbort,\u2019 and published under the editorship of F. Pincott in\n London, by W. H. Allen and Co. in 1882.[5] There has been no attempt\n to divide this translation into Nights: there are headings to the\n several tales and nothing more. To supply this want, and also to\n furnish the public with a translation closer to the original, and\n one more intelligible to Eastern readers, and in accordance with\n oriental thought and feeling, a third translation was taken in hand\n by Tot\u00e1r\u00e1m Sh\u00e1y\u00e1n, at the instance of Nawal Kishore, the well-known\n bookseller and publisher of Lucknow. The first edition of this\n translation was lithographed at Lucknow in the year A.H. 1284 (A.D.\n 1868) and published in a 4to vol. of 1,080 pages under the title of\n Haz\u00e1r Dast\u00e1n.[6] Tot\u00e1r\u00e1m Sh\u00e1y\u00e1n has followed \u2019Abd al-Karim\u2019s\n arrangement of the whole work into four Jilds, each of which has a\n separate pagination (pp. 304, 320, 232, and 224). The third Jild has\n 251 Nights: the other three 250 each. The translation is virtually\n in prose, but it abounds in snatches of poetry, songs and couplets\n taken from the writings of Persian poets, and here and there a\n verse-rendering of bits of the story. This translation, though\n substantially agreeing in the main with that of \u2019Abd al-Karim, yet\n differs widely from it in the treatment. It is full of flowery\n metaphors and is written in a rich ornate style, full of Persian and\n Arabic words and idioms, which renders it far less easy to\n understand than the simple language of \u2019Abd al-Karim. Some passages\n have been considerably enlarged and sometimes contain quite\n different reading from that of \u2019Abd al-Karim, with occasional\n additional matter. In other places descriptions have been much\n curtailed so that although the thread of the story may be the same\n in both translations it is hard to believe that the two translators\n worked from the same version. Unfortunately Tot\u00e1r\u00e1m Sh\u00e1y\u00e1n makes no\n mention at all of the source whence he made his translation whether\n English or Arabic. This translation reached its fourth edition in\n 1883, and has been published with the addition of several badly\n executed full-page illustrations evidently taken from English\n prints.\u201d\n\n \u201cYet another translation of The Nights has been made into\n Hindustani, and this a versified paraphrase, the work of three\n authors whose takhallus or noms de plume, were as follows, \u201cNas\u00edm\u201d\n (Muhammad Asghar Ali Kh\u00e1n), translator of the first Jild, \u201cSh\u00e1y\u00e1n\u201d\n (Tot\u00e1r\u00e1m Sh\u00e1y\u00e1n), who undertook the second and third Jilds, and\n \u201cChaman\u201d (Sh\u00e1d\u00ed L\u00e1l) by whom the fourth and last Jild was\n translated. The work is complete in 1,244 pages 4to, and was\n lithographed at Lucknow; Jilds i.-iii. in A.H. 1278 (A.D. 1862) and\n Jild iv. in 1285 (A.D. 1869). This translation is also divided into\n Nights, differing slightly from the prose translation of Tot\u00e1r\u00e1m\n Sh\u00e1y\u00e1n, as the first Jild has 251 Nights and the others 250 each.\u201d\n\nAnd now I have only to end this necessarily diffuse Foreword with my\nsincerest thanks to Mr. E. J. W. Gibb who permitted me to print his\nversion of the Turkish Zayn al-Asnam; to Mr. Clouston, the Storiologist,\nwho has brought his wide experience of Folk-lore to bear upon the tales\nincluded in my Third Supplemental Volume; and to Dr. Steingass, who\nduring my absence from England kindly passed my proofs through the\npress.\n\n RICHARD F. BURTON.\n\n SAUERBRUNN-ROHITSCH, STYRIA.\n _Sept. 15, \u201987._\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS OF THE THIRD VOLUME.\n\n\n PAGE\n\n 1. THE TALE OF ZAYN AL-ASNAM 1\n\n _a._ THE TURKISH VERSION BY E. J. W. GIBB 39\n\n 2. ALAEDDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP 49\n\n _a._ THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF GALLAND 193\n\n 3. ADVENTURES OF KHUDADAD AND HIS BROTHERS 267\n\n _a._ HISTORY OF THE PRINCESS OF DARYABAR 281\n\n 4. HISTORY OF THE CALIPH\u2019S NIGHT ADVENTURE 307\n\n _a._ STORY OF THE BLIND MAN, BABA ABDULLAH 311\n\n _b._ HISTORY OF SIDI NU\u2019UMAN 325\n\n _c._ HISTORY OF KHWAJAH HASAN AL-HABBAL 341\n\n 5. STORY OF ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES 369\n\n 6. STORY OF ALI KHWAJAH AND THE MERCHANT OF BAGHDAD 405\n\n 7. ADVENTURES OF PRINCE AHMAD AND THE FAIRY PERIBANU 419\n\n 8. TALE OF THE TWO SISTERS WHO ENVIED THEIR CADETTE 491\n\n\n APPENDIX: VARIANTS AND ANALOGUES\n\n OF THE TALES IN THE SUPPLEMENTAL NIGHTS, VOL. III.\n\n BY W. A. CLOUSTON.\n\n PAGE\n\n THE TALE OF ZAYN AL-ASNAM 553\n\n ALADDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP 564\n\n KHUDADAD AND HIS BROTHERS 576\n\n THE STORY OF THE BLIND MAN, BABA ABDULLAH 582\n\n HISTORY OF SIDI NU\u2019UMAN 585\n\n HISTORY OF KHWAJAH HASAN AL-HABBAL 587\n\n ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES 590\n\n ALI KHWAJAH AND THE MERCHANT OF BAGHDAD 596\n\n PRINCE ADMAD AND THE PERI BANU 600\n\n THE TWO SISTERS WHO ENVIED THEIR CADETTE 617\n\n ADDITIONAL NOTES:\u2014\n THE TALE OF ZAYN AL-ASNAM 649\n ALADDIN; OR THE WONDERFUL LAMP 650\n ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES 650\n THE TALE OF PRINCE AHMAD 652\n\n\n\n\n THE TALE OF ZAYN AL-ASNAM.\n (_ARABIC._)\n\n\n Now when it was the Four Hundred and Ninety-seventh Night,[7]\n\nQuoth Duny\u00e1z\u00e1d, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, tell us\none of thy fair tales, so therewith we may cut short the waking hours of\nthis our night;\u201d and quoth the King, \u201cLet it be\n\n\n _THE TALE OF ZAYN AL-ASNAM._\u201d[8]\n\nShahr\u00e1z\u00e1d replied:\u2014\u2014With love and good will! It hath reached me, O King\nof the Age, that in Bassorah-city[9] reigned a puissant Sultan, who was\nopulent exceedingly and who owned all the goods of life; but he lacked a\nchild which might inherit his wealth and dominion. So, being sorely\nsorrowful on this account, he arose and fell to doing abundant\nalms-deeds to Fak\u00edrs and the common poor, to the Hallows and other holy\nmen and prayed their recourse to Allah Almighty, in order that the Lord\n(to whom belong Might and Majesty!) might of His grace bless him with\nissue. And the Compassionate accepted his prayer for his alms to the\nReligious and deigned grant his petition; and one night of the nights\nafter he lay with the Queen she went away from him with child. Now as\nsoon as the Sultan heard of the conception he rejoiced with exceeding\ngreat joyance, and when the days of delivery near drew he gathered\ntogether all the astrologers and sages who strike the sand-board,[10]\nand said to them, \u201c\u2019Tis our desire that ye disclose and acquaint us\nanent the birth which is to be born during the present month whether it\nshall be male or female, and what shall befal it from the shifts of\nTime, and what shall proceed from it.\u201d Thereupon the geomantists struck\ntheir sand-boards and the astrophils ascertained their ascendants and\nthey drew the horoscope of the babe unborn, and said to the sovran, \u201cO\nKing of the Age and Lord of the Time and the Tide, verily the child to\nwhich the Queen shall presently give birth will be a boy and \u2019twill be\nright for thee to name him Zayn al-Asn\u00e1m\u2014Zayn of the Images.\u201d Then spake\nthe geomantists, saying, \u201cKnow then, Ho thou the King, that this little\none shall approve him when grown to man\u2019s estate valiant and\nintelligent; but his days shall happen upon sundry troubles and\ntravails, and yet if he doughtily fight against all occurrence he shall\nbecome the most opulent of the Kings of the World.\u201d Exclaimed the\nSultan, \u201cAn the child approve himself valorous, as ye have announced,\nthen the toil and moil which shall be his lot may be held for naught,\ninasmuch as calamities but train and strengthen the sons of the\nKings.\u201d[11] Shortly after this the Queen gave birth to a man-child, and\nGlory be to Him who fashioned the babe with such peerless beauty and\nloveliness! The King named his son Zayn al-Asnam, and presently he\nbecame even as the poets sang of one of his fellows in semblance:\u2014\n\n He showed; and they cried, \u201cBe Allah blest!\u201d \u273f And who made him and\n formed him His might attest!\n This be surely the lord of all loveliness; \u273f And all others his lieges\n and thralls be confest.\n\nThen Zayn al-Asnam grew up and increased until his age attained its\nfifteenth year, when his sire the Sultan appointed for him an\nexperienced governor, one versed in all the sciences and\nphilosophies;[12] who fell to instructing him till such times as he\nwaxed familiar with every branch of knowledge, and in due season he\nbecame an adult. Thereupon the Sultan bade summon his son and heir to\nthe presence together with the Lords of his land and the Notables of his\nlieges and addressed him before them with excellent counsel saying, \u201cO\nmy son, O Zayn al-Asnam, seeing that I be shotten in years and at the\npresent time sick of a sickness which haply shall end my days in this\nworld and which anon shall seat thee in my stead, therefore, I bequeath\nunto thee the following charge. Beware, O my son, lest thou wrong any\nman, and incline not to cause the poor complain; but do justice to the\ninjured after the measure of thy might. Furthermore, have a care lest\nthou trust to every word spoken to thee by the Great; but rather lend\nthou ever an ear unto the voice of the general; for that thy Grandees\nwill betray thee as they seek only whatso suiteth them, not that which\nsuiteth thy subjects.\u201d A few days after this time the old Sultan\u2019s\ndistemper increased and his life-term was fulfilled and he died;\nwhereupon his son, Zayn al-Asnam, arose and donned mourning-dress for\nhis father during six days; and on the seventh he went forth to the\nDivan and took seat upon the throne of his Sultanate. He also held a\nlev\u00e9e wherein were assembled all the defenders of the realm, and the\nMinisters and the Lords of the land came forward and condoled with him\nfor the loss of his parent and wished him all good fortune and gave him\njoy of his kingship and dominion and prayed for his endurance in honour\nand his permanence in prosperity.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the\ndawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Four Hundred and Ninety-eighth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, tell us\none of thy fair tales, so therewith we may cut short the waking hours of\nthis our night;\u201d and quoth Shahrazad:\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the\nAge, that Zayn al-Asnam seeing himself in this high honour and\nopulence[13] and he young in years and void of experience, straightway\ninclined unto lavish expenditure and commerce with the younglings, who\nwere like him and fell to wasting immense wealth upon his pleasures; and\nneglected his government, nor paid aught of regard to his subjects.[14]\nThereupon the Queen-mother began to counsel him, and forbid him from\nsuch ill courses, advising him to abandon his perverse inclinations and\napply his mind to rule and commandment, and to further the policy of his\nkingdom, lest the lieges repudiate him and rise up against him and\ndepose him. But he would on no wise hearken to a single of her words and\npersisted in his ignorant folly; whereat the folk murmured, inasmuch as\nthe Lords of the land had put forth their hands to tyranny and\noppression when they saw the King lacking in regard for his Ryots. And\npresently the commons rose up against Zayn al-Asnam and would have dealt\nharshly with him had not his mother been a woman of wits and wisdom and\ncontrivance, dearly loved of the general. So she directed the\nmalcontents aright and promised them every good: then she summoned her\nson Zayn al-Asnam and said to him, \u201cBehold, O my child, that which I\nforetold for thee, to wit that thou wastest thy realm and lavishest thy\nlife to boot by persevering in what ignorance thou art; for that thou\nhast placed the governance of thy Kingdom in the hands of inexperienced\nyouth and hast neglected the elders and hast dissipated thy moneys and\nthe moneys of the monarchy, and thou hast lavished all thy treasure upon\nwilfulness and carnal pleasuring.\u201d Zayn al-Asnam, awaking from the\nslumber of negligence, forthright accepted his mother\u2019s counsel and,\nfaring forth at once to the D\u00edw\u00e1n,[15] he entrusted the management of\nthe monarchy to certain old officers, men of intelligence and\nexperience. But he acted on this wise only after Bassorah-town was\nruined, inasmuch as he had not turned away from his ignorant folly\nbefore he had wasted and spoiled all the wealth of the Sultanate, and he\nhad become utterly impoverished. Thereupon the Prince fell to repenting\nand regretting that which had been done by him, until the repose of\nsleep was destroyed for him and he shunned meat and drink; nor did this\ncease until one night of the nights which had sped in such grief and\nthoughtfulness and vain regret until dawn drew nigh and his eyelids\nclosed for a little while. Then an old and venerable Shaykh appeared to\nhim in vision[16] and said to him, \u201cO Zayn al-Asnam, sorrow not; for\nafter sorrow however sore cometh naught but joyance; and, would\u2019st thou\nwin free of this woe, up and hie thee to Egypt where thou shalt find\nhoards of wealth which shall replace whatso thou hast wasted and will\ndouble it more than twofold.\u201d Now when the Prince was aroused from his\nsleep he recounted to his mother all he had seen in his dream; but his\nparent began to laugh at him, and he said to her, \u201cMock me not: there is\nno help but that I wend Egypt-wards.\u201d Rejoined she, \u201cO my son, believe\nnot in swevens which be mere imbroglios of sleep and lying phantasies;\u201d\nand he retorted saying, \u201cIn very sooth my vision is true and the man\nwhom I saw therein is of the Saints of Allah and his words are\nveridical.\u201d Then on a night of the nights mounting horse alone and\nprivily, he abandoned his Kingdom and took the highway to Egypt; and he\nrode day and night until he reached Cairo-city. He entered it and saw it\nto be a mighty fine capital; then, tethering his steed he found shelter\nin one of its Cathedral-mosques, and he worn out by weariness; however,\nwhen he had rested a little he fared forth and bought himself somewhat\nof food. After eating, his excessive fatigue caused him fall asleep in\nthe mosque; nor had he slept long ere the Shaykh[17] appeared to him a\nsecond time in vision and said to him, \u201cO Zayn al-Asnam,\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nwas surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Ninety-ninth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, tell us\none of thy fair tales, so therewith we may cut short the waking hours of\nthis our night,\u201d and quoth Shahrazad:\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the\nAge, that the Shaykh again appeared to the Prince in a vision and said\nto him, \u201cO Zayn al-Asnam, thou hast obeyed me in whatso I bade thee and\nI only made trial of thee to test an thou be valiant or a craven. But\nnow I wot thy worth, inasmuch as thou hast accepted my words and thou\nhast acted upon my advice: so do thou return straightway to thy capital\nand I will make thee a wealthy ruler, such an one that neither before\nthee was any king like unto thee nor shall any like unto thee come after\nthee.\u201d Hereat Zayn al-Asnam awoke and cried, \u201cBismillah,\u2014in the name of\nAllah, the Compassionating, the Compassionate\u2014what be this Shaykh who\nverily persecuted me until I travelled to Cairo; and I having faith in\nhim and holding that he was either the Apostle (whom Allah save and\nassain!) or one of the righteous Hallows of God; and there is no Majesty\nand there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! By the\nLord, but I did right well in not relating my dream to any save to my\nmother and in warning none of my departure. I had full faith in this\noldster; but now, meseemeth, the man is not of those who know the Truth\n(be He extolled and exalted!); so by Allah I will cast off all\nconfidence in this Shaykh and his doings.\u201d With this resolve the Prince\nslept that night in the Mosque and on the morrow took horse and after a\nfew days of strenuous travel arrived at his capital Bassorah. Herein he\nentered by night, and forthright went in to his mother who asked him,\n\u201cSay me, hast thou won aught of whatso the Shaykh promised thee?\u201d and he\nanswered her by acquainting her with all his adventure. Then she applied\nher to consoling and comforting him, saying, \u201cGrieve not, O my son; if\nAlmighty Allah have apportioned unto thee aught thou shalt obtain it\nwithout toil and travail.[18] But I would see thee wax sensible and\nwise, abandoning all these courses which have landed thee in poverty, O\nmy son; and shunning songstresses and commune with the inexperienced and\nthe society of loose livers, male and female. All such pleasures as\nthese are for the sons of the ne\u2019er-do-well, not for the scions of the\nKings thy peers.\u201d Herewith Zayn al-Asnam sware an oath to bear in mind\nall she might say to him, never to gainsay her commandments, nor deviate\nfrom them a single hair\u2019s breadth; to abandon all she should forbid him,\nand to fix his thoughts upon rule and governance. Then he addrest\nhimself to sleep, and as he slumbered, the Shaykh appeared to him a\nthird time in vision, and said, \u201cO Zayn al-Asnam, O thou valorous\nPrince; this very day, as soon as thou shalt have shaken off thy\ndrowsiness, I will fulfil my covenant with thee. So take with thee a\npickaxe, and hie to such a palace of thy sire, and turn up the ground,\nsearching it well in such a place where thou wilt find that which shall\nenrich thee.\u201d As soon as the Prince awoke, he hastened to his mother in\nhuge joy and told her his tale; but she fell again to laughing at him,\nand saying, \u201cO my child, indeed this old man maketh mock of thee and\nnaught else; so get thyself clear of him.\u201d But Zayn al-Asnam replied, \u201cO\nmother mine, verily this Shaykh is soothfast and no liar: for the first\ntime he but tried me and now he proposeth to perform his promise.\u201d\nWhereto his mother, \u201cAt all events, the work is not wearisome; so do\nthou whatso thou willest even as he bade thee. Make the trial and\nInshallah\u2014God willing\u2014return to me rejoicing; yet sore I fear lest thou\ncome back to me and say:\u2014Sooth thou hast spoken in thy speech, O my\nmother!\u201d However Zayn al-Asnam took up a pickaxe and, descending to that\npart of the palace where his sire lay entombed, began to dig and to\ndelve; nor had he worked a long while[19] ere, lo and behold! there\nappeared to him a ring bedded in a marble slab. He removed the stone and\nsaw a ladder-like flight of steps whereby he descended until he found a\nhuge souterrain all pillar\u2019d and propped with columns of marble and\nalabaster. And when he entered the inner recesses he saw within the\ncave-like souterrain a pavilion which bewildered his wits, and inside\nthe same stood eight jars[20] of green jasper. So he said in his mind,\n\u201cWhat may be these jars and what may be stored therein?\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nwas surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the full Five Hundredth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, tell us\none of thy fair tales, so therewith we may cut short the waking hours of\nthis our night,\u201d and quoth Shahrazad:\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the\nAge, that when Zayn al-Asnam saw the jars, he came forwards and\nunlidding them found each and every full of antique[21] golden pieces;\nso he hent a few in hand and going to his mother gave of them to her\nsaying, \u201cHast thou seen, O my mother?\u201d She marvelled at the matter and\nmade answer, \u201cBeware, O my son, of wasting this wealth as thou\ndissipatest other aforetime;\u201d whereupon her son sware to her an oath\nsaying, \u201cHave no care, O my mother, nor be thy heart other than good\nbefore me; and I desire that thou also find satisfaction in mine\nactions.\u201d Presently she arose and went forth with him, and the twain\ndescended into the cavern-like souterrain and entered the pavilion,\nwhere the Queen saw that which wildereth the wits; and she made sure\nwith her own eyes that the jars were full of gold. But while they\nenjoyed the spectacle of the treasure behold, they caught sight of a\nsmaller jar wondrously wrought in green jasper; so Zayn al-Asnam opened\nit and found therein a golden key; whereupon quoth the Queen-mother, \u201cO\nmy son, needs must this key have some door which it unlocketh.\u201d\nAccordingly they sought all about the souterrain and the pavilion to\nfind if there be a door or aught like thereto, and presently, seeing a\nwooden lock fast barred, they knew wherefor the key was intended.\nPresently the Prince applied it and opened the lock, whereupon the door\nof a palace gave admittance, and when the twain entered they found it\nmore spacious than the first pavilion and all illumined with a light\nwhich dazed the sight; yet not a wax-candle lit it up nor indeed was\nthere a recess for lamps. Hereat they marvelled and meditated and\npresently they discovered eight images[22] of precious stones, all\nseated upon as many golden thrones, and each and every was cut of one\nsolid piece; and all the stones were pure and of the finest water and\nmost precious of price. Zayn al-Asnam was confounded hereat and said to\nhis mother, \u201cWhence could my sire have obtained all these rare things?\u201d\nAnd the twain took their pleasure in gazing at them and considering them\nand both wondered to see a ninth throne unoccupied, when the Queen\nespied a silken hanging whereon was inscribed:\u2014O my son, marvel not at\nthis mighty wealth which I have acquired by sore stress and striving\ntravail. But learn also that there existeth a Ninth Statue whose value\nis twenty-fold greater than these thou seest and, if thou would win it,\nhie thee again to Cairo-city. There thou shalt find a whilome slave of\nmine Mub\u00e1rak[23] hight and he will take thee and guide thee to the\nStatue; and \u2019twill be easy to find him on entering Cairo: the first\nperson thou shalt accost will point out the house to thee, for that\nMubarak is known throughout the place. When Zayn al-Asnam had read this\nwrit he cried, \u201cO my mother, \u2019tis again my desire to wend my way\nCairo-wards and seek out this image; so do thou say how seest thou my\nvision, fact or fiction, after thou assurest me saying:\u2014This be an\nimbroglio of sleep? However, at all events, O my mother, now there is no\nhelp for it but that I travel once more to Cairo.\u201d Replied she, \u201cO my\nchild, seeing that thou be under the protection of the Apostle of Allah\n(whom may He save and assain!) so do thou fare in safety, while I and\nthy Wazir will order thy reign in thine absence till such time as thou\nshalt return.\u201d Accordingly the Prince went forth and gat him ready and\nrode on till he reached Cairo where he asked for Mubarak\u2019s house. The\nfolk answered him saying, \u201cO my lord, this be a man than whom none is\nwealthier or greater in boon deeds and bounties, and his home is ever\nopen to the stranger.\u201d Then they showed him the way and he followed it\ntill he came to Mubarak\u2019s mansion where he knocked at the door and a\nslave of the black slaves opened to him.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by\nthe dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and First Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, tell us\none of thy fair tales, so therewith we may cut short the waking hours of\nthis our night;\u201d and quoth Shahrazad:\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the\nAge, that Zayn al-Asnam knocked at the door when a slave of Mubarak\u2019s\nblack slaves came out to him and opening asked him, \u201cWho[24] art thou\nand what is it thou wantest?\u201d The Prince answered, \u201cI am a foreigner\nfrom a far country, and I have heard of Mubarak thy lord that he is\nfamed for liberality and generosity; so that I come hither purposing to\nbecome his guest.\u201d Thereupon the chattel went in to his lord and, after\nreporting the matter to him, came out and said to Zayn al-Asnam, \u201cO my\nlord, a blessing hath descended upon us by thy footsteps. Do thou enter,\nfor my master Mubarak awaiteth thee.\u201d Therewith the Prince passed into a\ncourt spacious exceedingly and all beautified with trees and waters, and\nthe slave led him to the pavilion wherein Mubarak was sitting. As the\nguest came in the host straightway rose up and met him with cordial\ngreeting and cried, \u201cA benediction hath alighted upon us and this night\nis the most benedight of the nights by reason of thy coming to us! So\nwho art thou, O youth, and whence is thine arrival and whither is thine\nintent?\u201d He replied, \u201cI am Zayn al-Asnam and I seek one Mubarak, a slave\nof the Sultan of Bassorah who deceased a year ago, and I am his son.\u201d\nMubarak rejoined, \u201cWhat sayest thou? Thou the son of the King of\nBassorah?\u201d and the other retorted, \u201cYea, verily I am his son.\u201d[25] Quoth\nMubarak, \u201cIn good sooth my late lord the King of Bassorah left no son\nknown to me! But what may be thine age, O youth?\u201d \u201cTwenty years or so,\u201d\nquoth the Prince, presently adding, \u201cBut thou, how long is it since thou\nleftest my sire?\u201d \u201cI left him eighteen years ago,\u201d said the other; \u201cbut,\nO my child Zayn al-Asnam, by what sign canst thou assure me of thy being\nthe son of my old master, the Sovran of Bassorah?\u201d Said the Prince,\n\u201cThou alone knowest that my father laid out beneath his palace a\nsouterrain,[26] and in this he placed forty jars of the finest green\njasper, which he filled with pieces of antique gold, also that within a\npavilion he builded a second palace and set therein eight images of\nprecious stones, each one of a single gem, and all seated upon royal\nseats of placer-gold.[27] He also wrote upon a silken hanging a writ\nwhich I read and which bade me repair to thee and thou wouldst inform me\nconcerning the Ninth Statue whereabouts it may be, assuring me that it\nis worth all the eight.\u201d Now when Mubarak heard these words, he fell at\nthe feet of Zayn al-Asnam and kissed them exclaiming, \u201cPardon me, O my\nlord, in very truth thou art the son of my old master;\u201d adding,\npresently, \u201cI have spread, O my lord, a feast[28] for all the Grandees\nof Cairo and I would that thy Highness honour it by thy presence.\u201d The\nPrince replied, \u201cWith love and the best will.\u201d Thereupon Mubarak arose\nand forewent Zayn al-Asnam to the saloon which was full of the Lords of\nthe land there gathered together, and here he seated himself after\nstablishing Zayn al-Asnam in the place of honour. Then he bade the\ntables be spread and the feast be served and he waited upon the Prince\nwith arms crossed behind his back[29] and at times falling upon his\nknees. So the Grandees of Cairo marvelled to see Mubarak, one of the\ngreat men of the city, serving the youth and wondered with extreme\nwonderment, unknowing whence the stranger was.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was\nsurprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Second Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, tell us\none of thy fair tales, so therewith we may cut short the waking hours of\nthis our night,\u201d and quoth Shahrazad:\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the\nAge, that Mubarak fell to waiting upon Zayn al-Asnam the son of his old\nlord, and the Grandees of Cairo there sitting marvelled to see Mubarak,\none of the great men of the city, serving the youth and wondered with\nextreme wonderment, unknowing whence the stranger was. After this they\nate and drank and supped well and were cheered till at last Mubarak\nturned towards them and said, \u201cO folk, admire not that I wait upon this\nyoung man with all worship and honour, for that he is the son of my old\nlord, the Sultan of Bassorah, who bought me with his money and who died\nwithout manumitting me. I am, therefore, bound to do service to his son,\nthis my young lord, and all that my hand possesseth of money and\nmunition belongeth to him nor own I aught thereof at all, at all.\u201d When\nthe Grandees of Cairo heard these words, they stood up before Zayn\nal-Asnam and salamed to him with mighty great respect and entreated him\nwith high regard and blessed him. Then said the Prince, \u201cO assembly, I\nam in the presence of your worships, and be ye my witnesses. O Mubarak,\nthou art now freed and all thou hast of goods, gold and gear erst\nbelonging to us becometh henceforth thine own and thou art endowed with\nthem for good each and every. Eke do thou ask whatso of importance thou\nwouldst have from me, for I will on no wise let or stay thee in thy\nrequiring it.\u201d With this Mubarak arose and kissed the hand of Zayn\nal-Asnam and thanked him for his boons, saying, \u201cO my lord, I wish for\nthee naught save thy weal, but the wealth that is with me is altogether\novermuch for my wants.\u201d Then the Prince abode with the Freedman four\ndays, during which all the Grandees of Cairo made act of presence day by\nday to offer their salams as soon as they heard men say, \u201cThis is the\nmaster of Mubarak and the monarch of Bassorah.\u201d And whenas the guest had\ntaken his rest he said to his host, \u201cO Mubarak, my tarrying with thee\nhath been long;\u201d whereto said the other, \u201cThou wottest, O my lord, that\nthe matter whereinto thou comest to enquire is singular-rare, but that\nit also involveth risk of death, and I know not if thy valour can make\nthe attainment thereto possible to thee.\u201d Rejoined Zayn al-Asnam, \u201cKnow,\nO Mubarak, that opulence is gained only by blood; nor cometh aught upon\nmankind save by determination and predestination of the Creator (be He\nglorified and magnified!); so look to thine own stoutness of heart and\ntake thou no thought of me.\u201d Thereupon Mubarak forthright bade his\nslaves get them ready for wayfare; so they obeyed his bidding in all\nthings and mounted horse and travelled by light and dark over the\nwildest of wolds, every day seeing matters and marvels which bewildered\ntheir wits, sights they had never seen in all their years, until they\ndrew near unto a certain place. There the party dismounted and Mubarak\nbade the negro slaves and eunuchs abide on the spot, saying to them, \u201cDo\nye keep watch and ward over the beasts of burthen and the horses until\nwhat time we return to you.\u201d After this the twain set out together afoot\nand quoth the Freedman to the Prince, \u201cO my lord, here valiancy\nbesitteth, for that now thou art in the land of the Image[30] thou\ncamest to seek.\u201d And they ceased not walking till they reached a lake, a\nlong water and a wide, where quoth Mubarak to his companion, \u201cKnow, O my\nlord, that anon will come to us a little craft bearing a banner of azure\ntinct and all its planks are of chaunders and lign-aloes of Comorin, the\nmost precious of woods. And now I would charge thee with a charge the\nwhich must thou most diligently observe.\u201d Asked the other, \u201cAnd what may\nbe this charge?\u201d Whereto Mubarak answered, \u201cThou wilt see in that boat a\nboatman[31] whose fashion is the reverse of man\u2019s; but beware, and again\nI say beware, lest thou utter a word, otherwise he will at once drown\nus.[32] Learn also that this stead belongeth to the King of the Jinns\nand that everything thou beholdest is the work of the J\u00e1nn.\u201d\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Third Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, tell us\none of thy fair tales, so therewith we may cut short the waking hours of\nthis our night,\u201d and quoth Shahrazad:\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the\nAge, that Mubarak and Zayn al-Asnam came upon a lake where, behold, they\nfound a little craft whose planks were of chaunders and lign-aloes of\nComorin and therein stood a ferryman with the head of an elephant while\nthe rest of his body wore the semblance of a lion.[33] Presently he\napproached them and winding his trunk around them[34] lifted them both\ninto the boat and seated them beside himself: then he fell to paddling\ntill he passed through the middle of the lake and he ceased not so doing\nuntil he had landed them on the further bank. Here the twain took ground\nand began to pace forwards, gazing around them the while and regarding\nthe trees which bore for burthen ambergris and lign-aloes, sandal,\ncloves and gelsemine,[35] all with flowers and fruits bedrest whose\nodours broadened the breast and excited the sprite. There also the birds\nwarbled, with various voices, notes ravishing and rapturing the heart by\nthe melodies of their musick. So Mubarak turned to the Prince and asked\nhim saying, \u201cHow seest thou this place, O my lord?\u201d and the other\nanswered, \u201cI deem, O Mubarak, that in very truth this be the Paradise\npromised to us by the Prophet (whom Allah save and assain!).\u201d Thence\nthey fared forwards till they came upon a mighty fine palace all builded\nof emeralds and rubies with gates and doors of gold refined: it was\nfronted by a bridge one hundred and fifty cubits long to a breadth of\nfifty, and the whole was one rib of a fish.[36] At the further end\nthereof stood innumerous hosts of the Jann, all frightful of favour and\nfear-inspiring of figure and each and every hent in hand javelins of\nsteel which flashed to the sun like December leven. Thereat quoth the\nPrince to his companion, \u201cThis be a spectacle which ravisheth the wits;\u201d\nand quoth Mubarak, \u201cIt now behoveth that we abide in our places nor\nadvance further lest there happen to us some mishap; and may Allah\nvouchsafe to us safety!\u201d Herewith he brought forth his pouch four strips\nof a yellow silken stuff and zoning himself with one threw the other\nover his shoulders;[37] and he gave the two remaining pieces to the\nPrince that he might do with them on like wise. Next he dispread before\neither of them a waist shawl[38] of white sendal and then he pulled out\nof his poke sundry precious stones and scents and ambergris and\neagle-wood;[39] and, lastly, each took seat upon his sash, and when both\nwere ready Mubarak repeated the following words to the Prince and taught\nhim to pronounce them before the King of the Jann:\u2014\u201cO my lord, Sovran of\nthe Spirits, we stand within thy precincts and we throw ourselves on thy\nprotection;\u201d whereto Zayn al-Asnam added, \u201cAnd I adjure him earnestly\nthat he accept of us.\u201d But Mubarak rejoined, \u201cO my lord, by Allah I am\nin sore fear. Hear me! An he determine to accept us without hurt or harm\nhe will approach us in the semblance of a man rare of beauty and\ncomeliness but, if not, he will assume a form frightful and terrifying.\nNow an thou see him in his favourable shape do thou arise forthright and\nsalam to him and above all things beware lest thou step beyond this thy\ncloth.\u201d The Prince replied, \u201cTo hear is to obey,\u201d and the other\ncontinued, \u201cAnd let thy salam to him be thy saying, O King of the\nSprites and Sovran of the Jann and Lord of Earth, my sire, the whilome\nSultan of Bassorah, whom the Angel of Death hath removed (as is not\nhidden from thy Highness) was ever taken under thy protection and I,\nlike him, come to thee suing the same safeguard.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was\nsurprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fourth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, and thou be other than sleepy, tell us\none of thy fair tales, so therewith we may cut short the waking hours of\nthis our night,\u201d and quoth Shahrazad:\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the\nAge, that Mubarak fell to lessoning Zayn al-Asnam how he should salute\nthe King of the Jinns, and pursued, \u201cLikewise, O my lord, if he hail us\nwith gladsome face of welcome he will doubtless say thee:\u2014Ask whatso\nthou wantest of me! and the moment he giveth thee his word do thou at\nonce prefer thy petition saying, O my lord, I require of thy Highness\nthe Ninth Statue than which is naught more precious in the world, and\nthou didst promise my father to vouchsafe me that same.\u201d And after this\nMubarak instructed his master how to address the King and crave of him\nthe boon and how to bespeak him with pleasant speech. Then he began his\nconjurations and fumigations and adjurations and recitations of words\nnot understanded of any, and but little time elapsed before cold rain\ndown railed and lightning dashed and thunder roared and thick darkness\nveiled earth\u2019s face. Presently came forth a mighty rushing wind and a\nvoice like an earthquake, the quake of earth on Judgment Day.[40] The\nPrince, seeing these horrors and sighting that which he had never before\nseen or heard, trembled for terror in every limb; but Mubarak fell to\nlaughing at him and saying, \u201cFear not, O my lord: that which thou\ndreadest is what we seek, for to us it is an earnest of glad tidings and\nsuccess; so be thou satisfied and hold thyself safe.\u201d[41] After this the\nskies waxed clear and serene exceedingly while perfumed winds and the\npurest scents breathed upon them; nor did a long time elapse ere the\nKing of the Jann presented himself under the semblance of a beautiful\nman who had no peer in comeliness save and excepting Him who lacketh\nlikeness and to Whom be honour and glory! He gazed at Zayn al-Asnam with\na gladsome aspect and a riant, whereat the Prince arose forthright and\nrecited the string of benedictions taught to him by his companion and\nthe King said to him with a smiling favour, \u201cO Zayn al-Asnam, verily I\nwas wont to love thy sire, the Sultan of Bassorah and, when he visited\nme ever, I used to give him an image of those thou sawest, each cut of a\nsingle gem; and thou also shalt presently become to me honoured as thy\nfather and yet more. Ere he died I charged him to write upon the silken\ncurtain the writ thou readest and eke I gave promise and made covenant\nwith him to take thee like thy parent under my safeguard and to gift\nthee as I gifted him with an image, to wit, the ninth, which is of\ngreater worth than all those viewed by thee. So now, \u2019tis my desire to\nstand by my word and to afford thee my promised aid.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was\nsurprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fifth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, tell us\none of thy fair tales, so therewith we may cut short the waking hours of\nthis our night,\u201d and quoth Shahrazad:\u2014\u2014\u201cIt hath reached me, O King of\nthe Age, that the Lord of the Jann said to the Prince, I will take thee\nunder my safeguard and the Shaykh thou sawest in thy swevens was myself\nand I also \u2019twas who bade thee dig under thy palace down to the\nsouterrain wherein thou sawest the crocks of gold and the figures of\nfine gems. I also well know wherefore thou art come hither and I am he\nwho caused thee come and I will give thee what thou seekest, for all\nthat I would not give it to thy sire. But \u2019tis on condition that thou\nreturn unto me bringing a damsel whose age is fifteen, a maiden without\nrival or likeness in loveliness; furthermore she must be a pure virgin\nand a clean maid who hath never lusted for male nor hath ever been\nsolicited of man;[42] and lastly, thou must keep faith with me in\nsafeguarding the girl whenas thou returnest hither and beware lest thou\nplay the traitor with her whilst thou bringest her to me.\u201d To this\npurport the Prince sware a mighty strong oath adding, \u201cO my lord, thou\nhast indeed honoured me by requiring of me such service, but truly\n\u2019twill be right hard for me to find a fair one like unto this; and,\ngrant that I find one perfectly beautiful and young in years after the\nrequirement of thy Highness, how shall I weet if she ever longed for\nmating with man or that male never lusted for her?\u201d Replied the King,\n\u201cRight thou art, O Zayn al-Asnam, and verily this be a knowledge\nwhereunto the sons of men may on no wise attain. However, I will give\nthee a mirror[43] of my own whose virtue is this. When thou shalt sight\na young lady whose beauty and loveliness please thee, do thou open the\nglass[44], and, if thou see therein her image clear and undimmed, do\nthou learn forthright that she is a clean maid without aught of defect\nor default and endowed with every praiseworthy quality. But if,\ncontrariwise, the figure be found darkened or clothed in uncleanness, do\nthou straightway know that the damsel is sullied by soil of sex.\nShouldst thou find her pure and gifted with all manner good gifts, bring\nher to me but beware not to offend with her and do villainy, and if thou\nkeep not faith and promise with me bear in mind that thou shalt lose thy\nlife.\u201d Hereupon the Prince made a stable and solemn pact with the King,\na covenant of the sons of the Sultans which may never be violated.\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Sixth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, tell us\none of thy fair tales, so therewith we may cut short the waking hours of\nthis our night,\u201d and quoth Shahrazad:\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the\nAge, that the Prince Zayn al-Asnam made a stable and trustworthy compact\nto keep faith with the King of the Jann and never to play traitor\nthereto, but to bring the maid _en tout bien et tout honneur_ to that\npotentate who made over to him the mirror saying, \u201cO my son, take this\nlooking-glass whereof I bespake thee and depart straightway.\u201d Thereupon\nthe Prince and Mubarak arose and, after blessing him, fared forth and\njourneyed back until they made the lakelet, where they sat but a little\nere appeared the boat which had brought them bearing the Jinni with\nelephantine head and leonine body, and he was standing up ready for\npaddling.[45] The twain took passage with him (and this by command of\nthe King of the Jann) until they reached Cairo and returned to their\nquarters, where they abode whilst they rested from the travails of\ntravel. Then the Prince turned to his companion and said, \u201cArise with us\nand wend we to Baghdad[46]-city that we may look for some damsel such as\nthe King describeth!\u201d and Mubarak replied, \u201cO my lord, we be in Cairo, a\ncity of the cities, a wonder of the world, and here no doubt there is\nbut that I shall find such a maiden, nor is there need that we fare\ntherefor to a far country.\u201d Zayn al-Asnam rejoined, \u201cTrue for thee, O\nMubarak, but what be the will and the way whereby to hit upon such a\ngirl, and who shall go about to find her for us?\u201d Quoth the other, \u201cBe\nnot beaten and broken down, O my lord, by such difficulty: I have by me\nhere an ancient dame (and cursed be the same!) who maketh marriages, and\nshe is past mistress in wiles and guiles; nor will she be hindered by\nthe greatest of obstacles.\u201d[47] So saying, he sent to summon the old\ntrot, and informed her that he wanted a damsel perfect of beauty and not\npast her fifteenth year, whom he would marry to the son of his lord; and\nhe promised her sumptuous Bakhshish and largesse if she would do her\nvery best endeavour. Answered she, \u201cO my lord, be at rest: I will\npresently contrive to satisfy thy requirement even beyond thy desire;\nfor under my hand are damsels unsurpassable in beauty and loveliness,\nand all be the daughters of honourable men.\u201d But the old woman, O Lord\nof the Age, knew naught anent the mirror. So she went forth to wander\nabout the city and work on her well-known ways.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was\nsurprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Seventh Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, tell us\none of thy fair tales, so therewith we may cut short the waking hours of\nthis our night,\u201d and quoth Shahrazad:\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the\nAge, that the old woman went forth to work on her well-known ways, and\nshe wandered about town to find a maiden for the Prince Zayn al-Asnam.\nWhatever notable beauty she saw she would set before Mubarak; but each\nsemblance as it was considered in the mirror showed exceeding dark and\ndull, and the inspector would dismiss the girl. This endured until the\ncrone had brought to him all the damsels in Cairo, and not one was found\nwhose reflection in the mirror showed clear-bright and whose honour was\npure and clean, in fact such an one as described by the King of the\nJann. Herewith Mubarak, seeing that he had not found one in Cairo to\nplease him, or who proved pure and unsullied as the King of the Jann had\nrequired, determined to visit Baghdad: so they rose up and equipped them\nand set out and in due time they made the City of Peace where they hired\nthem a mighty fine mansion amiddlemost the capital. Here they settled\nthemselves in such comfort and luxury that the Lords of the land would\ncome daily to eat at their table, even the thirsty and those who went\nforth betimes,[48] and what remained of the meat was distributed to the\nmesquin and the miserable; also every poor stranger lodging in the\nMosques would come to the house and find a meal. Therefore the bruit of\nthem for generosity and liberality went abroad throughout the city and\nwon for them notable name and the fairest of fame; nor did any ever\nspeak of aught save the beneficence of Zayn al-Asnam and his generosity\nand his opulence. Now there chanced to be in one of the\ncathedral-mosques an Im\u00e1m,[49] Abu Bakr hight, a ghostly man passing\njealous and fulsome, who dwelt hard by the mansion wherein the Prince\nand Mubarak abode; and he, when he heard of their lavish gifts and alms\ndeeds, and honourable report, smitten by envy and malice and hatred,\nfell to devising how he might draw them into some calamity that might\ndespoil the goods they enjoyed and destroy their lives, for it is the\nwont of envy to fall not save upon the fortunate. So one day of the\ndays, as he lingered in the Mosque after mid-afternoon prayer, he came\nforwards amidst the folk and cried, O ye, my brethren of the Faith which\nis true and who bear testimony to the unity of the Deity, I would have\nyou to weet that housed in this our quarter are two men which be\nstrangers, and haply ye have heard of them how they lavish and waste\nimmense sums of money, in fact moneys beyond measure, and for my part I\ncannot but suspect that they are cutpurses and brigands who commit\nrobberies in their own country and who came hither to expend their\nspoils.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to\nsay her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eighth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, tell us\none of thy fair tales, so therewith we may cut short the waking hours of\nthis our night,\u201d and quoth Shahrazad:\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the\nAge, that the Imam in his jealousy of Zayn al-Asnam and Mubarak said to\nthe congregation, \u201cVerily they be brigands and cutpurses;\u201d adding, \u201cO\nbelievers of Mohammed, I counsel you in Allah\u2019s name that ye guard\nyourselves against such accurseds; for haply the Caliph shall in coming\ntimes hear of these twain and ye also shall fall with them into\ncalamity,[50] I have hastened to caution you, and having warned you I\nwash my hands of your business, and after this do ye as ye judge fit.\u201d\nAll those present replied with one voice, \u201cIndeed we will do whatso thou\nwishest us to do, O Abu Bakr!\u201d But when the Imam heard this from them he\narose and, bringing forth ink-case and reed-pen and a sheet of paper,\nbegan inditing an address to the Commander of the Faithful, recounting\nall that was against the two strangers. However, by decree of Destiny,\nMubarak chanced to be in the Mosque amongst the crowd when he heard the\naddress of the blameworthy Imam and how he purposed applying by letter\nto the Caliph. So he delayed not at all but returned home forthright\nand, taking an hundred dinars and packing up a parcel of costly clothes,\nsilver-wrought all, repaired in haste to the reverend\u2019s quarters and\nknocked at the door. The preacher came and opened to him, but sighting\nMubarak he asked him in anger, \u201cWhat is\u2019t thou wantest and who art\nthou?\u201d Whereto the other answered, \u201cI am Mubarak and at thy service, O\nmy master the Imam Abu Bakr; and I come to thee from my lord the Emir\nZayn al-Asnam who, hearing of and learning thy religious knowledge and\nright fair repute in this city, would fain make acquaintance with thy\nWorship and do by thee whatso behoveth him. Also he hath sent me to thee\nwith these garments and this spending-money, hoping excuse of thee for\nthat this be a minor matter compared with your Honour\u2019s deserts; but,\nInshallah, after this he will not fail in whatever to thee is due.\u201d As\nsoon as Abu Bakr saw the coin and gold[51] and the bundle of clothes, he\nanswered Mubarak saying, \u201cI crave pardon, O my lord, of thy master the\nEmir for that I have been ashamed of waiting upon him and repentance is\nright hard upon me for that I failed to do my devoir by him; wherefore I\nhope that thou wilt be my deputy in imploring him to pardon my default\nand, the Creator willing, to-morrow I will do what is incumbent upon me\nand fare to offer my services and proffer the honour which beseemeth\nme.\u201d Rejoined Mubarak, \u201cThe end of my master\u2019s wishes is to see thy\nworship, O my lord Abu Bakr, and be exalted by thy presence and\ntherethrough to win a blessing.\u201d So saying he bussed the reverend\u2019s hand\nand returned to his own place. On the next day, as Abu Bakr was leading\nthe dawn-prayer of Friday, he took his station amongst the folk\namiddlemost the Mosque and cried, \u201cO, our brethren the Moslems great and\nsmall and folk of Mohammed one and all, know ye that envy falleth not\nsave upon the wealthy and praiseworthy and never descendeth upon the\nmean and miserable. I would have you wot, as regards the two strangers\nwhom yesterday I misspoke, that one of them is an Emir high in honour\nand son of most reputable parents, in lieu of being (as I was informed\nby one of his enviers) a cutpurse and a brigand. Of this matter I have\nmade certain that \u2019tis a lying report, so beware lest any of you say\naught against him or speak evil in regard to the Emir even as I heard\nyesterday; otherwise you will cast me and cast yourselves into the\nsorest of calamities with the Prince of True Believers. For a man like\nthis of exalted degree may not possibly take up his abode in our city of\nBaghdad unbeknown to the Caliph.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the\ndawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Ninth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, tell us\none of thy fair tales, so therewith we may cut short the waking hours of\nthis our night,\u201d and quoth Shahrazad:\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the\nAge, that Abu Bakr the Imam uprooted on such wise from the minds of men\nthe evil which he had implanted by his own words thrown out against the\nEmir Zayn al-Asnam. But when he had ended congregational prayers and\nreturned to his home, he donned his long gaberdine[52] and made weighty\nhis skirts and lengthened his sleeves, after which he took the road to\nthe mansion of the Prince; and, when he went in, he stood up before the\nstranger and did him honour with the highmost distinction. Now Zayn\nal-Asnam was by nature conscientious albeit young in years; so he\nreturned the Imam Abu Bakr\u2019s civilities with all courtesy and, seating\nhim beside himself upon his high-raised divan, bade bring for him\nambergris\u2019d[53] coffee. Then the tables were spread for breakfast and\nthe twain ate and drank their sufficiency, whereafter they fell to\nchatting like boon companions. Presently the Imam asked the Prince,\nsaying, \u201cO my lord Zayn al-Asnam, doth thy Highness design residing long\nin this our city of Baghdad?\u201d and the other answered, \u201cYes indeed,[54] O\nour lord the Imam; \u2019tis my intention to tarry here for a while until\nsuch time as my requirement shall be fulfilled.\u201d The Imam enquired, \u201cAnd\nwhat may be the requirement of my lord the Emir? Haply when I hear it I\nmay devote my life thereto until I can fulfil it.\u201d Quoth the Prince, \u201cMy\nobject is to marry a maiden who must be comely exceedingly, aged fifteen\nyears; pure, chaste, virginal, whom man hath never soiled and who during\nall her days never lusted for male kind: moreover, she must be unique\nfor beauty and loveliness.\u201d The Imam rejoined, \u201cO my lord, this be a\nthing hard of finding indeed, hard exceedingly; but I know a damsel of\nthat age who answereth to thy description. Her father, a Wazir who\nresigned succession and office of his own freewill, now dwelleth in his\nmansion jealously overwatching his daughter and her education; and I\nopine that this maiden will suit the fancy of thy Highness, whilst she\nwill rejoice in an Emir such as thyself and eke her parents will be\nequally well pleased.\u201d The Prince replied, \u201cInshallah, this damsel\nwhereof thou speakest will suit me and supply my want, and the\nfurtherance of my desire shall be at thy hands. But, O our lord the\nImam, \u2019tis my wish first of all things to look upon her and see if she\nbe pure or otherwise; and, as regarding her singular comeliness, my\nconviction is that thy work sufficeth and thine avouchment is veridical.\nOf her purity, however, even thou canst not bear sure and certain\ntestimony in respect to that condition.\u201d Asked the Imam, \u201cHow is it\npossible for you, O my lord the Emir, to learn from her face aught of\nher and her honour; also whether she be pure or not: indeed, if this be\nknown to your Highness you must be an adept in physiognomy.[55] However,\nif your Highness be willing to accompany me, I will bear you to the\nmansion of her sire and make you acquainted with him, so shall he set\nher before you.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Tenth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, tell us\none of thy fair tales, so therewith we may cut short the waking hours of\nthis our night,\u201d and quoth Shahrazad:\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the\nAge, that the Imam Abu Bakr took the Prince and passed with him into the\nmansion of the Wazir; and, when they entered, both salam\u2019d to the\nhouse-master and he rose and received them with greetings especially\nwhen he learned that an Emir had visited him and he understood from the\nImam that Zayn al-Asnam inclined to wed his daughter. So he summoned her\nto his presence and she came, whereupon he bade her raise her face-veil;\nand, when she did his bidding, the Prince considered her and was amazed\nand perplexed at her beauty and loveliness, he never having seen aught\nthat rivalled her in brightness and brilliancy. So quoth he in his mind,\n\u201cWould to Heaven I could win a damsel like this, albeit this one be to\nme unlawful.\u201d Thinking thus he drew forth the mirror from his pouch and\nconsidered her image carefully when, lo and behold! the crystal was\nbright and clean as virgin silver and when he eyed her semblance in the\nglass he saw it pure as a white dove\u2019s. Then sent he forthright for the\nKazi and witnesses and they knotted the knot and wrote the writ and the\nbride was duly throned. Presently the Prince took the Wazir his\nfather-in-law into his own mansion, and to the young lady he sent a\npresent of costly jewels and it was a notable marriage-festival, none\nlike it was ever seen; no, never. Zayn al-Asnam applied himself to\ninviting the folk right royally and did honour due to Abu Bakr the Imam,\ngiving him abundant gifts, and forwarded to the bride\u2019s father offerings\nof notable rarities. As soon as the wedding ended, Mubarak said to the\nPrince, \u201cO my lord, let us arise and wend our ways lest we lose our time\nin leisure, for that we sought is now found.\u201d Said the Prince, \u201cRight\nthou art;\u201d and, arising with his companion, the twain fell to equipping\nthem for travel and gat ready for the bride a covered litter[56] to be\ncarried by camels and they set out. Withal Mubarak well knew that the\nPrince was deep in love to the young lady. So he took him aside and said\nto him, \u201cO my lord Zayn al-Asnam, I would warn thee and enjoin thee to\nkeep watch and ward upon thy senses and passions and to observe and\npreserve the pledge by thee plighted to the King of the Jann.\u201d \u201cO\nMubarak,\u201d replied the Prince, \u201can thou knew the love-longing and ecstasy\nwhich have befallen me of my love to this young lady, thou wouldst feel\nruth for me! indeed I never think of aught else save of taking her to\nBassorah and of going in unto her.\u201d Mubarak rejoined, \u201cO my lord, keep\nthy faith and be not false to thy pact, lest a sore harm betide thee and\nthe loss of thy life as well as that of the young lady.[57] Remember the\noath thou swarest nor suffer lust[58] to lay thy reason low and despoil\nthee of all thy gains and thine honour and thy life.\u201d \u201cDo thou, O\nMubarak,\u201d retorted the Prince, \u201cbecome warden over her nor allow me ever\nto look upon her.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eleventh Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, tell us\none of thy fair tales, so therewith we may cut short the waking hours of\nthis our night,\u201d and quoth Shahrazad:\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the\nAge, that Mubarak, after warning Zayn al-Asnam to protect the\nvirgin-bride against himself, fell also to defending her as his deputy:\nalso he prevented the Prince from even looking upon her. They then\ntravelled along the road unto the Island of the Jann, after[59] they had\npassed by the line leading unto Misr.[60] But when the bride saw that\nthe wayfare had waxed longsome nor had beheld her bridegroom for all\nthat time since the wedding-night, she turned to Mubarak and said,\n\u201cAllah upon thee; inform me, O Mubarak, by the life of thy lord the\nEmir, have we fared this far distance by commandment of my bridegroom\nPrince Zayn al-Asnam?\u201d Said he, \u201cAh, O my lady, sore indeed is thy case\nto me, yet must I disclose to thee the secret thereof which be this.\nThou imaginest that Zayn al-Asnam, the King of Bassorah, is thy\nbridegroom; but, alas! \u2019tis not so. He is no husband of thine; nay, the\ndeed he drew up was a mere pretext in the presence of thy parents and\nthy people; and now thou art going as a bride to the King of the Jann\nwho required thee of the Prince.\u201d When the young lady heard these words,\nshe fell to shedding tears and Zayn al-Asnam wept for her, weeping\nbitter tears from the excess of his love and affection. Then quoth the\nyoung lady, \u201cYe have nor pity in you nor feeling for me; neither fear ye\naught of Allah that, seeing in me a stranger maiden ye cast me into a\ncalamity like this. What reply shall ye return to the Lord on the Day of\nReckoning for such treason ye work upon me?\u201d However her words and her\nweeping availed her naught, for that they stinted not wayfaring with her\nuntil they reached the King of the Jann, to whom they forthright on\narrival made offer of her. When he considered the damsel she pleased\nhim, so he turned to Zayn al-Asnam and said to him, \u201cVerily the bride\nthou broughtest me is exceeding beautiful and passing of loveliness; yet\nlovelier and more beautiful to me appear thy true faith and the mastery\nof thine own passions, thy marvellous purity and valiance of heart. So\nhie thee to thy home and the Ninth Statue, wherefor thou askedst me, by\nthee shall be found beside the other images, for I will send it by one\nof my slaves of the Jann.\u201d Hereupon Zayn al-Asnam kissed his hand and\nmarched back with Mubarak to Cairo, where he would not abide long with\nhis companion but, as soon as he was rested, of his extreme longing and\nanxious yearning to see the Ninth Statue, he hastened his travel\nhomewards. Withal he ceased not to be thoughtful and sorrowful\nconcerning his maiden-wife and on account of her beauty and loveliness,\nand he would fall to groaning and crying, \u201cO for my lost joys whose\ncause wast thou, O singular in every charm and attraction, thou whom I\nbore away from thy parents and carried to the King of the Jann. Alas,\nand woe worth the day!\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day\nand ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Twelfth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, tell us\none of thy fair tales, so therewith we may cut short the waking hours of\nthis our night,\u201d and quoth Shahrazad:\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the\nAge, that Zayn al-Asnam fell to chiding himself for the deceit and\ntreason which he had practised upon the young lady\u2019s parents and for\nbringing and offering her to the King of the Jann. Then he set out nor\nceased travelling till such time as he reached Bassorah, when he entered\nhis palace; and, after saluting his mother, he apprized her of all\nthings that had befallen him. She replied, \u201cArise, O my son, that we may\nlook upon the Ninth Statue, for I rejoice with extreme joy at its being\nin our possession.\u201d So both descended into the pavilion where stood the\neight images of precious gems and here they found a mighty marvel. \u2019Twas\nthis. In lieu of seeing the Ninth Statue upon the golden throne, they\nfound seated thereon the young lady whose beauty suggested the sun. Zayn\nal-Asnam knew her at first sight and presently she addressed him saying,\n\u201cMarvel not for that here thou findest me in place of that wherefor thou\naskedst; and I deem that thou shalt not regret nor repent when thou\nacceptest me instead of that thou soughtest.\u201d Said he, \u201cNo, by Allah, O\nlife-blood of my heart, verily thou art the end of every wish of me nor\nwould I exchange thee for all the gems of the universe. Would thou knew\nwhat was the sorrow which surcharged me on account of our separation and\nof my reflecting that I took thee from thy parents by fraud and I bore\nthee as a present to the King of the Jann. Indeed I had well nigh\ndetermined to forfeit all my profit of the Ninth Statue and to bear thee\naway to Bassorah as my own bride, when my comrade and councillor\ndissuaded me from so doing lest I bring about my death and thy death.\u201d\nNor had Zayn al-Asnam ended his words ere they heard the roar of\nthunderings that would rend a mount and shake the earth, whereat the\nQueen-mother was seized with mighty fear and affright. But presently\nappeared the King of the Jinns who said to her, \u201cO my lady, fear not!\n\u2019Tis I, the protector of thy son whom I fondly affect for the affection\nborne to me by his sire. I also am he who manifested myself to him in\nhis sleep; and my object therein was to make trial of his valiance and\nto learn an he could do violence to his passions for the sake of his\npromise, or whether the beauty of this lady would so tempt and allure\nhim that he could not keep his promise to me with due regard.\u201d\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Thirteenth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, tell us\none of thy fair tales, so therewith we may cut short the waking hours of\nthis our night,\u201d and quoth Shahrazad:\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the\nAge, that the King of the Jann said to the Queen-mother, \u201cIndeed Zayn\nal-Asnam hath not kept faith and covenant with all nicety as regards the\nyoung lady, in that he longed for her to become his wife. However, I am\nassured that this lapse befel him from man\u2019s natural and inherent\nfrailty albeit I repeatedly enjoined him to defend and protect her until\nhe concealed from her his face. I now accept[61] this man\u2019s valour and\nbestow her upon him to wife, for she is the Ninth Statue by me promised\nto him and she is fairer than all these jewelled images, the like of her\nnot being found in the whole world of men save by the rarest of\nchances.\u201d Then the King of the Jann turned to the Prince and said to\nhim, \u201cO Emir Zayn al-Asnam, this is thy bride: take her and enjoy her\nupon the one condition that thou love her only nor choose for thyself\nanother one in addition to her; and I pledge myself that her faith\nthee-wards will be of the fairest.\u201d Hereupon the King of the Jann\ndisappeared and the Prince, gladdened and rejoicing, went forth with the\nmaiden and for his love and affection to her he paid to her the first\nceremonious visit that same night[62] and he made bride-feasts and\nbanquets throughout his realm and in due time he formally wedded her and\nwent in unto her. Then he stablished himself upon the throne of his\nkingship and ruled it, bidding and forbidding, and his consort became\nQueen of Bassorah. His mother left this life a short while afterwards\nand they both mourned and lamented their loss. Lastly he lived with his\nwife in all joyance of life till there came to them the Destroyer of\ndelights and the Separator of societies.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by\nthe dawn of day and ceased to say her pleasant[63] say.\n\n\n THE TALE OF ZAYN AL-ASNAM.\n (_TURKISH._)\n\n\n _NOTE I._\n\nI. The following version has been kindly made for me by Mr. E. J. W.\nGibb, of Glasgow, author of \u201cOttoman Poems,\u201d the \u201cStory of Jewad,\u201d and\nan excellent translation of the \u201cBook of the Forty Wazirs.\u201d It is\nalluded to in Vol. i., p. 46, of \u201cPopular Tales and Fictions\u201d (London:\nBlackwoods, 1887), etc., etc., by my collaborator, Mr. W. A. Clouston, a\nmost valuable recueil, with whose dedication he honoured me. I now\nproceed to quote from Mr. Gibb\u2019s \u201cForeword.\u201d\n\nThe book from which the following story has been translated was printed\nat Constantinople in A.H. 1268; and is entitled _Mukhayyal\u0101t-i Ledun-i\nill\u0101h\u012b-i Giridli \u2018Ali \u2018Aziz Efendi_. = Phantasms from the Divine\nPresence, by \u2018Ali \u2018Aziz Efendi of Crete. The printer has given the\nfollowing note at the beginning of the volume; it appears to have\noccurred in the MS. copy which he had.\n\n \u201c_Phantasms from the Divine Presence, of \u2018Ali \u2018Aziz Efendi the\n Cretan._ 1211 (= 1796\u20137).\n\n \u201cIn the year aforesaid did the above-named Efendi complete this\n book; and at that (same) time he went to Prussia along with an\n embassy, and there he passed away. As he was versed in the mystic\n and philosophic sciences, and mighty in giving answers, clear and\n silencing, on obscure questions in every branch of learning, he\n arranged and wrote down, in the form of a special treatise, the\n erudite replies which he afforded to the interrogations of certain\n distinguished persons among the philosophers of Europe, concerning\n the revolving of the spheres, the strata of the elements, and other\n matters natural: such (a work was it) that from the perusal thereof\n the extent of his learning might have been known unto men of\n science. And he had a work on mysticism, entitled V\u0101rid\u0101t, and other\n writings (as well). But his heirs knowing not their value, destroyed\n and lost them; however, some among them came into the hands of\n certain of his friends, who have edited and published them.\u201d\n\n \u201c_Such is written on the back of this book._\u201d\n\nThis last line is the printer\u2019s note.\n\nThe Author\u2019s Preface may be translated as follows:\u2014\n\n\u201cRolling up the observances of preamble and cancelling the rules of\nentitulation, it is humbly declared that, while for a certain season\nturning over the sheets of these pages of revelations and inspirations,\nin the college of desire and the library of imagination, a well-worn\nbook with a lengthy appendix, entitled Khul\u0101sat-al-Khay\u0101l, (compiled)\nfrom the Syriac and Hebrew and other languages laid by in the vault of\noblivion, was seen of my warning-beholding eye. When it had been\nentirely perused and its strange matter considered, as they would form\nan esoteric scrip, a philosophic volume, such as would cause heedfulness\nand consideration, and yield counsel and admonition, like the\n\u00b7Ibret-Num\u0101 of Lami\u2019\u012b and the Elf Leyle of Asma\u2019\u012b, certain of the\nstrange stories and wonderful tales of that book were selected and\nseparated, and having been arranged, dervish-fashion, in simple style,\nwere made the adornment of the reed-pen of composition, and offered to\nthe notice of them of penetration. For all that this book is of the\nclass of phantasms, still, as it has been written in conformity with the\nposition of the readers of (these) times, it is of its virtues that its\nperusal will of a surety dispel sadness of heart; and when this has been\nproved, saying:\u2014\n\n Unworthy though the reed-pen\u2019s labour be,\n A blessing may it gain, \u2018Az\u00edz! for thee,\n\nI implore that my poor name be raised aloft on the tongues of prayers.\u201d\n\nThen come the three Mukhayyal\u0101t, or Phantasms, each consisting of a\nprincipal story with several subordinate tales.\n\nThe First Mukhayyal is largely made up of incidents from the following\nstories in the Thousand and One Nights: Kamer-uz-Zem\u0101n, Zeyn ul Esn\u0101m,\nPrince Amjad, and the Enchanted Horse. Here are all woven into one\nconnected whole, along with a lot about a king of the Jinn and the City\nof J\u00e1bulq\u00e1, and some stories that are new to me.\n\nThe Second Mukhayyal I have translated and published under the title of\nthe \u201cStory of Jew\u00e1d.\u201d\n\nThe Third consists of a number of stories that I have never met before.\n\nThe object of the entire work appears to be the exaltation of the\nsupernatural powers claimed by holy men. I meditate making a complete\ntranslation some day. Meanwhile the following is my version of\n\n\n _THE TALE OF ZAYN AL-ASNAM._\n\nThen he (\u2018Abd-us-Samed, King of Serendib or Ceylon) requested the Prince\nAs\u012bl, first to go along with him to the harem in order that he might\nshow him a strange thing. The Prince consented; so they entered through\nthe harem door, and after crossing the vestibule and hall they came to a\ngarden at the end of which was the door of a subterranean vault, whither\nthey went. The door was of hard steel; and the king drew the key thereof\nfrom his pocket and opened it, and they descended by twelve steps into\nthe interior of the vault. Then they entered a place in the midst\nthereof shaped like the cupola of a bath; and the Prince saw that in the\nmiddle of this place was a circular tank, some fifteen cubits round,\nwrought and fashioned of Cathayan jasper, and filled to overflowing with\ndiamonds and emeralds, and spinels and red rubies, the very least of\nwhich were a rarity of the age. And round about the tank were ten\nbejewelled stands, on each of which (save one) was set an image, every\none more splendid than the other, and all of pure gold. And they were\nadorned with thousands of costly jewels, treasures of the age, such that\nall the gems that were in the tank could not have bought those upon one\nimage. While they were looking at these things, King \u2018Abd-us-Samed, with\nutmost lowliness, begged the Prince to accept this treasure; but as he\nreplied, saying, \u201cLet us go forth and think about it,\u201d they went out and\nreturned to their chamber. Again the King urged the Prince to accept it;\nbut the latter, turning the conversation into another course, said: \u201cMy\nKing, while the stands be ten, the images are nine; how comes it that\none stand has no image? Have you given it to anyone?\u201d The King replied,\n\u201cMy Lord, my Prince, it is a wondrous tale.\u201d And as the Prince begged\nhim to relate it, King \u2018Abd-us-Samed thus began to speak:\n\n\n _THE STORY OF \u2018ABD-US-SAMED, KING OF CEYLON._\n\n\u201cI, your slave, Sultan of this Ceylon, am son of the late Murtaz\u00e1 Sh\u00e1h.\nI was twenty years old when I ascended my ancestral throne on the death\nof my father, I strove earnestly in the ordinance of the realm, and\nwrought manfully and skilfully to perform the duties of kingship. One\nnight my father came (in a vision) to my side and addressed me, saying,\n\u2018My son, I have a last request to make of thee; but I will not tell it\nthee save thou undertake to accomplish it without knowing what it be;\nbut if thou swear by God to accomplish it, I will declare it to thee.\u2019\nAs it is beyond doubt that fathers or mothers would not urge their\nchildren to unbecoming deeds, I without hesitation swore to accomplish\nit. Then my father took me by the hand and led me to the treasure which\nthou hast seen. When I beheld it I abode bewildered at the greatness of\nthe riches. On that empty stand was a paper in my father\u2019s handwriting;\nthis I took and read, and these words were inscribed thereon: \u2018My son,\nin that thou hast undertaken to fulfil it, if thou accomplish not this\nmy last request, be my two hands upon thy collar. Thou shalt go hence to\nCairo; there in the Roumelia Square, hard by the Erdeb\u00edl Fountain, is a\nrevered personage whom they call the Shaykh Mubarak. He is master of the\nsecret sciences, and he it is who hath given me all this treasure. Lay\nthy face in the dust at his feet, and with uttermost humbleness beg of\nhim this lacking image; for the image which still remains is worth many\ntreasures like to this. If thou sit upon my throne without having\nprocured that image, thou shalt be a rebel against me.\u2019 I marvelled at\nthese words of my father, and seeing he had heaped up such vast riches,\nhe should still even after his death be so driven as to urge upon me the\ntoils of a journey and the many dangers that must attend it, only that\nthat stand might not remain empty. But as no escape was possible, I\nconstrainedly determined to set out, and having appointed my vezir\nregent, I disguised myself and started for Cairo.\n\n\u201cWhen I reached Cairo, I went to the aforesaid place, and having\nenquired for the Shaykh Mubarak, went up to his door, at which I\nknocked. A slave-girl came and opened the door, and taking me in, led me\ninto the presence of the Shaykh. I saw him to be a man of about\nfive-and-forty years of age, from whose countenance beamed the rays of\nthe light of God. I went forward and kissed his feet reverently, whereon\nhe said, \u2018Upon thee be peace, my son \u2018Abd-us-Samed; I rejoice for that\nthou hast fulfilled the last request of thy father, well done!\u2019 And he\nmotioned me to be seated. Straightway they brought food, and after I had\neaten and been nobly entreated, he, leaving not to me the need of\ndeclaring my want, said, \u2018My son, thy desire will not be withheld; but\nthy father rendered me many services ere he gained that treasure, and\nuntil thou likewise have done me a service, thou canst not win to thy\nwish. I have a service for thee to perform; if thou be able to perform\nit, I will give thee the image that thou seekest. What sayest thou?\u2019 I\nreplied, \u2018Do thou command; whatsoever thy service be, I shall not fail\nto strive therein so far as in me lies.\u2019 He answered, \u2018Good; but if thou\nact contrary to my pleasure, then thou shalt die.\u2019 When I had likewise\nundertaken not to act contrary to his pleasure, he continued, \u2018Thou\nshalt abide three days in Cairo, then thou shalt go forth and wander\nfrom country to country, and from city to city, and from village to\nvillage, until thou find an exceeding fair and pure girl in her\nfourteenth or fifteenth year, who, besides being a virgin, has never so\nmuch as longed for the pleasures of love: and thou shalt bring her to me\nwithout ever letting even thy hand touch hers; and I will give thee the\nimage. But if thou purpose treachery, or to obtain delight by returning\nnot to me, know that thy death is certain.\u2019 I made answer, \u2018I may seek\nand find the things visible; but I am not skilled in the secrets of the\nheart that I should know that no impure thoughts have ever come into the\nmind; this part of the matter is hard.\u2019 Thereon he gave into my hand a\nmirror and a purse, and said, \u2018When thou hast found a girl answering in\nbeauty and other such particulars to my description, hold this mirror to\nher face, and if it become clouded, she is not the desired one, for her\nmind is sullied; but if the mirror remain bright, she is the chaste one\nwe desire. However, the accomplishment of this matter will require much\noutlay, so spend from this purse; with God\u2019s permission it will not\nbecome exhausted.\u2019\n\n\u201cAccordingly, I took the mirror and the purse, and having kissed the\nShaykh\u2019s feet, and bade him farewell, and after resting three days in a\nKhan, I set out on the road to Damascus. I wandered through Damascus,\nAleppo, Syria, the islands of the Mediterranean, Constantinople,\nRumelia, Frankland, and many many kingdoms and cities; and although I\nfound some perfect in beauty, I found none whose chastity could abide\nthe trial of the mirror. A certain man told me that there were in\nBaghd\u0101d many beauties perfect in loveliness, and said, \u2018If you go\nthither, belike you may find the fair one whom you seek.\u2019 So I went to\nBaghd\u0101d and rented a house in a certain quarter and having taken up my\nabode there, began the search. The Im\u0101m of the quarter was an old man\nnamed Haji Bekr, who used to come to my house at nights to converse with\nme. One night I told him the secret of my heart and said, \u2018If thou canst\nfind a girl such as I wish, that is, such as were acceptable to my\ntaste, I will give thee ten purses; and from that may be judged how I\nshall treat the girl and her relations. But even if, through the favour\nof God Most High, she be found, I may not marry her until I have gone\nand kissed the feet of my father who is grand Vezir of Egypt. If they\nwill give me the girl whom I approve with this condition, I will cover\nher parents and relations with favours.\u2019 Then the Im\u0101m, after pondering\na while, thus made answer, \u2018The Khalif has a Vezir named N\u0101sir, whom he\ndismissed from his service, having been displeased at certain of his\nactions; this Vezir has for a long time sat in the nook of retirement,\nand he has fallen a prey to exceeding poverty and indigence. He has a\ndaughter named Mihr-i-Dil,[64] who is now in her fourteenth or fifteenth\nyear. She is well known among the women, who say that her like has never\nbeen created upon earth. If she suit your taste, she may do; if not, it\nwill be vain to look for another, hoping to find one better than she.\u2019\nWhen I heard these words I put ten florins into the Im\u0101m\u2019s hand, saying,\n\u2018Be this shoe-money: go to-morrow to the girl\u2019s father and tell him of\nthe affair; and if he be willing to give her, bring me word.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe came next day and told me that he had spoken to the girl\u2019s father,\nthat he was willing, and that they were awaiting my going to their\nhouse. So I straightway set out in all haste for the desired quarter,\nand reached their abode. After I had met her father and conversed with\nhim, he took me into another room where his daughter was standing\ncovered with a veil. Her father went up to her, and when he had raised\nthe veil from his daughter\u2019s face, I saw that she was a loveling of the\nsoul, such that not merely was the Shaykh\u2019s description insufficient,\nbut that never heart or imagination had conceived her like. The glance\nof her eyes was a disturber of the world such that with one look it made\nmy soul like to hell through the fire of love, and maddened me, taking\nme out of myself. Forthwith I pulled out the mirror and held it to her\nface, and when I saw that there was thereon no trace of dullness, even\nas the Shaykh had said, I made sure of her chastity. When I came forth I\nkissed her father\u2019s hand and prayed him to accept me to son-in-law, and\nhe blessed me, saying, \u2018There is no refusal; may the Lord of the worlds\ngrant to both of you life and fortune.\u2019 The Im\u0101m, the Mu\u2019ezzin and the\nassembly were straightway summoned, and when the marriage-ceremony was\ncompleted, I gave the ten purses I had promised, and also ten thousand\nsequins for the wedding expenses, and things proper to women to the\nvalue of two hundred purses, which I had prepared before hand. I took\nfrom the purse to the amount of about two hundred purses, and giving it\nto the Im\u0101m Efendi, sent him off with it, that they might buy whatsoever\ndresses they should wish. And I gave them notice, saying, \u2018I may not\ntarry longer than a week, then I must set out whither I mean to go; let\nthem be ready.\u2019\n\n\u201cWhen I had delivered poor N\u0101sir and his belongings from all need, I got\nready all things necessary for the journey, and we started on the way to\nEgypt. While on the journey, I assisted the maiden in mounting into and\nalighting from the litter and as the poor girl thought I was her\nhusband, she took no heed but disclosed her fair face to me, whereupon\nmy wit and understanding were ravished, and passion and longing brought\nme to such a pass that I would have abandoned wealth and hoard, image\nand treasure, nay, even the world itself, but that dread of the Shaykh\nand fear for my life held me back from accomplishing my desire; for I\nknew that if I touched but so much as her hand with mine, my death was\ncertain. Accordingly I endured it as I might, and sighed and groaned\nnight and day. When we were come to within an hour\u2019s journey of Cairo, I\nwent up to the side of the girl\u2019s litter, and caused her to alight. I\nmade them pitch a sun-tent in the shade of which we sat down, and then I\nlaid bare to her the secret that was in my heart, and told her that I\nwas taking her for the Shaykh; whereupon her wailing and lamentations\nascended to the heavens, and she fainted and became senseless. We placed\nher in this plight in the litter; and when we reached the Shaykh\u2019s house\nI knocked at the door thereof. Again a slave-girl came and opened the\ndoor and took us in. I caused the girl to alight, and took her into the\npresence of the Shaykh, whose feet I kissed. He said, \u2018Upon thee be\npeace, my son; thy service is accepted and thy endeavour thanked; lo,\nmanfulness is the name of this. I rejoice exceedingly for that thou has\nborne up against the urging of passion in such a case. Thou shalt live\nlong and reap great good from this service.\u2019 Then he asked for the purse\nand the mirror, which I laid before him. He continued, \u2018Now, do thou\nagain abide in Cairo during three days, and then go to thine own country\nand thou shalt find the wished for image placed upon the empty stand.\u2019\n\n\u201cAgain I kissed his feet and bade him farewell, and after tarrying for\nthree days in Cairo, returned to my own country. When I arrived there I\nforegathered with my mother, and after I had related to her all that had\nhappened, we hastened together to the buried treasure. We opened the\ndoor, and when we entered we saw upon that oft mentioned stand my\ndarling, my beloved, Mihr-i-Dil. My senses and understanding forsook me,\nand I abode for a while confounded. When she saw me she arose; and there\nwas a paper in her hand which she presented to me. It was signed with\nthe Shaykh\u2019s signature, and there was written thereon: \u2018My son,\n\u2018Abd-us-Samed, the reason why thy father and myself deemed it good to\nsubject thee to these trials is this, that having therefore endured toil\nand trouble, thou mightest know that a virtuous wife is worth many\ntreasures such as this, and consider whether it were more desirable to\nfind upon this stand an image which were worth the world, or better to\nfind thereon the lovely Mihr-i-Dil. Now thou shalt know the value of the\nlatter to the end of thy life; and she is thy wedded wife.\u2019\n\n\u201cNow, my lord (Prince As\u012bl), that is the reason of one of the stands\nbeing empty; the image belonging to that stand is the mistress of our\nharem, the mother of Sh\u012bve-Z\u0101d.\u201d[65]\n\n\n\n\n ALAEDDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP.\n\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, how rare is thy tale and delectable!\u201d\nwhereto quoth Shahrazad, \u201cAnd what is this compared with that I would\nrelate to you on the coming night concerning Alaeddin[66] and the\nEnchanted Lamp, an this my lord the King leave me on life?\u201d The King\nsaid to himself, \u201cBy Allah, I will not slay her until she tell me the\nwhole tale.\u201d\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fourteenth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad,[67] to Shahrazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than\nsleepy, do tell us some of thy pleasant tales;\u201d and quoth she \u201cWith love\nand good will: I will relate to you the story of\n\n\n _ALAEDDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP._\u201d\n\nIt hath reached me, O King of the Age, that there dwelt in a city of the\ncities of China a man which was a tailor, withal a pauper, and he had\none son, Alaeddin hight. Now this boy had been from his babyhood a\nne\u2019er-do-well, a scapegrace; and, when he reached his tenth year, his\nfather inclined to teach him his own trade; and, for that he was over\nindigent to expend money upon his learning other work or craft or\napprenticeship, he took the lad into his shop that he might be taught\ntailoring. But, as Alaeddin was a scapegrace and a ne\u2019er-do-well and\nwont to play at all times with the gutter boys of the quarter, he would\nnot sit in the shop for a single day; nay, he would await his father\u2019s\nleaving it for some purpose, such as to meet a creditor, when he would\nrun off at once and fare forth to the gardens with the other scapegraces\nand low companions, his fellows. Such was his case; counsel and\ncastigation were of no avail, nor would he obey either parent in aught\nor learn any trade; and presently, for his sadness and sorrowing because\nof his son\u2019s vicious indolence, the tailor sickened and died. Alaeddin\ncontinued in his former ill courses and, when his mother saw that her\nspouse had deceased, and that her son was a scapegrace and good for\nnothing at all[68] she sold the shop and whatso was to be found therein\nand fell to spinning cotton yarn. By this toilsome industry she fed\nherself and found food for her son Alaeddin the scapegrace who, seeing\nhimself freed from bearing the severities of his sire, increased in\nidleness and low habits; nor would he ever stay at home save at\nmeal-hours while his miserable wretched mother lived only by what her\nhands could spin until the youth had reached his fifteenth year.\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased saying her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fifteenth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when Alaeddin\nhad come to his fifteenth year, it befel, one day of the days, that as\nhe was sitting about the quarter at play with the vagabond boys behold,\na Darwaysh from the Maghrib, the Land of the Setting Sun, came up and\nstood gazing for solace upon the lads and he looked hard at Alaeddin and\ncarefully considered his semblance, scarcely noticing his companions the\nwhile. Now this Darwaysh was a Moorman from Inner Marocco and he was a\nmagician who could upheap by his magic hill upon hill, and he was also\nan adept in astrology. So after narrowly considering Alaeddin he said in\nhimself, \u201cVerily, this is the lad I need and to find whom I have left my\nnatal land.\u201d Presently he led one of the children apart and questioned\nhim anent the scapegrace saying, \u201cWhose[69] son is he?\u201d And he sought\nall information concerning his condition and whatso related to him.\nAfter this he walked up to Alaeddin and drawing him aside asked, \u201cO my\nson, haply thou art the child of Such-an-one the tailor?\u201d and the lad\nanswered, \u201cYes, O my lord, but \u2019tis long since he died.\u201d The\nMaghrabi,[70] the Magician, hearing these words threw himself upon\nAlaeddin and wound his arms around his neck and fell to bussing him,\nweeping the while with tears trickling adown his cheeks. But when the\nlad saw the Moorman\u2019s case he was seized with surprise thereat and\nquestioned him, saying, \u201cWhat causeth thee weep, O my lord; and how\ncamest thou to know my father?\u201d \u201cHow canst thou, O my son,\u201d replied the\nMoorman, in a soft voice saddened by emotion, \u201cquestion me with such\nquery after informing me that thy father and my brother is deceased; for\nthat he was my brother-german and now I come from my adopted country and\nafter long exile I rejoiced with exceeding joy in the hope of looking\nupon him once more and condoling with him over the past; and now thou\nhast announced to me his demise. But blood hideth not from blood[71] and\nit hath revealed to me that thou art my nephew, son of my brother, and I\nknew thee amongst all the lads, albeit thy father, when I parted from\nhim, was yet unmarried.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day\nand ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Sixteenth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Maghrabi,\nthe Magician, said to the tailor\u2019s orphan, \u201cO my son Alaeddin, and I\nhave now failed in the mourning ceremonies and have lost the delight I\nexpected from meeting thy father, my brother, whom after my long\nbanishment I had hoped to see once more ere I die; but far distance\nwrought me this trouble nor hath the creature aught of asylum from the\nCreator or artifice against the commandments of Allah Almighty.\u201d Then he\nagain clasped Alaeddin to his bosom crying, \u201cO my son, I have none to\ncondole with now save thyself; and thou standest in stead of thy sire,\nthou being his issue and representative and \u2018whoso leaveth issue dieth\nnot,\u2019[72] O my child!\u201d So saying, the Magician put hand to purse and\npulling out ten gold pieces gave them to the lad asking, \u201cO my son,\nwhere is your house and where dwelleth she, thy mother, and my brother\u2019s\nwidow?\u201d Presently Alaeddin arose with him and showed him the way to\ntheir home and meanwhile quoth the Wizard, \u201cO my son, take these moneys\nand give them to thy mother, greeting her from me, and let her know that\nthine uncle, thy father\u2019s brother, hath reappeared from his exile and\nthat Inshallah\u2014God willing\u2014on the morrow I will visit her to salute her\nwith the salam and see the house wherein my brother was homed and look\nupon the place where he lieth buried.\u201d Thereupon Alaeddin kissed the\nMaghrabi\u2019s hand, and, after running in his joy at fullest speed to his\nmother\u2019s dwelling, entered to her clean contrariwise to his custom,\ninasmuch as he never came near her save at meal-times only. And when he\nfound her, the lad exclaimed in his delight, \u201cO my mother, I give thee\nglad tidings of mine uncle who hath returned from his exile and who now\nsendeth me to salute thee.\u201d \u201cO my son,\u201d she replied, \u201cmeseemeth thou\nmockest me! Who is this uncle and how canst thou have an uncle in the\nbonds of life?\u201d He rejoined, \u201cHow sayest thou, O my mother, that I have\nnor living uncles nor kinsmen, when this man is my father\u2019s own brother?\nIndeed he embraced me and bussed me, shedding tears the while, and bade\nme acquaint thee herewith.\u201d She retorted, \u201cO my son, well I wot thou\nhaddest an uncle, but he is now dead nor am I ware that thou hast other\neme.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say\nher permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Seventeenth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Maroccan\nMagician fared forth next morning and fell to finding out Alaeddin, for\nhis heart no longer permitted him to part from the lad; and, as he was\nto-ing and fro-ing about the city-highways, he came face to face with\nhim disporting himself, as was his wont, amongst the vagabonds and the\nscapegraces. So he drew near to him and, taking his hand, embraced him\nand bussed him; then pulled out of his poke two dinars and said, \u201cHie\nthee to thy mother and give her these couple of ducats and tell her that\nthine uncle would eat the evening-meal with you; so do thou take these\ntwo gold pieces and prepare for us a succulent supper. But before all\nthings show me once more the way to your home.\u201d \u201cOn my head and mine\neyes be it, O my uncle,\u201d replied the lad and forewent him, pointing out\nthe street leading to the house. Then the Moorman left him and went his\nways and Alaeddin ran home and, giving the news and the two sequins to\nhis parent, said, \u201cMy uncle would sup with us.\u201d So she arose straightway\nand going to the market-street bought all she required; then, returning\nto her dwelling she borrowed from the neighbours whatever was needed of\npans and platters and so forth and when the meal was cooked and\nsuppertime came she said to Alaeddin, \u201cO my child, the meat is ready but\nperadventure thine uncle wotteth not the way to our dwelling; so do thou\nfare forth and meet him on the road.\u201d He replied, \u201cTo hear is to obey,\u201d\nand before the twain ended talking a knock was heard at the door.\nAlaeddin went out and opened when, behold, the Maghrabi, the Magician,\ntogether with an eunuch carrying the wine and the dessert-fruits; so the\nlad led them in and the slave went about his business. The Moorman on\nentering saluted his sister-in-law with the salam; then began to shed\ntears and to question her saying, \u201cWhere be the place whereon my brother\nwent to sit?\u201d She showed it to him, whereat he went up to it and\nprostrated himself in prayer[73] and kissed the floor crying, \u201cAh, how\nscant is my satisfaction and how luckless is my lot, for that I have\nlost thee, O my brother, O vein of my eye!\u201d And after such fashion he\ncontinued weeping and wailing till he swooned away for excess of sobbing\nand lamentation; wherefor Alaeddin\u2019s mother was certified of his\nsoothfastness. So coming up to him she raised him from the floor and\nsaid, \u201cWhat gain is there in slaying thyself?\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was\nsurprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eighteenth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin\u2019s\nmother began consoling the Maghrabi, the Magician, and placed him upon\nthe divan; and, as soon as he was seated at his ease and before the\nfood-trays were served up, he fell to talking with her and saying, \u201cO\nwife of my brother, it must be a wonder to thee how in all thy days thou\nnever sawest me nor learnedst thou aught of me during the life-time of\nmy brother who hath found mercy.[74] Now the reason is that forty years\nago I left this town and exiled myself from my birth-place and wandered\nforth over all the lands of Al-Hind and Al-Sind and entered Egypt and\nsettled for a long time in its magnificent city,[75] which is one of the\nworld-wonders, till at last I fared to the regions of the Setting Sun\nand abode for a space of thirty years in the Maroccan interior. Now one\nday of the days, O wife of my brother, as I was sitting alone at home, I\nfell to thinking of mine own country and of my birth-place and of my\nbrother (who hath found mercy); and my yearning to see him waxed\nexcessive and I bewept and bewailed my strangerhood and distance from\nhim. And at last my longings drave me homewards until I resolved upon\ntravelling to the region which was the falling-place of my head[76] and\nmy homestead, to the end that I might again see my brother. Then quoth I\nto myself:\u2014O man,[77] how long wilt thou wander like a wild Arab from\nthy place of birth and native stead? Moreover, thou hast one brother and\nno more; so up with thee and travel and look upon him[78] ere thou die;\nfor who wotteth the woes of the world and the changes of the days?\n\u2019Twould be saddest regret an thou lie down to die without beholding thy\nbrother and Allah (laud be to the Lord!) hath vouchsafed thee ample\nwealth; and belike he may be straitened and in poor case, when thou wilt\naid thy brother as well as see him. So I arose at once and equipped me\nfor wayfare and recited the F\u00e1tihah; then, whenas Friday prayers ended,\nI mounted and travelled to this town, after suffering manifold toils and\ntravails which I patiently endured whilst the Lord (to whom be honour\nand glory!) veiled me with the veil of His protection. So I entered and\nwhilst wandering about the streets, the day before yesterday, I beheld\nmy brother\u2019s son Alaeddin disporting himself with the boys and, by God\nthe Great, O wife of my brother, the moment I saw him this heart of mine\nwent forth to him (for blood yearneth unto blood!), and my soul felt and\ninformed me that he was my very nephew. So I forgot all my travails and\ntroubles at once on sighting him and I was like to fly for joy; but,\nwhen he told me of the dear one\u2019s departure to the ruth of Allah\nAlmighty, I fainted for stress of distress and disappointment.\nPerchance, however, my nephew hath informed thee of the pains which\nprevailed upon me; but after a fashion I am consoled by the sight of\nAlaeddin, the legacy bequeathed to us by him who hath found mercy for\nthat \u2018whoso leaveth issue is not wholly dead.\u2019\u201d[79]\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was\nsurprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Nineteenth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Maghrabi,\nthe Magician, said to Alaeddin\u2019s mother, \u201cWhoso leaveth issue is not\nwholly dead.\u201d And when he looked at his sister-in-law she wept at these\nhis words; so he turned to the lad that he might cause her forget the\nmention of her mate, as a means of comforting her and also of completing\nhis deceit, and asked him, saying, \u201cO my son Alaeddin what hast thou\nlearned in the way of work and what is thy business? Say me, hast thou\nmastered any craft whereby to earn a livelihood for thyself and for thy\nmother?\u201d The lad was abashed and put to shame and he hung down his head\nand bowed his brow groundwards; but his parent spake out, \u201cHow,\nforsooth? By Allah, he knoweth nothing at all, a child so ungracious as\nthis I never yet saw; no, never! All the day long he idleth away his\ntime with the sons of the quarter, vagabonds like himself, and his\nfather (O regret of me!) died not save of dolour for him. And I also am\nnow in piteous plight: I spin cotton and toil at my distaff, night and\nday, that I may earn me a couple of scones of bread which we eat\ntogether. This is his condition, O my brother-in-law; and, by the life\nof thee, he cometh not near me save at meal-times and none other.\nIndeed, I am thinking to lock the house-door nor ever open to him again\nbut leave him to go and seek a livelihood whereby he can live, for that\nI am now grown a woman in years and have no longer strength to toil and\ngo about for a maintenance after this fashion. O Allah, I am compelled\nto provide him with daily bread when I require to be provided!\u201d Hereat\nthe Moorman turned to Alaeddin and said, \u201cWhy is this, O son of my\nbrother, thou goest about in such ungraciousness? \u2019Tis a disgrace to\nthee and unsuitable for men like thyself. Thou art a youth of sense, O\nmy son, and the child of honest folk, so \u2019tis for thee a shame that thy\nmother, a woman in years, should struggle to support thee. And now that\nthou hast grown to man\u2019s estate it becometh thee to devise thee some\ndevice whereby thou canst live, O my child. Look around thee and\nAlhamdolillah\u2014praise be to Allah\u2014in this our town are many teachers of\nall manner of crafts and nowhere are they more numerous; so choose thee\nsome calling which may please thee to the end that I stablish thee\ntherein; and, when thou growest up, O my son, thou shalt have some\nbusiness whereby to live. Haply thy father\u2019s industry may not be to thy\nliking; and, if so it be, choose thee some other handicraft which\nsuiteth thy fancy; then let me know and I will aid thee with all I can,\nO my son.\u201d But when the Maghrabi saw that Alaeddin kept silence and made\nhim no reply, he knew that the lad wanted none other occupation than a\nscapegrace-life, so he said to him, \u201cO son of my brother, let not my\nwords seem hard and harsh to thee, for, if despite all I say, thou still\ndislike to learn a craft, I will open thee a merchant\u2019s store[80]\nfurnished with costliest stuffs and thou shalt become famous amongst the\nfolk and take and give and buy and sell and be well known in the city?\u201d\nNow when Alaeddin heard the words of his uncle the Moorman, and the\ndesign of making him a Khw\u00e1jah[81]\u2014merchant and gentleman,\u2014he joyed\nexceedingly knowing that such folk dress handsomely and fare delicately.\nSo he looked at the Maghrabi smiling and drooping his head groundwards\nand saying with the tongue of the case that he was content.\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Twentieth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Maghrabi,\nthe Magician, looked at Alaeddin and saw him smiling, whereby he\nunderstood that the lad was satisfied to become a trader. So he said to\nhim, \u201cSince thou art content that I open thee a merchant\u2019s store and\nmake thee a gentleman, do thou, O son of my brother, prove thyself a man\nand Inshallah\u2014God willing\u2014to-morrow I will take thee to the Bazar in the\nfirst place and will have a fine suit of clothes cut out for thee, such\ngear as merchants wear; and, secondly, I will look after a store for\nthee and keep my word.\u201d Now Alaeddin\u2019s mother had somewhat doubted the\nMaroccan being her brother-in-law; but as soon as she heard his promise\nof opening a merchant\u2019s store for her son and setting him up with stuffs\nand capital and so forth, the woman decided and determined in her mind\nthat this Maghrabi was in very sooth her husband\u2019s brother, seeing that\nno stranger man would do such goodly deed by her son. So she began\ndirecting the lad to the right road and teaching him to cast ignorance\nfrom out his head and to prove himself a man; moreover she bade him ever\nobey his excellent uncle as though he were his son and to make up for\nthe time he had wasted in frowardness with his fellows. After this she\narose and spread the table, then served up supper; so all sat down and\nfell to eating and drinking, while the Maghrabi conversed with Alaeddin\nupon matters of business and the like, rejoicing him to such degree that\nhe enjoyed no sleep that night. But when the Moorman saw that the dark\nhours were passing by, and the wine was drunken, he arose and sped to\nhis own stead; but, ere going, he agreed to return next morning and take\nAlaeddin and look to his suit of merchant\u2019s clothes being cut out for\nhim. And as soon as it was dawn, behold, the Maghrabi rapped at the door\nwhich was opened by Alaeddin\u2019s mother: the Moorman, however, would not\nenter, but asked to take the lad with him to the market-street.\nAccordingly Alaeddin went forth to his uncle and, wishing him good\nmorning, kissed his hand; and the Maroccan took him by the hand and\nfared with him to the Bazar. There he entered a clothier\u2019s shop\ncontaining all kinds of clothes and called for a suit of the most\nsumptuous; whereat the merchant brought him out his need, all wholly\nfashioned and ready sewn; and the Moorman said to the lad, \u201cChoose, O my\nchild, whatso pleaseth thee.\u201d Alaeddin rejoiced exceedingly seeing that\nhis uncle had given him his choice, so he picked out the suit most to\nhis own liking and the Maroccan paid to the merchant the price thereof\nin ready money. Presently he led the lad to the Hamm\u00e1m-baths where they\nbathed; then they came out and drank sherbets, after which Alaeddin\narose and, donning his new dress in huge joy and delight, went up to his\nuncle and kissed his hand and thanked him for his favours.\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Twenty-first Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It has reached me, O King of the Age, that the Maghrabi,\nthe Magician, after leaving the Hammam with Alaeddin, took him and\ntrudged with him to the Merchants\u2019 bazar; and, having diverted him by\nshowing the market and its sellings and buyings, said to him, \u201cO my son,\nit besitteth thee to become familiar with the folk, especially with the\nmerchants, so thou mayest learn of them merchant-craft, seeing that the\nsame hath now become thy calling.\u201d Then he led him forth and showed him\nthe city and its cathedral-mosques together with all the pleasant sights\ntherein; and, lastly, made him enter a cook\u2019s shop. Here dinner was\nserved to them on platters of silver and they dined well and ate and\ndrank their sufficiency, after which they went their ways. Presently the\nMoorman pointed out to Alaeddin the pleasances and noble buildings, and\nwent in with him to the Sultan\u2019s Palace and diverted him with displaying\nall the apartments which were mighty fine and grand; and led him finally\nto the Kh\u00e1n of stranger merchants where he himself had his abode. Then\nthe Maroccan invited sundry traders which were in the Caravanserai; and\nthey came and sat down to supper, when he notified to them that the\nyouth was his nephew, Alaeddin by name. And after they had eaten and\ndrunken and night had fallen, he rose up and taking the lad with him led\nhim back to his mother, who no sooner saw her boy as he were one of the\nmerchants[82] than her wits took flight and she waxed sad for very\ngladness. Then she fell to thanking her false connection, the Moorman,\nfor all his benefits and said to him, \u201cO my brother-in-law, I can never\nsay enough though I expressed my gratitude to thee during the rest of\nthy days and praised thee for the good deeds thou hast done by this my\nchild.\u201d Thereupon quoth the Maroccan, \u201cO wife of my brother, deem this\nnot mere kindness of me, for that the lad is mine own son and \u2019tis\nincumbent on me to stand in the stead of my brother, his sire. So be\nthou fully satisfied!\u201d And quoth she, \u201cI pray Allah by the honour of the\nHallows, the ancients and the moderns, that He preserve thee and cause\nthee continue, O my brother-in-law, and prolong for me thy life; so\nshalt thou be a wing overshadowing this orphan lad; and he shall ever be\nobedient to thine orders nor shall he do aught save whatso thou biddest\nhim thereunto.\u201d The Maghrabi replied, \u201cO wife of my brother, Alaeddin is\nnow a man of sense and the son of goodly folk, and I hope to Allah that\nhe will follow in the footsteps of his sire and cool thine eyes. But I\nregret that, to-morrow being Friday, I shall not be able to open his\nshop, as \u2019tis meeting-day when all the merchants, after congregational\nprayer, go forth to the gardens and pleasances. On the Sabbath,[83]\nhowever, Inshallah!\u2014an it please the Creator\u2014we will do our business.\nMeanwhile to-morrow I will come to thee betimes and take Alaeddin for a\npleasant stroll to the gardens and pleasances without the city which\nhaply he may hitherto not have beheld. There also he shall see the\nmerchants and notables who go forth to amuse themselves, so shall he\nbecome acquainted with them and they with him.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was\nsurprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Twenty-second Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Maghrabi\nwent away and lay that night in his quarters; and early next morning he\ncame to the tailor\u2019s house and rapped at the door. Now Alaeddin (for\nstress of his delight in the new dress he had donned and for the past\nday\u2019s enjoyment in the Hammam and in eating and drinking and gazing at\nthe folk; expecting furthermore his uncle to come at dawn and carry him\noff on pleasuring to the gardens) had not slept a wink that night, nor\nclosed his eyelids, and would hardly believe it when day broke. But\nhearing the knock at the door he went out at once in hot haste, like a\nspark of fire, and opened and saw his uncle, the Magician, who embraced\nhim and kissed him. Then, taking his hand, the Moorman said to him as\nthey fared forth together, \u201cO son of my brother, this day will I show\nthee a sight thou never sawest in all thy life,\u201d and he began to make\nthe lad laugh and cheer him with pleasant talk. So doing they left the\ncity gate, and the Maroccan took to promenading with Alaeddin amongst\nthe gardens and to pointing out for his pleasure the mighty fine\npleasances and the marvellous high-builded[84] pavilions. And whenever\nthey stood to stare at a garth or a mansion or a palace the Maghrabi\nwould say to his companion, \u201cDoth this please thee, O son of my\nbrother?\u201d Alaeddin was nigh to fly with delight at seeing sights he had\nnever seen in all his born days; and they ceased not[85] to stroll about\nand solace themselves until they waxed aweary, when they entered a\nmighty grand garden which was nearhand, a place that the heart delighted\nand the sight belighted; for that its swift-running rills flowed amidst\nthe flowers and the waters jetted from the jaws of lions moulded in\nyellow brass like unto gold. So they took seat over against a lakelet\nand rested a little while, and Alaeddin enjoyed himself with joy\nexceeding and fell to jesting with his uncle and making merry with him\nas though the Magician were really his father\u2019s brother. Presently the\nMaghrabi arose and loosing his girdle drew forth from thereunder a bag\nfull of victual, dried fruits and so forth, saying to Alaeddin, \u201cO my\nnephew, haply thou art become anhungered; so come forward and eat what\nthou needest.\u201d Accordingly the lad fell upon the food and the Moorman\nate with him and they were gladdened and cheered by rest and good cheer.\nThen quoth the Magician, \u201cArise, O son of my brother, an thou be reposed\nand let us stroll onwards a little and reach the end of our walk.\u201d\nThereupon Alaeddin arose and the Maroccan paced with him from garden to\ngarden until they left all behind them and reached the base of a high\nand naked hill; when the lad who, during all his days, had never issued\nfrom the city-gate and never in his life had walked such a walk as this,\nsaid to the Maghrabi, \u201cO uncle mine, whither are we wending? We have\nleft the gardens behind us one and all and have reached the barren\nhill-country[86]; and, if the way be still long, I have no strength left\nfor walking: indeed I am ready to fall with fatigue. There are no\ngardens before us, so let us hark back and return to town.\u201d Said the\nMagician, \u201cNo, O my son; this is the right road, nor are the gardens\nended for we are going to look at one which hath ne\u2019er its like amongst\nthose of the Kings and all thou hast beheld are naught in comparison\ntherewith. Then gird thy courage to walk; thou art now a man,\nAlhamdolillah\u2014praise be to Allah!\u201d Then the Maghrabi fell to soothing\nAlaeddin with soft words and telling him wondrous tales, lies as well as\ntruth, until they reached the site intended by the African Magician who\nhad travelled from the Sunset-land to the regions of China for the sake\nthereof. And when they made the place, the Moorman said to Alaeddin, \u201cO\nson of my brother, sit thee down and take thy rest, for this is the spot\nwe are now seeking and, Inshallah, soon will I divert thee by displaying\nmarvel-matters whose like not one in the world ever saw; nor hath any\nsolaced himself with gazing upon that which thou art about to\nbehold.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to\nsay her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Twenty-third Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Maghrabi\nwizard said to Alaeddin, \u201cNo one of created beings hath enjoyed the\nsights _thou_ art about to see. But when thou art rested, arise and seek\nsome wood-chips and fuel sticks[87] which be small and dry, wherewith we\nmay kindle a fire: then will I show thee, O son of my brother, matters\nbeyond the range of matter.\u201d[88] Now, when the lad heard these words, he\nlonged to look upon what his uncle was about to do and, forgetting his\nfatigue, he rose forthright and fell to gathering small wood-chips and\ndry sticks, and continued until the Moorman cried to him, \u201cEnough, O son\nof my brother!\u201d Presently the Magician brought out from his\nbreast-pocket a casket which he opened, and drew from it all he needed\nof incense; then he fumigated and conjured and adjured, muttering words\nnone might understand. And the ground straightway clave asunder after\nthick gloom and quake of earth and bellowings of thunder. Hereat\nAlaeddin was startled and so affrighted that he tried to fly; but, when\nthe African Magician saw his design, he waxed wroth with exceeding\nwrath, for that without the lad his work would profit him naught, the\nhidden hoard which he sought to open being not to be opened save by\nmeans of Alaeddin. So noting this attempt to run away, the Magician\narose and raising his hand smote Alaeddin on the head a buffet so sore\nthat well nigh his back-teeth were knocked out, and he fell swooning to\nthe ground. But after a time he revived by the magic of the Magician,\nand cried, weeping the while, \u201cO my uncle, what have I done that\ndeserveth from thee such a blow as this?\u201d Hereat the Maghrabi fell to\nsoothing him, and said, \u201cO my son, \u2019tis my intent to make thee a man;\ntherefore, do thou not gainsay me, for that I am thine uncle and like\nunto thy father. Obey me, therefore, in all I bid thee, and shortly thou\nshalt forget all this travail and toil whenas thou shalt look upon the\nmarvel-matters I am about to show thee.\u201d And soon after the ground had\ncloven asunder before the Maroccan it displayed a marble slab wherein\nwas fixed a copper ring. The Maghrabi, striking a geomantic table[89]\nturned to Alaeddin, and said to him, \u201cAn thou do all I shall bid thee,\nindeed thou shalt become wealthier than any of the kings, and for this\nreason, O my son, I struck thee, because here lieth a hoard which is\nstored in thy name; and yet thou designedst to leave it and to levant.\nBut now collect thy thoughts, and behold how I opened earth by my spells\nand adjurations.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day, and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Twenty-fourth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Maghrabi,\nthe Magician, said to Alaeddin, \u201cO my son, now collect thy thoughts!\nunder yon stone wherein the ring is set lieth the treasure wherewith I\nacquainted thee: so set thy hand upon the ring and raise the slab, for\nthat none other amongst the folk, thyself excepted, hath power to open\nit, nor may any of mortal birth, save thyself, set foot within this\nEnchanted Treasury which hath been kept for thee. But \u2019tis needful that\nthou learn of me all wherewith I would charge thee; nor gainsay e\u2019en a\nsingle syllable of my words. All this, O my child, is for thy good; the\nhoard being of immense value, whose like the kings of the world never\naccumulated, and do thou remember that \u2019tis for thee and me.\u201d So poor\nAlaeddin forgot his fatigue and buffet and tear-shedding, and he was\ndumbed and dazed at the Maghrabi\u2019s words and rejoiced that he was fated\nto become rich in such measure that not even the Sultans would be richer\nthan himself. Accordingly, he cried, \u201cO my uncle, bid me do all thou\npleasest, for I will be obedient unto thy bidding.\u201d The Maghrabi\nreplied, \u201cO my nephew, thou art to me as my own child and even dearer,\nfor being my brother\u2019s son and for my having none other kith and kin\nexcept thyself; and thou, O my child, art my heir and successor.\u201d So\nsaying, he went up to Alaeddin and kissed him and said, \u201cFor whom do I\nintend these my labours? Indeed, each and every are for thy sake, O my\nson, to the end that I may leave thee a rich man and one of the very\ngreatest. So gainsay me not in all I shall say to thee, and now go up to\nyonder ring and uplift it as I bade thee.\u201d Alaeddin answered, \u201cO uncle\nmine, this ring is over heavy for me: I cannot raise it single-handed,\nso do thou also come forward and lend me strength and aidance towards\nuplifting it, for indeed I am young in years.\u201d The Moorman replied, \u201cO\nson of my brother, we shall find it impossible to do aught if I assist\nthee, and all our efforts would be in vain. But do thou set thy hand\nupon the ring and pull it up, and thou shalt raise the slab forthright,\nand in very sooth I told thee that none can touch it save thyself. But\nwhilst haling at it cease not to pronounce thy name and the names of thy\nfather and mother, so \u2019twill rise at once to thee nor shalt thou feel\nits weight.\u201d Thereupon the lad mustered up strength and girt the loins\nof resolution and did as the Maroccan had bidden him, and hove up the\nslab with all ease when he pronounced his name and the names of his\nparents, even as the Magician had bidden him. And as soon as the stone\nwas raised he threw it aside.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn\nof day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Twenty-fifth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that after Alaeddin\nhad raised the slab from over the entrance to the Hoard there appeared\nbefore him a Sard\u00e1b, a souterrain, whereunto led a case of some twelve\nstairs and the Maghrabi said, \u201cO Alaeddin, collect thy thoughts and do\nwhatso I bid thee to the minutest detail nor fail in aught thereof. Go\ndown with all care into yonder vault until thou reach the bottom and\nthere shalt thou find a space divided into four halls,[90] and in each\nof these thou shalt see four golden jars[91] and others of virgin or and\nsilver. Beware, however, lest thou take aught therefrom or touch them,\nnor allow thy gown or its skirts even to brush the jars or the walls.\nLeave them and fare forwards until thou reach the fourth hall without\nlingering for a single moment on the way; and, if thou do aught contrary\nthereto thou wilt at once be transformed and become a black stone. When\nreaching the fourth hall thou wilt find therein a door which do thou\nopen, and pronouncing the names thou spakest over the slab, enter\ntherethrough into a garden adorned everywhere with fruit-bearing trees.\nThis thou must traverse by a path thou wilt see in front of thee\nmeasuring some fifty cubits long, beyond which thou wilt come upon an\nopen saloon[92] and therein a ladder of some thirty rungs. And thou\nshalt also see hanging from its ceiling,\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised\nby the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Twenty-Sixth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Maghrabi,\nthe Magician, fell to teaching Alaeddin how he should descend into the\nHoard and continued, \u201cOn reaching the saloon thou shalt there find a\nLamp hanging from its ceiling; so mount the ladder and take that Lamp\nand place it in thy breast-pocket after pouring out its contents; nor\nfear evil from it for thy clothes because its contents are not common\noil.[93] And on return thou art allowed to pluck from the trees whatso\nthou pleasest, for all is thine so long as the Lamp is in thy hand.\u201d Now\nwhen the Moorman ended his charge to Alaeddin, he drew off a\nseal-ring[94] and put it upon the lad\u2019s forefinger saying, \u201cO my son,\nverily this signet shall free thee from all hurt and fear which may\nthreaten thee, but only on condition that thou bear in mind all I have\ntold thee.[95] So arise straightway and go down the stairs,\nstrengthening thy purpose and girding the loins of resolution: moreover\nfear not for thou art now a man and no longer a child. And in shortest\ntime, O my son, thou shalt win thee immense riches and thou shalt become\nthe wealthiest of the world.\u201d Accordingly, Alaeddin arose and descended\ninto the souterrain, where he found the four halls, each containing four\njars of gold and these he passed by, as the Maroccan had bidden him,\nwith the utmost care and caution. Thence he fared into the garden and\nwalked along its length until he entered the saloon, where he mounted\nthe ladder and took the Lamp which he extinguished, pouring out the oil\nwhich was therein, and placed it in his breast-pocket. Presently,\ndescending the ladder he returned to the garden where he fell to gazing\nat the trees whereupon sat birds glorifying with loud voices their Great\nCreator. Now he had not observed them as he went in, but all these trees\nbare for fruitage costly gems; moreover each had its own kind of growth\nand jewels of its peculiar sort; and these were of every colour, green\nand white; yellow, red and other such brilliant hues and the radiance\nflashing from these gems paled the rays of the sun in forenoon sheen.\nFurthermore the size of each stone so far surpassed description that no\nKing of the Kings of the world owned a single gem equal to the larger\nsort nor could boast of even one half the size of the smaller kind of\nthem.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say\nher permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Twenty-seventh Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin walked\namongst the trees and gazed upon them and other things which surprised\nthe sight and bewildered the wits; and, as he considered them, he saw\nthat in lieu of common fruits the produce was of mighty fine jewels and\nprecious stones,[96] such as emeralds and diamonds; rubies, spinels and\nbalasses, pearls and similar gems astounding the mental vision of man.\nAnd forasmuch as the lad had never beheld things like these during his\nborn days nor had reached those years of discretion which would teach\nhim the worth of such valuables (he being still but a little lad), he\nfancied that all these jewels were of glass or chrystal. So he collected\nthem until he had filled his breast-pockets and began to certify himself\nif they were or were not common fruits, such as grapes, figs and such\nlike edibles. But seeing them of glassy substance, he, in his ignorance\nof precious stones and their prices, gathered into his breast-pockets\nevery kind of growth the trees afforded; and, having failed of his\npurpose in finding them food, he said in his mind, \u201cI will collect a\nportion of these glass fruits for playthings at home.\u201d So he fell to\nplucking them in quantities and cramming them in his pokes and\nbreast-pockets till these were stuffed full; after which he picked\nothers which he placed in his waist-shawl and then, girding himself\ntherewith, carried off all he availed to, purposing to place them in the\nhouse by way of ornaments and, as hath been mentioned, never imagining\nthat they were other than glass. Then he hurried his pace in fear of his\nuncle, the Maghrabi, until he had passed through the four halls and\nlastly on his return reached the souterrain where he cast not a look at\nthe jars of gold, albeit he was able and allowed to take of the contents\non his way back. But when he came to the souterrain-stairs[97] and clomb\nthe steps till naught remained but the last; and, finding this higher\nthan all the others, he was unable alone and unassisted, burthened\nmoreover as he was, to mount it. So he said to the Maghrabi, \u201cO my\nuncle, lend me thy hand and aid me to climb;\u201d but the Moorman answered,\n\u201cO my son, give me the Lamp and lighten thy load; belike \u2019tis that\nweigheth thee down.\u201d The lad rejoined, \u201cO my uncle, \u2019tis not the Lamp\ndownweigheth me at all; but do thou lend me a hand and as soon as I\nreach ground I will give it to thee.\u201d Hereat the Maroccan, the Magician,\nwhose only object was the Lamp and none other, began to insist upon\nAlaeddin giving it to him at once; but the lad (forasmuch as he had\nplaced it at the bottom of his breast-pocket and his other pouches being\nfull of gems bulged outwards)[98] could not reach it with his fingers to\nhand it over, so the wizard after much vain persistency in requiring\nwhat his nephew was unable to give, fell to raging with furious rage and\nto demanding the Lamp whilst Alaeddin could not get at it.\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Twenty-eighth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin could\nnot get at the Lamp so as to hand it to his uncle the Maghrabi, that\nfalse felon, so the Magician waxed foolish with fury for that he could\nnot win to his wish. Yet had the lad promised truthfully that he would\ngive it up as soon as he might reach ground, without lying thought or\nill-intent. But when the Moorman saw that he would not hand it over, he\nwaxed wroth with wrath exceeding and cut off all his hopes of winning\nit; so he conjured and adjured and cast incense amiddlemost the fire,\nwhen forthright the slab made a cover of itself, and by the might of\nmagic lidded the entrance; the earth buried the stone as it was\naforetime and Alaeddin, unable to issue forth, remained underground. Now\nthe Sorcerer was a stranger, and, as we have mentioned, no uncle of\nAlaeddin\u2019s, and he had misrepresented himself and preferred a lying\nclaim, to the end that he might obtain the Lamp by means of the lad for\nwhom this Hoard had been upstored. So the Accursed heaped the earth over\nhim and left him to die of hunger. For this Maghrabi was an African of\nAfrik\u00edyah proper, born in the Inner Sunset-land, and from his earliest\nage upwards he had been addicted to witchcraft and had studied and\npractised every manner of occult science, for which unholy lore the city\nof Africa[99] is notorious. And he ceased not to read and hear lectures\nuntil he had become a past-master in all such knowledge. And of the\nabounding skill in spells and conjurations which he had acquired by the\nperusing and the lessoning of forty years, one day of the days he\ndiscovered by devilish inspiration that there lay in an extreme city of\nthe cities of China, named Al-Kal\u2019\u00e1s,[100] an immense Hoard, the like\nwhereof none of the Kings in this world had ever accumulated: moreover,\nthat the most marvellous article in this Enchanted Treasure was a\nwonderful Lamp which, whoso possessed, could not possibly be surpassed\nby any man upon earth, either in high degree or in wealth and opulence;\nnor could the mightiest monarch of the universe attain to the\nall-sufficiency of this Lamp with its might of magical means.\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Twenty-ninth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when the\nMaghrabi assured himself by his science and saw that this Hoard could be\nopened only by the presence of a lad named Alaeddin, of pauper family\nand abiding in that very city, and learnt how taking it would be easy\nand without hardships, he straightway and without stay or delay equipped\nhimself for a voyage to China (as we have already told), and he did what\nhe did with Alaeddin fancying that he would become Lord of the Lamp. But\nhis attempt and his hopes were baffled and his work was clean wasted;\nwhereupon, determining to do the lad die, he heaped up the earth, over\nhim by gramarye to the end that the unfortunate might perish, reflecting\nthat \u201cThe live man hath no murtherer.\u201d[101] Secondly, he did so with the\ndesign that, as Alaeddin could not come forth from underground, he would\nalso be impotent to bring out the Lamp from the souterrain. So presently\nhe wended his ways and retired to his own land, Africa, a sadder man and\ndisappointed of all his expectations. Such was the case with the Wizard;\nbut as regards Alaeddin when the earth was heaped over him, he began\nshouting to the Moorman whom he believed to be his uncle, and praying\nhim to lend a hand that he might issue from the souterrain and return to\nearth\u2019s surface; but, however loudly he cried, none was found to reply.\nAt that moment he comprehended the sleight which the Maroccan had played\nupon him, and that the man was no uncle but a liar and a wizard. Then\nthe unhappy despaired of life, and learned to his sorrow that there was\nno escape for him; so he fell to beweeping with sore weeping the\ncalamity had befallen him; and after a little while he stood up and\ndescended the stairs to see if Allah Almighty had lightened his\ngrief-load by leaving a door of issue. So he turned him to the right and\nto the left but he saw naught save darkness and four walls closed upon\nhim, for that the Magician had by his magic locked all the doors and had\nshut up even the garden, wherethrough the lad erst had passed, lest it\noffer him the means of issuing out upon earth\u2019s surface, and that he\nmight surely die. Then Alaeddin\u2019s weeping waxed sorer, and his wailing\nlouder whenas he found all the doors fast shut, for he had thought to\nsolace himself awhile in the garden. But when he felt that all were\nlocked, he fell to shedding tears and lamenting like unto one who hath\nlost his every hope, and he returned to sit upon the stairs of the\nflight whereby he had entered the souterrain.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was\nsurprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Thirtieth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin sat\ndown upon the stair of the vault weeping and wailing and wanting all\nhopes. But it is a light matter for Allah (be He exalted and extolled!)\nwhenas He designeth aught to say, \u201cBe\u201d and it becometh; for that He\ncreateth joy in the midst of annoy; and on this wise it was with\nAlaeddin. Whilst the Maghrabi, the Magician, was sending him down into\nthe souterrain he set upon his finger by way of gift, a seal-ring and\nsaid, \u201cVerily this signet shall save thee from every strait an thou fall\ninto calamity and ill shifts of time; and it shall remove from thee all\nhurt and harm, and aid thee with a strong arm whereso thou mayest be\nset.\u201d[102] Now this was by destiny of God the Great, that it might be\nthe means of Alaeddin\u2019s escape; for whilst he sat wailing and weeping\nover his case and cast away all hope of life, and utter misery\noverwhelmed him, he rubbed his hands together for excess of sorrow, as\nis the wont of the woeful; then, raising them in supplication to Allah,\nhe cried, \u201cI testify that there is no God save Thou alone, The Most\nGreat, the Omnipotent, the All-conquering, Quickener of the dead,\nCreator of man\u2019s need and Granter thereof, Resolver of his difficulties\nand duresse and Bringer of joy not of annoy. Thou art my sufficiency and\nThou art the Truest of Trustees. And I bear my witness that Mohammed is\nThy servant and Thine Apostle and I supplicate Thee, O my God, by his\nfavour with Thee to free me from this my foul plight.\u201d And whilst he\nimplored the Lord and was chafing his hands in the soreness of his\nsorrow for that had befallen him of calamity, his fingers chanced rub\nthe Ring when, lo and behold! forthright its Familiar rose upright\nbefore him and cried, \u201cAdsum; thy slave between thy hands is come! Ask\nwhatso thou wantest, for that I am the thrall of him on whose hand is\nthe Ring, the Signet of my lord and master.\u201d Hereat the lad looked at\nhim and saw standing before him a M\u00e1rid like unto an Ifr\u00edt[103] of our\nlord Solomon\u2019s Jinns. He trembled at the terrible sight; but, hearing\nthe Slave of the Ring say, \u201cAsk whatso thou wantest, verily, I am thy\nthrall, seeing that the signet of my lord be upon thy finger,\u201d he\nrecovered his spirits and remembered the Moorman\u2019s saying when giving\nhim the Ring. So he rejoiced exceedingly and became brave and cried, \u201cHo\nthou, Slave of the Lord of the Ring, I desire thee to set me upon the\nface of earth.\u201d And hardly had he spoken this speech when suddenly the\nground clave asunder and he found himself at the door of the Hoard and\noutside it in full view of the world. Now for three whole days he had\nbeen sitting in the darkness of the Treasury underground and when the\nsheen of day and the shine of sun smote his face he found himself unable\nto keep his eyes open; so he began to unclose the lids a little and to\nclose them a little until his eyeballs regained force and got used to\nthe light and were purged of the noisome murk.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was\nsurprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Thirty-first Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell me\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin,\nissuing from the Treasury, opened his eyes after a short space of time\nand saw himself upon earth\u2019s surface, the which rejoiced him\nexceedingly, and withal he was astounded at finding himself without the\nHoard-door whereby he had passed in when it was opened by the Maghrabi,\nthe Magician; especially as the adit had been lidded and the ground had\nbeen smoothed, showing no sign whatever of entrance. Thereat his\nsurprise increased until he fancied himself in another place, nor was\nhis mind convinced that the stead was the same until he saw the spot\nwhereupon they had kindled the fire of wood-chips and dried sticks, and\nwhere the African Wizard had conjured over the incense. Then he turned\nhim rightwards and leftwards and sighted the gardens from afar and his\neyes recognised the road whereby he had come. So he returned thanks to\nAllah Almighty who had restored him to the face of earth and had freed\nhim from death after he had cut off all hopes of life. Presently he\narose and walked along the way to the town, which now he well knew,\nuntil he entered the streets and passed on to his own home. Then he went\nin to his mother and on seeing her, of the overwhelming stress of joy at\nhis escape and the memory of past affright and the hardships he had\nborne and the pangs of hunger, he fell to the ground before his parent\nin a fainting-fit. Now his mother had been passing sad since the time of\nhis leaving her and he found her moaning and crying about him; however\non sighting him enter the house she joyed with exceeding joy, but soon\nwas overwhelmed with woe when he sank upon the ground swooning before\nher eyes. Still,[104] she did not neglect the matter or treat it\nlightly, but at once hastened to sprinkle water upon his face and after\nshe asked of the neighbours some scents which she made him snuff up. And\nwhen he came round a little, he prayed her to bring him somewhat of food\nsaying, \u201cO my mother \u2019tis now three days since I ate anything at all.\u201d\nThereupon she arose and brought him what she had by her; then, setting\nit before him, said, \u201cCome forward, O my son; eat and be cheered[105]\nand, when thou shalt have rested, tell me what hath betided and affected\nthee, O my child; at this present I will not question thee for thou art\naweary in very deed.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day\nand ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Thirty-second Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell me\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin ate\nand drank and was cheered and after he had rested and had recovered\nspirits he cried, \u201cAh, O my mother, I have a sore grievance against thee\nfor leaving me to that accursed wight who strave to compass my\ndestruction and designed to take my life.[106] Know thou that I beheld\nDeath with mine own eyes at the hand of this damned wretch, whom thou\ndidst certify to be my uncle; and, had not Almighty Allah rescued me\nfrom him, I and thou, O my mother, had been cozened by the excess of\nthis Accursed\u2019s promises to work my welfare, and by the great show of\naffection which he manifested to us. Learn, O my mother, that this\nfellow is a sorcerer, a Moorman, an accursed, a liar, a traitor, a\nhypocrite;[107] nor deem I that the devils under the earth are damnable\nas he. Allah abase him in his every book! Hear then, O my mother, what\nthis abominable one did, and all I shall tell thee will be soothfast and\ncertain. See how the damned villain brake every promise he made,\ncertifying that he would soon work all good with me; and do thou\nconsider the fondness which he displayed to me and the deeds which he\ndid by me; and all this only to win his wish, for his design was to\ndestroy me; and Alhamdolillah\u2014laud to the Lord\u2014for my deliverance.\nListen and learn, O my mother, how this Accursed entreated me.\u201d Then\nAlaeddin informed his mother of all that had befallen him (weeping the\nwhile for stress of gladness); how the Maghrabi had led him to a hill\nwherein was hidden the Hoard and how he had conjured and fumigated,\nadding,[108] \u201cAfter which, O my mother, mighty fear gat hold of me when\nthe hill split and the earth gaped before me by his wizardry; and I\ntrembled with terror at the rolling of thunder in mine ears and the murk\nwhich fell upon us when he fumigated and muttered spells. Seeing these\nhorrors I in mine affright designed to fly; but, when he understood mine\nintent he reviled me and smote me a buffet so sore that it caused me\nswoon. However, inasmuch as the Treasury was to be opened only by means\nof me, O my mother, he could not descend therein himself, it being in my\nname and not in his; and, for that he is an ill-omened magician, he\nunderstood that I was necessary to him and this was his need of\nme.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say\nher permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Thirty-third Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell me\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin\nacquainted his mother with all that had befallen him from the Maghrabi,\nthe Magician, and said, \u201cAfter he had buffetted me, he judged it\nadvisable to soothe me in order that he might send me down into the\nEnchanted Treasury; and first he drew from his finger a Ring which he\nplaced upon mine. So I descended and found four halls all full of gold\nand silver which counted as naught, and the Accursed had charged me not\nto touch aught thereof. Then I entered a mighty fine flower-garden\neverywhere bedecked with tall trees whose foliage and fruitage\nbewildered the wits, for all, O my mother, were of vari-coloured glass,\nand lastly I reached the Hall wherein hung this Lamp. So I took it\nstraightway and put it out[109] and poured forth its contents.\u201d And so\nsaying Alaeddin drew the Lamp from his breast-pocket and showed it to\nhis mother, together with the gems and jewels which he had brought from\nthe garden; and there were two large bag-pockets full of precious\nstones, whereof not one was to be found amongst the kings of the world.\nBut the lad knew naught anent their worth deeming them glass or crystal;\nand presently he resumed, \u201cAfter this, O mother mine, I reached the\nHoard-door carrying the Lamp and shouted to the accursed Sorcerer, which\ncalled himself my uncle, to lend me a hand and hale me up, I being\nunable to mount of myself the last step for the over-weight of my\nburthen. But he would not and said only:\u2014First hand me the Lamp! As,\nhowever, I had placed it at the bottom of my breast-pocket and the other\npouches bulged out beyond it, I was unable to get at it and said:\u2014O my\nuncle, I cannot reach thee the Lamp, but I will give it to thee when\noutside the Treasury. His only need was the Lamp and he designed, O my\nmother, to snatch it from me and after that slay me, as indeed he did\nhis best to do by heaping the earth over my head. Such then is what\nbefel me from this foul Sorcerer.\u201d Hereupon Alaeddin fell to abusing the\nMagician in hot wrath and with a burning heart and crying, \u201cWell-away! I\ntake refuge from this damned wight, the ill-omened, the wrong-doer, the\nforswearer, the lost to all humanity, the arch-traitor, the hypocrite,\nthe annihilator of ruth and mercy.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the\ndawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Thirty-fourth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when Alaeddin\u2019s\nmother heard his words and what had befallen him from the Maghrabi, the\nMagician, she said, \u201cYea, verily, O my son, he is a miscreant, a\nhypocrite who murthereth the folk by his magic; but \u2019twas the grace of\nAllah Almighty, O my child, that saved thee from the tricks and the\ntreachery of this accursed Sorcerer whom I deemed to be truly thine\nuncle.\u201d[110] Then, as the lad had not slept a wink for three days and\nfound himself nodding, he sought his natural rest, his mother doing on\nlike wise; nor did he awake till about noon on the second day. As soon\nas he shook off slumber he called for somewhat of food being sore\nanhungered, but said his mother, \u201cO my son, I have no victual for thee\ninasmuch as yesterday thou atest all that was in the house. But wait\npatiently a while: I have spun a trifle of yarn which I will carry to\nthe market-street and sell it and buy with what it may be worth some\nvictual for thee.\u201d \u201cO my mother,\u201d said he, \u201ckeep your yarn and sell it\nnot; but fetch me the Lamp I brought hither that I may go vend it and\nwith its price purchase provaunt, for that I deem \u2019twill bring more\nmoney than the spinnings.\u201d So Alaeddin\u2019s mother arose and fetched the\nLamp for her son; but, while so doing, she saw that it was dirty\nexceedingly; so she said, \u201cO my son, here is the Lamp, but \u2019tis very\nfoul: after we shall have washed it and polished it \u2019twill sell better.\u201d\nThen, taking a handful of sand she began to rub therewith, but she had\nonly begun when appeared to her one of the J\u00e1nn whose favour was\nfrightful and whose bulk was horrible big, and he was gigantic as one of\nthe Jab\u00e1birah.[111] And forthright he cried to her, \u201cSay whatso thou\nwantest of me? Here am I, thy Slave and Slave to whoso holdeth the Lamp;\nand not I alone, but all the Slaves of the Wonderful Lamp which thou\nhendest in hand.\u201d She quaked and terror was sore upon her when she\nlooked at that frightful form and her tongue being tied she could not\nreturn aught reply, never having been accustomed to espy similar\nsemblances.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased\nto say her permitted say.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Thirty-fifth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin\u2019s\nmother could not of her terror return a reply to the M\u00e1rid; nay she fell\nto the ground oppressed by her affright.[112] Now her son was standing\nafar off and he had already seen the Jinn\u00ed of the Ring which he had\nrubbed within the Treasury; so when he heard the Slave speaking to his\nparent, he hastened forwards and snatching the Lamp from her hand, said,\n\u201cO Slave of the Lamp, I am anhungered and \u2019tis my desire that thou fetch\nme somewhat to eat and let it be something toothsome beyond our means.\u201d\nThe Jinni disappeared for an eye-twinkle and returned with a mighty fine\ntray and precious of price, for that \u2019twas all in virginal silver and\nupon it stood twelve golden platters of meats manifold, and dainties\ndelicate, with bread snowier than snow; also two silvern cups and as\nmany black jacks[113] full of wine clear-strained and long-stored. And\nafter setting all these before Alaeddin, he evanished from vision.\nThereupon the lad went and sprinkled rose water upon his mother\u2019s face\nand caused her snuff up perfumes pure and pungent and said to her when\nshe revived, \u201cRise, O mother mine, and let us eat of these meats\nwherewith Almighty Allah hath eased our poverty.\u201d But when she saw that\nmighty fine silvern tray she fell to marvelling at the matter and quoth\nshe, \u201cO my son, who be this generous, this beneficent one who hath\nabated our hunger-pains and our penury? We are indeed under obligation\nto him and, meseemeth, \u2019tis the Sultan who, hearing of our mean\ncondition and our misery, hath sent us this food-tray.\u201d Quoth he, \u201cO my\nmother, this be no time for questioning: arouse thee and let us eat for\nwe are both a-famished.\u201d Accordingly, they sat down to the tray and fell\nto feeding when Alaeddin\u2019s mother tasted meats whose like in all her\ntime she had never touched; so they devoured them with sharpened\nappetites and all the capacity engendered by stress of hunger; and,\nsecondly, the food was such that marked the tables of the Kings. But\nneither of them knew whether the tray was or was not valuable, for never\nin their born days had they looked upon aught like it. As soon as they\nhad finished the meal (withal leaving victual enough for supper and eke\nfor the next day), they arose and washed their hands and sat at chat,\nwhen the mother turned to her son and said, \u201cTell me, O my child, what\nbefel thee from the Slave, the Jinn\u00ed, now that Alhamdolillah\u2014laud to the\nLord!\u2014we have eaten our full of the good things wherewith He hath\nfavoured us and thou hast no pretext for saying to me, \u2018I am\nanhungered.\u2019\u201d So Alaeddin related to her all that took place between him\nand the Slave what while she had sunk upon the ground aswoon for sore\nterror; and at this she, being seized with mighty great surprise, said,\n\u201c\u2019Tis true; for the Jinns do present themselves before the Sons of\nAdam[114] but I, O my son, never saw them in all my life and meseemeth\nthat this be the same who saved thee when thou wast within the Enchanted\nHoard.\u201d \u201cThis is not he, O my mother: this who appeared before thee is\nthe Slave of the Lamp!\u201d \u201cWho may this be, O my son?\u201d \u201cThis be a Slave of\nsort and shape other than he; that was the Familiar of the Ring and this\nhis fellow thou sawest was the Slave of the Lamp thou hentest in\nhand.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say\nher permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Thirty-sixth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin said,\n\u201cVerily, O my mother, the Jinni who appeared to thee was the Slave of\nthe Lamp.\u201d And when his parent heard these words she cried, \u201cThere!\nthere![115] so this Accursed, who showed himself to me and went nigh\nunto killing me with affright, is attached to the Lamp.\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d he\nreplied, and she rejoined, \u201cNow I conjure thee, O my son, by the milk\nwherewith I suckled thee, to throw away from thee this Lamp and this\nRing; because they can cause us only extreme terror and I especially can\nnever abear a second glance at them. Moreover all intercourse with them\nis unlawful, for that the Prophet (whom Allah save and assain!) warned\nus against them with threats.\u201d He replied, \u201cThy commands, O my mother,\nbe upon my head[116] and mine eyes; but, as regards this saying thou\nsaidest, \u2019tis impossible that I part or with Lamp or with Ring. Thou\nthyself hast seen what good the Slave wrought us whenas we were\nfamishing; and know, O my mother, that the Maghrabi, the liar, the\nMagician, when sending me down into the Hoard, sought nor the silver nor\nthe gold wherewith the four halls were fulfilled, but charged me to\nbring him only the Lamp (naught else), because in very deed he had\nlearned its priceless value; and, had he not been certified of it, he\nhad never endured such toil and trouble nor had he travelled from his\nown land to our land in search thereof; neither had he shut me up in the\nTreasury when he despaired of the Lamp which I would not hand to him.\nTherefore it besitteth us, O my mother, to keep this Lamp and take all\ncare thereof nor disclose its mysteries to any; for this is now our\nmeans of livelihood and this it is shall enrich us. And likewise as\nregards the Ring, I will never withdraw it from my finger, inasmuch as\nbut for this thou hadst nevermore seen me on life; nay I should have\ndied within the Hoard underground. How then can I possibly remove it\nfrom my finger? And who wotteth that which may betide me by the lapse of\nTime, what trippings or calamities or injurious mishaps wherefrom this\nRing may deliver me? However, for regard to thy feelings I will stow\naway the Lamp nor ever suffer it to be seen of thee hereafter.\u201d Now when\nhis mother heard his words and pondered them she knew they were true and\nsaid to him, \u201cDo, O my son, whatso thou willest; for my part I wish\nnever to see them nor ever sight that frightful spectacle I erst\nsaw.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say\nher permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Thirty-seventh Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be not sleepy, do tell us some\nof thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and good\nwill.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin and his\nmother continued eating of the meats brought them by the Jinni for two\nfull told days till they were finished; but when he learned that nothing\nof food remained for them, he arose and took a platter of the platters\nwhich the Slave had brought upon the tray. Now they were all of the\nfinest gold but the lad knew naught thereof; so he bore it to the Bazar\nand there, seeing a man which was a Jew, a viler than the Satans[117],\noffered it to him for sale. When the Jew espied it he took the lad aside\nthat none might see him, and he looked at the platter and considered it\ntill he was certified that is was of gold refined. But he knew not\nwhether Alaeddin was acquainted with its value or he was in such matters\na raw laddie;[118] so he asked him, \u201cFor how much, O my lord, this\nplatter?\u201d and the other answered, \u201cThou wottest what be its worth.\u201d The\nJew debated with himself as to how much he should offer, because\nAlaeddin had returned him a craftsman-like reply; and he thought of the\nsmallest valuation; at the same time he feared lest the lad, haply\nknowing its worth, should expect a considerable sum. So he said in his\nmind, \u201cBelike the fellow is an ignoramus in such matters nor is ware of\nthe price of the platter.\u201d Whereupon he pulled out of his pocket a\ndinar, and Alaeddin eyed the gold piece lying in his palm and hastily\ntaking it went his way; whereby the Jew was certified of his customer\u2019s\ninnocence of all such knowledge, and repented with entire repentance\nthat he had given him a golden dinar in lieu of a copper carat,[119] a\nbright-polished groat. However, Alaeddin made no delay but went at once\nto the baker\u2019s where he bought him bread and changed the ducat; then,\ngoing to his mother, he gave her the scones and the remaining small coin\nand said, \u201cO my mother, hie thee and buy thee all we require.\u201d So she\narose and walked to the Bazar and laid in the necessary stock; after\nwhich they ate and were cheered. And whenever the price of the platter\nwas expended, Alaeddin would take another and carry it to the accursed\nJew who bought each and every at a pitiful price; and even this he would\nhave minished but, seeing how he had paid a dinar for the first, he\nfeared to offer a lesser sum, lest the lad go and sell to some rival in\ntrade and thus he lose his usurious gains. Now when all the golden\nplatters were sold, there remained only the silver tray whereupon they\nstood; and, for that it was large and weighty, Alaeddin brought the Jew\nto his house and produced the article, when the buyer, seeing its size\ngave him ten dinars and these being accepted went his ways. Alaeddin and\nhis mother lived upon the sequins until they were spent; then he brought\nout the Lamp and rubbed it and straightway appeared the Slave who had\nshown himself aforetime.\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day\nand ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Thirty-eighth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Jinni, the\nSlave of the Lamp, on appearing to Alaeddin said, \u201cAsk, O my lord,\nwhatso thou wantest for I am thy Slave and the thrall of whoso hath the\nLamp;\u201d and said the lad, \u201cI desire that thou bring me a tray of food\nlike unto that thou broughtest me erewhiles, for indeed I am famisht.\u201d\nAccordingly, in the glance of an eye the Slave produced a similar tray\nsupporting twelve platters of the most sumptuous, furnished with\nrequisite cates; and thereon stood clean bread and sundry glass\nbottles[120] of strained wine. Now Alaeddin\u2019s mother had gone out when\nshe knew he was about to rub the Lamp that she might not again look upon\nthe Jinni; but after a while she returned and, when she sighted the tray\ncovered with silvern[121] platters and smelt the savour of the rich\nmeats diffused over the house, she marvelled and rejoiced. Thereupon\nquoth he, \u201cLook, O my mother! Thou badest me throw away the Lamp, see\nnow its virtues;\u201d and quoth she, \u201cO my son, Allah increase his[122]\nweal, but I would not look upon him.\u201d Then the lad sat down with his\nparent to the tray and they ate and drank until they were satisfied;\nafter which they removed what remained for use on the morrow. As soon as\nthe meats had been consumed, Alaeddin arose and stowed away under his\nclothes a platter of the platters and went forth to find the Jew,\npurposing to sell it to him; but by fiat of Fate he passed by the shop\nof an ancient, jeweller, an honest man and a pious who feared Allah.\nWhen the Shaykh saw the lad, he asked him saying, \u201cO my son, what dost\nthou want? for that times manifold have I seen thee passing hereby and\nhaving dealings with a Jewish man; and I have espied thee handing over\nto him sundry articles; now also I fancy thou hast somewhat for sale and\nthou seekest him as a buyer thereof. But thou wottest not, O my child,\nthat the Jews ever hold lawful to them the good of Moslems,[123] the\nConfessors of Allah Almighty\u2019s unity, and, always defraud them;\nespecially this accursed Jew with whom thou hast relations and into\nwhose hands thou hast fallen. If then, O my son, thou have aught thou\nwouldest sell show the same to me and never fear, for I will give thee\nits full price by the truth of Almighty Allah.\u201d Thereupon Alaeddin\nbrought out the platter which when the ancient goldsmith saw, he took\nand weighed it in his scales and asked the lad saying, \u201cWas it the\nfellow of this thou soldest to the Jew?\u201d \u201cYes, its fellow and its\nbrother,\u201d he answered, and quoth the old man, \u201cWhat price did he pay\nthee?\u201d Quoth the lad, \u201cOne dinar.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the\ndawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Thirty-ninth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the ancient\ngoldsmith, hearing from Alaeddin how the Jew used to give only one dinar\nas the price of the platter, cried, \u201cAh! I take refuge from this\nAccursed who cozeneth the servants of Allah Almighty!\u201d Then, looking at\nthe lad, he exclaimed, \u201cO my son, verily yon tricksy Jew hath cheated\nthee and laughed at thee, this platter being pure silver and virginal. I\nhave weighed it and found it worth seventy dinars; and, if thou please\nto take its value, take it.\u201d Thereupon the Shaykh counted out to him\nseventy gold pieces, which he accepted and presently thanked him for his\nkindness in exposing the Jew\u2019s rascality. And after this, whenever the\nprice of a platter was expended, he would bring another, and on such\nwise he and his mother were soon in better circumstances; yet they\nceased not to live after their olden fashion as middle class folk[124]\nwithout spending on diet overmuch or squandering money. But Alaeddin had\nnow thrown off the ungraciousness of his boyhood; he shunned the society\nof scapegraces and he began to frequent good men and true, repairing\ndaily to the market-street of the merchants and there companying with\nthe great and the small of them, asking about matters of merchandise and\nlearning the price of investments and so forth; he likewise frequented\nthe Bazars of the Goldsmiths and the Jewellers[125] where he would sit\nand divert himself by inspecting their precious stones and by noting how\njewels were sold and bought therein. Accordingly, he presently became\nware that the tree-fruits, wherewith he had filled his pockets what time\nhe entered the Enchanted Treasury, were neither glass nor chrystal but\ngems rich and rare; and he understood that he had acquired immense\nwealth such as the Kings never can possess. He then considered all the\nprecious stones which were in the Jewellers\u2019 Quarter, but found that\ntheir biggest was not worth his smallest. On this wise he ceased not\nevery day repairing to the Bazar and making himself familiar with the\nfolk and winning their loving will;[126] and enquiring anent selling and\nbuying, giving and taking, the dear and the cheap, until one day of the\ndays when, after rising at dawn and donning his dress he went forth, as\nwas his wont, to the Jewellers\u2019 Bazar; and, as he passed along it he\nheard the crier crying as follows: \u201cBy command of our magnificent\nmaster, the King of the Time and the Lord of the Age and the Tide, let\nall the folk lock up their shops and stores and retire within their\nhouses, for that the Lady Badr al-Bud\u00far[127], daughter of the Sultan,\ndesigneth to visit the Hamm\u00e1m; and whoso gainsayeth the order shall be\npunished with death-penalty and be his blood upon his own neck!\u201d But\nwhen Alaeddin heard the proclamation, he longed to look upon the King\u2019s\ndaughter and said in his mind, \u201cIndeed all the lieges talk of her beauty\nand loveliness and the end of my desires is to see her.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nwas surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fortieth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin fell\nto contriving some means whereby he might look upon the Princess Badr\nal-Bud\u00far and at last judged best to take his station behind the\nHammam-door whence he might see her face as she entered.[128]\nAccordingly, without stay or delay he repaired to the Baths before she\nwas expected and stood a-rear of the entrance, a place whereat none of\nthe folk happened to be looking. Now when the Sultan\u2019s daughter had gone\nthe rounds of the city and its main streets and had solaced herself by\nsight-seeing, she finally reached the Hammam and whilst entering she\nraised her veil, when her face rose before sight as it were a pearl of\nprice or a sheeny sun, and she was as one of whom the describer sang:\u2014\n\n Magic Kohl enchanteth the glances so bright of her: \u273f We pluck roses in\n posies from cheeks rosy bright of her:\n Of night\u2019s gloomiest hue is the gloom of the hair of her \u273f And her\n bright brow uplighteth the murks of the night of her.[129]\n\n(Quoth the reciter) when the Princess raised from her face the veil and\nAlaeddin saw her favour he said, \u201cIn very truth her fashion magnifieth\nher Almighty Fashioner and glory be to Him who created her and adorned\nher with this beauty and loveliness.\u201d His strength was struck down from\nthe moment he saw her and his thoughts were distraught; his gaze was\ndazed, the love of her gat hold of the whole of his heart; and, when he\nreturned home to his mother, he was as one in ecstasy. His parent\naddressed him, but he neither replied nor denied; and, when she set\nbefore him the morning meal he continued in like case; so quoth she, \u201cO\nmy son what is\u2019t may have befallen thee? Say me, doth aught ail thee?\nLet me know what ill hath betided thee for, unlike thy custom, thou\nspeakest not when I bespeak thee.\u201d Thereupon Alaeddin (who used to think\nthat all women resembled his mother[130] and who, albeit he had heard of\nthe charms of Badr al-Budur, daughter of the Sultan, yet knew not what\n\u201cbeauty\u201d and \u201cloveliness\u201d might signify) turned to his parent and\nexclaimed, \u201cLet me be!\u201d However, she persisted in praying him to come\nforwards and eat, so he did her bidding but hardly touched food; after\nwhich he lay at full length on his bed all the night through in\ncogitation deep until morning morrowed. The same was his condition\nduring the next day, when his mother was perplexed for the case of her\nson and unable to learn what had happened to him. So, thinking that\nbelike he might be ailing, she drew near him and asked him saying, \u201cO my\nson, an thou sense aught of pain or such like, let me know that I may\nfare forth and fetch thee the physician; and to-day there be in this our\ncity a leech from the Land of the Arabs whom the Sultan hath sent to\nsummon and the bruit abroad reporteth him to be skilful exceedingly. So,\nan be thou ill let me go and bring him to thee.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was\nsurprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Forty-first Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin,\nhearing his parent\u2019s offer to summon the mediciner, said, \u201cO my mother,\nI am well in body and on no wise ill. But I ever thought that all women\nresembled thee until yesterday, when I beheld the Lady Badr al-Budur,\ndaughter of the Sultan, as she was faring for the Baths.\u201d Then he\nrelated to her all and everything that had happened to him adding,\n\u201cHaply thou also hast heard the crier a-crying:\u2014Let no man open shop to\nstand in street that the Lady Badr al-Budur may repair to the Hammam\nwithout eye seeing her. But I have looked upon her even as she is, for\nshe raised her veil at the door; and, when I viewed her favour and\nbeheld that noble work of the Creator, a sore fit of ecstasy, O my\nmother, fell upon me for love of her and firm resolve to win her hath\nopened its way into every limb of me, nor is repose possible for me\nexcept I win her. Wherefor I purpose asking her to wife from the Sultan\nher sire in lawful wedlock.\u201d When Alaeddin\u2019s mother heard her son\u2019s\nwords, she belittled his wits and cried, \u201cO my child, the name of Allah\nupon thee! meseemeth thou hast lost thy senses. But be thou rightly\nguided, O my son, nor be thou as the men Jinn-maddened!\u201d He replied,\n\u201cNay, O mother mine, I am not out of my mind nor am I of the maniacs;\nnor shall this thy saying alter one jot of what is in my thoughts, for\nrest is impossible to me until I shall have won the dearling of my\nheart\u2019s core, the beautiful Lady Badr al-Budur. And now I am resolved to\nask her of her sire the Sultan.\u201d She rejoined, \u201cO my son, by my life\nupon thee speak not such speech, lest any overhear thee and say thou be\ninsane: so cast away from thee such nonsense! Who shall undertake a\nmatter like this or make such request to the King? Indeed, I know not\nhow, supposing this thy speech to be soothfast, thou shalt manage to\ncrave such grace of the Sultan or through whom thou desirest to propose\nit.\u201d He retorted, \u201cThrough whom shall I ask it, O my mother, when thou\nart present? And who is there fonder and more faithful to me than\nthyself? So my design is that thou thyself shalt proffer this my\npetition.\u201d Quoth she, \u201cO my son, Allah remove me far therefrom! What!\nhave I lost my wits like thyself? Cast the thought away and a long way\nfrom thy heart. Remember whose son thou art, O my child, the orphan boy\nof a tailor, the poorest and meanest of the tailors toiling in this\ncity; and I, thy mother, am also come of pauper folk and indigent. How\nthen durst thou ask to wife the daughter of the Sultan, whose sire would\nnot deign marry her with the sons of the Kings and the Sovrans, except\nthey were his peers in honour and grandeur and majesty; and, were they\nbut one degree lower, he would refuse his daughter to them.\u201d\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Forty-second Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin took\npatience until his parent had said her say, when quoth he, \u201cO my mother,\neverything thou hast called to mind is known to me; moreover \u2019tis\nthoroughly well known to me that I am the child of pauper parents;\nwithal do not these words of thee divert me from my design at all, at\nall. Nor the less do I hope of thee, an I be thy son and thou truly love\nme, that thou grant me this favour, otherwise thou wilt destroy me; and\npresent Death hovereth over my head except I win my will of my heart\u2019s\ndearling; and I, O my mother, am in every case thy child.\u201d Hearing these\nwords, his parent wept of her sorrow for him and said, \u201cO my child! Yes,\nin very deed I am thy mother, nor have I any son or life\u2019s blood of my\nliver except thyself, and the end of my wishes is to give thee a wife\nand rejoice in thee. But suppose that I would seek a bride of our likes\nand equals, her people will at once ask an thou have any land or garden,\nmerchandise or handicraft, wherewith thou canst support her; and what is\nthe reply I can return? Then, if I cannot possibly answer the poor like\nourselves, how shall I be bold enough, O my son, to ask for the daughter\nof the Sultan of China-land who hath no peer or behind or before him?\nTherefore do thou weigh this matter in thy mind. Also who shall ask her\nto wife for the son of a snip? Well indeed I wot that my saying aught of\nthis kind will but increase our misfortunes; for that it may be the\ncause of our incurring mortal danger from the Sultan; peradventure even\ndeath for thee and me. And, as concerneth myself, how shall I venture\nupon such rash deed and perilous, O my son? and in what way shall I ask\nthe Sultan for his daughter to be thy wife; and, indeed, how ever shall\nI even get access to him? And should I succeed therein, what is to be my\nanswer an they ask me touching thy means? Haply the King will hold me to\nbe a madwoman. And, lastly, suppose that I obtain audience of the\nSultan, what offering is there I can submit to the King\u2019s\nmajesty?\u201d[131]\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Forty-third Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin\u2019s\nmother continued to her son, \u201c\u2019Tis true, O my child, that the Sultan is\nmild and merciful, never rejecting any who approach him to require\njustice or ruth or protection, nor any who pray him for a present; for\nhe is liberal and lavisheth favour upon near and far. But he dealeth his\nboons to those deserving them, to men who have done some derring-do in\nbattle under his eyes or have rendered as civilians great service to his\nestate. But thou! do thou tell me what feat thou hast performed in his\npresence or before the public that thou meritest from him such grace?\nAnd, secondly, this boon thou ambitionest is not for one of our\ncondition, nor is it possible that the King grant to thee the bourne of\nthine aspiration; for whoso goeth to the Sultan and craveth of him a\nfavour, him it besitteth to take in hand somewhat that suiteth the royal\nmajesty, as indeed I warned thee aforetime. How, then, shalt thou risk\nthyself to stand before the Sultan and ask his daughter in marriage,\nwhen thou hast with thee naught to offer him of that which beseemeth his\nexalted station?\u201d Hereto Alaeddin replied, \u201cO my mother, thou speakest\nto the point and hast reminded me aright and \u2019tis meet that I revolve in\nmind the whole of thy remindings. But, O my mother, the love of Princess\nBadr al-Budur hath entered into the core of my heart; nor can I rest\nwithout I win her. However, thou hast also recalled to me a matter which\nI forgot and \u2019tis this emboldeneth me to ask his daughter of the King.\nAlbeit thou, O my mother, declarest that I have no gift which I can\nsubmit to the Sultan, as is the wont of the world, yet in very sooth I\nhave an offering and a present whose equal, O my mother, I hold none of\nthe Kings to possess; no, nor even aught like it.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was\nsurprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Forty-fourth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin said\nto his mother, \u201cBecause verily that which I deemed glass or chrystal was\nnothing but precious stones and I hold that all the Kings of the World\nhave never possessed any thing like one of the smallest thereof. For, by\nfrequenting the jeweller-folk, I have learned that they are the\ncostliest gems and these are what I brought in my pockets from the\nHoard, whereupon, an thou please, compose thy mind. We have in our house\na bowl of China porcelain; so arise thou and fetch it, that I may fill\nit with these jewels, which thou shalt carry as a gift to the King, and\nthou shalt stand in his presence and solicit him for my requirement. I\nam certified that by such means the matter will become easy to thee;\nand, if thou be unwilling, O my mother, to strive for the winning of my\nwish as regards the Lady Badr al-Budur, know thou that surely I shall\ndie. Nor do thou imagine that this gift is of aught save the costliest\nof stones and be assured, O my mother, that in my many visits to the\nJewellers\u2019 Bazar I have observed the merchants selling for sums man\u2019s\njudgment may not determine jewels whose beauty is not worth one quarter\ncarat of what we possess; seeing which I was certified that ours are\nbeyond all price. So arise, O my mother, as I bade thee and bring me the\nporcelain bowl aforesaid, that I may arrange therein some of these gems\nand we will see what semblance they show.\u201d So she brought him the China\nbowl saying in herself, \u201cI shall know what to do when I find out if the\nwords of my child concerning these jewels be soothfast or not;\u201d and she\nset it before her son who pulled the stones out of his pockets and\ndisposed them in the bowl and ceased not arranging therein gems of sorts\ntill such time as he had filled it. And when it was brimful she could\nnot fix her eyes firmly upon it; on the contrary, she winked and blinked\nfor the dazzle of the stones and their radiance and excess of\nlightning-like glance; and her wits were bewildered thereat; only she\nwas not certified of their value being really of the enormous extent she\nhad been told. Withal she reflected that possibly her son might have\nspoken aright when he declared that their like was not to be found with\nthe Kings. Then Alaeddin turned to her and said, \u201cThou hast seen, O my\nmother, that this present intended for the Sultan is magnificent, and I\nam certified that it will procure for thee high honour with him and that\nhe will receive thee with all respect. And now, O my mother, thou hast\nno excuse; so compose thy thoughts and arise; take thou this bowl and\naway with it to the palace.\u201d His mother rejoined, \u201cO my son, \u2019tis true\nthat the present is high-priced exceedingly and the costliest of the\ncostly; also that according to thy word none owneth its like. But who\nwould have the boldness to go and ask the Sultan for his daughter, the\nLady Badr al-Budur? I indeed dare not say to him:\u2014I want thy daughter!\nwhen he shall ask me:\u2014What is thy want? for know thou, O my son, that my\ntongue will be tied. And, granting that Allah assist me and I embolden\nmyself to say to him:\u2014My wish is to become a connection of thine through\nthe marriage of thy daughter, the Lady Badr al-Budur, to my son\nAlaeddin, they will surely decide at once that I am demented and will\nthrust me forth in disgrace and despised. I will not tell thee that I\nshall thereby fall into danger of death, for \u2019twill not be I only but\nthou likewise. However, O my son, of my regard for thine inclination, I\nneeds must embolden myself and hie thither; yet, O my child, if the King\nreceive me and honour me on account of the gift and enquire of me what\nthou desirest,\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Forty-fifth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin\u2019s\nmother said to her son, \u201cAnd in reply I ask of him that which thou\ndesirest in the matter of thy marriage with his daughter, how shall I\nanswer him and he ask me, as is man\u2019s wont, What estates hast thou, and\nwhat income? And perchance, O my son, he will question me of this before\nquestioning me of thee.\u201d Alaeddin replied, \u201c\u2019Tis not possible that the\nSultan should make such demand what time he considereth the jewels and\ntheir magnificence; nor is it meet to think of such things as these\nwhich may never occur. Now do thou but arise and set before him this\npresent of precious stones and ask of him his daughter for me, and sit\nnot yonder making much of the difficulty in thy fancy. Ere this thou\nhast learned, O mother mine, that the Lamp which we possess hath become\nto us a stable income and that whatso I want of it the same is supplied\nto me; and my hope is that by means thereof I shall learn how to answer\nthe Sultan should he ask me of that thou sayest.\u201d[132] Then Alaeddin and\nhis mother fell to talking over the subject all that night long and when\nmorning morrowed, the dame arose and heartened her heart, especially as\nher son had expounded to her some little of the powers of the Lamp and\nthe virtues thereof; to wit, that it would supply all they required of\nit. Alaeddin, however, seeing his parent take courage when he explained\nto her the workings of the Lamp, feared lest she might tattle to the\nfolk thereof;[133] so he said to her, \u201cO my mother, beware how thou talk\nto any of the properties of the Lamp and its profit, as this is our one\ngreat good. Guard thy thoughts lest thou speak over much concerning it\nbefore others, whoso they be; haply we shall lose it and lose the boon\nfortune we possess and the benefits we expect, for that \u2019tis of\nhim.\u201d[134] His mother replied, \u201cFear not therefor, O my son,\u201d and she\narose and took the bowl full of jewels, which she wrapped up in a fine\nkerchief, and went forth betimes that she might reach the Divan ere it\nbecame crowded. When she passed into the Palace, the lev\u00e9e not being\nfully attended, she saw the Wazirs and sundry of the Lords of the land\ngoing into the presence-room and after a short time, when the Divan was\nmade complete by the Ministers and high Officials and Chieftains and\nEmirs and Grandees, the Sultan appeared and the Wazirs made their\nobeisance and likewise did the Nobles and the Notables. The King seated\nhimself upon the throne of his kingship, and all present at the lev\u00e9e\nstood before him with crossed arms awaiting his commandment to sit; and,\nwhen they received it, each took his place according to his degree; then\nthe claimants came before the Sultan who delivered sentence, after his\nwonted way, until the Divan was ended, when the King arose and withdrew\ninto the palace[135] and the others all went their ways.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nwas surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Forty-sixth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin\u2019s\nmother, having come the earliest of all, found means of entering without\nany addressing her or offering to lead her to the presence; and she\nceased not standing there until the Divan ended, when the Sultan arose\nand withdrew into the palace and the others all went about their\nbusiness. And when she saw the throne empty and the King passing into\nhis Harem, she also wended her ways and returned home. But as soon as\nher son espied her, bowl in hand, he thought that haply something\nuntoward had befallen her, but he would not ask of aught until such time\nas she had set down the bowl, when she acquainted him with that had\noccurred and ended by adding, \u201cAlhamdolillah,\u2014laud to the Lord!\u2014O my\nchild, that I found courage enough and secured for myself standing-place\nin the lev\u00e9e this day; and, albe I dreaded to bespeak the King yet\n(Inshallah!) on the morrow I will address him. Even to-day were many\nwho, like myself, could not get audience of the Sultan. But be of good\ncheer, O my son, and to-morrow needs must I bespeak him for thy sake;\nand what happened not may happen.\u201d When Alaeddin heard his parent\u2019s\nwords, he joyed with excessive joy; and, although he expected the matter\nto be managed hour by hour, for excess of his love and longing to the\nLady Badr al-Budur, yet he possessed his soul in patience. They slept\nwell that night and betimes next morning the mother of Alaeddin arose\nand went with her bowl to the King\u2019s court which she found closed. So\nshe asked the people and they told her that the Sultan did not hold a\nlev\u00e9e every day but only thrice in the se\u2019nnight; wherefor she\ndetermined to return home; and, after this, whenever she saw the court\nopen she would stand before the King until the reception ended and when\nit was shut she would go to make sure thereof; and this was the case for\nthe whole month. The Sultan was wont to remark her presence at every\nlev\u00e9e, but, on the last day when she took her station, as was her wont,\nbefore the Council, she allowed it to close and lacked boldness to come\nforwards and speak even a syllable. Now as the King having risen was\nmaking for his Harem accompanied by the Grand Wazir, he turned to him\nand said, \u201cO Wazir, during the last six or seven lev\u00e9e days I see yonder\nold woman present herself at every reception and I also note that she\nalways carrieth a something under her mantilla. Say me, hast thou, O\nWazir, any knowledge of her and her intention?\u201d \u201cO my lord the Sultan,\u201d\nsaid the other, \u201cverily women be weakly of wits, and haply this goodwife\ncometh hither to complain before thee[136] against her goodman or some\nof her people.\u201d But this reply was far from satisfying the Sultan; nay,\nhe bade the Wazir, in case she should come again, set her before him;\nand forthright the Minister placed hand on head and exclaimed, \u201cTo hear\nis to obey, O our lord the Sultan!\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the\ndawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Forty-seventh Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will:\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the mother of\nAlaeddin, as she made a practice of repairing to the Divan every day and\npassing into the room and standing opposite the King, albeit she was\nsorrowful and sore aweary, withal for her son\u2019s sake she endeavoured to\nmake easy all her difficulties. Now one day of the days, when she did\naccording to her custom, the Sultan cast his eyes upon her as she stood\nbefore him, and said to his Grand Wazir, \u201cThis be the very woman whereof\nI spake to thee yesterday, so do thou straightway bring her before me,\nthat I may see what be her suit and fulfil her need.\u201d Accordingly, the\nMinister at once introduced her and when in the presence she saluted the\nKing by kissing her finger tips and raising them to her brow;[137] and,\npraying for the Sultan\u2019s glory and continuance and the permanence of his\nprosperity, bussed ground before him. Thereupon, quoth he, \u201cO\nwoman,[138] for sundry days I have seen thee attend the lev\u00e9e sans a\nword said; so tell me an thou have any requirement I may grant.\u201d She\nkissed ground a second time and after blessing him, answered, \u201cYea,\nverily, as thy head liveth, O King of the Age, I have a want; but first\nof all, do thou deign grant me a promise of safety that I may prefer my\nsuit to the ears of our lord the Sultan; for haply thy Highness[139] may\nfind it a singular.\u201d The King, wishing to know her need, and being a man\nof unusual mildness and clemency, gave his word for her immunity and\nbade forthwith dismiss all about him, remaining without other but the\nGrand Wazir. Then he turned towards his suppliant and said, \u201cInform me\nof thy suit: thou hast the safeguard of Allah Almighty.\u201d \u201cO King of the\nAge,\u201d replied she, \u201cI also require of thee pardon;\u201d and quoth he, \u201cAllah\npardon thee even as I do.\u201d Then, quoth she, \u201cO our lord the Sultan, I\nhave a son, Alaeddin hight; and he, one day of the days, having heard\nthe crier commanding all men to shut shop and shun the streets, for that\nthe Lady Badr al-Budur, daughter of the Sultan, was going to the Hammam,\nfelt an uncontrollable longing to look upon her, and hid himself in a\nstead whence he could sight her right well, and that place was behind\nthe door of the Baths. When she entered he beheld her and considered her\nas he wished, and but too well; for, since the time he looked upon her,\nO King of the Age, unto this hour, life hath not been pleasant to him.\nAnd he hath required of me that I ask her to wife for him from thy\nHighness, nor could I drive this fancy from his mind because love of her\nhath mastered his vitals and to such degree that he said to me: Know\nthou, O mother mine, that an I win not my wish surely I shall die.\nAccordingly I hope that thy Highness will deign be mild and merciful and\npardon this boldness on the part of me and my child and refrain to\npunish us therefor.\u201d When the Sultan heard her tale he regarded her with\nkindness and, laughing aloud, asked her, \u201cWhat may be that thou carriest\nand what be in yonder kerchief?\u201d And she seeing the Sultan laugh in lieu\nof waxing wroth at her words, forthright opened the wrapper and set\nbefore him the bowl of jewels, whereby the audience-hall was illumined\nas it were by lustres and candelabra;[140] and he was dazed and amazed\nat the radiance of the rare gems, and he fell to marvelling at their\nsize and beauty and excellence.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn\nof day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Forty-eighth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, if thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when the King\nsaw the gems he was seized by surprise and cried, \u201cNever at all until\nthis day saw I anything like these jewels for size and beauty and\nexcellence: nor deem I that there be found in my treasury a single one\nlike them.\u201d Then he turned to his Minister and asked, \u201cWhat sayest thou,\nO Wazir? Tell me, hast thou seen in thy time such mighty fine jewels as\nthese?\u201d The other answered, \u201cNever saw I such, O our lord the Sultan,\nnor do I think that there be in the treasures of my lord the Sultan the\nfellow of the least thereof.\u201d The King resumed, \u201cNow indeed whoso hath\npresented to me such jewels meriteth to become bridegroom to my\ndaughter, Badr al-Budur; because, as far as I see, none is more\ndeserving of her than he.\u201d When the Wazir heard the Sultan\u2019s words he\nwas tongue-tied with concern and he grieved with sore grief, for the\nKing had promised to give the Princess in marriage to his son; so after\na little while he said, \u201cO King of the Age, thy Highness deigned promise\nme that the Lady Badr al-Budur should be spouse to my son; so \u2019tis but\nright that thine exalted Highness vouchsafe us a delay of three months,\nduring which time, Inshallah! my child may obtain and present an\noffering yet costlier than this.\u201d Accordingly the King, albeit he knew\nthat such a thing could not be done, or by the Wazir or by the greatest\nof his Grandees, yet of his grace and kindness granted him the required\ndelay. Then he turned to the old woman, Alaeddin\u2019s mother, and said, \u201cGo\nto thy son and tell him I have pledged my word that my daughter shall be\nin his name;[141] only \u2019tis needful that I make the requisite\npreparations of nuptial furniture for her use; and \u2019tis only meet that\nhe take patience for the next three months.\u201d Receiving this reply,\nAlaeddin\u2019s mother thanked the Sultan and blessed him; then, going forth\nin hottest haste, as one flying for joy, she went home; and when her son\nsaw her entering with a smiling face, he was gladdened at the sign of\ngood news, especially because she had returned without delay as on the\npast days, and had not brought back the bowl. Presently he asked her\nsaying, \u201cInshallah, thou bearest me, O my mother, glad tidings; and\nperadventure the jewels and their value have wrought their work and\nbelike thou hast been kindly received by the King and he hath shown thee\ngrace and hath given ear to thy request?\u201d So she told him the whole\ntale, how the Sultan had entreated her well and had marvelled at the\nextraordinary size of the gems and their surpassing water as did also\nthe Wazir, adding, \u201cAnd he promised that his daughter should be thine.\nOnly, O my child, the Wazir spake of a secret contract made with him by\nthe Sultan before he pledged himself to me and, after speaking privily,\nthe King put me off to the end of three months: therefore I have become\nfearful lest the Wazir be evilly disposed to thee and perchance he may\nattempt to change the Sultan\u2019s mind.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by\nthe dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Forty-ninth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when Alaeddin\nheard his mother\u2019s words and how the Sultan had promised him his\ndaughter, deferring, however, the wedding until after the third month,\nhis mind was gladdened and he rejoiced exceedingly and said, \u201cInasmuch\nas the King hath given his word after three months (well, it _is_ a long\ntime!), at all events my gladness is mighty great.\u201d Then he thanked his\nparent, showing her how her good work had exceeded her toil and travail;\nand said to her, \u201cBy Allah, O my mother, hitherto I was as \u2019twere in my\ngrave and therefrom thou hast withdrawn me; and I praise Allah Almighty\nbecause I am at this moment certified that no man in the world is\nhappier than I or more fortunate.\u201d Then he took patience until two of\nthe three months had gone by. Now one day of the days his mother fared\nforth about sundown to the Bazar that she might buy somewhat of oil; and\nshe found all the market shops fast shut and the whole city decorated,\nand the folk placing waxen tapers and flowers at their casements; and\nshe beheld the soldiers and household troops and Agh\u00e1s[142] riding in\nprocession and flambeaux and lustres flaming and flaring, and she\nwondered at the marvellous sight and the glamour of the scene. So she\nwent in to an oilman\u2019s store which stood open still and bought her need\nof him and said, \u201cBy thy life, O uncle, tell me what be the tidings in\ntown this day, that people have made all these decorations and every\nhouse and market-street are adorned and the troops all stand on guard?\u201d\nThe oilman asked her, \u201cO woman, I suppose thou art a stranger and not\none of this city?\u201d and she answered, \u201cNay, I am thy townswoman.\u201d He\nrejoined, \u201cThou a townswoman, and yet wottest not that this very night\nthe son of the Grand Wazir goeth in to the Lady Badr al-Budur, daughter\nof the Sultan! He is now in the Hammam and all this power of soldiery is\non guard and standing under arms to await his coming forth, when they\nwill bear him in bridal procession to the palace where the Princess\nexpecteth him.\u201d As the mother of Alaeddin heard these words, she grieved\nand was distraught in thought and perplexed how to inform her son of\nthis sorrowful event, well knowing that the poor youth was looking, hour\nby hour, to the end of the three months. But she returned straightway\nhome to him and when she entered she said, \u201cO my son, I would give thee\ncertain tidings, yet hard to me will be the sorrow they shall occasion\nthee.\u201d He cried, \u201cLet me know what be thy news;\u201d and she replied,\n\u201cVerily the Sultan hath broken his promise to thee in the matter of the\nLady Badr al-Budur, and this very night the Grand Wazir\u2019s son goeth in\nto her. And for some time, O my son, I have suspected that the Minister\nwould change the King\u2019s mind, even as I told thee how he had spoken\nprivily to him before me.\u201d Alaeddin[143] asked, \u201cHow learnedst thou that\nthe Wazir\u2019s son is this night to pay his first visit to the Princess?\u201d\nSo she told him the whole tale, how when going to buy oil she had found\nthe city decorated and the eunuch-officials and Lords of the land with\nthe troops under arms awaiting the bridegroom from the Baths; and that\nthe first visit was appointed for that very night. Hearing this Alaeddin\nwas seized with a fever of jealousy brought on by his grief: however,\nafter a short while he remembered the Lamp and, recovering his spirits\nsaid, \u201cBy thy life, O my mother, do thou believe that the Wazir\u2019s son\nwill not enjoy her as thou thinkest. But now leave we this discourse and\narise thou and serve up supper[144] and after eating let me retire to my\nown chamber and all will be well and happy.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was\nsurprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fiftieth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin after\nhe had supped retired to his chamber and, locking the door, brought out\nthe Lamp and rubbed it, whenas forthright appeared to him its Familiar\nwho said, \u201cAsk whatso thou wantest, for I am thy Slave and Slave to him\nwho holdeth the Lamp in hand; I and all the Slaves of the Lamp.\u201d He\nreplied, \u201cHear me! I prayed the Sultan for his daughter to wife and he\nplighted her to me after three months; but he hath not kept his word;\nnay, he hath given her to the son of the Wazir and this very night the\nbridegroom will go in to her. Therefore I command thee (an thou be a\ntrusty Servitor to the Lamp) when thou shalt see bride and bridegroom\nbedded together this night,[145] at once take them up and bear them\nhither abed; and this be what I want of thee.\u201d The Marid replied,\n\u201cHearing and obeying; and if thou have other service but this, do thou\ndemand of me all thou desirest.\u201d Alaeddin rejoined, \u201cAt the present time\nI require naught save that I bade thee do.\u201d Hereupon the Slave\ndisappeared and Alaeddin returned to pass the rest of the evening with\nhis mother. But at the hour when he knew that the Servitor would be\ncoming, he arose and retired to his chamber and after a little while,\nbehold, the Marid came bringing to him the newly-wedded couple upon\ntheir bridal-bed. Alaeddin rejoiced to see them with exceeding joy; then\nhe cried to the Slave, \u201cCarry yonder gallows-bird hence and lay him at\nfull length in the privy.\u201d[146] His bidding was done straightway; but,\nbefore leaving him, the Slave blew upon the bridegroom a blast so cold\nthat it shrivelled him and the plight of the Wazir\u2019s son became piteous.\nThen the Servitor returning to Alaeddin said to him, \u201cAn thou require\naught else, inform me thereof;\u201d and said the other, \u201cReturn a-morn that\nthou mayest restore them to their stead;\u201d whereto, \u201cI hear and obey,\u201d\nquoth the Marid and evanished. Presently Alaeddin arose, hardly\nbelieving that the affair had been such a success for him; but whenas he\nlooked upon the Lady Badr al-Budur lying under his own roof, albeit he\nhad long burned with her love yet he preserved respect for her and said,\n\u201cO Princess of fair ones, think not that I brought thee hither to minish\nthy honour. Heaven forfend! Nay \u2019twas only to prevent the wrong man\nenjoying thee, for that thy sire the Sultan promised thee to me. So do\nthou rest in peace.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-first Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when the Lady\nBadr al-Budur, daughter of the Sultan, saw herself in that mean and\ndarksome lodging, and heard Alaeddin\u2019s words, she was seized with fear\nand trembling and waxed clean distraught; nor could she return aught of\nreply. Presently the youth arose and stripping off his outer dress\nplaced a scymitar between them and lay upon the bed beside the\nPrincess;[147] and he did no villain deed, for it sufficed him to\nprevent the consummation of her nuptials with the Wazir\u2019s son. On the\nother hand the Lady Badr al-Budur passed a night the evillest of all\nnights; nor in her born days had she seen a worse; and the same was the\ncase with the Minister\u2019s son who lay in the chapel of ease and who dared\nnot stir for the fear of the Jinni which overwhelmed him. As soon as it\nwas morning the Slave appeared before Alaeddin, without the Lamp being\nrubbed, and said to him, \u201cO my lord, an thou require aught, command me\ntherefor, that I may do it upon my head and mine eyes.\u201d Said the other,\n\u201cGo, take up and carry the bride and bridegroom to their own apartment;\u201d\nso the Servitor did his bidding in an eye-glance and bore away the pair,\nand placed them in the palace as whilome they were and without their\nseeing any one; but both died of affright when they found themselves\nbeing transported from stead to stead.[148] And the Marid had barely\ntime to set them down and wend his ways ere the Sultan came on a visit\nof congratulation to his daughter; and, when the Wazir\u2019s son heard the\ndoors thrown open, he sprang straightway from his couch and donned his\ndress[149] for he knew that none save the King could enter at that hour.\nYet it was exceedingly hard for him to leave his bed wherein he wished\nto warm himself a trifle after his cold night in the water-closet which\nhe had lately left.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-second Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Sultan went\nin to his daughter Badr al-Budur and kissing her between the eyes gave\nher good morning and asked her of her bridegroom and whether she was\npleased and satisfied with him. But she returned no reply whatever and\nlooked at him with the eye of anger and, although he repeated his words\nagain and again, she held her peace nor bespake him with a single\nsyllable. So the King quitted her and, going to the Queen, informed her\nof what had taken place between him and his daughter; and the mother,\nunwilling to leave the Sultan angered with their child, said to him, \u201cO\nKing of the Age, this be the custom of most newly-married couples at\nleast during their first days of marriage, for that they are bashful and\nsomewhat coy. So deign thou excuse her and after a little while she will\nagain become herself and speak with the folk as before, whereas now her\nshame, O King of the Age, keepeth her silent. However \u2019tis my wish to\nfare forth and see her.\u201d Thereupon the Queen arose and donned her dress;\nthen, going to her daughter, wished her good morning and kissed her\nbetween the eyes. Yet would the Princess make no answer at all, whereat\nquoth the Queen to herself, \u201cDoubtless some strange matter hath occurred\nto trouble her with such trouble as this.\u201d So she asked her saying, \u201cO\nmy daughter, what hath caused this thy case? Let me know what hath\nbetided thee that, when I come and give thee good morning, thou hast not\na word to say to me?\u201d Thereat the Lady Badr al-Budur raised her head and\nsaid, \u201cPardon me, O my mother, \u2019twas my duty to meet thee with all\nrespect and worship, seeing that thou hast honoured me by this visit.\nHowever, I pray thee to hear the cause of this my condition and see how\nthe night I have just spent hath been to me the evillest of the nights.\nHardly had we lain down, O my mother, than one whose form I wot not\nuplifted our bed and transported it to a darksome place, fulsome and\nmean.\u201d Then the Princess related to the Queen-mother all that had\nbefallen her that night; how they had taken away her bridegroom, leaving\nher lone and lonesome, and how after a while came another youth who lay\nbeside her, in lieu of her bridegroom, after placing his scymitar\nbetween her and himself; \u201cand in the morning\u201d (she continued) \u201che who\ncarried us off returned and bore us straight back to our own stead. But\nat once when he arrived hither he left us and suddenly my sire the\nSultan entered at the hour and moment of our coming and I had nor heart\nnor tongue to speak him withal, for the stress of the terror and\ntrembling which came upon me. Haply such lack of duty may have proved\nsore to him, so I hope, O my mother, that thou wilt acquaint him with\nthe cause of this my condition and that he will pardon me for not\nanswering him and blame me not, but rather accept my excuses.\u201d\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-third Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when the Queen\nheard these words of Princess Badr al-Budur, she said to her, O my\nchild, compose thy thoughts. An thou tell such tale before any, haply\nshall he say:\u2014\u201cVerily, the Sultan\u2019s daughter hath lost her wits. And\nthou hast done right well in not choosing to recount thine adventure to\nthy father; and beware and again I say beware, O my daughter, lest thou\ninform him thereof.\u201d The Princess replied, \u201cO my mother, I have spoken\nto thee like one sound in senses nor have I lost my wits: this be what\nbefel me and, if thou believe it not because coming from me, ask my\nbridegroom.\u201d To which the Queen replied, \u201cRise up straightway, O my\ndaughter, and banish from thy thoughts such fancies as these; and robe\nthyself and come forth to glance at the bridal feasts and festivities\nthey are making in the city for the sake of thee and thy nuptials; and\nlisten to the drumming and the singing and look at the decorations all\nintended to honour thy marriage, O my daughter.\u201d So saying, the Queen at\nonce summoned the tirewomen who dressed and prepared the Lady Badr\nal-Budur; and presently she went in to the Sultan and assured him that\ntheir daughter had suffered during all her wedding-night from swevens\nand nightmare and said to him, \u201cBe not severe with her for not answering\nthee.\u201d Then the Queen sent privily for the Wazir\u2019s son and asked of the\nmatter, saying, \u201cTell me, are these words of the Lady Badr al-Budur\nsoothfast or not?\u201d But he, in his fear of losing his bride out of hand,\nanswered, \u201cO my lady, I have no knowledge of that whereof thou\nspeakest.\u201d Accordingly the mother made sure that her daughter had seen\nvisions and dreams. The marriage-feasts lasted throughout that day with\nAlmahs[150] and singers and the smiting of all manner instruments of\nmirth and merriment, while the Queen and the Wazir and his son strave\nright strenuously to enhance the festivities that the Princess might\nenjoy herself; and that day they left nothing of what exciteth to\npleasure unrepresented in her presence, to the end that she might forget\nwhat was in her thoughts and derive increase of joyance. Yet did naught\nof this take any effect upon her; nay, she sat in silence, sad of\nthought, sore perplexed at what had befallen her during the last night.\nIt is true that the Wazir\u2019s son had suffered even more because he had\npassed his sleeping hours lying in the water-closet: he, however, had\nfalsed the story and had cast out remembrance of the night; in the first\nplace for his fear of losing his bride and with her the honour of a\nconnection which brought him such excess of consideration and for which\nmen envied him so much; and, secondly, on account of the wondrous\nloveliness of the Lady Badr al-Budur and her marvellous beauty. Alaeddin\nalso went forth that day and looked at the merry-makings which extended\nthroughout the city as well as the palace and he fell a-laughing,\nespecially when he heard the folk prating of the high honour which had\naccrued to the son of the Wazir and the prosperity of his fortunes in\nhaving become son-in-law to the Sultan and the high consideration shown\nby the wedding f\u00eates. And he said in his mind, \u201cIndeed ye wot not, O ye\nmiserables, what befel him last night that ye envy him!\u201d But after\ndarkness fell and it was time for sleep, Alaeddin arose and, retiring to\nhis chamber, rubbed the Lamp, whereupon the Slave incontinently\nappeared.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to\nsay her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the five Hundred and fifty-fourth night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when the Slave\nappeared in presence of Alaeddin, he was bidden to bring him the\nSultan\u2019s daughter together with her bridegroom as on the past night ere\nthe Wazir\u2019s son could abate her maidenhead. So the Marid without stay or\ndelay evanished for a little while until the appointed time, when he\nreturned carrying the bed whereon lay the Lady Badr al-Budur and the\nWazir\u2019s son; and he did with the bridegroom as he had done before, to\nwit, he took him and lay him at full length in the jakes and there left\nhim dried up for excess of fear and trembling. Then Alaeddin arose, and\nplacing the scymitar between himself and the Princess, lay down beside\nher; and when day broke the Slave restored the pair to their own place,\nleaving Alaeddin filled with delight at the state of the Minister\u2019s son.\nNow when the Sultan woke up amorn he resolved to visit his daughter and\nsee if she would treat him as on the past day; so shaking off his sleep\nhe sprang up and arrayed himself in his raiment and, going to the\napartment of the Princess bade open the door. Thereat the son of the\nWazir arose forthright and came down from his bed and began donning his\ndress whilst his ribs were wrung with cold; for when the King entered\nthe Slave had but just brought him back. The Sultan, raising the\narras,[151] drew near his daughter as she lay abed and gave her good\nmorning; then kissing her between the eyes, he asked her of her case.\nBut he saw her looking sour and sad and she answered him not at all,\nonly glowering at him as one in anger and her plight was pitiable.\nHereat the Sultan waxed wroth with her for that she would not reply and\nhe suspected that something evil had befallen her,[152] whereupon he\nbared his blade and cried to her, brand in hand, saying, \u201cWhat be this\nhath betided thee: Either acquaint me with what happened or this very\nmoment I will take thy life! Is such conduct the token of honour and\nrespect I expect of thee, that I address thee and thou answerest me not\na word?\u201d When the Lady Badr al-Budur saw her sire in high dudgeon and\nthe naked glaive in his grip, she was freed from her fear of the past,\nso she raised her head and said to him, \u201cO my beloved father, be not\nwroth with me nor be hasty in thy hot passion, for I am excusable in\nwhat thou shalt see of my case. So do thou lend an ear to what occurred\nto me and well I wot that after hearing my account of what befel to me\nduring these two last nights, thou wilt pardon me and thy Highness will\nbe softened to pitying me even as I claim of thee affection for thy\nchild.\u201d Then the Princess informed her father of all that had betided\nher adding, \u201cO my sire, an thou believe me not, ask my bridegroom and he\nwill recount to thy Highness the whole adventure; nor did I know either\nwhat they would do with him when they bore him away from my side or\nwhere they would place him.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of\nday, and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-fifth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when the Sultan\nheard his daughter\u2019s words, he was saddened and his eyes brimmed with\ntears; then he sheathed his sabre and kissed her saying, \u201cO my daughter,\nwherefore[153] didst thou not tell me what happened on the past night\nthat I might have guarded thee from this torture and terror which\nvisited thee a second time? But now \u2019tis no matter. Rise and cast out\nall such care and to-night I will set a watch to ward thee nor shall any\nmishap again make thee miserable.\u201d Then the Sultan returned to his\npalace and straightway bade summon the Grand Wazir and asked him, as he\nstood before him in his service, \u201cO Wazir, how dost thou look upon this\nmatter? Haply thy son hath informed thee of what occurred to him and to\nmy daughter.\u201d The Minister replied, \u201cO King of the Age, I have not seen\nmy son or yesterday or to-day.\u201d Hereat the Sultan told him all that had\nafflicted the Princess, adding, \u201c\u2019Tis my desire that thou at once seek\ntidings of thy son concerning the facts of the case: peradventure of her\nfear my daughter may not be fully aware of what really befel her; withal\nI hold all her words to be truthful.\u201d So the Grand Wazir arose and,\ngoing forth, bade summon his son and asked him anent all his lord had\ntold him whether it be true or untrue. The youth replied, \u201cO my father\nthe Wazir, Heaven forbid that the Lady Badr al-Budur speak falsely:\nindeed all she said was sooth and these two nights proved to us the\nevillest of our nights instead of being nights of pleasure and\nmarriage-joys. But what befel me was the greater evil because, instead\nof sleeping abed with my bride, I lay in the wardrobe, a black hole,\nfrightful, noisome of stench, truly damnable; and my ribs were bursten\nwith cold.\u201d In fine, the young man told his father the whole tale,\nadding as he ended it, \u201cO dear father mine, I implore thee to speak with\nthe Sultan that he may set me free from this marriage. Yes, indeed \u2019tis\na high honour for me to be the Sultan\u2019s son-in-law and especially the\nlove of the Princess hath gotten hold of my vitals; but I have no\nstrength left to endure a single night like unto these two last.\u201d\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-sixth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Wazir,\nhearing the words of his son, was saddened and sorrowful exceedingly,\nfor it was his design to advance and promote his child by making him\nson-in-law to the Sultan. So he became thoughtful and perplexed about\nthe affair and the device whereby to manage it, and it was sore grievous\nfor him to break off the marriage, it having been a rare enjoyment to\nhim that he had fallen upon such high good fortune. Accordingly he said,\n\u201cTake patience, O my son, until we see what may happen this night, when\nwe will set watchmen to ward you; nor do thou give up the exalted\ndistinction which hath fallen to none save to thyself.\u201d Then the Wazir\nleft him and, returning to the sovran, reported that all told to him by\nthe Lady Badr al-Budur was a true tale; whereupon quoth the Sultan,\n\u201cSince the affair is on this wise, we require no delay,\u201d and he at once\nordered all the rejoicings to cease and the marriage to be broken off.\nThis caused the folk and the citizens to marvel at the matter,\nespecially when they saw the Grand Wazir and his son leaving the palace\nin pitiable plight for grief and stress of passion; and the people fell\nto asking, \u201cWhat hath happened and what is the cause of the wedding\nbeing made null and void?\u201d Nor did any know aught of the truth save\nAlaeddin the lover who claimed the Princess\u2019s hand, and he laughed in\nhis sleeve. But even after the marriage was dissolved, the Sultan forgot\nnor even recalled to mind his promise made to Alaeddin\u2019s mother; and the\nsame was the case with the Grand Wazir, while neither had any inkling of\nwhence befel them that which had befallen. So Alaeddin patiently awaited\nthe lapse of the three months after which the Sultan had pledged himself\nto give him to wife his daughter; but, soon as ever the term came, he\nsent his mother to the Sultan for the purpose of requiring him to keep\nhis covenant. So she went to the palace and when the King appeared in\nthe Divan and saw the old woman standing before him, he remembered his\npromise to her concerning the marriage after a term of three months, and\nhe turned to the Minister and said \u201cO Wazir, this be the ancient dame\nwho presented me with the jewels and to whom we pledged our word that\nwhen the three months had elapsed we would summon her to our presence\nbefore all others.\u201d So the Minister went forth and fetched her[154] and\nwhen she went in to the Sultan\u2019s presence she saluted him and prayed for\nhis glory and permanence of prosperity. Hereat the King asked her if she\nneeded aught, and she answered, \u201cO King of the Age, the three months\u2019\nterm thou assignest to me is finished, and this is thy time to marry my\nson Alaeddin with thy daughter, the Lady Badr al-Budur.\u201d The Sultan was\ndistraught at this demand, especially when he saw the old woman\u2019s pauper\ncondition, one of the meanest of her kind; and yet the offering she had\nbrought to him was of the most magnificent, far beyond his power to pay\nthe price. Accordingly, he turned to the Grand Wazir and said, \u201cWhat\ndevice is there with thee? In very sooth I did pass my word, yet\nmeseemeth that they be pauper folk and not persons of high\ncondition.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased\nto say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-seventh Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Grand\nWazir, who was dying of envy and who was especially saddened by what had\nbefallen his son, said to himself, \u201cHow shall one like this wed the\nKing\u2019s daughter and my son lose this highmost honour?\u201d Accordingly, he\nanswered his Sovran speaking privily, \u201cO my lord, \u2019tis an easy[155]\nmatter to keep off a poor devil such as this, for he is not worthy that\nthy Highness give his daughter to a fellow whom none knoweth what he may\nbe?\u201d \u201cBy what means,\u201d enquired the Sultan, \u201cshall we put off the man\nwhen I pledged my promise; and the word of the Kings is their bond?\u201d\nReplied the Wazir, \u201cO my lord, my rede is that thou demand of him forty\nplatters made of pure sand-gold[156] and full of gems (such as the woman\nbrought thee aforetime), with forty white slave-girls to carry the\nplatters and forty black eunuch-slaves.\u201d The King rejoined, \u201cBy Allah, O\nWazir, thou hast spoken to the purpose, seeing that such thing is not\npossible and by this way we shall be freed.\u201d Then quoth he to Alaeddin\u2019s\nmother, \u201cDo thou go and tell thy son that I am a man of my word even as\nI plighted it to him, but on condition that he have power to pay the\ndower of my daughter; and that which I require of him is a settlement\nconsisting of two score platters of virgin gold, all brimming with gems\nthe like of those thou broughtest to me, and as many white handmaids to\ncarry them and two score black eunuch-slaves to serve and escort the\nbearers. An thy son avail hereto I will marry him with my daughter.\u201d\nThereupon she returned home wagging her head and saying in her mind,\n\u201cWhence can my poor boy procure these platters and such jewels? And\ngranted that he return to the Enchanted Treasury and pluck them from the\ntrees which, however, I hold impossible; yet given that he bring them\nwhence shall he come by the girls and the blacks?\u201d Nor did she leave\ncommuning with herself till she reached her home, where she found\nAlaeddin awaiting her, and she lost no time in saying, \u201cO my son, did I\nnot tell thee never to fancy that thy power would extend to the Lady\nBadr al-Budur, and that such a matter is not possible to folk like\nourselves?\u201d \u201cRecount to me the news,\u201d quoth he; so quoth she, \u201cO my\nchild, verily the Sultan received me with all honour according to his\ncustom and, meseemeth his intentions towards us be friendly. But thine\nenemy is that accursed Wazir; for, after I addressed the King in thy\nname as thou badest me say:\u2014In very sooth the promised term is past,\nadding:\u2014\u2019Twere well an thy Highness would deign issue commandment for\nthe espousals of thy daughter the Lady Badr al-Budur to my son Alaeddin,\nhe turned to and addressed the Minister who answered privily, after\nwhich the Sultan gave me his reply.\u201d Then she enumerated the King\u2019s\ndemands and said, \u201cO my son, he indeed expecteth of thee an instant\nreply; but I fancy that we have no answer for him.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was\nsurprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-eighth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell\nus some of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith\nlove and good will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when\nAlaeddin heard these words he laughed and said, O my mother, thou\naffirmest that we have no answer and thou deemest the case difficult\nexceedingly; but compose thy thoughts and arise and bring me somewhat\nwe may eat; and, after we have dined, an the Compassionate be willing,\nthou shalt see my reply. Also the Sultan thinketh like thyself that he\nhath demanded a prodigious dower in order to divert me from his\ndaughter, whereas the fact is that he hath required of me a matter far\nless than I expected. But do thou fare forth at once and purchase the\nprovision and leave me to procure thee a reply.\u201d So she went out to\nfetch her needful from the Bazar and Alaeddin retired to his chamber\nand taking the Lamp rubbed it, when forthright appeared to him its\nSlave and said, \u201cAsk, O my lord, whatso thou wantest.\u201d The other\nreplied, \u201cI have demanded of the Sultan his daughter to wife and he\nhath required of me forty bowls of purest gold each weighing ten\npounds[157] and all to be filled with gems such as we find in the\nGardens of the Hoard; furthermore, that they be borne on the heads of\nas many white handmaids, each attended by her black eunuch-slave, also\nforty in full rate; so I desire that thou bring all these into my\npresence.\u201d \u201cHearkening and obeying, O my lord,\u201d quoth the Slave and,\ndisappearing for the space of an hour or so, presently returned\nbringing the platters and jewels, handmaids and eunuchs; then, setting\nthem before him the Marid cried, \u201cThis be what thou demandest of me:\ndeclare now an thou want any matter or service other than this.\u201d\nAlaeddin rejoined, \u201cI have need of naught else; but, an I do, I will\nsummon thee and let thee know.\u201d The Slave now disappeared and, after a\nlittle while, Alaeddin\u2019s mother returned home and, on entering the\nhouse, saw the blacks and the handmaids.[158] Hereat she wondered and\nexclaimed, \u201cAll this proceedeth from the Lamp which Allah perpetuate\nto my son!\u201d But ere she doffed her mantilla Alaeddin said to her, \u201cO\nmy mother, this be thy time before the Sultan enter his\nSerraglio-palace[159] do thou carry to him what he required and wend\nthou with it at once, so may he know that I avail to supply all he\nwanteth and yet more; also that he is beguiled by his Grand Wazir and\nthe twain imagined vainly that they would baffle me.\u201d Then he arose\nforthright and opened the house-door, when the handmaids and\nblackamoors paced forth in pairs, each girl with her eunuch beside\nher, until they crowded the quarter, Alaeddin\u2019s mother foregoing them.\nAnd when the folk of that ward sighted such mighty fine sight and\nmarvellous spectacle, all stood at gaze and they considered the forms\nand figures of the handmaids marvelling at their beauty and\nloveliness, for each and every wore robes inwrought with gold and\nstudded with jewels, no dress being worth less than a thousand\ndinars.[160] They stared as intently at the bowls and albeit these\nwere covered with pieces of brocade, also orfrayed and dubbed with\nprecious stones, yet the sheen outshot from them dulled the shine of\nsun.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say\nher permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-ninth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the folk and\nespecially the people of the quarter stood a-marvelling at this singular\nscene. Then Alaeddin\u2019s mother walked forwards and all the handmaids and\neunuchs paced behind her in the best of ordinance and disposition, and\nthe citizens gathered to gaze at the beauty of the damsels, glorifying\nGod the Most Great, until the train reached the palace and entered it\naccompanied by the tailor\u2019s widow. Now when the Aghas and Chamberlains\nand Army-officers beheld them, all were seized with surprise, notably by\nseeing the handmaids who each and every would ravish the reason of an\nanchorite. And albeit the royal Chamberlains and Officials were men of\nfamily, the sons of Grandees and Emirs, yet they could not but\nespecially wonder at the costly dresses of the girls and the platters\nborne upon their heads; nor could they gaze at them open-eyed by reason\nof the exceeding brilliance and radiance. Then the Nabobs went in and\nreported to the King who forthright bade admit them to the\npresence-chamber, and Alaeddin\u2019s mother went in with them. When they\nstood before the Sultan, all saluted him with every sign of respect and\nworship and prayed for his glory and prosperity; then they set down from\ntheir heads the bowls at his feet and, having removed the brocade\ncovers, rested with arms crossed behind them. The Sultan wondered with\nexceeding wonder and was distraught by the beauty of the handmaids and\ntheir loveliness which passed praise; and his wits were wildered when he\nconsidered the golden bowls brimful of gems which captured man\u2019s vision,\nand he was perplexed at the marvel until he became, like the dumb,\nunable to utter a syllable for the excess of his wonder. Also his sense\nwas stupefied the more when he bethought him that within an hour or so\nall these treasures had been collected. Presently he commanded the\nslave-girls to enter, with what loads they bore, the dower of the\nPrincess; and, when they had done his bidding Alaeddin\u2019s mother came\nforward and said to the Sultan, \u201cO my lord, this be not much wherewith\nto honour the Lady Badr al-Budur, for that she meriteth these things\nmultiplied times manifold.\u201d Hereat the Sovran turned to the Minister and\nasked, \u201cWhat sayest thou, O Wazir? is not he who could produce such\nwealth in a time so brief, is he not, I say, worthy to become the\nSultan\u2019s son-in-law and take the King\u2019s daughter to wife?\u201d Then the\nMinister (although he marvelled at these riches even more than did the\nSultan), whose envy was killing him and growing greater hour by hour,\nseeing his liege lord satisfied with the moneys and the dower and yet\nbeing unable to fight against fact, made answer, \u201c\u2019Tis not worthy of\nher.\u201d Withal he fell to devising a device against the King that he might\nwithhold the Lady Badr al-Budur from Alaeddin and accordingly he\ncontinued, \u201cO my liege, the treasures of the universe all of them are\nnot worth a nail-paring of thy daughter: indeed thy Highness hath prized\nthese things overmuch in comparison with her.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was\nsurprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Sixtieth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when the King\nheard the words of his Grand Wazir, he knew that the speech was prompted\nby excess of envy; so turning to the mother of Alaeddin he said, \u201cO\nwoman, go to thy son and tell him that I have accepted of him the dower\nand stand to my bargain, and that my daughter be his bride and he my\nson-in-law: furthermore, bid him at once make act of presence that I may\nbecome familiar with him: he shall see naught from me save all honour\nand consideration, and this night shall be the beginning of the\nmarriage-festivities. Only, as I said to thee, let him come to me and\ntarry not.\u201d Thereupon Alaeddin\u2019s mother returned home with the speed of\nthe stormwinds that she might hasten her utmost to congratulate her son;\nand she flew with joy at the thought that her boy was about to\nbecome[161] son-in-law to the Sultan. After her departure the King\ndismissed the Divan and, entering the palace of the Princess, bade them\nbring the bowls and the handmaids before him and before her, that she\nalso might inspect them. But when the Lady Badr al-Budur considered the\njewels, she waxed distraught and cried, \u201cMeseemeth that in the\ntreasuries of the world there be not found one jewel rivalling these\njewels.\u201d Then she looked at the handmaids and marvelled at their beauty\nand loveliness, and knew that all this came from her new bridegroom who\nhad sent them in her service. So she was gladdened, albeit she had been\ngrieved and saddened on account of her former husband, the Wazir\u2019s son,\nand she rejoiced with exceeding joy when she gazed upon the damsels and\ntheir charms; nor was her sire, the Sultan, less pleased and inspirited\nwhen he saw his daughter relieved of all her mourning and melancholy and\nhis own vanished at the sight of her enjoyment. Then he asked her, \u201cO my\ndaughter, do these things divert thee? Indeed I deem that this suitor of\nthine be more suitable to thee than the son of the Wazir; and right\nsoon, (Inshallah!) O my daughter, thou shalt have fuller joy with him.\u201d\nSuch was the case with the King; but as regards Alaeddin, as soon as he\nsaw his mother entering the house with face laughing for stress of joy\nhe rejoiced at the sign of glad tidings and cried, \u201cTo Allah alone be\nlauds! Perfected is all I desired.\u201d Rejoined his mother, \u201cBe gladdened\nat my good news, O my son, and hearten thy heart and cool thine eyes for\nthe winning of thy wish. The Sultan hath accepted thine offering, I mean\nthe moneys and the dower of the Lady Badr al-Budur, who is now thine\naffianced bride; and, this very night, O my child, is your marriage and\nthy first visit to her; for the King, that he might assure me of his\nword, hath proclaimed to the world thou art his son-in-law and promised\nthis night to be the night of going in. But he also said to me:\u2014Let thy\nson come hither forthright that I may become familiar with him and\nreceive him with all honour and worship. And now here am I, O my son, at\nthe end of my labours: happen whatso may happen the rest is upon thy\nshoulders.\u201d Thereupon Alaeddin arose and kissed his mother\u2019s hand and\nthanked her, enhancing her kindly service: then he left her and entering\nhis chamber took the Lamp and rubbed it when, lo and behold! its Slave\nappeared and cried, \u201cAdsum! Ask whatso thou wantest.\u201d The young man\nreplied, \u201c\u2019Tis my desire that thou take me to a Hamm\u00e1m whose like is not\nin the world; then, fetch me a dress so costly and kingly that no\nroyalty ever owned its fellow.\u201d The Marid replied, \u201cI hear and I obey,\u201d\nand carried him to Baths such as were never seen by the Kings of the\nChosro\u00ebs, for the building was all of alabaster and carnelian and it\ncontained marvellous limnings which captured the sight; and the great\nhall[162] was studded with precious stones. Not a soul was therein but,\nwhen Alaeddin entered, one of the Jann in human shape washed him and\nbathed[163] him to the best of his desire.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised\nby the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Sixty-first Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin, after\nhaving been washed and bathed, left the Baths and went into the great\nhall where he found that his old dress had been removed and replaced by\na suit of the most precious and princely. Then he was served with\nsherbets and ambergris\u2019d coffee[164] and, after drinking, he arose and a\nparty of black slaves came forwards and clad him in the costliest of\nclothing, then perfumed and fumigated him. It is known that Alaeddin was\nthe son of a tailor, a pauper, yet now would none deem him to be such;\nnay, all would say, \u201cThis be the greatest that is of the progeny of the\nKings: praise be to Him who changeth and who is not changed!\u201d Presently\ncame the Jinni and lifting him up bore him to his home and asked, \u201cO my\nlord, tell me hast thou aught of need?\u201d He answered, \u201cYes, \u2019tis my\ndesire that thou bring me eight and forty Mamelukes, of whom two dozen\nshall forego me and the rest follow me, the whole number with their\nwar-chargers and clothing and accoutrements; and all upon them and their\nsteeds must be of naught save of highest worth and the costliest, such\nas may not be found in treasuries of the Kings. Then fetch me a stallion\nfit for the riding of the Chosroes and let his furniture, all thereof,\nbe of gold crusted with the finest gems:[165] fetch me also eight and\nforty thousand dinars that each white slave may carry a thousand gold\npieces. \u2019Tis now my intent to fare to the Sultan, so delay thou not, for\nthat without all these requisites whereof I bespake thee I may not visit\nhim. Moreover set before me a dozen slave girls unique in beauty and\ndight with the most magnificent dresses, that they wend with my mother\nto the royal palace; and let every handmaid be robed in raiment that\nbefitteth Queen\u2019s wearing.\u201d The Slave replied, \u201cTo hear is to obey;\u201d\nand, disappearing for an eye-twinkling, brought all he was bidden bring\nand led by hand a stallion whose rival was not amongst the Arabian\nArabs,[166] and its saddle cloth was of splendid brocade gold-inwrought.\nThereupon, without stay or delay, Alaeddin sent for his mother and gave\nher the garments she should wear and committed to her charge the twelve\nslave-girls forming her suite to the palace. Then he sent one of the\nMamelukes, whom the Jinni had brought, to see if the Sultan had left the\nSerraglio or not. The white slave went forth lighter than the lightning\nand returning in like haste, said, \u201cO my lord, the Sultan awaiteth\nthee!\u201d Hereat Alaeddin arose and took horse, his Mamelukes riding a-van\nand arear of him, and they were such that all must cry, \u201cLaud to the\nLord who created them and clothed them with such beauty and loveliness.\u201d\nAnd they scattered gold amongst the crowd in front of their master who\nsurpassed them all in comeliness and seemlihead nor needst thou ask\nconcerning the sons of the Kings,\u2014\u201cpraise be to the Bountiful, the\nEternal! All this was of the virtues of the Wonderful Lamp,\u201d[167] which,\nwhoso possessed, him it gifted with fairest favour and finest figure,\nwith wealth and with wisdom. The folk admired Alaeddin\u2019s liberality and\nexceeding generosity and all were distraught seeing his charms and\nelegance, his gravity and his good manners, they glorified the Creator\nfor this noble creation, they blessed him each and every and, albeit\nthey knew him for the son of Such-an-one, the tailor, yet no man envied\nhim; nay, all owned that he deserved his great good fortune.\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Sixty-second Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the people were\nbewildered at Alaeddin and his liberality and generosity; and all\nblessed and prayed for him, high and low, as he rode palace-wards with\nthe Mamelukes before and behind him, scattering gold upon the heads of\nthe folk. Now the Sultan had assembled the Lords of the land and,\ninforming them of the promise he had passed to Alaeddin, touching the\nmarriage of his daughter, had bidden them await his approach and then go\nforth, one and all, to meet him and greet him. Hereupon the Emirs and\nWazirs, the Chamberlains, the Nabobs and the Army-officers took their\nstations expecting him at the palace gate. Alaeddin would fain have\ndismounted at the outer entrance; but one of the Nobles, whom the King\nhad deputed for such duty, approached him and said, \u201cO my lord, \u2019tis the\nRoyal Command that thou enter riding thy steed nor dismount except at\nthe Divan-door.\u201d[168] Then they all forewent him in a body and conducted\nhim to the appointed place where they crowded about him, these to hold\nhis stirrup and those supporting him on either side whilst others took\nhim by the hands and helped him dismount; after which all the Emirs and\nNobles preceded him into the Divan and led him close up to the royal\nthrone. Thereupon the Sultan came down forthright from his seat of\nestate and, forbidding him to buss the carpet, embraced and kissed and\nseated him to the right[169] of and beside himself. Alaeddin did whatso\nis suitable, in the case of the Kings, of salutation and offering of\nblessings, and said, \u201cO our lord the Sultan, indeed the generosity of\nthy Highness demanded that thou deign vouchsafe to me the hand of thy\ndaughter, the Lady Badr al-Budur, albeit I undeserve the greatness of\nsuch gift, I being but the humblest of thy slaves. I pray Allah grant\nthee prosperity and perpetuance; but in very sooth, O King, my tongue is\nhelpless to thank thee for the fullness of the favour, passing all\nmeasure, which thou hast bestowed upon me. And I hope of thy Highness\nthat thou wilt give me a piece of ground fitted for a pavilion which\nshall besit thy daughter, the Lady Badr al-Budur.\u201d The Sultan was struck\nwith admiration when he saw Alaeddin in his princely suit and looked\nupon him and considered his beauty and loveliness, and noted the\nMamelukes standing to serve him in their comeliness and seemlihead; and\nstill his marvel grew when the mother of Alaeddin approached him in\ncostly raiment and sumptuous, clad as though she were a Queen, and when\nhe gazed upon the twelve handmaids standing before her with crossed arms\nand with all worship and reverence doing her service. He also considered\nthe eloquence of Alaeddin and his delicacy of speech and he was\nastounded thereat, he and all his who were present at the lev\u00e9e.\nThereupon fire was kindled in the Grand Wazir\u2019s heart for envy of\nAlaeddin until he was like to die: and it was worse when the Sultan,\nafter hearing the youth\u2019s succession of prayers and seeing his high\ndignity of demeanour, respectful withal, and his eloquence and elegance\nof language, clasped him to his bosom and kissed him and cried, \u201cAlas, O\nmy son, that I have not enjoyed thy converse before this day!\u201d\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Sixty-third Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached, me, O King of the Age, that when the\nSultan beheld Alaeddin after such fashion, he rejoiced in him with\nmighty great joy and straightway bade the music[170] and the bands\nstrike up; then he arose and, taking the youth led him into the palace\nwhere supper had been prepared and the Eunuchs at once laid the tables.\nSo the Sovran sat down and seated his son-in-law on his right side and\nthe Wazirs and high officials and Lords of the land took places each\naccording to his degree, whereupon the bands played and a mighty fine\nmarriage-feast was dispread in the palace. The King now applied himself\nto making friendship with Alaeddin and conversed with the youth, who\nanswered him with all courtesy and eloquence, as though he had been bred\nin the palaces of the kings or he had lived with them his daily life.\nAnd the more the talk was prolonged between them, the more did the\nSultan\u2019s pleasure and delight increase, hearing his son-in-law\u2019s\nreadiness of reply and his sweet flow of language. But after they had\neaten and drunken and the trays were removed, the King bade summon the\nKazis and witnesses who presently attended and knitted the knot and\nwrote out the contract-writ between Alaeddin and the Lady Badr al-Budur.\nAnd presently the bridegroom arose and would have fared forth, when his\nfather-in-law withheld him and asked, \u201cWhither away, O my child? The\nbride-f\u00eates have begun and the marriage is made and the tie is tied and\nthe writ is written.\u201d He replied, \u201cO my lord the King, \u2019tis my desire to\nedify, for the Lady Badr al-Budur, a pavilion befitting her station and\nhigh degree, nor can I visit her before so doing. But, Inshallah! the\nbuilding shall be finished within the shortest time, by the utmost\nendeavour of thy slave and by the kindly regard of thy Highness; and,\nalthough I do (yet indeed!) long to enjoy the society of the Lady Badr\nal-Budur, yet \u2019tis incumbent on me first to serve her and it becometh me\nto set about the work forthright.\u201d \u201cLook around thee, O my son,\u201d replied\nthe Sultan, \u201cfor what ground thou deemest suitable to thy design and do\nthou take all things into thy hands; but I deem the best for thee will\nbe yonder broad plain facing my palace; and, if it please thee, build\nthy pavilion thereupon.\u201d \u201cAnd this,\u201d answered Alaeddin, \u201cis the sum of\nmy wishes that I may be nearhand to thy Highness.\u201d So saying he\nfarewelled the King and took horse, with his Mamelukes riding before him\nand behind him, and all the world blessed him and cried, \u201cBy Allah he is\ndeserving,\u201d until such time as he reached his home. Then he alighted\nfrom his stallion and repairing to his chamber, rubbed the Lamp and\nbehold, the Slave stood before him and said, \u201cAsk, O my lord, whatso\nthou wantest;\u201d and Alaeddin rejoined, \u201cI require thee of a service grave\nand important which thou must do for me, and \u2019tis that thou build me\nwith all urgency a pavilion fronting the palace of the Sultan; and it\nmust be a marvel for it shall be provided with every requisite, such as\nroyal furniture and so forth.\u201d The Slave replied, \u201cTo hear is to\nobey.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say\nher permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Sixty-fourth Night,\n\nQuoth, Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell\nus some of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love\nand good will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Slave\nevanished and, before the next dawn brake, returned to Alaeddin and\nsaid, \u201cO my lord, the pavilion is finished to the fullest of thy fancy;\nand, if thou wouldst inspect it, arise forthright and fare with me.\u201d\nAccordingly, he rose up and the Slave carried him in the space of an\neye-glance to the pavilion which, when Alaeddin looked upon it, struck\nhim with surprise at such building, all its stones being of jasper and\nalabaster, Sum\u00e1k\u00ed[171]-marble and mosaic-work. Then the Slave led him\ninto the treasury which was full of all manner of gold and silver and\ncostly gems, not to be counted or computed, priced or estimated. Thence\nto another place, where Alaeddin saw all requisites for the table,\nplates and dishes, spoons and ladles, basins and covers, cups and\ntasses, the whole of precious metal: thence to the kitchen, where they\nfound the kitcheners provided with their needs and cooking batteries,\nlikewise golden and silvern; thence to a warehouse piled up with chests\nfull-packed of royal raiment, stuffs that captured the reason, such as\ngold-wrought brocades from India and China and kimcobs[172] or orfrayed\ncloths; thence to many apartments replete with appointments which beggar\ndescription; thence to the stables containing coursers whose like was\nnot to be met with amongst the kings of the universe; and, lastly, they\nwent to the harness-rooms all hung with housings, costly saddles and\nother furniture, everywhere studded with pearls and precious stones. And\nall this was the work of one night. Alaeddin was wonder-struck and\nastounded by that magnificent display of wealth which not even the\nmightiest monarch on earth could produce; and more so to see his\npavilion fully provided with eunuchs and handmaids whose beauty would\nseduce a saint. Yet the prime marvel of the pavilion was an upper\nkiosque or belvedere of four-and-twenty windows all made of emeralds and\nrubies and other gems;[173] and one window remained unfinished at the\nrequirement of Alaeddin that the Sultan might prove him impotent to\ncomplete it. When the youth had inspected the whole edifice, he was\npleased and gladdened exceedingly: then, turning to the Slave he said,\n\u201cI require of thee still one thing which is yet wanting and whereof I\nhad forgotten to tell thee.\u201d \u201cAsk, O my lord, thy want,\u201d quoth the\nServitor; and quoth the other, \u201cI demand of thee a carpet of the primest\nbrocade all gold-inwrought which, when unrolled and outstretched, shall\nextend hence to the Sultan\u2019s palace in order that the Lady Badr al-Budur\nmay, when coming hither, pace upon it[174] and not tread common earth.\u201d\nThe Slave departed for a short while and said on his return, \u201cO my lord,\nverily that which thou demandest is here.\u201d Then he took him and showed\nhim a carpet which wildered the wits, and it extended from palace to\npavilion; and after this the Servitor bore off Alaeddin and set him down\nin his own home.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Sixty-fifth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine; an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Slave,\nafter displaying the Carpet to Alaeddin, bore him home. Now day was\nbrightening so the Sultan rose from his sleep and throwing open the\ncasement looked out[175] and espied, opposite his palace, a palatial\npavilion ready edified. Thereupon he fell to rubbing his eyes and\nopening them their widest and considering the scene, and he soon was\ncertified that the new edifice was mighty fine and grand enough to\nbewilder the wits. Moreover, with amazement as great he saw the carpet\ndispread between palace and pavilion: like their lord also the royal\ndoor-keepers and the household, one and all, were dazed and amazed at\nthe spectacle. Meanwhile[176] the Wazir came in and, as he entered,\nespied the newly-builded pavilion and the carpet, whereat he also\nwondered; and, when he went in to the Sultan the twain fell to talking\non this marvellous matter with great surprise at a sight which\ndistracted the gazer and attracted the heart. They said finally, \u201cIn\nvery truth, of this pavilion we deem that none of the royalties could\nbuild its fellow;\u201d and the King, turning to the Minister, asked him,\n\u201cHast thou seen now that Alaeddin is worthy to be the husband of the\nPrincess my daughter? Hast thou looked upon and considered this right\nroyal building, this magnificence of opulence, which thought of man can\nnot contain?\u201d But the Wazir in his envy of Alaeddin replied, \u201cO King of\nthe Age, indeed this foundation and this building and this opulence may\nnot be save by means of magic nor can any man in the world, be he the\nrichest in good or the greatest in governance, avail to found and finish\nin a single night such edifice as this.\u201d The Sultan rejoined, \u201cI am\nsurprised to see in thee how thou dost continually harp on evil opinion\nof Alaeddin; but I hold that \u2019tis caused by thine envy and jealousy.\nThou wast present when I gave him the ground at his own prayer for a\nplace whereon he might build a pavilion wherein to lodge my daughter,\nand I myself favoured him with a site for the same and that too before\nthy very face. But however that be, shall one who could send me as dower\nfor the Princess such store of such stones whereof the kings never\nobtained even a few, shall he, I say, be unable to edify an edifice like\nthis?\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say\nher permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Sixty-sixth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when the Wazir\nheard the Sultan\u2019s words, he knew that his lord loved Alaeddin\nexceedingly; so his envy and malice increased; only, as he could do\nnothing against the youth, he sat silent and impotent to return a reply.\nBut Alaeddin seeing that it was broad day, and the appointed time had\ncome for his repairing to the palace (where his wedding was being\ncelebrated and the Emirs and Wazirs and Grandees were gathered together\nabout the Sultan to be present at the ceremony), arose and rubbed the\nLamp, and when its Slave appeared and said, \u201cO my lord, ask whatso thou\nwantest, for I stand before thee and at thy service,\u201d said he, \u201cI mean\nforthright to seek the palace, this day being my wedding-festival and I\nwant thee to supply me with ten thousand dinars.\u201d The Slave evanished\nfor an eye-twinkling and returned bringing the moneys, when Alaeddin\ntook horse with his Mamelukes a-van and arear and passed on his way,\nscattering as he went gold pieces upon the lieges until all were fondly\naffected towards him and his dignity was enhanced. But when he drew near\nthe palace, and the Emirs and Aghas and Army-officers who were standing\nto await him noted his approach, they hastened straightway to the King\nand gave him the tidings thereof; whereupon the Sultan rose and met his\nson-in-law and, after embracing and kissing him, led him still holding\nhis hand into his own apartment where he sat down and seated him by his\nright side. The city was all decorated and music rang through the palace\nand the singers sang until the King bade bring the noon-meal, when the\neunuchs, and Mamelukes hastened to spread the tables and trays which are\nsuch as are served to the kings. Then the Sultan and Alaeddin and the\nLords of the land and the Grandees of the realm took their seats and ate\nand drank until they were satisfied. And it was a mighty fine wedding in\ncity and palace and the high nobles all rejoiced therein and the commons\nof the kingdom were equally gladdened, while the Governors of provinces\nand Nabobs of districts flocked from far regions to witness Alaeddin\u2019s\nmarriage and its processions and festivities. The Sultan also marvelled\nin his mind to look at Alaeddin\u2019s mother[177] and recall to mind how she\nwas wont to visit him in pauper plight, while her son could command all\nthis opulence and magnificence. And when the spectators, who crowded the\nroyal palace to enjoy the wedding-feasts, looked upon Alaeddin\u2019s\npavilion and the beauties of the building, they were seized with an\nimmense surprise that so vast an edifice as this could be reared on high\nduring a single night; and they blessed the youth and cried, \u201cAllah\ngladden him! By Allah, he deserveth all this! Allah bless his\ndays!\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say\nher permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Sixty-seventh Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when dinner was\ndone, Alaeddin rose and, farewelling the Sultan, took horse with his\nMamelukes and rode to his own pavilion that he might prepare to receive\ntherein his bride, the Lady Badr al-Budur. And as he passed, all the\nfolk shouted their good wishes with one voice and their words were,\n\u201cAllah gladden thee! Allah increase thy glory! Allah grant thee length\nof life!\u201d while immense crowds of people gathered to swell the marriage\nprocession and they conducted him to his new home, he showering gold\nupon them during the whole time. When he reached his pavilion, he\ndismounted and walked in and sat hint down on the divan, whilst his\nMamelukes stood before him with arms afolded; also after a short delay\nthey brought him sherbets and, when these were drunk, he ordered his\nwhite slaves and handmaids and eunuchs and all who were in the pavilion\nto make ready for meeting the Lady Badr al-Budur. Moreover, as soon as\nmid-afternoon came and the air had cooled and the great heat of the sun\nwas abated, the Sultan bade his Army-officers and Emirs and Wazirs go\ndown into the Mayd\u00e1n-plain[178] whither he likewise rode. And Alaeddin\nalso took horse with his Mamelukes, he mounting a stallion whose like\nwas not among the steeds of the Arab al-Arb\u00e1,[179] and he showed his\nhorsemanship in the hippodrome and so played with the Jar\u00edd[180] that\nnone could withstand him, while his bride sat gazing upon him from the\nlatticed balcony of her bower and, seeing in him such beauty and\ncavalarice, she fell headlong in love of him and was like to fly for\njoy. And after they had ringed their horses on the Maydan and each had\ndisplayed whatso he could of horsemanship, Alaeddin proving himself the\nbest man of all, they rode in a body to the Sultan\u2019s palace and the\nyouth also returned to his own pavilion. But when it was evening, the\nWazirs and Nobles took the bridegroom and, falling in, escorted him to\nthe royal Hammam (known as the Sult\u00e1n\u00ed), when he was bathed and\nperfumed. As soon as he came out he donned a dress more magnificent than\nthe former and took horse with the Emirs and the soldier-officers riding\nbefore him and forming a grand cort\u00e8ge, wherein four of the Wazirs bore\nnaked swords round about him.[181] All the citizens and the strangers\nand the troops marched before him in ordered throng carrying wax-candles\nand kettle drums and pipes and other instruments of mirth and merriment,\nuntil they conducted him to his pavilion. Here he alighted and walking\nin took his seat and seated the Wazirs and Emirs who had escorted him,\nand the Mamelukes brought sherbets and sugared drinks, which they also\npassed to the people who had followed in his train. It was a world of\nfolk whose tale might not be told; withal Alaeddin bade his Mamelukes\nstand without the pavilion-doors and shower gold upon the crowd.\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Sixty-eighth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when the Sultan\nreturned from the Maydan-plain to his palace he ordered the household,\nmen as well as women, straightway to form a cavalcade for his daughter,\nwith all ceremony, and bear her to her bridegroom\u2019s pavilion. So the\nnobles and soldier-officers, who had followed and escorted the\nbridegroom, at once mounted, and the handmaids and eunuchs went forth\nwith wax-candles and made a mighty fine procession for the Lady Badr\nal-Budur and they paced on preceding her till they entered the pavilion\nof Alaeddin whose mother walked beside the bride. In front of the\nPrincess also fared the wives of the Wazirs and Emirs, Grandees and\nNotables, and in attendance on her were the eight and forty slave-girls\npresented to her aforetime by her bridegroom, each hending in hand a\nhuge cierge scented with camphor and ambergris and set in a candlestick\nof gem-studded gold. And reaching Alaeddin\u2019s pavilion they led her to\nher bower in the upper storey and changed her robes and enthroned her;\nthen, as soon as the displaying was ended, they accompanied her to\nAlaeddin\u2019s apartments and presently he paid her the first visit. Now his\nmother was with the bride and, when the bridegroom came up and did off\nher veil, the ancient dame fell to considering the beauty of the\nPrincess and her loveliness; and she looked around at the pavilion which\nwas all litten up by gold and gems besides the manifold candelabra of\nprecious metals encrusted with emeralds and jacinths; so she said in her\nmind, \u201cOnce upon a time I thought the Sultan\u2019s palace mighty fine, but\nthis pavilion is a thing apart; nor do I deem that any of the greatest\nKings or Chosroes attained in his day to aught like thereof; also am I\ncertified that all the world could not build anything evening it.\u201d Nor\nless did the Lady Badr al-Budur fall to gazing at the pavilion and\nmarvelling for its magnificence. Then the tables were spread and they\nall ate and drank and were gladdened; after which fourscore damsels came\nbefore them each holding in hand an instrument of mirth and merriment;\nthen they deftly moved their finger-tips and touched the strings smiting\nthem into song, most musical, most melancholy, till they rent the hearts\nof the hearers. Hereat the Princess increased in marvel and quoth she to\nherself, \u201cIn all my life ne\u2019er heard I songs like these,\u201d[182] till she\nforsook food, the better to listen. And at last Alaeddin poured out for\nher wine and passed it to her with his own hand; so great joy and\njubilee went round amongst them and it was a notable night, such an one\nas Iskandar, Lord of the Two Horns,[183] had never spent in his time.\nWhen they had finished eating and drinking and the tables were removed\nfrom before them, Alaeddin arose and went in to his bride.[184] As soon\nas morning morrowed he left his bed and the treasurer brought him a\ncostly suit and a mighty fine, of the most sumptuous robes worn by the\nkings. Then, after drinking coffee flavoured with ambergris, he ordered\nthe horses be saddled and, mounting with his Mamelukes before and behind\nhim, rode to the Sultan\u2019s palace and on his entering its court the\neunuchs went in and reported his coming to their lord.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nwas surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Sixth-ninth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when the Sultan\nheard of Alaeddin\u2019s approach, he rose up forthright to receive him and\nembraced and kissed him as though he were his own son: then, seating him\non his right, he blessed and prayed for him, as did the Wazirs and\nEmirs, the Lords of the land and the Grandees of the realm. Presently,\nthe King commanded bring the morning-meal which the attendants served up\nand all broke their fast together, and when they had eaten and drunken\ntheir sufficiency and the tables were removed by the eunuchs, Alaeddin\nturned to the Sultan and said, \u201cO my lord, would thy Highness deign\nhonour me this day at dinner, in the house of the Lady Badr al-Budur thy\nbeloved daughter, and come accompanied by all thy Ministers and Grandees\nof the reign?\u201d The King replied (and he was delighted with his\nson-in-law,) \u201cThou art surpassing in liberality, O my son!\u201d Then he gave\norders to all invited and rode forth with them (Alaeddin also riding\nbeside him) till they reached the pavilion and as he entered it and\nconsidered its construction, its architecture and its stonery, all\njasper and carnelian, his sight was dazed and his wits were amazed at\nsuch grandeur and magnificence of opulence. Then turning to the Minister\nhe thus addressed him, \u201cWhat sayest thou? Tell me hast thou seen in all\nthy time aught like this amongst the mightiest of earth\u2019s monarchs for\nthe abundance of gold and gems we are now beholding?\u201d The Grand Wazir\nreplied, \u201cO my lord the King, this be a feat which cannot be\naccomplished by might of monarch amongst Adam\u2019s sons;[185] nor could the\ncollected peoples of the universal world build a palace like unto this;\nnay, even builders could not be found to make aught resembling it, save\n(as I said to thy Highness) by force of sorcery.\u201d These words certified\nthe King that his Minister spake not except in envy and jealousy of\nAlaeddin, and would stablish in the royal mind that all this splendour\nwas not made of man but by means of magic and with the aid of the Black\nArt. So quoth he to him, \u201cSuffice thee so much, O Wazir: thou hast none\nother word to speak and well I know what cause urgeth thee to say this\nsay.\u201d Then Alaeddin preceded the Sultan till he conducted him to the\nupper Kiosque where he saw its skylights, windows and latticed casements\nand jalousies wholly made of emeralds and rubies and other costly gems;\nwhereat his mind was perplexed and his wits were bewildered and his\nthoughts were distraught. Presently he took to strolling round the\nKiosque and solacing himself with these sights which captured the\nvision, till he chanced to cast a glance at the window which Alaeddin by\ndesign had left unwrought and not finished like the rest; and, when he\nnoted its lack of completion, he cried, \u201cWoe and well-away for thee, O\nwindow, because of thine imperfection;\u201d[186] and, turning to his\nMinister he asked, \u201cKnowest thou the reason of leaving incomplete this\nwindow and its framework?\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of\nday and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Seventieth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Wazir said\nto the Sultan, \u201cO my lord, I conceive that the want of finish in this\nwindow resulteth from thy Highness having pushed on Alaeddin\u2019s marriage\nand he lacked the leisure to complete it.\u201d Now at that time, Alaeddin\nhad gone in to his bride, the Lady Badr al-Budur, to inform her of her\nfather\u2019s presence; and, when he returned, the King asked him, \u201cO my son\nwhat is the reason why the window of this Kiosque was not made perfect?\u201d\n\u201cO King of the Age, seeing the suddenness of my wedding,\u201d answered he,\n\u201cI failed to find artists for finishing it.\u201d Quoth the Sultan, \u201cI have a\nmind to complete it myself;\u201d and quoth Alaeddin,\n\n\u201cAllah perpetuate thy glory, O thou the King; so shall thy memory endure\nin thy daughter\u2019s pavilion.\u201d The Sultan forthright bade summon jewellers\nand goldsmiths and ordered them be supplied from the treasury with all\ntheir needs of gold and gems and noble ores; and, when they were\ngathered together he commanded them to complete the work still wanting\nin the Kiosque-window. Meanwhile the Princess came forth to meet her\nsire the Sultan who noticed, as she drew near, her smiling face; so he\nembraced her and kissed her, then led her to the pavilion and all\nentered in a body. Now this was the time of the noon-day meal and one\ntable had been spread for the Sovran, his daughter and his son-in-law\nand a second for the Wazirs, the Lords of the land, the Grandees of the\nrealm, the Chief Officers of the host, the Chamberlains and the Nabobs.\nThe King took seat between the Princess and her husband; and, when he\nput forth his hand to the food and tasted it, he was struck with\nsurprise by the flavour of the dishes and their savoury and sumptuous\ncooking. Moreover, there stood before him the fourscore damsels each and\nevery saying to the full moon, \u201cRise that I may seat myself in thy\nstead!\u201d[187] All held instruments of mirth and merriment and they tuned\nthe same and deftly moved their finger-tips and smote the strings into\nsong, most musical, most melodious, which expanded the mourner\u2019s heart.\nHereby the Sultan was gladdened and time was good to him and for high\nenjoyment he exclaimed, \u201cIn very sooth the thing is beyond the compass\nof King and Kaysar.\u201d Then they fell to eating and drinking; and the cup\nwent round until they had drunken enough, when sweetmeats and fruits of\nsorts and other such edibles were served, the dessert being laid out in\na different salon whither they removed and enjoyed of these pleasures\ntheir sufficiency. Presently the Sultan arose that he might see if the\nproduce of his jewellers and goldsmiths favoured that of the pavilion;\nso he went upstairs to them and inspected their work and how they had\nwrought; but he noted a mighty great difference and his men were far\nfrom being able to make anything like the rest of Alaeddin\u2019s\npavilion.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to\nsay her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Seventy-first Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that after the King\nhad inspected the work of his jewellers and goldsmiths, they informed\nhim how all the gems stored in the Lesser Treasury had been brought to\nthem and used by them but that the whole had proved insufficient;\nwherefor he bade open the Greater Treasury and gave the workmen all they\nwanted of him. Moreover he allowed them, an it sufficed not, to take the\njewels wherewith Alaeddin had gifted him. They carried off the whole and\npushed on their labours but they found the gems fail them, albeit had\nthey not yet finished half the part wanting to the Kiosque-window.\nHerewith the King commanded them to seize all the precious stones owned\nby the Wazirs and Grandees of the realm; but, although they did his\nbidding, the supply still fell short of their requirements. Next morning\nAlaeddin arose to look at the jewellers\u2019 work and remarked that they had\nnot finished a moiety of what was wanting to the Kiosque-window: so he\nat once ordered them to undo all they had done and restore the jewels to\ntheir owners. Accordingly, they pulled out the precious stones and sent\nthe Sultan\u2019s to the Sultan and the Wazirs\u2019 to the Wazirs. Then the\njewellers went to the King and told him of what Alaeddin had bidden; so\nhe asked them, \u201cWhat said he to you, and what was his reason and\nwherefore was he not content that the window be finished and why did he\nundo the work ye wrought?\u201d They answered, \u201cO our lord, we know not at\nall, but he bade us deface whatso we had done.\u201d Hereupon the Sultan at\nonce called for his horse, and mounting, took the way pavilion-wards,\nwhen Alaeddin, after dismissing the goldsmiths and jewellers had retired\ninto his closet and had rubbed the Lamp. Hereat straightway its Servitor\nappeared to him and said, \u201cAsk whatso thou wantest: thy Slave is between\nthy hands;\u201d and said Alaeddin, \u201c\u2019Tis my desire that thou finish the\nwindow which was left unfinished.\u201d The Marid replied, \u201cOn my head be it\nand also upon mine eyes!\u201d then he vanished and after a little while\nreturned saying, \u201cO my lord, verily that thou commandedst me do is\ncompleted.\u201d So Alaeddin went upstairs to the Kiosque and found the whole\nwindow in wholly finished state; and, whilst he was still considering\nit, behold, a castrato came in to him and said, \u201cO my lord, the Sultan\nhath ridden forth to visit thee and is passing through the\npavilion-gate.\u201d So Alaeddin at once went down and received his\nfather-in-law.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and\nceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Seventy-second Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an be thou other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Sultan, on\nsighting his son-in-law, cried to him, \u201cWherefore, O my child, hast thou\nwrought on this wise and sufferest not the jewellers to complete the\nKiosque-window leaving in the pavilion an unfinished place?\u201d Alaeddin\nreplied, \u201cO King of the Age, I left it not imperfect save for a design\nof mine own; nor was I incapable of perfecting it nor could I purpose\nthat thy Highness should honour me with visiting a pavilion wherein was\naught of deficiency. And, that thou mayest know I am not unable to make\nit perfect, let thy Highness deign walk upstairs with me and see if\nanything remain to be done therewith or not.\u201d So the Sultan went up with\nhim and, entering the Kiosque, fell to looking right and left, but he\nsaw no default at all in any of the windows; nay, he noted that all were\nperfect. So he marvelled at the sight and embraced Alaeddin and kissed\nhim, saying, \u201cO my son, what be this singular feat? Thou canst work in a\nsingle night what in months the jewellers could not do. By Allah, I deem\nthou hast nor brother nor rival in this world.\u201d Quoth Alaeddin, \u201cAllah\nprolong thy life and preserve thee to perpetuity! thy slave deserveth\nnot this encomium;\u201d and quoth the King, \u201cBy Allah; O my child, thou\nmeritest all praise for a feat whereof all the artists of the world were\nincapable.\u201d Then the Sultan came down and entered the apartments of his\ndaughter, the Lady Badr al-Budur, to take rest beside her, and he saw\nher joyous exceedingly at the glory and grandeur wherein she was; then,\nafter reposing awhile he returned to his palace. Now Alaeddin was wont\nevery day to thread the city-streets with his Mamelukes riding a-van and\narear of him showering rightwards and leftwards gold upon the folk; and\nall the world, stranger and neighbour, far and near, were fulfilled of\nhis love for the excess of his liberality and generosity. Moreover he\nincreased the pensions of the poor Religious and the paupers and he\nwould distribute alms to them with his own hand; by which good deed, he\nwon high renown throughout the realm and most of the Lords of the land\nand Emirs would eat at his table; and men swore not at all save by his\nprecious life. Nor did he leave faring to the chase and the Maydan-plain\nand the riding of horses and playing at javelin-play[188] in presence of\nthe Sultan; and, whenever the Lady Badr al-Budur beheld him disporting\nhimself on the backs of steeds, she loved him much the more, and thought\nto herself that Allah had wrought her abundant good by causing to happen\nwhatso happened with the son of the Wazir and by preserving her\nvirginity intact for her true bridegroom, Alaeddin.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was\nsurprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Seventy-third Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin won\nfor himself day by day a fairer fame and a rarer report, while affection\nfor him increased in the hearts of all the lieges and he waxed greater\nin the eyes of men. Moreover it chanced that in those days certain\nenemies took horse and attacked the Sultan, who armed and accoutred an\narmy to repel them and made Alaeddin commander thereof. So he marched\nwith his men nor ceased marching until he drew near the foe whose forces\nwere exceeding many; and, presently, when the action began he bared his\nbrand and charged home upon the enemy. Then battle and slaughter befel\nand violent was the hurly-burly, but at last Alaeddin broke the hostile\nhost and put all to flight, slaying the best part of them and pillaging\ntheir coin and cattle, property and possessions; and he despoiled them\nof spoils that could not be counted nor computed. Then he returned\nvictorious after a noble victory and entered the capital which had\ndecorated herself in his honour, of her delight in him; and the Sultan\nwent forth to meet him and giving him joy embraced him and kissed him;\nand throughout the kingdom was held high festival with great joy and\ngladness. Presently, the Sovran and his son-in-law repaired to the\npavilion where they were met by the Princess Badr al-Budur who rejoiced\nin her husband and, after kissing him between the eyes, led him to her\napartments. After a time the Sultan also came and they sat down while\nthe slave-girls brought them sherbets and confections which they ate and\ndrank. Then the Sultan commanded that the whole kingdom be decorated for\nthe triumph of his son-in-law and his victory over the invader; and the\nsubjects and soldiery and all the people knew only Allah in heaven and\nAlaeddin on earth; for that their love, won by his liberality, was\nincreased by his noble horsemanship and his successful battling for the\ncountry and putting to flight the foe. Such then was the high fortune of\nAlaeddin; but as regards the Maghrabi, the Magician, after returning to\nhis native country, he passed all this space of time in bewailing what\nhe had borne of toil and travail to win the Lamp and mostly that his\ntrouble had gone vain and that the morsel when almost touching his lips\nhad flown from his grasp. He pondered all this and mourned and reviled\nAlaeddin for the excess of his rage against him and at times he would\nexclaim, \u201cFor this bastard\u2019s death underground I am well satisfied and\nhope only that some time or other I may obtain the Lamp, seeing how \u2019tis\nyet safe.\u201d Now one day of the days he struck a table of sand and dotted\ndown the figures and carefully considered their consequence; then he\ntransferred them to paper that he might study them and make sure of\nAlaeddin\u2019s destruction and the safety of the Lamp preserved beneath the\nearth. Presently, he firmly stablished the sequence of the figures,\nmothers as well as daughters,[189] but still he saw not the Lamp.\nThereupon rage overrode him and he made another trial to be assured of\nAlaeddin\u2019s death; but he saw him not in the Enchanted Treasure. Hereat\nhis wrath still grew, and it waxed greater when he ascertained that the\nyouth had issued from underground and was now upon earth\u2019s surface alive\nand alert: furthermore, that he had become owner of the Lamp, for which\nhe had himself endured such toil and travail and troubles as man may not\nbear save for so great an object. Accordingly quoth he to himself, \u201cI\nhave suffered sore pains and penalties which none else could have\nendured for the Lamp\u2019s sake in order that other than I may carry it off;\nand this Accursed hath taken it without difficulty. And who knoweth an\nhe wot the virtues of the Lamp, than whose owner none in the world\nshould be wealthier?\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day\nand ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Seventy-fourth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Maghrabi,\nthe Magician, having considered and ascertained that Alaeddin had\nescaped from the souterrain and had gotten the boon of the Lamp, said to\nhimself, \u201cThere is no help but that I work for his destruction.\u201d He then\nstruck another geomantic table and examining the figures saw that the\nlad had won for himself unmeasurable riches and had wedded the daughter\nof his King; so of his envy and jealousy he was fired with the flame of\nwrath; and, rising without let or stay, he equipped himself and set\nforth for China-land, where he arrived in due season. Now when he had\nreached the King\u2019s capital wherein was Alaeddin, he alighted at one of\nthe Kh\u00e1ns; and, when he had rested from the weariness of wayfare, he\ndonned his dress and went down to wander about the streets, where he\nnever passed a group without hearing them prate about the pavilion and\nits grandeur and vaunt the beauty of Alaeddin and his lovesomeness, his\nliberality and generosity, his fine manners and his good morals.\nPresently he entered an establishment wherein men were drinking a\ncertain warm beverage;[190] and, going up to one of those who were loud\nin their lauds, he said to him, \u201cO fair youth, who may be the man ye\ndescribe and commend?\u201d \u201cApparently thou art a foreigner, O man,\u201d\nanswered the other, \u201cand thou comest from a far country; but, even this\ngranted, how happeneth it thou hast not heard of the Emir Alaeddin whose\nrenown, I fancy, hath filled the universe and whose pavilion, known by\nreport to far and near, is one of the Wonders of the World? How, then,\nnever came to thine ears aught of this or the name of Alaeddin (whose\nglory and enjoyment our Lord increase!) and his fame?\u201d The Moorman\nreplied, \u201cThe sum of my wishes is to look upon this pavilion and, if\nthou wouldest do me a favour, prithee guide me thereunto, for I am a\nforeigner.\u201d The man rejoined, \u201cTo hear is to obey;\u201d and, foregoing him,\npointed out Alaeddin\u2019s pavilion whereupon the Maroccan fell to\nconsidering it and at once understood that it was the work of the Lamp.\nSo he cried, \u201cAh? Ah! needs must I dig a pit for this Accursed, this son\nof a snip, who could not earn for himself even an evening meal: and, if\nthe Fates abet me, I will assuredly destroy his life and send his mother\nback to spinning at her wheel, e\u2019en as she was wont erewhiles to do.\u201d So\nsaying, he returned to his caravanserai in a sore state of grief and\nmelancholy and regret bred by his envy and hate of Alaeddin.\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Seventy-fifth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when the\nMaghrabi, the Magician, reached his caravanserai, he took his\nastrological gear[191] and geomantic table to discover where might be\nthe Lamp; and he found that it was in the pavilion and not upon\nAlaeddin\u2019s person. So he rejoiced thereat with joy exceeding and\nexclaimed, \u201cNow indeed \u2019twill be an easy task to take the life of this\nAccursed and I see my way to getting the Lamp.\u201d Then he went to a\ncoppersmith and said to him, \u201cDo thou make me a set of lamps and take\nfrom me their full price and more; only I would have thee hasten to\nfinish them.\u201d Replied the smith, \u201cHearing and obeying,\u201d and fell\naworking to keep his word; and when they were ready the Moorman paid him\nwhat price he required; then taking them he carried them to the Khan and\nset them in a basket. Presently he began wandering about the highways\nand market-streets of the capital crying aloud, \u201cHo! who will exchange\nold lamps for new lamps?\u201d[192] But when the folk heard him cry on this\nwise, they derided him and said, \u201cDoubtless this man is Jinn-mad, for\nthat he goeth about offering new for old;\u201d and a world followed him and\nthe children of the quarter caught him up from place to place, laughing\nat him the while, nor did he forbid them or care for their maltreatment.\nAnd he ceased not strolling about the streets till he came under\nAlaeddin\u2019s pavilion,[193] where he shouted with his loudest voice and\nthe boys screamed at him, \u201cA madman! A madman!\u201d Now Destiny had decreed\nthat the Lady Badr al-Budur be sitting in her Kiosque whence she heard\none crying like a crier, and the children bawling at him; only she\nunderstood not what was going on; so she gave orders to one of her\nslave-girls saying,[194] \u201cGo thou and see who \u2019tis that crieth and what\nbe his cry?\u201d The girl fared forth and looked on when she beheld a man\ncrying, \u201cHo! who will exchange old lamps for new lamps?\u201d and the little\nones pursuing and laughing at him; and as loudly laughed the Princess\nwhen this strange case was told to her. Now Alaeddin had carelessly left\nthe lamp in his pavilion without hiding it and locking it up in his\nstrong box;[195] and one of the slave-girls who had seen it said, \u201cO my\nlady, I think to have noticed, in the apartment of my lord Alaeddin, an\nold lamp: so let us give it in change for a new lamp to this man, and\nsee if his cry be truth or lie.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the\ndawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Seventy-sixth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that hereupon the\nPrincess said to the slave-girl, \u201cBring the old lamp which thou saidst\nto have seen in thy lord\u2019s apartment.\u201d Now the Lady Badr al-Budur knew\nnaught of the Lamp and of the specialities thereof which had raised\nAlaeddin her spouse to such high degree and grandeur; and her only end\nand aim was to understand by experiment the mind of a man who would give\nin exchange the new for the old. So the handmaid fared forth and went up\nto Alaeddin\u2019s apartment and returned with the Lamp to her lady who, like\nall the others, knew nothing of the Maghrabi\u2019s cunning tricks and his\ncrafty device. Then the Princess bade an \u00c1gh\u00e1 of the eunuchry go down\nand barter the old Lamp for a new lamp. So he obeyed her bidding and,\nafter taking a new lamp from the man, he returned and laid it before his\nlady who looking at it and seeing that it was brand-new, fell to\nlaughing at the Moorman\u2019s wits. But the Maroccan, when he held the\narticle in hand and recognised it for the Lamp of the Enchanted\nTreasury,[196] at once placed it in his breast-pocket and left all the\nother lamps to the folk who were bartering of him. Then he went forth\nrunning till he was clear of the city, when he walked leisurely over the\nlevel grounds and he took patience until night fell on him in desert\nground where was none other but himself. There he brought out the Lamp\nwhen suddenly appeared to him the Marid who said, \u201cAdsum! thy slave\nbetween thy hands is come: ask of me what so thou wantest.\u201d \u201c\u2019Tis my\ndesire,\u201d the Moorman replied, \u201cthat thou upraise from its present place\nAlaeddin\u2019s pavilion with its inmates and all that be therein, not\nforgetting myself, and set it down upon my own land, Africa. Thou\nknowest my town and I want the building placed in the gardens hard by\nit.\u201d The Marid-slave replied, \u201cHearkening and obedience: close thine\neyes and open thine eyes whenas thou shalt find thyself together with\nthe pavilion in thine own country.\u201d This was done; and, in an\neye-twinkling, the Maroccan and the pavilion with all therein were\ntransported to the African land. Such then was the work of the Maghrabi,\nthe Magician; but now let us return to the Sultan and his son-in-law. It\nwas the custom of the King, because of his attachment to and his\naffection for his daughter, every morning when he had shaken off sleep,\nto open the latticed casement and look out therefrom that he might catch\nsight of her abode. So that day he arose and did as he was wont.\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Seventy-seventh Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when the Sultan\ndrew near the latticed casement of his palace and looked out at\nAlaeddin\u2019s pavilion he saw naught; nay, the site was smooth as a\nwell-trodden highway and like unto what it had been aforetime; and he\ncould find nor edifice nor offices. So astonishment clothed him as with\na garment, and his wits were wildered and he began to rub his eyes, lest\nthey be dimmed or darkened, and to gaze intently; but at last he was\ncertified that no trace of the pavilion remained nor sign of its being;\nnor wist he the why and the wherefore of its disappearance. So his\nsurprise increased and he smote hand upon hand and the tears trickled\ndown his cheeks over his beard, for that he knew not what had become of\nhis daughter. Then he sent out officials forthright and summoned the\nGrand Wazir who at once attended; and, seeing him in this piteous plight\nsaid, \u201cPardon, O King of the Age, may Allah avert from thee every ill!\nWherefore art thou in such sorrow?\u201d Exclaimed the Sovran, \u201cMethinketh\nthou wottest not my case?\u201d and quoth the Minister, \u201cOn no wise. O our\nlord: by Allah, I know of it nothing at all.\u201d \u201cThen,\u201d resumed the\nSultan, \u201c\u2019tis manifest thou hast not looked this day in the direction of\nAlaeddin\u2019s pavilion.\u201d \u201cTrue, O my lord,\u201d quoth the Wazir, \u201cit must still\nbe locked and fast shut;\u201d and quoth the King, \u201cForasmuch as thou hast no\ninkling of aught,[197] arise and look out at the window and see\nAlaeddin\u2019s pavilion whereof thou sayest \u2019tis locked and fast shut.\u201d The\nMinister obeyed his bidding but could not see anything, or pavilion or\nother place; so with mind and thoughts sore perplexed he returned to his\nliege lord who asked him, \u201cHast now learned the reason of my distress\nand noted yon locked-up palace and fast shut?\u201d Answered the Wazir, \u201cO\nKing of the Age, erewhile I represented to thy Highness that this\npavilion and these matters be all magical.\u201d Hereat the Sultan, fired\nwith wrath, cried, \u201cWhere be Alaeddin?\u201d and the Minister replied, \u201cHe\nhath gone a-hunting,\u201d when the King commanded without stay or delay\nsundry of his Aghas and Army-officers to go and bring to him his\nson-in-law chained and with pinioned elbows. So they fared forth until\nthey found Alaeddin when they said to him, \u201cO our lord Alaeddin, excuse\nus nor be thou wroth with us; for the King hath commanded that we carry\nthee before him pinioned and fettered, and we hope pardon from thee\nbecause we are under the royal orders which we cannot gainsay.\u201d\nAlaeddin, hearing these words, was seized with surprise and not knowing\nthe reason of this remained tongue-tied for a time, after which he\nturned to them and asked, \u201cO assembly, have you naught of knowledge\nconcerning the motive of the royal mandate? Well I wot my soul to be\ninnocent and that I never sinned against king or against kingdom.\u201d \u201cO\nour lord,\u201d answered they, \u201cwe have no inkling whatever.\u201d So Alaeddin\nalighted from his horse and said to them, \u201cDo ye whatso the Sultan bade\nyou do, for that the King\u2019s command is upon the head and the\neyes.[198]\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased\nto say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Seventy-eighth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Aghas,\nhaving bound Alaeddin in bonds and pinioned his elbows behind his back,\nhaled him in chains and carried him into the city. But when the lieges\nsaw him pinioned and ironed, they understood that the Sultan purposed to\nstrike off his head; and, forasmuch as he was loved of them exceedingly,\nall gathered together and seized their weapons; then, swarming out of\ntheir houses, followed the soldiery to see what was to do. And when the\ntroops arrived with Alaeddin at the palace, they went in and informed\nthe Sultan of this, whereat he forthright commanded the Sworder to cut\noff the head of his son-in-law. Now as soon as the subjects were aware\nof this order, they barricaded the gates and closed the doors of the\npalace and sent a message to the King saying, \u201cAt this very moment we\nwill level thine abode over the heads of all it containeth and over\nthine own,[199] if the least hurt or harm befal Alaeddin.\u201d So the Wazir\nwent in and reported to the Sultan, \u201cO King of the Age, thy commandment\nis about to seal the roll of our lives; and \u2019twere more suitable that\nthou pardon thy son-in-law lest there chance to us a sore mischance; for\nthat the lieges do love him far more than they love us.\u201d Now the Sworder\nhad already dispread the carpet of blood and, having seated Alaeddin\nthereon, had bandaged his eyes; moreover he had walked round him three\nseveral times awaiting the last orders of his lord, when the King looked\nout of the window and saw his subjects, who had suddenly attacked him,\nswarming up the walls intending to tear them down. So forthright he bade\nthe Sworder stay his hand from Alaeddin and commanded the crier fare\nforth to the crowd and cry aloud that he had pardoned his son-in-law and\nreceived him back into favour. But when Alaeddin found himself free and\nsaw the Sultan seated on his throne, he went up to him and said, \u201cO my\nlord, inasmuch as thy Highness hath favoured me throughout my life, so\nof thy grace now deign let me know the how and the wherein I have sinned\nagainst thee?\u201d \u201cO traitor,\u201d cried the King, \u201cunto this present I knew\nnot any sin of thine;\u201d then, turning to the Wazir he said, \u201cTake him and\nmake him look out at the window and after let him tell us where be his\npavilion.\u201d And when the royal order was obeyed Alaeddin saw the place\nlevel as a well-trodden road, even as it had been ere the base of the\nbuilding was laid, nor was there the faintest trace of edifice. Hereat\nhe was astonished and perplexed knowing not what had occurred; but, when\nhe returned to the presence, the King asked him, \u201cWhat is it thou hast\nseen? Where is thy pavilion and where is my daughter, the core of my\nheart, my only child, than whom I have none other?\u201d Alaeddin answered,\n\u201cO King of the Age, I wot naught thereof nor aught of what hath\nbefallen,\u201d and the Sultan rejoined, \u201cThou must know, O Alaeddin, I have\npardoned thee only that thou go forth and look into this affair and\nenquire for me concerning my daughter; nor do thou ever show thyself in\nmy presence except she be with thee; and, if thou bring her not, by the\nlife of my head I will cut off the head of thee.\u201d The other replied, \u201cTo\nhear is to obey: only vouchsafe me a delay and respite of some forty\ndays; after which, an I produce her not, strike off my head[200] and do\nwith me whatso thou wishest.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn\nof day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Seventy-ninth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Sultan said\nto Alaeddin, \u201cVerily I have granted thee thy request, a delay of forty\ndays; but think not thou canst fly from my hand, for I would bring thee\nback even if thou wert above the clouds instead of being only upon\nearth\u2019s surface.\u201d Replied Alaeddin, \u201cO my lord the Sultan, as I said to\nthy Highness, an I fail to bring her within the term appointed, I will\npresent myself for my head to be stricken off.\u201d Now when the folk and\nthe lieges all saw Alaeddin at liberty, they rejoiced with joy exceeding\nand were delighted for his release; but the shame of his treatment and\nbashfulness before his friends and the envious exultation of his foes\nhad bowed down Alaeddin\u2019s head; so he went forth a-wandering through the\ncity ways and he was perplexed concerning his case and knew not what had\nbefallen him. He lingered about the capital for two days, in saddest\nstate, wotting not what to do in order to find his wife and his\npavilion, and during this time sundry of the folk privily brought him\nmeat and drink. When the two days were done he left the city to stray\nabout the waste and open lands outlying the walls, without a notion as\nto whither he should wend; and he walked on aimlessly until the path led\nhim beside a river where, of the stress of sorrow that overwhelmed him,\nhe abandoned himself to despair and thought of casting himself into the\nwater. Being, however, a good Moslem who professed the unity of the\nGodhead, he feared Allah in his soul; and, standing upon the margin he\nprepared to perform the Wuz\u00fa-ablution. But as he was baling up the water\nin his right hand and rubbing his fingers,[201] it so chanced that he\nalso rubbed the Ring. Hereat its Marid appeared and said to him, \u201cAdsum!\nthy thrall between thy hands is come: ask of me whatso thou wantest.\u201d\nSeeing the Marid, Alaeddin rejoiced with exceeding joy and cried,[202]\n\u201cO Slave, I desire of thee that thou bring before me my pavilion and\ntherein my wife, the Lady Badr al-Budur, together with all and\neverything it containeth.\u201d \u201cO my lord,\u201d replied the Marid, \u201c\u2019tis right\nhard upon me that thou demandest a service whereto I may not avail: this\nmatter dependeth upon the Slave of the Lamp nor dare I even attempt it.\u201d\nAlaeddin rejoined, \u201cForasmuch as the matter is beyond thy competence, I\nrequire it not of thee, but at least do thou take me up and set me down\nbeside my pavilion in what land soever that may be.\u201d The Slave\nexclaimed, \u201cHearing and obeying, O my lord;\u201d and, uplifting him high in\nair, within the space of an eye-glance set him down beside his pavilion\nin the land of Africa and upon a spot facing his wife\u2019s apartment. Now\nthis was at fall of night yet one look enabled him to recognise his\nhome; whereby his cark and care were cleared away and he recovered trust\nin Allah after cutting off all his hope to look upon his wife once more.\nThen he fell to pondering the secret and mysterious favours of the Lord\n(glorified be His omnipotence!); and how, after despair had mastered\nhim, the Ring had come to gladden him, and how, when all his hopes were\ncut off, Allah had deigned bless him with the services of its Slave. So\nhe rejoiced and his melancholy left him; then, as he had passed four\ndays without sleep for the excess of his cark and care and sorrow and\nstress of thought, he drew near his pavilion and slept under a tree hard\nby the building which (as we mentioned) had been set down amongst the\ngardens outlying the city of Africa.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the\ndawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eightieth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin lay\nthat night under a tree beside his pavilion in all restfulness; but\nwhoso weareth head hard by the headsman may not sleep o\u2019 nights save\nwhenas slumber prevail over him. He slumbered till Morning showed her\nface and, when awakened by the warbling of the small birds, he arose and\nwent down to the bank of the river which flowed thereby into the city;\nand here he again washed hands and face[203] and after finished his\nWuz\u00fa-ablution. Then he prayed the dawn-prayer, and when he had ended his\norisons he returned and sat down under the windows of the Princess\u2019s\nbower. Now the Lady Badr al-Budur, of her exceeding sorrow for severance\nfrom her husband and her sire the Sultan, and for the great mishap which\nhad happened to her from the Maghrabi, the Magician, the Accursed, was\nwont to rise during the murk preceding dawn and to sit in tears inasmuch\nas she could not sleep o\u2019 nights, and had forsworn meat and drink. Her\nfavourite slave-girl would enter her chamber at the hour of\nprayer-salutation in order to dress her; and this time, by decree of\nDestiny, when she threw open the window to let her lady comfort and\nconsole herself by looking upon the trees and rills, and she herself\npeered out of the lattice, she caught sight of her master sitting below,\nand informed the Princess of this, saying, \u201cO my lady! O my lady! here\u2019s\nmy lord Alaeddin seated at the foot of the wall.\u201d So her mistress arose\nhurriedly and gazing from the casement saw him; and her husband raising\nhis head saw her; so she saluted him and he saluted her, both being like\nto fly for joy. Presently quoth she, \u201cUp and come in to me by the\nprivate postern, for now the Accursed is not here;\u201d and she gave orders\nto the slave-girl who went down and opened for him. Then Alaeddin passed\nthrough it and was met by his wife, when they embraced and exchanged\nkisses with all delight until they wept for overjoy. After this they sat\ndown and Alaeddin said to her, \u201cO my lady, before all things \u2019tis my\ndesire to ask thee a question. \u2019Twas my wont to place an old copper lamp\nin such a part of my pavilion, what became of that same?\u201d When the\nPrincess heard these words she sighed and cried, \u201cO my dearling, \u2019twas\nthat very Lamp which garred us fall into this calamity!\u201d Alaeddin asked\nher, \u201cHow befel the affair?\u201d and she answered by recounting to him all\nthat passed, first and last, especially how they had given in exchange\nan old lamp for a new lamp, adding, \u201cAnd next day we hardly saw one\nanother at dawn before we found ourselves in this land, and he who\ndeceived us and took the lamp by way of barter informed me that he had\ndone the deed by might of his magic and by means of the Lamp; that he is\na Moorman from Africa, and that we are now in his native country.\u201d\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eighty-first Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when the Lady\nBadr al-Budur ceased speaking, Alaeddin resumed, \u201cTell me the intent of\nthis Accursed in thy respect, also what he sayeth to thee and what be\nhis will of thee?\u201d She replied, \u201cEvery day he cometh to visit me once\nand no more: he would woo me to his love and he sueth that I take him to\nspouse in lieu of thee and that I forget thee and be consoled for the\nloss of thee. And he telleth me that the Sultan my sire hath cut off my\nhusband\u2019s head, adding that thou, the son of pauper parents, wast by him\nenriched. And he sootheth me with talk, but he never seeth aught from me\nsave weeping and wailing; nor hath he heard from me one sugar-sweet\nword.\u201d[204] Quoth Alaeddin, \u201cTell me where he hath placed the Lamp an\nthou know anything thereof;\u201d and quoth she, \u201cHe beareth it about on his\nbody alway, nor is it possible that he leave it for a single hour;\nmoreover once when he related what I have now recounted to thee, he\nbrought it out of his breast-pocket and allowed me to look upon it.\u201d\nWhen Alaeddin heard these words, he joyed with exceeding joy and said,\n\u201cO my lady, do thou lend ear to me. \u2019Tis my design to go from thee\nforthright and to return only after doffing this my dress; so wonder not\nwhen thou see me changed, but direct one of thy women to stand by the\nprivate postern alway and, whenever she espy me coming, at once to open.\nAnd now I will devise a device whereby to slay this damned loon.\u201d\nHerewith he arose and, issuing from the pavilion-door, walked till he\nmet on the way a Fellah to whom he said, \u201cO man, take my attire and give\nme thy garments.\u201d But the peasant refused, so Alaeddin stripped him of\nhis dress perforce[205] and donned it, leaving to the man his own rich\ngear by way of gift. Then he followed the highway leading to the\nneighbouring city and entering it went to the Perfumers\u2019 Bazar where he\nbought of one some rarely potent Bhang, the son of a minute,[206] paying\ntwo dinars for two drachms thereof and he returned in disguise by the\nsame road till he reached the pavilion. Here the slave-girl opened to\nhim the private postern wherethrough he went in to the Lady Badr\nal-Budur.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to\nsay her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eighty-second Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when Alaeddin\nwent in disguised to his wife he said, \u201cHear me! I desire of thee that\nthou dress and dight thyself in thy best and thou cast off all outer\nshow and semblance of care; also when the Accursed, the Maghrabi, shall\nvisit thee, do thou receive him with a \u2018Welcome and fair welcome,\u2019 and\nmeet him with smiling face and invite him to come and sup with thee.\nMoreover, let him note that thou hast forgotten Alaeddin thy beloved,\nlikewise thy father; and that thou hast learned to love him with\nexceeding love, displaying to him all manner joy and pleasure. Then ask\nhim for wine which must be red and pledge him to his secret in a\nsignificant draught; and, when thou hast given him two to three cups\nfull and hast made him wax careless, then drop these drops into his cup\nand fill it up with wine: no sooner shall he drink of it than he will\nfall upon his back senseless as one dead.\u201d Hearing these words, the\nPrincess exclaimed, \u201c\u2019Tis exceedingly sore to me that I do such\ndeed;[207] withal must I do it that we escape the defilement of this\nAccursed who tortured me by severance from thee and from my sire. Lawful\nand right therefore is the slaughter of this Accursed.\u201d Then Alaeddin\nate and drank with his wife what hindered his hunger; then, rising\nwithout stay or delay, fared forth the pavilion. So the Lady Badr\nal-Budur summoned the tirewoman who robed and arrayed her in her finest\nraiment and adorned her and perfumed her; and, as she was thus, behold,\nthe accursed Maghrabi entered. He joyed much seeing her in such case and\nyet more when she confronted him, contrary to her custom, with a\nlaughing face; and his love-longing increased and his desire to have\nher. Then she took him and, seating him beside her, said, \u201cO my\ndearling, do thou (an thou be willing) come to me this night and let us\nsup together. Sufficient to me hath been my sorrow for, were I to sit\nmourning through a thousand years or even two thousand, Alaeddin would\nnot return to me from the tomb; and I depend upon thy say of yesterday,\nto wit, that my sire the Sultan slew him in his stress of sorrow for\nseverance from me. Nor wonder thou an I have changed this day from what\nI was yesterday; and the reason thereof is I have determined upon taking\nthee to friend and playfellow in lieu of and succession to Alaeddin, for\nthat now I have none other man but thyself. So I hope for thy presence\nthis night, that we may sup together and we may carouse and drink\nsomewhat of wine each with other; and especially \u2019tis my desire that\nthou cause me taste the wine of thy natal soil, the African land,\nbecause belike \u2019tis better than aught of the wine of China we drink: I\nhave with me some wine but \u2019tis the growth of my country and I\nvehemently wish to taste the wine produced by thine.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was\nsurprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eighty-third Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when the\nMaghrabi saw the love lavisht upon him by the Lady Badr al-Budur, and\nnoted her change from the sorrowful, melancholy woman she was wont to\nbe, he thought that she had cut off her hope of Alaeddin and he joyed\nexceedingly and said to her, \u201cI hear and obey, O my lady, whatso thou\nwishest and all thou biddest. I have at home a jar of our country wine,\nwhich I have carefully kept and stored deep in earth for a space of\neight years; and I will now fare and fill from it our need and will\nreturn to thee in all haste.\u201d But the Princess, that she might wheedle\nhim the more and yet more, replied, \u201cO my darling, go not thou, leaving\nme alone, but send one of the eunuchs to fill for us thereof and do thou\nremain sitting beside me, that I may find in thee my consolation.\u201d He\nrejoined, \u201cO my lady, none wotteth where the jar be buried save myself\nnor will I tarry from thee.\u201d So saying, the Moorman went out and after a\nshort time he brought back as much wine as they wanted; whereupon quoth\nthe Princess to him, \u201cThou hast been at pains and trouble to serve me\nand I have suffered for thy sake, O my beloved.\u201d Quoth he, \u201cOn no wise,\nO eyes of me; I hold myself enhonoured by thy service.\u201d Then the Lady\nBadr al-Budur sat with him at table, and the twain fell to eating and\npresently the Princess expressed a wish to drink, when the handmaid\nfilled her a cup forthright and then crowned another for the Maroccan.\nSo she drank to his long life and his secret wishes and he also drank to\nher life; then the Princess, who was unique in eloquence and delicacy of\nspeech, fell to making a cup-companion of him and beguiled him by\naddressing him in the sweetest terms full of hidden meaning. This was\ndone only that he might become more madly enamoured of her, but the\nMaghrabi thought that it resulted from her true inclination for him; nor\nknew that it was a snare set up to slay him. So his longing for her\nincreased, and he was dying of love for her when he saw her address him\nin such tenderness of words and thoughts, and his head began to swim and\nall the world seemed as nothing in his eyes. But when they came to the\nlast of the supper and the wine had mastered his brains and the Princess\nsaw this in him, she said, \u201cWith us there be a custom throughout our\ncountry, but I know not an it be the usage of yours or not.\u201d The Moorman\nreplied, \u201cAnd what may that be?\u201d So she said to him, \u201cAt the end of\nsupper each lover in turn taketh the cup of the beloved and drinketh it\noff;\u201d and at once she crowned one with wine and bade the handmaid carry\nto him her cup wherein the drink was blended with the Bhang. Now she had\ntaught the slave-girl what to do and all the handmaids and eunuchs in\nthe pavilion longed for the Sorcerer\u2019s slaughter and in that matter were\none with the Princess. Accordingly the damsel handed him the cup and he,\nwhen he heard her words and saw her drinking from his cup and passing\nhers to him and noted all that show of love, fancied himself Iskandar,\nLord of the Two Horns. Then said she to him, the while swaying\ngracefully to either side and putting her hand within his hand, \u201cO my\nlife, here is thy cup with me and my cup with thee, and on this\nwise[208] do lovers drink from each other\u2019s cups.\u201d Then she bussed the\nbrim and drained it to the dregs and again she kissed its lip and\noffered it to him. Thereat he flew for joy and meaning to do the like,\nraised her cup to his mouth and drank off the whole contents, without\nconsidering whether there was therein aught harmful or not. And\nforthright he rolled upon his back in death-like condition and the cup\ndropped from his grasp, whereupon the Lady Badr al-Budur and the\nslave-girls ran hurriedly and opened the pavilion door to their lord\nAlaeddin who, disguised as a Fellah, entered therein.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was\nsurprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eighty-fourth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin\nentering his pavilion, went up to the apartment of his wife, whom he\nfound still sitting at table; and facing her lay the Maghrabi as one\nslaughtered; so he at once drew near to her and kissed her and thanked\nher for this. Then rejoicing with joy exceeding he turned to her and\nsaid, \u201cDo thou with thy handmaids betake thyself to the inner-rooms and\nleave me alone for the present that I may take counsel touching mine\naffair.\u201d The Princess hesitated not but went away at once, she and her\nwomen; then Alaeddin arose and, after locking the door upon them, walked\nup to the Moorman and put forth his hand to his breast-pocket and thence\ndrew the Lamp; after which he unsheathed his sword and slew the\nvillain.[209] Presently he rubbed the Lamp and the Marid-slave appeared\nand said, \u201cAdsum, O my lord, what is it thou wantest?\u201d \u201cI desire of\nthee,\u201d said Alaeddin, \u201cthat thou take up my pavilion from this country\nand transport it to the land of China and there set it down upon the\nsite where it was whilome, fronting the palace of the Sultan.\u201d The Marid\nreplied, \u201cHearing and obeying, O my lord.\u201d Then Alaeddin went and sat\ndown with his wife and throwing his arms round her neck kissed her and\nshe kissed him, and they sat in converse, what while the Jinni\ntransported the pavilion and all therein to the place appointed.\nPresently Alaeddin bade the handmaids spread the table before him and he\nand the Lady Badr al-Budur took seat thereat and fell to eating and\ndrinking, in all joy and gladness, till they had their sufficiency when,\nremoving to the chamber of wine and cup-converse, they sat there and\ncaroused in fair companionship and each kissed other with all\nlove-liesse. The time had been long and longsome since they enjoyed\naught of pleasure; so they ceased not doing thus until the wine-sun\narose in their heads and sleep gat hold of them, at which time they went\nto their bed in all ease and comfort.[210] Early on the next morning\nAlaeddin woke and awoke his wife, and the slave-girls came in and donned\nher dress and prepared her and adorned her whilst her husband arrayed\nhimself in his costliest raiment and the twain were ready to fly for joy\nat reunion after parting. Moreover the Princess was especially joyous\nand gladsome because on that day she expected to see her beloved father.\nSuch was the case of Alaeddin and the Lady Badr al-Budur; but as regards\nthe Sultan, after he drove away his son-in-law he never ceased to sorrow\nfor the loss of his daughter; and every hour of every day he would sit\nand weep for her as women weep, because she was his only child and he\nhad none other to take to heart. And as he shook off sleep, morning\nafter morning, he would hasten to the window and throw it open and peer\nin the direction where formerly stood Alaeddin\u2019s pavilion and pour forth\ntears until his eyes were dried up and their lids were ulcered. Now on\nthat day he arose at dawn and, according to his custom, looked out when,\nlo and behold! he saw before him an edifice; so he rubbed his eyes and\nconsidered it curiously when he became certified that it was the\npavilion of his son-in-law. So he called for a horse[211] without let or\ndelay; and as soon as his beast was saddled, he mounted and made for the\nplace; and Alaeddin, when he saw his father-in-law approaching, went\ndown and met him half way: then, taking his hand, aided him to step\nupstairs to the apartment of his daughter. And the Princess, being as\nearnestly desirous to see her sire, descended and greeted him at the\ndoor of the staircase fronting the groundfloor hall. Thereupon the King\nfolded her in his arms and kissed her, shedding tears of joy; and she\ndid likewise till at last Alaeddin led them to the upper saloon where\nthey took seats and the Sultan fell to asking her case and what had\nbetided her.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased\nto say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eighty-fifth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Lady Badr\nal-Budur began to inform the Sultan of all which had befallen her,\nsaying, \u201cO my father, I recovered not life save yesterday when I saw my\nhusband, and he it was who freed me from the thraldom of that Maghrabi,\nthat Magician, that Accursed, than whom I believe there be none viler on\nthe face of earth; and, but for my beloved, I had never escaped him nor\nhadst thou seen me during the rest of my days. But mighty sadness and\nsorrow gat about me, O my father, not only for losing thee but also for\nthe loss of a husband, under whose kindness I shall be all the length of\nmy life, seeing that he freed me from that fulsome sorcerer.\u201d Then the\nPrincess began repeating to her sire every thing that happened to her,\nand relating to him how the Moorman had tricked her in the guise of a\nlamp-seller who offered in exchange new for old; how she had given him\nthe Lamp whose worth she knew not, and how she had bartered it away only\nto laugh at the lampman\u2019s folly. \u201cAnd next morning, O my father,\u201d she\ncontinued, \u201cwe found ourselves and whatso the pavilion contained in\nAfrica-land, till such time as my husband came to us and devised a\ndevice whereby we escaped: and, had it not been for Alaeddin\u2019s hastening\nto our aid, the Accursed was determined to enjoy me perforce.\u201d Then she\ntold him of the Bhang-drops administered in wine to the African and\nconcluded, \u201cThen my husband returned to me and how I know not, but we\nwere shifted from Africa-land to this place.\u201d Alaeddin in his turn\nrecounted how, finding the wizard dead drunken, he had sent away his\nwife and her women from the polluted place into the inner apartments;\nhow he had taken the Lamp from the Sorcerer\u2019s breast-pocket whereto he\nwas directed by his wife; how he had slaughtered the villain and,\nfinally how, making use of the Lamp, he had summoned its Slave and\nordered him to transport the pavilion back to its proper site, ending\nhis tale with, \u201cAnd, if thy Highness have any doubt anent my words,\narise with me and look upon the accursed Magician.\u201d The King did\naccordingly and, having considered the Moorman, bade the carcase be\ncarried away forthright and burned and its ashes scattered in air. Then\nhe took to embracing Alaeddin and kissing him said, \u201cPardon me, O my\nson, for that I was about to destroy thy life through the foul deeds of\nthis damned enchanter, who cast thee into such pit of peril; and I may\nbe excused, O my child, for what I did by thee, because I found myself\nforlorn of my daughter; my only one, who to me is dearer than my very\nkingdom. Thou knowest how the hearts of parents yearn unto their\noffspring, especially when like myself they have but one and none other\nto love.\u201d And on this wise the Sultan took to excusing himself and\nkissing his son-in-law.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day\nand ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eighty-sixth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin said\nto the Sultan, \u201cO King of the Time, thou didst naught to me contrary to\nHoly Law, and I also sinned not against thee; but all the trouble came\nfrom that Maghrabi, the impure, the Magician.\u201d Thereupon the Sultan bade\nthe city be decorated and they obeyed him and held high feast and\nfestivities. He also commanded the crier to cry about the streets\nsaying, \u201cThis day is a mighty great f\u00eate, wherein public rejoicings must\nbe held throughout the realm, for a full month of thirty days, in honour\nof the Lady Badr al-Budur and her husband Alaeddin\u2019s return to their\nhome.\u201d On this wise befel it with Alaeddin and the Maghrabi; but withal\nthe King\u2019s son-in-law escaped not wholly from the Accursed, albeit the\nbody had been burnt and the ashes scattered in air. For the villain had\na brother yet more villainous than himself, and a greater adept in\nnecromancy, geomancy and astromancy; and, even as the old saw saith \u201cA\nbean and \u2019twas split;\u201d[212] so each one dwelt in his own quarter of the\nglobe that he might fill it with his sorcery, his fraud and his\ntreason.[213] Now, one day of the days it fortuned that the Moorman\u2019s\nbrother would learn how it fared with him, so he brought out his\nsandboard and dotted it and produced the figures which, when he had\nconsidered and carefully studied them, gave him to know that the man he\nsought was dead and housed in the tomb. So he grieved and was certified\nof his decease, but he dotted a second time seeking to learn the manner\nof the death and where it had taken place; so he found that the site was\nthe China-land and that the mode was the foulest of slaughter;\nfurthermore, that he who did him die was a young man Alaeddin hight.\nSeeing this he straightway arose and equipped himself for wayfare; then\nhe set out and cut across the wilds and wolds and heights for the space\nof many a month until he reached China and the capital of the Sultan\nwherein was the slayer of his brother. He alighted at the so-called\nStrangers\u2019 Khan and, hiring himself a cell, took rest therein for a\nwhile; then he fared forth and wandered about the highways that he might\ndiscern some path which would aid him unto the winning of his ill-minded\nwish, to wit, of wreaking upon Alaeddin blood-revenge for his\nbrother.[214] Presently he entered a coffeehouse, a fine building which\nstood in the market-place and which collected a throng of folk to play,\nsome at the Mankalah,[215] others at the backgammon[216] and others at\nthe chess and what not else. There he sat down and listened to those\nseated beside him and they chanced to be conversing about an ancient\ndame and a holy, by name F\u00e1timah,[217] who dwelt alway at her devotions\nin a hermitage without the town, and this she never entered save only\ntwo days each month. They mentioned also that she had performed many\nsaintly miracles[218] which, when the Maghrabi, the Necromancer, heard\nhe said in himself, \u201cNow have I found that which I sought: Inshallah\u2014God\nwilling\u2014by means of this crone will I win to my wish.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad\nwas surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eighty-seventh Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Maghrabi,\nthe Necromancer, went up to the folk who were talking of the miracles\nperformed by the devout old woman and said to one of them, \u201cO my uncle,\nI heard you all chatting about the prodigies of a certain saintess named\nFatimah: who is she and where may be her abode?\u201d \u201cMarvellous?\u201d[219]\nexclaimed the man: \u201cHow canst thou be in our city and yet never have\nheard about the miracles of the Lady Fatimah? Evidently, O thou poor\nfellow, thou art a foreigner, since the fastings of this devotee and her\nasceticism in worldly matters and the beauties of her piety never came\nto thine ears.\u201d The Moorman rejoined, \u201c\u2019Tis true, O my lord: yes, I am a\nstranger and came to this your city only yesternight; and I hope thou\nwilt inform me concerning the saintly miracles of this virtuous woman\nand where may be her wone, for that I have fallen into a calamity, and\n\u2019tis my wish to visit her and crave her prayers, so haply Allah (to whom\nbe honour and glory!) will, through her blessings, deliver me from mine\nevil.\u201d Hereat the man recounted to him the marvels of Fatimah the\nDevotee and her piety and the beauties of her worship; then, taking him\nby the hand went with him without the city and showed him the way to her\nabode, a cavern upon a hillock\u2019s head. The Necromancer acknowledged his\nkindness in many words and, thanking him for his good offices, returned\nto his cell in the caravanserai. Now by the fiat of Fate on the very\nnext day Fatimah came down to the city, and the Maghrabi, the\nNecromancer, happened to leave his hostelry a-morn, when he saw the folk\nswarming and crowding; wherefore he went up to discover what was to do\nand found the Devotee standing amiddlemost the throng, and all who\nsuffered from pain or sickness flocked to her soliciting a blessing and\npraying for her prayers; and each and every she touched became whole of\nhis illness.[220] The Maroccan, the Necromancer, followed her about\nuntil she returned to her antre; then, awaiting till the evening evened,\nhe arose and repaired to a vintner\u2019s store where he drank a cup of wine.\nAfter this he fared forth the city and finding the Devotee\u2019s cavern,\nentered it and saw her lying prostrate[221] with her back upon a strip\nof matting. So he came forward and mounted upon her belly; then he drew\nhis dagger and shouted at her; and, when she awoke and opened her eyes,\nshe espied a Moorish man with an unsheathed poniard sitting upon her\nmiddle as though about to kill her. She was troubled and sore terrified,\nbut he said to her, \u201cHearken! an thou cry out or utter a word I will\nslay thee at this very moment: arise now and do all I bid thee.\u201d Then he\nsware to her an oath that if she obeyed his orders, whatever they might\nbe, he would not do her die. So saying, he rose up from off her and\nFatimah also arose, when he said to her, \u201cGive me thy gear and take thou\nmy habit;\u201d whereupon she gave him her clothing and head-fillets, her\nface-kerchief and her mantilla. Then quoth he, \u201c\u2019Tis also requisite that\nthou anoint me with somewhat shall make the colour of my face like unto\nthine.\u201d Accordingly she went into the inner cavern and, bringing out a\ngallipot of ointment, spread somewhat thereof upon her palm and with it\nbesmeared his face until its hue favoured her own; then she gave him her\nstaff[222] and, showing him how to walk and what to do when he entered\nthe city, hung her rosary around his neck. Lastly she handed to him a\nmirror and said, \u201cNow look! Thou differest from me in naught;\u201d and he\nsaw himself Fatimah\u2019s counterpart as though she had never gone or\ncome.[223] But after obtaining his every object he falsed his oath and\nasked for a cord which she brought to him; then he seized her and\nstrangled her in the cavern; and presently, when she was dead, haled the\ncorpse outside and threw it into a pit hard by.\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was\nsurprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eighty-eighth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Maghrabi,\nafter murthering Fatimah, threw her body into a pit and went back to\nsleep in her cavern; and, when broke the day, he rose and repairing to\nthe town took his stand under the walls of Alaeddin\u2019s pavilion. Hereupon\nflocked the folk about him, all being certified that he was Fatimah the\nDevotee and he fell to doing whatso she was wont to do: he laid hands on\nthese in pain and recited for those a chapter of the Koran and made\norisons for a third. Presently the thronging of the folk and the\nclamouring of the crowd were heard by the Lady Badr al-Budur, who said\nto her handmaidens, \u201cLook what is to do and what be the cause of this\nturmoil!\u201d Thereupon the Agha of the eunuchry fared forth to see what\nmight be the matter and presently returning said, \u201cO my lady, this\nclamour is caused by the Lady Fatimah, and if thou be pleased to\ncommand, I will bring her to thee; so shalt thou gain through her a\nblessing.\u201d The Princess answered, \u201cGo bring her, for since many a day I\nam always hearing of her miracles and her virtues, and I do long to see\nher and get a blessing by her intervention, for the folk recount her\nmanifestations in many cases of difficulty.\u201d The Agha went forth and\nbrought in the Maroccan, the Necromancer, habited in Fatimah\u2019s clothing;\nand, when the wizard stood before the Lady Badr al-Budur, he began at\nfirst sight to bless her with a string of prayers; nor did any one of\nthose present doubt at all but that he was the Devotee herself. The\nPrincess arose and salam\u2019d to him; then seating him beside her, said, \u201cO\nmy Lady Fatimah, \u2019tis my desire that thou abide with me alway, so might\nI be blessed through thee, and also learn of thee the paths[224] of\nworship and piety and follow thine example making for salvation.\u201d Now\nall this was a foul deceit of the accursed African and he designed\nfurthermore to complete his guile, so he continued, \u201cO my Lady, I am a\npoor woman and a religious that dwelleth in the desert; and the like of\nme deserveth not to abide in the palaces of the kings.\u201d But the Princess\nreplied, \u201cHave no care whatever, O my Lady Fatimah; I will set apart for\nthee an apartment of my pavilion, that thou mayest worship therein and\nnone shall ever come to trouble thee; also thou shalt avail to worship\nAllah in my place better than in thy cavern.\u201d The Maroccan rejoined,\n\u201cHearkening and obedience, O my lady; I will not oppose thine order for\nthat the commands of the children of the kings may not be gainsaid nor\nrenounced. Only I hope of thee that my eating and drinking and sitting\nmay be within my own chamber which shall be kept wholly private; nor do\nI require or desire the delicacies of diet, but do thou favour me by\nsending thy handmaid every day with a bit of bread and a sup of\nwater;[225] and, when I feel fain of food, let me eat by myself in my\nown room.\u201d Now the Accursed hereby purposed to avert the danger of haply\nraising his face-kerchief at meal times, when his intent might be\nbaffled by his beard and mustachios discovering him to be a man. The\nPrincess replied, \u201cO my Lady Fatimah, be of good heart; naught shall\nhappen save what thou wishest. But now arise and let me show thee the\napartment in the palace which I would prepare for thy sojourn with\nus.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say\nher permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eighty-ninth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Lady Badr\nal-Budur arose and taking the Necromancer who had disguised himself as\nthe Devotee, ushered him in to the place which she had kindly promised\nhim for a home and said, \u201cO my Lady Fatimah, here thou shalt dwell with\nevery comfort about thee and in all privacy and repose; and the place\nshall be named after thy name;\u201d whereupon the Maghrabi acknowledged her\nkindness and prayed for her. Then the Princess showed him the jalousies\nand the jewelled Kiosque with its four and twenty windows[226] and said\nto him, \u201cWhat thinkest thou, O my Lady Fatimah, of this marvellous\npavilion?\u201d The Moorman replied, \u201cBy Allah, O my daughter, \u2019tis indeed\npassing fine and wondrous exceedingly; nor do I deem that its fellow is\nto be found in the whole universe; but alas for the lack of one thing\nwhich would enhance its beauty and decoration!\u201d The Princess asked her,\n\u201cO my Lady Fatimah, what lacketh it and what be this thing would add to\nits adornment? Tell me thereof, inasmuch as I was wont to believe it\nwholly perfect.\u201d The Maroccan answered, \u201cO my lady, all it wanteth is\nthat there be hanging from the middle of the dome the egg of a fowl\ncalled the Rukh;[227] and, were this done, the pavilion would lack its\npeer all the world over.\u201d The Princess asked, \u201cWhat be this bird and\nwhere can we find her egg?\u201d and the Maroccan answered, \u201cO my lady, the\nRukh is indeed a giant fowl which carried off camels and elephants in\nher pounces and flieth away with them, such is her stature and strength;\nalso this fowl is mostly found in Mount K\u00e1f; and the architect who built\nthis pavilion is able to bring thee one of her eggs.\u201d They then left\nsuch talk as it was the hour for the noon-day meal and, when the\nhandmaid had spread the table, the Lady Badr al-Budur sent down to\ninvite the Accursed African to eat with her. But he accepted not and for\na reason he would on no wise consent; nay, he rose and retired to the\nroom which the Princess had assigned to him and whither the slave-girls\ncarried his dinner. Now when evening evened, Alaeddin returned from the\nchase and met his wife who salam\u2019d to him and he clasped her to his\nbosom and kissed her. Presently, looking at her face he saw thereon a\nshade of sadness and he noted that contrary to her custom, she did not\nlaugh; so he asked her, \u201cWhat hath betided thee, O my dearling? tell me,\nhath aught happened to trouble thy thoughts?\u201d \u201cNothing whatever,\u201d\nanswered she, \u201cbut, O my beloved, I fancied that our pavilion lacked\nnaught at all; however, O eyes of me, O Alaeddin, were the dome of the\nupper story hung with an egg of the fowl called Rukh, there would be\nnaught like it in the universe.\u201d Her husband rejoined, \u201cAnd for this\ntrifle thou art saddened when \u2019tis the easiest of all matters to me! So\ncheer thyself; and, whatever thou wantest, \u2019tis enough thou inform me\nthereof, and I will bring it from the abysses of the earth in the\nquickest time and at the earliest hour.\u201d\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised by\nthe dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Ninetieth Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that Alaeddin, after\nrefreshing the spirits of his Princess by promising her all she could\ndesire, repaired straightway to his chamber and taking the Lamp[228]\nrubbed it, when the Marid appeared without let or delay saying, \u201cAsk\nwhatso thou wantest.\u201d Said the other, \u201cI desire thee to fetch me an egg\nof the bird Rukh and do thou hang it to the dome-crown of this my\npavilion.\u201d But when the Marid heard these words, his face waxed fierce\nand he shouted with a mighty loud voice and a frightful, and cried, \u201cO\ndenier of kindly deeds, sufficeth it not for thee that I and all the\nSlaves of the Lamp are ever at thy service, but thou must also require\nme to bring thee our Liege Lady[229] for thy pleasure, and hang her up\nat thy pavilion-dome for the enjoyment of thee and thy wife! Now by\nAllah, ye deserve, thou and she, that I reduce you to ashes this very\nmoment and scatter you upon the air; but, inasmuch as ye twain be\nignorant of this matter, unknowing its inner from its outer\nsignificance, I will pardon you for indeed ye are but innocents. The\noffence cometh from that accursed Necromancer, brother to the Maghrabi,\nthe Magician, who abideth here representing himself to be Fatimah, the\nDevotee, after assuming her dress and belongings and murthering her in\nthe cavern: indeed he came hither seeking to slay thee by way of\nblood-revenge for his brother; and \u2019tis he who taught thy wife to\nrequire this matter of me.\u201d[230] So saying the Marid evanished. But when\nAlaeddin heard these words, his wits fled his head and his joints\ntrembled at the Marid\u2019s terrible shout; but he empowered his purpose\nand, rising forthright issued from his chamber and went into his wife\u2019s.\nThere he affected an ache of head, for that he knew how famous was\nFatimah for the art and mystery of healing all such pains; and, when the\nLady Badr al-Budur saw him sitting hand to head and complaining of\nunease, she asked him the cause and he answered, \u201cI know of none other\nsave that my head acheth exceedingly.\u201d Hereupon she straightway bade\nsummon Fatimah that the Devotee might impose her hand upon his\nhead;[231] and Alaeddin asked her, \u201cWho may this Fatimah be?\u201d So she\ninformed him that it was Fatimah the Devotee to whom she had given a\nhome in the pavilion. Meanwhile the slave-girls had fared forth and\nsummoned the Maghrabi, and when the Accursed made act of presence,\nAlaeddin rose up to him and, acting like one who knew naught of his\npurpose, salam\u2019d to him as though he had been the real Fatimah and,\nkissing the hem of his sleeve, welcomed him and entreated him with\nhonour and said, \u201cO my Lady Fatimah, I hope thou wilt bless me with a\nboon, for well I wot thy practice in the healing of pains: I have gotten\na mighty ache in my head.\u201d The Moorman, the Accursed, could hardly\nbelieve that he heard such words, this being all that he desired.\u2014\u2014And\nShahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her\npermitted say.\n\n\n Now when it was the Five Hundred and Ninety-first Night,\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us\nsome of thy pleasant tales,\u201d whereupon Shahrazad replied, \u201cWith love and\ngood will.\u201d\u2014\u2014It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Maghrabi,\nthe Necromancer, habited as Fatimah the Devotee, came up to Alaeddin\nthat he might place hand upon his head and heal his ache; so he imposed\none hand and, putting forth the other under his gown, drew a dagger\nwherewith to slay him. But Alaeddin watched him and, taking patience\ntill he had wholly unsheathed the weapon, seized him with a forceful\ngrip; and, wrenching the dagger from his grasp plunged it deep into his\nheart. When the Lady Badr al-Budur saw him do on this wise, she shrieked\nand cried out, \u201cWhat hath this virtuous and holy woman done that thou\nhast charged thy neck with the heavy burthen of her blood shed\nwrongfully? Hast thou no fear of Allah that thou killest Fatimah, this\nsaintly woman, whose miracles are far-famed?\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d replied Alaeddin, \u201cI\nhave not killed Fatimah. I have slain only Fatimah\u2019s slayer, he that is\nthe brother of the Maghrabi, the Accursed, the Magician, who carried\nthee off by his black art and transported my pavilion to the\nAfrica-land; and this damnable brother of his came to our city and\nwrought these wiles, murthering Fatimah and assuming her habit, only\nthat he might avenge upon me his brother\u2019s blood; and he also \u2019twas who\ntaught thee to require of me a Rukh\u2019s egg, that my death might result\nfrom such requirement. But, an thou doubt my speech, come forwards and\nconsider the person I have slain.\u201d Thereupon Alaeddin drew aside the\nMoorman\u2019s face-kerchief and the Lady Badr al-Budur saw the semblance of\na man with a full beard that well nigh covered his features. She at once\nknew the truth and said to her husband, \u201cO my beloved, twice have I cast\nthee into death-risk!\u201d but he rejoined, \u201cNo harm in that, O my lady, by\nthe blessing of your loving eyes: I accept with all joy all things thou\nbringest me.\u201d The Princess, hearing these words, hastened to fold him in\nher arms and kissed him saying, \u201cO my dearling, all this is for my love\nto thee and I knew naught thereof; but indeed I do not deem lightly of\nthine affection.\u201d So Alaeddin kissed her and strained her to his breast;\nand the love between them waxed but greater. At that moment the Sultan\nappeared and they told him all that had happened, showing him the corpse\nof the Maghrabi, the Necromancer, when the King commanded the body to be\nburned and the ashes scattered on air, even as had befallen the Wizard\u2019s\nbrother. And Alaeddin abode with his wife, the Lady Badr al-Budur, in\nall pleasure and joyance of life and thenceforward escaped every danger;\nand, after a while, when the Sultan deceased, his son-in-law was seated\nupon the throne of the Kingdom; and he commanded and dealt justice to\nthe lieges so that all the folk loved him and he lived with his wife in\nall solace and happiness until there came to him the Destroyer of\ndelights and the Severer of societies.[232]\u2014\u2014And Shahrazad was surprised\nby the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.\n\n\n ALADDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP.\n (_ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF GALLAND._)\n\nIn the capital of one of the large and rich provinces of the kingdom of\nChina, the name of which I do not recollect, there lived a tailor, whose\nname was Mustapha, without any other distinction but that which his\nprofession afforded him, and so poor, that he could hardly, by his daily\nlabour, maintain himself and family, which consisted of a wife and son.\n\nHis son, who was called Aladdin, had been brought up after a very\ncareless and idle manner, and by that means had contracted many vicious\nhabits. He was wicked, obstinate, and disobedient to his father and\nmother, who, when he grew up, could not keep him within doors; but he\nwould go out early in the morning, and stay out all day, playing in the\nstreets and public places with little vagabonds of his own age.\n\nWhen he was old enough to learn a trade, his father, not being able to\nput him out to any other, took him into his own shop, and shewed him how\nto use his needle; but neither good words nor the fear of chastisement\nwere capable of fixing his lively genius. All that his father could do\nto keep him at home to mind his work was in vain; for no sooner was his\nback turned, but Aladdin was gone for that day. Mustapha chastised him,\nbut Aladdin was incorrigible; and his father, to his great grief, was\nforced to abandon him to his libertinism; and was so much troubled at\nnot being able to reclaim him, that it threw him into a fit of sickness,\nof which he died in a few months.\n\nThe mother of Aladdin, finding that her son would not follow his\nfather\u2019s business, shut up the shop, sold off the implements of that\ntrade, and with the money she got for them, and what she could get by\nspinning cotton, thought to maintain herself and her son.\n\nAladdin, who was now no longer restrained by the fear of a father, and\nwho cared so little for his mother, that whenever she chid him he would\nfly in her face, gave himself entirely over to dissipation, and was\nnever out of the streets from his companions. This course he followed\ntill he was fifteen years old, without giving his mind to any thing\nwhatever, or the least reflection on what would become of him. In this\nsituation, as he was one day playing according to custom, in the street,\nwith his vagabond troop, a stranger passing by stood still to observe\nhim.\n\nThis stranger was a famous magician, called by the writer of this story\nthe African Magician; and by that name I shall call him with the more\npropriety, as he was a native of Africa, and had been but two days come\nfrom thence.\n\nWhether the African magician, who was a good physiognomist, had observed\nin Aladdin\u2019s countenance something which was absolutely necessary for\nthe execution of the design he came about, he inquired artfully about\nhis family, who he was, and what were his inclinations; and when he had\nlearned all he desired to know, he went up to him, and taking him aside\nfrom his comrades, said to him, \u201cChild, was not your father called\nMustapha the tailor?\u201d\u2014\u201cYes, sir,\u201d answered Aladdin, \u201cbut he has been\ndead a long time.\u201d\n\nAt these words, the African magician threw his arms about Aladdin\u2019s\nneck, and kissed him several times with tears in his eyes. Aladdin, who\nobserved his tears, asked him, What made him weep? \u201cAlas! my son,\u201d cried\nthe African magician, with a sigh, \u201chow can I forbear? I am your uncle;\nyour good father was my own brother. I have been a great many years\nabroad travelling, and now I am come home with the hopes of seeing him,\nyou tell me he is dead. I assure you it is a sensible grief to me to be\ndeprived of the comfort I expected. But it is some relief to my\naffection, that as far as I can remember him, I knew you at first sight,\nyou are so like him; and I see I am not deceived.\u201d Then he asked\nAladdin, putting his hand into his purse, where his mother lived; and as\nsoon as Aladdin had informed him, he gave him a handful of small money,\nsaying to him, \u201cGo, my son, to your mother, give my love to her, and\ntell her that I will come and see her to-morrow, if I have time, that I\nmay have the satisfaction of seeing where my good brother lived so long,\nand ended his days.\u201d\n\nAs soon as the African magician left his new-adopted nephew, Aladdin ran\nto his mother, overjoyed at the money his uncle had given him. \u201cMother,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201chave I an uncle?\u201d \u201cNo, child,\u201d replied his mother, \u201cyou have\nno uncle by your father\u2019s side or mine.\u201d \u201cI am just now come,\u201d answered\nAladdin, \u201cfrom a man who says he is my uncle by my father\u2019s side,\nassuring me that he is his brother. He cried and kissed me when I told\nhim my father was dead; and to shew you that what I tell you is truth,\u201d\nadded he, pulling out the money, \u201csee what he has given me; he charged\nme to give his love to you, and to tell you, if he has any time\nto-morrow, he will come and pay you a visit, that he may see at the same\ntime the house my father lived and died in.\u201d \u201cIndeed, child,\u201d replied\nthe mother, \u201cyour father had a brother, but he has been dead a long\ntime, and I never heard of another.\u201d\n\nThe mother and son talked no more then of the African magician; but the\nnext day Aladdin\u2019s uncle found him playing in another part of the town\nwith other children, and embracing him as before, put two pieces of gold\ninto his hand, and said to him, \u201cCarry this, child, to your mother, and\ntell her that I will come and see her to-night, and bid her get us\nsomething for supper; but first shew me the house where you live.\u201d\n\nAfter Aladdin had shewed the African magician the house, he carried the\ntwo pieces of gold to his mother, and when he had told her of his\nuncle\u2019s intention, she went out and bought provisions; and considering\nshe wanted various vessels, she went and borrowed them of her\nneighbours. She spent the whole day in preparing the supper; and at\nnight, when it was ready, she said to Aladdin, \u201cPerhaps your uncle knows\nnot how to find our house, go and see for him, and bring him if you meet\nwith him.\u201d\n\nThough Aladdin had shewed the magician the house, he was very ready to\ngo, when somebody knocked at the door, which Aladdin immediately opened;\nand the magician came in, loaded with wine and all sorts of fruits,\nwhich he brought for a dessert.\n\nAfter the African magician had given what he brought into Aladdin\u2019s\nhands, he saluted his mother, and desired her to shew him the place\nwhere his brother Mustapha used to sit on the sofa; and when she had so\ndone, he presently fell down and kissed it several times, crying out\nwith tears in his eyes, \u201cMy poor brother! How unhappy am I, not to have\ncome soon enough to give you one last embrace!\u201d Aladdin\u2019s mother desired\nhim to sit down in the same place, but he would not. \u201cNo,\u201d said he, \u201cI\nshall take care how I do that; but give me leave to sit here over\nagainst it, that if I am deprived of the satisfaction of seeing the\nmaster of a family so dear to me, I may at least have the pleasure of\nseeing the place where he used to sit.\u201d Aladdin\u2019s mother pressed him no\nfarther, but left him at his liberty to sit where he pleased.\n\nWhen the magician had made choice of a place, and sat down, he began to\nenter into discourse with Aladdin\u2019s mother. \u201cMy good sister,\u201d said he,\n\u201cdo not be surprised at your never having seen me all the time you have\nbeen married to my brother, Mustapha, of happy memory. I have been forty\nyears absent from this country, which is my native place, as well as my\nlate brother\u2019s; and during that time have travelled into the Indies,\nPersia, Arabia, Syria, and Egypt, and have resided in the finest towns\nof those countries, and afterwards crossed over into Africa, where I\nmade a longer stay. At last, as it is natural for a man, how distant\nsoever it may be, to remember his native country, relations and\nacquaintance, I was very desirous to see mine again, and to embrace my\ndear brother; and finding I had strength and courage enough to undertake\nso long a journey, I immediately made the necessary preparations for it,\nand set out. I will not tell you the length of time it took me, all the\nobstacles I met with, and what fatigues I have endured, to come hither;\nbut nothing ever mortified and afflicted me so much as the hearing of my\nbrother\u2019s death, for whom I always had a brotherly love and friendship.\nI observed his features in the face of my nephew, your son, and\ndistinguished him from a number of children with whom he was at play; he\ncan tell you how I received the most melancholy news that ever reached\nmy ears. But God be praised for all things! It is a comfort to me to\nfind him again in a son, who has his most remarkable features.\u201d\n\nThe African magician, perceiving that Aladdin\u2019s mother began to weep at\nthe remembrance of her husband, changed the discourse, and turning\ntowards Aladdin, asked him his name. \u201cI am called Aladdin,\u201d said he.\n\u201cWell, Aladdin,\u201d replied the magician, \u201cwhat business do you follow? Are\nyou of any trade?\u201d\n\nAt this question Aladdin hung down his head, and was not a little dashed\nwhen his mother made answer, \u201cAladdin is an idle fellow; his father,\nwhen alive, strove all he could to teach him his trade, but could not\nsucceed; and since his death, notwithstanding all I can say to him, he\ndoes nothing but idle away his time in the streets, as you saw him,\nwithout considering he is no longer a child: and if you do not make him\nashamed of it, and make him leave it off, I despair of his ever coming\nto any good. He knows that his father left him no fortune, and sees me\nendeavour to get bread by spinning cotton every day; for my part, I am\nresolved, one of these days, to turn him out of doors and let him\nprovide for himself.\u201d\n\nAfter these words, Aladdin\u2019s mother burst out into tears; and the\nmagician said, \u201cThis is not well, nephew; you must think of helping\nyourself, and getting your livelihood. There are a great many sorts of\ntrades: consider if you have not an inclination to some of them; perhaps\nyou did not like your father\u2019s trade, and would prefer another! come, do\nnot disguise your sentiments from me; I will endeavour to help you.\u201d But\nfinding that Aladdin returned no answer,\u2014\u201cIf you have no mind,\u201d\ncontinued he, \u201cto learn any trade, and prove an honest man, I will take\na shop for you, and furnish it with all sorts of fine stuffs and linens,\nand set you to trade with them; and with the money you make with them,\nlay in fresh goods, and then you will live after an honourable way.\nConsult your own inclination, and tell me freely what you think of it;\nyou shall always find me ready to keep my word.\u201d\n\nThis proposal greatly flattered Aladdin, who mortally hated work, and\nhad sense enough to know that such sort of shops were very much esteemed\nand frequented, and the owners honoured and respected. He told the\nmagician he had a greater inclination to that business than to any\nother, and that he should be very much obliged to him all his life for\nhis kindness. \u201cSince this profession is agreeable to you,\u201d said the\nAfrican magician, \u201cI will carry you along with me to-morrow, and clothe\nyou as richly and handsomely as the best merchants in the city, and\nafter that we will think of opening a shop as I mean.\u201d\n\nAladdin\u2019s mother, who never till then could believe that the magician\nwas her husband\u2019s brother, no longer doubted it after his promises of\nkindness to her son. She thanked him for his good intentions; and after\nhaving exhorted Aladdin to render himself worthy of his uncle\u2019s favour\nby his good behaviour, served up supper, at which they talked of several\nindifferent matters; and then the magician, who saw that the night was\npretty far advanced, took his leave of the mother and son, and retired.\n\nHe came again the next day, as he promised, and took Aladdin along with\nhim to a great merchant, who sold all sorts of clothes for different\nages and ranks ready made, and a variety of fine stuffs. He asked to see\nsome that suited Aladdin in size; and after choosing a suit which he\nliked best, and rejecting others which he did not think handsome enough,\nhe bid Aladdin choose those he preferred. Aladdin, charmed with the\nliberality of his new uncle, made choice of one, and the magician\nimmediately bought it, and all things proper to it, and paid for it\nwithout haggling.\n\nWhen Aladdin found himself so handsomely equipped from top to toe, he\nreturned his uncle all imaginable thanks; who, on the other hand,\npromised never to forsake him, but always to take him along with him;\nwhich he did to the most frequented places in the city, and particularly\nwhere the capital merchants kept their shops. When he brought him into\nthe street where they sold the richest stuffs, and finest linens, he\nsaid to Aladdin, \u201cAs you are soon to be a merchant as well as these, it\nis proper you should frequent these shops, and be acquainted with them.\u201d\nThen he shewed him the largest and finest mosques, and carried him to\nthe khans or inns where the merchants and travellers lodged, and\nafterwards to the sultan\u2019s palace, where he had free access; and at last\nbrought him to his own khan, where, meeting with some merchants he had\ngot acquainted with since his arrival, he gave them a treat, to bring\nthem and his pretended nephew acquainted.\n\nThis treat lasted till night, when Aladdin would have taken his leave of\nhis uncle to go home, but the magician would not let him go by himself,\nbut conducted him safe to his mother, who, as soon as she saw him so\nfinely dressed, was transported with joy, and bestowed a thousand\nblessings upon the magician for being at so great an expense upon her\nchild. \u201cGenerous relation,\u201d said she, \u201cI know not how to thank you for\nyour liberality. I know that my son is not deserving of your favours;\nand was he never so grateful, and answered your good intentions, he\nwould be unworthy of them. For my part,\u201d added she, \u201cI thank you with\nall my soul, and wish you may live long enough to be a witness of my\nson\u2019s gratitude, which he cannot better shew than by regulating his\nconduct by your good advice.\u201d\n\n\u201cAladdin,\u201d replied the magician, \u201cis a good boy, and minds well enough,\nand I believe we shall do very well; but I am sorry for one thing, which\nis, that I cannot perform to-morrow what I promised, because it is\nFriday, and the shops will be shut up, and therefore we cannot hire or\nfurnish one, but let it alone till Saturday. But I will call on him\nto-morrow, and take him to walk in the gardens, where people of the best\nfashion generally walk. Perhaps he has never seen these amusements, he\nhas only hitherto been among children; but now he must see men.\u201d Then\nthe African magician took his leave of the mother and the son, and\nretired. Aladdin, who was overjoyed to be so well clothed, anticipated\nthe pleasure of walking in the gardens which lay about the town. He had\nnever been out of the town nor seen the environs, which were very\nbeautiful and pleasant.\n\nAladdin rose early the next morning and dressed himself, to be ready\nagainst his uncle calling on him! and after he had waited some time, he\nbegan to be impatient, and stood watching for him at the door: but as\nsoon as he perceived him coming, he told his mother, took his leave of\nher, and ran to meet him.\n\nThe magician caressed Aladdin when he came to him. \u201cCome along, my dear\nchild,\u201d said he, \u201cand I will shew you fine things.\u201d Then he led him out\nat one of the gates of the city, to some large fine houses, or rather\npalaces, to each of which belonged beautiful gardens, into which anybody\nmight go. At every house he came to, he asked Aladdin if he did not\nthink it fine: and Aladdin was ready to answer when any one presented\nitself, crying out, \u201cHere is a finer house, uncle, than any we have seen\nyet.\u201d By this artifice the cunning magician got Aladdin a pretty way\ninto the country; and as he had a mind to carry him farther, to execute\nhis design, he took an opportunity to sit down in one of the gardens by\na fountain of clear water, which discharged itself by a lion\u2019s mouth of\nbronze into a great basin, pretending to be tired, the better to rest\nAladdin. \u201cCome, nephew,\u201d said he, \u201cyou must be weary as well as me; let\nus rest ourselves, and we shall be better able to walk.\u201d\n\nAfter they had sat down, the magician pulled from his girdle a\nhandkerchief with cakes and fruit, which he had provided on purpose, and\nlaid them on the edge of the basin. He broke a cake in two, gave one\nhalf to Aladdin, and ate the other himself; and in regard to the fruit,\nhe left him at liberty to take which sort he liked best. During this\nshort repast, he exhorted his nephew to leave off keeping company with\nchildren, and seek that of wise and prudent men, to improve by their\nconversation; \u201cfor,\u201d said he, \u201cyou will soon be at man\u2019s estate, and you\ncannot too early begin to imitate their conversation.\u201d When they had\neaten as much as they liked, they got up, and pursued their walk through\nthe gardens, which were separated from one another only by small\nditches, which only marked out the limits without interrupting the\ncommunication; so great was the confidence the inhabitants reposed in\neach other. By this means, the African magician drew Aladdin insensibly\nbeyond the gardens, and crossed the country, till they almost came to\nthe mountains.\n\nAladdin, who had never been so far in his life before, began to find\nhimself much tired with so long a walk, and said to the magician, \u201cWhere\nare we going, uncle? We have left the gardens a great way behind us, and\nI see nothing but mountains; if we go much farther, I do not know\nwhether I shall be able to reach the town again.\u201d \u201cNever fear, nephew,\u201d\nsaid the false uncle; \u201cI will shew you another garden, which surpasses\nall we have yet seen; it is not far off, it is but a little step; and\nwhen we come there, you will say that you would have been sorry to have\nbeen so nigh it, and not seen it.\u201d Aladdin was soon persuaded; and the\nmagician, to make the way seem shorter and less fatiguing, told him a\ngreat many stories.\n\nAt last they came between two mountains of moderate height and equal\nsize, divided by a narrow valley, which was the place where the magician\nintended to bring Aladdin, to put into execution a design that had\nbrought him from Africa to China. \u201cWe will go no farther now,\u201d said he\nto Aladdin: \u201cI will shew you here some very extraordinary things, and\nwhat nobody ever saw before; which, when you have seen, you will thank\nme for; but while I strike fire, do you gather up all the loose sticks\nyou can see, to kindle a fire with.\u201d\n\nAladdin found there so many dried sticks, that before the magician had\nlighted a match, he had gathered up a great heap. The magician presently\nset them on fire, and when they were all in a blaze, the magician threw\nin some incense he had about him, which raised a great cloud of smoke,\nwhich he dispersed on each side, by pronouncing several magical words\nwhich Aladdin did not understand.\n\nAt the same time, the earth trembled a little, and opened just before\nthe magician and Aladdin, and discovered a stone about half a yard\nsquare, laid horizontally, with a brass ring fixed into the middle of\nit, to raise it up by. Aladdin was so frightened at what he saw, that he\nwould have run away; but as he was to be serviceable to the magician, he\ncaught hold of him, scolded him, and gave him such a box on the ear,\nthat he knocked him down, and had like to have beat his teeth down his\nthroat. Poor Aladdin got up again trembling, and with tears in his eyes,\nsaid to the magician, \u201cWhat have I done, uncle, to be treated after this\nsevere manner?\u201d \u201cI have my reasons for it,\u201d replied the magician: \u201cI am\nyour uncle, and supply the place of your father, and you ought to make\nno reply. But, child,\u201d added he, softening, \u201cdo not be afraid of\nanything, for I shall not ask anything of you, but that you obey me\npunctually, if you would reap the advantages which I intended you\nshould.\u201d These fair promises calmed Aladdin\u2019s fears and resentment; and\nwhen the magician saw that he was come to himself, he said to him, \u201cYou\nsee what I have done by virtue of my incense, and the words I\npronounced. Know, then, that under this stone there is hid a treasure\nwhich is destined to be yours, and which will make you richer than the\ngreatest monarch in the world; this is so true, that no other person but\nyourself is permitted to touch this stone, and to pull it up and go in;\nfor I am forbid ever to touch it, or set foot in this treasure when it\nis opened; so you must, without fail, punctually execute what I tell\nyou, for it is a matter of great consequence both to you and me.\u201d\n\nAladdin, amazed at all he saw and heard the magician say of the\ntreasure, which was to make him happy for ever, forgot what was past,\nand rising up, said to the magician, \u201cWell, uncle, what is to be done?\nCommand me, I am ready to obey you.\u201d \u201cI am overjoyed, child,\u201d said the\nAfrican magician, embracing him, \u201cto see you take the resolution; come,\ntake hold of the ring, and lift up that stone.\u201d \u201cIndeed, uncle,\u201d replied\nAladdin, \u201cI am not strong enough to lift it; you must help me.\u201d \u201cYou\nhave no occasion for my assistance,\u201d answered the magician; \u201cif I help\nyou, we shall be able to do nothing: you must lift it up yourself: take\nhold of the ring, only pronounce the names of your father and\ngrandfather, then lift it up, and you will find it will come easily.\u201d\nAladdin did as the magician bade him, and raised the stone with a great\ndeal of ease, and laid it on one side.\n\nWhen the stone was pulled up, there appeared a cavity of about three or\nfour feet deep, with a little door, and steps to go down lower.\n\u201cObserve, my son,\u201d said the African magician, \u201cwhat I am going to say to\nyou: go down into that cave, and when you are at the bottom of those\nsteps, you will find a door open, which will lead you into a large\nvaulted place, divided into three great halls, in each of which you will\nsee four large brass vessels placed on each side, full of gold and\nsilver, but take care you do not meddle with them. Before you go into\nthe first hall, be sure to tuck up your gown, and wrap it well about\nyou, and then go through the second into the third without stopping.\nAbove all things, have a care that you do not touch the walls, so much\nas with your clothes; for if you do, you will die instantly. At the end\nof the third hall, you will find a door, which leads into a garden\nplanted with fine trees loaded with fruit; walk directly across the\ngarden by a path which will lead you to five steps that will bring you\nupon a terrace, where you will see a niche before you, and in that niche\na lighted lamp. Take the lamp down, and put it out; when you have thrown\naway the wick, and poured out the liquor, put it in your breast, and\nbring it to me. Do not be afraid that the liquor will spoil your\nclothes, for it is not oil, and the lamp will be dry as soon as it is\nthrown out. If you have a mind to any of the fruit of the garden, you\nmay gather as much as you please.\u201d\n\nAfter these words, the magician drew a ring off his finger, and put it\nupon one of Aladdin\u2019s telling him that it was a preservative against all\nevil, while he observed what he had prescribed to him. After this\ninstruction, he said, \u201cGo down boldly, child, and we shall both be rich\nall our lives.\u201d\n\nAladdin jumped into the cave, went down the steps, and found the three\nhalls just as the African magician had described them. He went through\nthem with all the precaution the fear of death could inspire, if he\nfailed to observe all that he was told very carefully; crossed the\ngarden without stopping, took down the lamp from the niche, threw out\nthe wick and the liquor, and, as the magician told him, put it in his\nbosom. But as he came down from the terrace, seeing it was perfectly\ndry, he stopped in the garden, to observe the fruit, which he only had a\nglimpse of in crossing it. All the trees were loaded with extraordinary\nfruit, of different colours on each tree: some bore fruit entirely\nwhite, and some clear and transparent as crystal; some pale red, and\nothers deeper; some green, blue, and purple, and others yellow; in\nshort, there was fruit of all colours. The white were pearls; the clear\nand transparent, diamonds; the deep red, rubies; the paler, ballas\nrubies; the green, emeralds; the blue, turquoises; the purple,\namethysts; and those that were of yellow cast, sapphires; and so of the\nrest. All these fruits were so large and beautiful, that nothing was\never seen like them. Aladdin was altogether ignorant of their value; and\nwould have preferred figs and grapes, or any other fruits, before them;\nand though he took them only for coloured glass of little value, yet he\nwas so pleased with the variety of the colours, and the beauty and\nextraordinary size of the fruit, that he had a mind to gather some of\nevery sort; and accordingly filled his two pockets, and the two new\npurses his uncle had bought for him with the clothes which he gave him;\nand as he could not put them in his pockets, he fastened them to his\ngirdle. Some he wrapped up in the skirts of his gown, which was of silk,\nlarge and wrapping, and crammed his breast as full as it could hold.\n\nAladdin, having thus loaded himself with riches he knew not the value\nof, returned through the three halls with the same precaution, and made\nall the haste he could, that he might not make his uncle wait, and soon\narrived at the mouth of the cave, where the African magician awaited him\nwith the utmost impatience. As soon as Aladdin saw him, he cried out,\n\u201cPray, uncle, lend me your hand to help me out.\u201d \u201cGive me the lamp\nfirst,\u201d replied the magician; \u201cit will be troublesome to you.\u201d \u201cIndeed,\nuncle,\u201d answered Aladdin, \u201cI cannot now; it is not troublesome to me;\nbut I will as soon as I am up.\u201d The African magician was so obstinate,\nthat he would have the lamp before he would help him up; and Aladdin,\nwho had encumbered himself so much with his fruit, that he could not\nwell get at it, refused to give him it till he was out of the cave. The\nAfrican magician, provoked at this obstinate refusal of the lad, flew\ninto a terrible passion, and threw a little of his incense into the\nfire, which he had taken care to keep in, and no sooner pronounced two\nmagical words, but the stone which had closed the mouth of the cave\nmoved into its place, with the earth over it, in the same manner as it\nlay at the arrival of the magician and Aladdin.\n\nThis action of the African magician\u2019s plainly shewed him to be neither\nAladdin\u2019s uncle, nor Mustapha, the tailor\u2019s brother, but a true African,\na native of that part of the world. For as Africa is a country whose\ninhabitants delight most in magic of any other in the whole world, he\nhad applied himself to it from his youth; and after about forty years\u2019\nexperience in enchantments, works of geomancy, fumigations, and reading\nof magic books, he had found out that there was in the world a wonderful\nlamp, the possession of which would render him more powerful than any\nmonarch in the world, if he could obtain it; and by a late operation of\ngeomancy, he found out that this lamp lay concealed in a subterraneous\nplace in the midst of China, in the situation, with all the\ncircumstances, already described. Fully persuaded of the truth of this\ndiscovery, he set out from the farthest part of Africa, and, after a\nlong and fatiguing journey, came to the town nearest to this treasure.\nBut though he had a certain knowledge of the place where the lamp was,\nhe was not permitted to take it himself, nor to enter the subterraneous\nplace where it was, but must receive it from the hands of another\nperson. For this reason, he addressed himself to Aladdin, whom he looked\nupon as a young lad of no consequence, and fit to serve his purpose;\nresolving, as soon as he got the lamp into his hands, to sacrifice poor\nAladdin to his avarice and wickedness, by making the fumigation\nmentioned before, and saying those two magical words, the effect of\nwhich was to remove the stone into its place again, that he might have\nno witness of the transaction.\n\nThe blow he gave Aladdin, and the authority he assumed over him, was\nonly to use him to fear him, and to make him obey him more readily, and\ngive him the lamp as soon as he asked for it. But his too great\nprecipitation in executing his wicked intention on poor Aladdin, and his\nfear lest somebody should come that way during their dispute, and\ndiscover what he wished to keep secret, produced an effect quite\ncontrary to what he proposed to himself.\n\nWhen the African magician saw that all his great hopes were frustrated\nfor ever, he returned that same day for Africa; but went quite round the\ntown, and at some distance from it, for fear lest some persons who had\nseen him walk out with the boy, seeing him come back without him, should\nentertain any jealousy of him, and stop him.\n\nAccording to all appearances, there was no prospect of Aladdin being any\nmore heard of. But the magician, when he contrived his death, had\nforgotten the ring he put on his finger, which preserved him, though he\nknew not its virtue; and it is amazing that the loss of that, together\nwith the lamp, did not drive the magician to despair; but magicians are\nso much used to misfortunes, and events contrary to their wishes, that\nthey do not lay them to heart, but still feed themselves all their lives\nwith unsubstantial notions and chimeras.\n\nAs for Aladdin, who never suspected this bad usage from his pretended\nuncle, after all his caresses, and what he had done for him, his\nsurprise is more easily to be imagined than expressed by words. When he\nfound himself buried alive, he cried, and called out to his uncle to\ntell him he was ready to give him the lamp; but all in vain, since his\ncries could not be heard by him and he remained in this dark abode. At\nlast when he had quite tired himself with crying, he went to the bottom\nof the steps, with a design to get into the garden, where it was light;\nbut the door, which was opened before by enchantment, was now shut by\nthe same means. Then he redoubled his cries and tears, and sat down on\nthe steps, without any hopes of ever seeing the light again, and in a\nmelancholy certainty of passing from the present darkness into that of a\nspeedy death.\n\nAladdin remained in this state two days, without eating or drinking, and\non the third day looked upon death as inevitable. Clasping his hands\nwith an entire resignation to the will of God, he said, \u201cThere is no\nstrength or power but in the great and high God.\u201d In this action of\njoining his hands, he rubbed the ring which the magician put on his\nfinger, and of which he knew not yet the virtue, and immediately a genie\nof an enormous size and frightful look rose out of the earth, his head\nreaching the vault, and said to him, \u201cWhat wouldst thou have with me? I\nam ready to obey thee as thy slave, and the slave of all who have the\nring on thy finger; I, and the other slaves of that ring.\u201d\n\nAt another time, Aladdin, who had not been used to such visions, would\nhave been so frightened, that he would not have been able to speak at\nthe sight of so extraordinary a figure; but the danger he was in made\nhim answer without hesitation, \u201cWhoever thou art, deliver me from this\nplace, if thou art able.\u201d He had no sooner made an end of these words,\nbut the earth opened, and he found himself on the very spot where the\nmagician first brought him.\n\nIt was some time before Aladdin\u2019s eyes could bear the light, after\nhaving been so long in total darkness; but after he had endeavoured by\ndegrees to support it, and began to look about him, he was very much\nsurprised not to find the earth open, and could not comprehend how he\nhad got so soon out of its bowels. There was nothing to be seen but the\nplace where the fire had been, by which he could nearly judge\nwhereabouts the cave was. Then turning himself about towards the town,\nhe perceived it in the midst of the gardens that surrounded it, and knew\nthe way back by which the magician had brought him to it; then,\nreturning God thanks to see himself once more in the world, where he\nnever more expected to be, he made the best of his way home. When he got\nwithin his mother\u2019s door, the joy to see her, and his faintness for want\nof sustenance for three days, made him faint, and he remained for a long\ntime as dead. His mother, who had given him over for lost or dead,\nseeing him in this condition, omitted nothing to bring him to himself\nagain. As soon as he recovered, the first words he spake were, \u201cPray,\nmother, give me something to eat, for I have not put a morsel of\nanything into my mouth these three days.\u201d His mother brought what she\nhad, and set it before him. \u201cMy son,\u201d said she, \u201cbe not too eager, for\nit is dangerous; eat but a little at a time, and take care of yourself.\nBesides, I would not have you talk; you will have time enough to tell me\nwhat has happened to you when you are recovered. It is a great comfort\nto me to see you again, after the affliction I have been in since\nFriday, and the pains I have taken to learn what had become of you, ever\nsince I found it was night, and you were not returned.\u201d\n\nAladdin took his mother\u2019s advice, and ate and drank moderately. When he\nhad done, \u201cMother,\u201d said he to her, \u201cI cannot help complaining of you,\nfor abandoning me so easily to the discretion of a man who had a design\nto kill me, and who at this very moment thinks my death certain. You\nbelieved he was my uncle, as well as I; and what other thoughts could we\nentertain of a man who was so kind to me, and made such advantageous\noffers? But I must tell you, mother, he is a rogue and a cheat, and only\ndid what he did, and made me all those promises, to accomplish my death;\nbut for what reason neither you nor I can guess.\u2014For my part, I can\nassure you I never gave him any cause to deserve the least ill-treatment\nfrom him. You shall judge of it yourself, when you have heard all that\npassed from the time I left you, till he came to the execution of his\nwicked design.\u201d\n\nThen Aladdin began to tell his mother all that happened to him from\nFriday, when the magician took him to see the palaces and gardens about\nthat town, and what fell out in the way, till they came to the place\nbetween the two mountains, where the great prodigy was to be performed;\nhow, with incense which the magician threw into the fire, and some\nmagical words which he pronounced, the earth opened, and discovered a\ncave which led to an inestimable treasure. He forgot not the blow the\nmagician gave him, and in what manner he softened again, and engaged by\ngreat promises, and putting a ring on his finger, to go down into the\ncave. He did not omit the least circumstance of what he saw in crossing\nthe three halls and the garden and his taking the wonderful lamp, which\nhe pulled out of his bosom and shewed to his mother, as well as the\ntransparent fruit of different colours, which he had gathered in the\ngarden as he returned, two purses full of which he gave to his mother.\nBut though these fruits were precious stones, brilliant as the sun, and\nthe reflection of a lamp which then lighted the room might have led them\nto think they were of great value, she was as ignorant of their worth as\nher son, and cared nothing for them. She had been bred in a middling\nrank of life, and her husband\u2019s poverty prevented her being possessed of\nsuch things, nor had she, or her relations or neighbours ever seen them,\nso that we must not wonder that she looked on them as things of no\nvalue, and only pleasing to the eye by the variety of their colours.\n\nAladdin put them behind one of the cushions of the sofa he sat upon, and\ncontinued his story telling his mother that when he returned and\npresented himself at the mouth of the cave, upon his refusal to give the\nmagician the lamp till he had got out, the stone, by his throwing some\nincense into the fire, and using two or three magical words, stopped it\nup, and the earth closed again. He could not help bursting into tears at\nthe representation of the miserable condition he was in, to find himself\nburied alive in a dismal cave, till by the touching of his ring, the\nvirtue of which he was then an entire stranger to, he, properly\nspeaking, came to life again. When he had made an end of his story, he\nsaid to his mother, \u201cI need say no more; you know the rest. This is my\nadventure, and the danger I have been exposed to since you saw me.\u201d\n\nAladdin\u2019s mother heard with so much patience as not to interrupt him\nthis surprising and wonderful relation, notwithstanding it could be no\nsmall affliction to a mother, who loved her son tenderly; but yet in the\nmost moving part, which discovered the perfidy of the African magician,\nshe could not help shewing, by marks of the greatest indignation, how\nmuch she detested him; and when Aladdin had finished his story, she\nbroke out into a thousand reproaches against that vile impostor. She\ncalled him perfidious traitor, barbarian, assassin, deceiver, magician,\nand an enemy and destroyer of mankind. \u201cWithout doubt, child,\u201d added\nshe, \u201che is a magician, and they are plagues to the world, and by their\nenchantments and sorceries have commerce with the devil. Bless God for\npreserving you from his wicked designs; for your death would have been\ninevitable, if you had not called upon him, and implored his\nassistance.\u201d She said a great deal more against the magician\u2019s\ntreachery; but finding, while she talked, her son Aladdin, who had not\nslept for three days and nights, began to nod, she put him to bed, and\nsoon after went to bed herself.\n\nAladdin, who had not had one wink of sleep while he was in the\nsubterraneous abode, slept very heartily all that night, and never waked\ntill the next morning; when the first thing that he said to his mother\nwas, he wanted something to eat, and that she could not do him a greater\npleasure than to give him his breakfast. \u201cAlas! child,\u201d said she, \u201cI\nhave not a bit of bread to give you, you ate up all the provisions I had\nin the house yesterday; but have a little patience, and it shall not be\nlong before I will bring you some: I have a little cotton, which I have\nspun; I will go and sell it, and buy bread, and something for our\ndinner.\u201d \u201cMother,\u201d replied Aladdin, \u201ckeep your cotton against another\ntime, and give me the lamp I brought home yesterday; I will go and sell\nit, and the money I shall get for it will serve both for breakfast and\ndinner, and perhaps supper too.\u201d\n\nAladdin\u2019s mother took the lamp, and said to her son, \u201cHere it is, but it\nis very dirty; if it was a little cleaner I believe it would bring\nsomething more.\u201d She took a little fine sand and water to clean it; but\nhad no sooner begun to rub it, but in an instant a hideous genie of\ngigantic size appeared before her, and said to her in a voice like\nthunder, \u201cWhat wouldst thou have? I am ready to obey thee as thy slave,\nand the slave of all those who have that lamp in their hands; I, and the\nother slaves of the lamp.\u201d\n\nAladdin\u2019s mother was not able to speak at the sight of this frightful\ngenie, but fainted away; when Aladdin, who had once before seen such\nanother genie in the cavern, without losing time or reflection, snatched\nthe lamp out of his mother\u2019s hands, and said to the genie boldly, \u201cI am\nhungry; bring me something to eat.\u201d The genie disappeared immediately,\nand in an instant returned with a large silver basin on his head, and\ntwelve covered plates of the same metal, which contained some excellent\nmeats: six large white loaves on two other plates, and two bottles of\nwine, and two silver cups in each hand. All these things he placed upon\na table, and disappeared; and all this was done before Aladdin\u2019s mother\ncame out of her swoon.\n\nAladdin went presently, and fetched some water, and threw it in her\nface, to recover her: whether that or the smell of the meats the genie\nprocured brought her to life again, it was not long before she came to\nherself. \u201cMother,\u201d said Aladdin, \u201cdo not mind this; it is nothing at\nall; get up, and come and eat; here is what will put you in heart, and\nat the same time satisfy my extreme hunger; do not let such fine meat be\ncold, but fall to.\u201d\n\nHis mother was very much surprised to see the great basin, twelve\nplates, six loaves, and the two bottles and cups, and to smell the\ndelicious odour which exhaled from the plates. \u201cChild,\u201d said she to\nAladdin, \u201cto whom are we obliged for this great plenty and liberality?\nHas the sultan been made acquainted with our poverty, and had compassion\non us?\u201d \u201cIt is no matter, mother,\u201d said Aladdin, \u201clet us sit down and\neat: for you have almost as much need of a good breakfast as myself,\nwhen we have done, I will tell you.\u201d Accordingly, both mother and son\nsat down, and ate with the better stomach, as the table was so well\nfurnished. But all the time Aladdin\u2019s mother could not forbear looking\nat and admiring the basin and plates, though she could not well tell\nwhether they were silver or any other metal, so little accustomed were\nshe and her son to see such, and the novelty more than the value\nattracted their attention.\n\nIn short, the mother and son sat at breakfast till it was dinner-time,\nand then they thought it would be best to put the two meals together;\nyet, after this, they found they should have enough left for supper, and\ntwo meals for the next day.\n\nWhen Aladdin\u2019s mother had taken away and set by what was left, she went\nand sat down by her son on the sofa. \u201cAladdin,\u201d said she, \u201cI expect now\nthat you should satisfy my impatience, and tell me exactly what passed\nbetween the genie and you while I was in a swoon;\u201d which he presently\ncomplied with.\n\nShe was in as great amazement at what her son told her, as at the\nappearance of the genie; and said to him, \u201cBut, son, what have we to do\nwith genies? I never in my life heard that any of my acquaintance had\never seen one. How came that vile genie to address himself to me, and\nnot to you, to whom he had appeared before in the cave?\u201d \u201cMother,\u201d\nanswered Aladdin, \u201cthe genie you saw is not the same who appeared to me,\nthough he resembles him in size: no, they had quite different persons\nand habits; they belong to different masters. If you remember, he that I\nfirst saw called himself the slave of the ring on my finger; and this\nyou saw called himself the slave of the lamp you had in your hand: but I\nbelieve you did not hear him, for I think you fainted away as soon as he\nbegan to speak.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d cried the mother, \u201cwas your lamp, then, the occasion of that\ncursed genie addressing himself rather to me than to you? Ah! my son,\ntake it out of my sight, and put it where you please. I will never touch\nit. I had rather you would sell it, than run the hazard of being\nfrightened to death again by touching it: and if you would take my\nadvice, you would part also with the ring, and not have anything to do\nwith genies, who, as our prophet has told us, are only devils.\u201d\n\n\u201cWith your leave, mother,\u201d replied Aladdin, \u201cI shall now take care how I\nsell a lamp, as I was going to do, which may be so serviceable both to\nyou and me. Have not you been an eye-witness of what it hath procured\nus, and it shall still continue to furnish us with subsistence and\nmaintenance. You may suppose, as I do, that my false and wicked uncle\nwould not have taken so much pains, and undertaken so long and tedious a\njourney, if it had not been to get into his possession this Wonderful\nLamp, which he preferred before all the gold and silver which he knew\nwas in his halls, and which I have seen with my own eyes. He knew too\nwell the merit and worth of this lamp, not to prefer it to so great a\ntreasure; and since chance hath discovered the virtue of it to us, let\nus make a profitable use of it, without making any great stir, and\ndrawing the envy and jealousy of our neighbours upon us. However, since\nthe genies fright you so much, I will take it out of your sight, and put\nit where I may find it when I want it. As for the ring, I cannot resolve\nto part with that neither; for, without that, you had never seen me\nagain; and though I am alive now, perhaps, if it was gone, I might not\nbe so some moments hence; therefore I hope you will give me leave to\nkeep that, and to wear it always on my finger. Who knows what dangers\nyou and I may be exposed to, which neither of us can foresee, and which\nit may deliver us from?\u201d As Aladdin\u2019s arguments were just, and had a\ngreat deal of weight in them, his mother had nothing to say against\nthem, but only replied that he might do what he pleased, but for her\npart, she would have nothing to do with genies, but, would wash her\nhands of them, and never say anything more about them.\n\nBy the next night they had eaten all the provisions the genie had\nbrought; and the next day Aladdin, who could not bear the thoughts of\nhunger, took one of the silver plates under his coat, and went out early\nto sell it, and addressing himself to a Jew whom he met in the streets,\ntook him aside, and pulling out the plate, asked him if he would buy it.\nThe cunning Jew took the plate and examined it, and no sooner found that\nit was good silver, but he asked Aladdin how much he valued it at.\nAladdin, who knew not the value of it, and never had been used to such\ntraffic, told him he would trust to his judgment and honour. The Jew was\nsomewhat confounded at this plain dealing; and doubting whether Aladdin\nunderstood the material or the full value of what he offered him to\nsell, he took a piece of gold out of his purse, and gave it him, though\nit was but the sixtieth part of the worth of the plate. Aladdin took the\nmoney very eagerly, and, as soon as he got it in his pocket, retired\nwith so much haste, that the Jew, not content with the exorbitancy of\nhis profit, was vexed he had not penetrated into Aladdin\u2019s ignorance,\nand was going to run after him, to endeavour to get some change out of\nthe piece of gold; but Aladdin ran so fast, and had got so far, that it\nwould have been impossible for him to overtake him.\n\nBefore Aladdin went home to his mother he called at a baker\u2019s, bought a\nloaf, changed his money, and went home, and gave the rest to his mother,\nwho went and bought provisions enough to last them some time. After this\nmanner they lived, till Aladdin had sold the twelve plates, one at a\ntime, to the Jew, for the same money; who, after the first time, durst\nnot offer him less, for fear of losing so good a chap. When he had sold\nthe last plate, he had recourse to the basin, which weighed ten times as\nmuch as the plate, and would have carried it to his old purchaser, but\nthat it was too large and cumbersome; therefore he was obliged to bring\nhim home with him to his mother\u2019s, where the Jew had examined the weight\nof the basin, he laid down ten pieces of gold, with which Aladdin was\nvery well satisfied.\n\nThey lived on these ten pieces in a frugal manner a pretty while; and\nAladdin, who had been used to an idle life, left off playing with young\nlads of his own age ever since his adventure with the African magician.\nHe spent his time in walking about, and talking with people with whom he\nhad got acquainted. Sometimes he would stop at the most capital\nmerchants\u2019 shops, where people of distinction met, and listen to their\ndiscourse, by which he gained some little knowledge of the world.\n\nWhen all the money was spent, Aladdin had recourse again to the lamp. He\ntook it in his hand, looked for the same place where his mother had\nrubbed it with the sand, and rubbed it also, and the genie immediately\nappeared, and said, \u201cWhat wouldst thou have? I am ready to obey thee as\nthy slave, and the slave of all those who have that lamp in their\nhands\u2014I, and the other slaves of the lamp.\u201d \u201cI am hungry,\u201d said Aladdin;\n\u201cbring me something to eat.\u201d The genie disappeared, and presently\nreturned with a basin, and the same number of covered plates, &c., and\nset them down on a table, and vanished again.\n\nAladdin\u2019s mother, knowing what her son was going to do, went out at that\ntime about some business, on purpose to avoid being in the way when the\ngenie came; and when she returned, which was not long after, and found\nthe table and sideboard so furnished a second time, was almost as much\nsurprised as before, at the prodigious effect of the lamp. However, she\nsat down with her son, and when they had eaten as much as they had a\nmind to, she set enough by to last them two or three days.\n\nAs soon as Aladdin found that their provisions and money were spent, he\ntook one of these plates, and went to look for his Jew chapman again;\nbut passing by a goldsmith\u2019s shop who had the character of a very fair\nand honest man, the goldsmith perceiving him, called to him and said,\n\u201cMy lad, I have often observed you go by, loaded as you are at present,\nand talk with such a Jew, and then come back again empty-handed. I\nimagine that you carry something that you sell to him; but perhaps you\ndo not know what a rogue he is, and that he is the greatest rogue among\nall the Jews, and is so well known that nobody will have anything to do\nwith him. What I tell you is for your own good. If you will show me what\nyou now carry, and it is to be sold, I will give you the full worth of\nit; or I will direct you to other merchants who will not cheat you.\u201d\n\nThe hopes of getting more money for his plate induced Aladdin to pull it\nfrom under his coat, and shew it to the goldsmith. The old man, who at\nfirst sight saw that it was made of the finest silver, asked him if he\nhad sold any such as that to the Jew, and Aladdin told him plainly that\nhe had sold him twelve such, for a piece of gold each. \u201cWhat a villain!\u201d\ncried the goldsmith; \u201cbut,\u201d added he, \u201cmy son, what is past cannot be\nrecalled. By shewing you the value of this plate, which is of the finest\nsilver we use in our shops, I will let you see how much the Jew has\ncheated you.\u201d\n\nThe goldsmith took a pair of scales, weighed the plate, and after he had\ntold Aladdin how much an ounce of fine silver contained and was worth,\nhe demonstrated to him that his plate was worth by weight sixty pieces\nof gold, which he paid him down immediately. \u201cIf you dispute my\nhonesty,\u201d said he, \u201cyou may go to any other of our trade, and if he\ngives you any more, I will be bound to forfeit twice as much; for we\ngain only the fashion of the plate that we buy, and that the fairest\ndealing Jews do not.\u201d\n\nAladdin thanked him for his good advice, so greatly to his advantage,\nand never after went to any other person, but sold him all his plates\nand the basin, and had as much for them as the weight came to.\n\nThough Aladdin and his mother had an inexhaustible treasure of money in\ntheir lamp, and might have had whatever they had a mind to every time it\nfailed, yet they lived with the same frugality as before, except that\nAladdin went more neat: as for his mother, she wore no clothes but what\nshe earned by her spinning cotton. After their manner of living, we may\neasily suppose that the money Aladdin had sold the plates and basin for\nwas sufficient to maintain them some time. They went on for many years\nby the help of the produce Aladdin, from time to time, made of his lamp.\n\nDuring this time Aladdin frequented the shops of the principal\nmerchants, where they sold cloth of gold and silver, and linens, silk\nstuffs, and jewellery, and oftentimes joining in their conversation,\nacquired a complete knowledge of the world, and assumed its manners. By\nhis acquaintance among the jewellers, he came to know that the fine\nfruit which he had gathered when he took the lamp were not coloured\nglass, but stones of extraordinary value. For as he had seen all sorts\nof jewels bought and sold in their shops, but none that were so\nbeautiful or so large as his, he found, that instead of coloured glass,\nhe possessed an inestimable treasure; but had the prudence not to say\nanything of it to anyone, not even to his mother.\n\nOne day, as Aladdin was walking about the town, he heard an order of the\nsultan\u2019s published, for all people to shut up their shops and houses,\nand keep within doors, while the princess Badr-oul-boudour, the sultan\u2019s\ndaughter, went to the baths and back again.\n\nThis public order inspired Aladdin with a great curiosity to see the\nprincess\u2019s face, which he could not do without getting into the house of\nsome acquaintance, and through a window: but this did not satisfy him,\nwhen he considered that the princess, when she went to the baths, had a\nveil on; but to gratify his curiosity, he presently thought of a scheme\nwhich succeeded; that was, to place himself behind the door of the bath,\nwhich was so situated that he could not fail of seeing her face.\n\nAladdin had not waited long before the princess came, and he could see\nher plainly through a chink of the door without being seen. She was\nattended with a great crowd of ladies, slaves, and eunuchs, who walked\non each side, and behind her. When she came within three or four paces\nfrom the door of the baths, she took off her veil, and gave Aladdin an\nopportunity of a full look at her.\n\nTill then Aladdin, who had never seen any woman\u2019s face but his mother\u2019s,\nwho was old, and never could boast of any such features, thought that\nall women were like her, and could hear people talk of the most\nsurprising beauties without being the least moved; for whatever words\nare made use of to set off the merit of a beauty, they can never make\nthe same impression as the beauty herself.\n\nBut as soon as Aladdin had seen the princess Badr-oul-boudour, his\nsentiments were very much changed, and his heart could not withstand all\nthose inclinations so charming an object inspires. The princess was the\nmost beautiful brunette in the world; her eyes were large, lively, and\nsparkling; her looks sweet and modest; her nose was of a just proportion\nand without a fault; her mouth small, her lips of a vermilion red, and\ncharmingly agreeable symmetry; in a word, all the features of her face\nwere perfectly regular. It is not therefore surprising that Aladdin, who\nhad never seen, and was a stranger to so many charms, was dazzled, and\nhis senses quite ravished with such an assemblage. With all these\nperfections the princess had so delicate a shape, so majestic an air,\nthat the sight of her was sufficient to inspire respect.\n\nAfter the princess had passed by Aladdin and entered the baths, he\nremained some time astonished, and in a kind of ecstasy, retracing and\nimprinting the idea of so charming an object deeply in his mind. But at\nlast considering that the princess was gone past him, and that when she\nreturned from the bath her back would be towards him, and then veiled,\nhe resolved to quit his post and go home. But when he came there, he\ncould not conceal his uneasiness so well but that his mother perceived\nit, and was very much surprised to see him so much more thoughtful and\nmelancholy than usual; and asked him what had happened to him to make\nhim so, or if he was ill. Aladdin returned her no answer, but sat\ncarelessly down on the sofa, and remained in the same condition, full of\nthe image of the charming Badr-oul-boudour. His mother, who was dressing\nsupper, pressed him no more. When it was ready, she set it on the table\nbefore him; but perceiving that he gave no attention to it, she bid him\neat, and had much ado to persuade him to change his place; and when he\ndid, he ate much less than usual, and all the time cast down his eyes,\nand observed so profound a silence, that she could not possibly get the\nleast word out of him in answer to all the questions she put, to find\nthe reason of so extraordinary an alteration.\n\nAfter supper, she asked him again, why he was so melancholy, but could\nget no information, and he determined to go to bed, rather than give her\nthe least satisfaction. Without examining how Aladdin passed the night,\nhis mind full as it was with the beautiful charms of the princess\nBadr-oul-boudour, I shall only observe that as he sat next day on the\nsofa, over against his mother, as she was spinning cotton, he spoke to\nher in these words: \u201cI perceive, mother, that my silence yesterday has\nvery much troubled you; I was not, nor am I sick, as I fancy you\nbelieved; but I can tell you, that what I felt then, and now endure, is\nworse than any disease. I cannot tell what ails me, but doubt not what I\nam going to tell you will inform you.\n\n\u201cIt was not known in this quarter of the town, and therefore you could\nknow nothing of it, that the princess Badr-oul-boudour, the sultan\u2019s\ndaughter, was to go to the baths after dinner. I heard this as I walked\nabout the town, and an order was issued, that, to pay all the respect\nthat was due to that princess, all the shops should be shut up in her\nway thither, and everybody keep within doors, to leave the streets free\nfor her and her attendants. As I was not then far from the bath, I had a\ngreat curiosity to see the princess\u2019s face; and as it occurred to me\nthat the princess, when she came nigh the door of the bath, would pull\nher veil off, I resolved to get behind that door. You know the situation\nof the door, and may imagine that I must have a full view of her, if it\nhappened as I expected. The princess threw off her veil, and I had the\nhappiness of seeing her lovely face with the greatest satisfaction\nimaginable. This, mother, was the cause of my melancholy and silence\nyesterday; I love the princess with so much violence, that I cannot\nexpress it; and as my lively passion increases every moment, I cannot\nlive without the possession of the amiable princess Badr-oul-boudour,\nand am resolved to ask her in marriage of the sultan her father.\u201d\n\nAladdin\u2019s mother listened with attention to what her son told her; but\nwhen he talked of asking the princess Badr-oul-boudour in marriage of\nthe sultan, she could not help bursting out into a loud laugh. Aladdin\nwould have gone on with his discourse, but she interrupted him. \u201cAlas!\nchild,\u201d said she, \u201cwhat are you thinking of? You must be mad to talk\nso.\u201d\n\n\u201cI assure you, mother,\u201d replied Aladdin, \u201cthat I am not mad, but in my\nright senses: I foresaw that you would reproach me with this folly and\nextravagance; but I must tell you once more, that I am resolved to\ndemand the princess Badr-oul-boudour of the sultan in marriage, and your\nremonstrances shall not prevent me.\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed, son,\u201d replied the mother, seriously, \u201cI cannot help telling\nyou, that you have quite forgot yourself; and if you would put this\nresolution of yours in execution, I do not see who you can get to\nventure to propose it for you.\u201d \u201cYou yourself,\u201d replied he immediately.\n\u201cI go to the sultan!\u201d answered the mother, amazed and surprised. \u201cI\nshall take care how I engage in such an affair. Why, who are you, son,\u201d\ncontinued she, \u201cthat you can have the assurance to think of your\nsultan\u2019s daughter? Have you forgot that your father was one of the\npoorest tailors in the capital, and that I am of no better extraction?\nand do not you know that sultans never marry their daughters but to\nprinces, sons of sultans like themselves?\u201d\n\n\u201cMother,\u201d answered Aladdin, \u201cI have already told you that I foresaw all\nthat you have said, or can say: and tell you again, that neither your\ndiscourse nor your remonstrances shall make me change my mind. I have\ntold you that you must ask the princess Badr-oul-boudour in marriage for\nme: it is a favour I desire of you, with all the respect I owe you; and\nI beg of you not to refuse me, unless you would rather see me in my\ngrave, than by so doing give me new life.\u201d\n\nThe good old woman was very much embarrassed, when she found Aladdin so\nobstinately persisting in so foolish a design. \u201cMy son,\u201d said she again,\n\u201cI am your mother, who brought you into the world, and there is nothing\nthat is reasonable but I would readily do for you. If I was to go and\ntreat about your marriage with some neighbour\u2019s daughter, whose\ncircumstances were equal with yours, I would do it with all my heart:\nand then they would expect you should have some little estate or\nfortune, or be of some trade. When such poor folks as we are have a mind\nto marry, the first thing they ought to think of is how to live. But\nwithout reflecting on the meanness of your birth, and the little merit\nand fortune you have to recommend you, you aim at the highest pitch of\nfortune; and your pretensions are no less than to demand in marriage the\ndaughter of your sovereign, who with one single word can crush you to\npieces. I say nothing of what respects yourself. I leave you to reflect\non what you have to do, if you have ever so little thought. I come now\nto consider what concerns myself. How could so extraordinary a thought\ncome into your head, as that I should go to the sultan, and make a\nproposal to him, to give his daughter in marriage to you? Suppose I had,\nnot to say the boldness, but the impudence to present myself before the\nsultan, and make so extravagant a request, to whom should I address\nmyself to be introduced to his majesty? Do you not think the first\nperson I should speak to would take me for a mad woman, and chastise me\nas I should deserve? Suppose there is no difficulty in presenting myself\nto an audience of the sultan, as I know there is none to those who go to\nask justice, which he distributes equally among his subjects; I know too\nthat to those who ask some favour, he grants it with pleasure when he\nsees it is deserved, and the persons are worthy of it. But is that your\ncase? And do you think you have deserved the favour you would have me\nask for you? Are you worthy of it? What have you done to deserve such a\nfavour? What have you done either for your prince or country? How have\nyou distinguished yourself? If you have done nothing to merit so great a\nfavour, nor are worthy of it, with what face shall I ask it? How can I\nopen my mouth to make the proposal to the sultan? His majestic presence\nand the lustre of his court would presently silence me, who used to\ntremble before my late husband your father, when I asked him for\nanything. Here is another reason, my son, which you do not think of,\nwhich is, nobody ever goes to ask a favour of the sultan without a\npresent; for by a present, they have this advantage, that if for some\nparticular reasons the favour is denied, they are sure to be heard. But\nwhat presents have you to make? And if you had any that was worthy of\nthe least attention of so great a monarch, what proportion could it bear\nto the favour you would ask? Therefore, reflect well on what you are\nabout, and consider, that you aspire to a thing which is impossible for\nyou to obtain.\u201d\n\nAladdin heard very calmly all that his mother could say to endeavour to\ndissuade him from his design, and after he had weighed her\nrepresentation in all points, made answer: \u201cI own, mother, it is great\nrashness in me to presume to carry my pretensions so far; and a great\nwant of consideration, to ask you with so much heat and precipitancy to\ngo and make the proposal of my marriage, to the sultan, without first\ntaking proper measures to procure a favourable reception, and therefore\nbeg your pardon. But be not surprised, that through the violence of my\npassion I did not at first see everything that was necessary to be done,\nto procure me that happiness I seek after. I love the princess\nBadr-oul-boudour beyond all you can imagine; or rather I adore her, and\nshall always persevere in my design of marrying her; which is a thing I\nam determined and resolved on. I am obliged to you for the hint you have\ngiven me, and look upon it as the first step I ought to take to procure\nme the happy success I promise myself.\n\n\u201cYou say, it is not customary to go to the sultan without a present, and\nthat I have nothing worthy of his acceptance. As to what you say about\nthe present, I agree with you, and own that I never thought of it; but\nas to what you say that I have nothing fit to present him with, do not\nyou think, mother, that what I brought home with me that day on which I\nwas delivered from an inevitable death, may be an agreeable present. I\nmean those things you and I both took for coloured glasses; but now I am\nundeceived, and can tell you that they are jewels of an inestimable\nvalue, and fit for the greatest monarchs. I know the worth of them by\nfrequenting the jewellers\u2019 shops; and you may take my word for it, all\nthe jewels that I saw in the most capital jewellers\u2019 shops were not to\nbe compared to those we have, either for size or beauty, and yet they\nvalue them at an excessive price. In short, neither you nor I know the\nvalue of ours, but be it as it will, by the little experience I have, I\nam persuaded that they will be received very favourably by the sultan:\nyou have a large porcelain dish fit to hold them; fetch it, and let us\nsee how they will look, when we have ranged them according to their\ndifferent colours.\u201d\n\nAladdin\u2019s mother fetched the china dish, and he took the jewels out of\nthe two purses in which he had kept them, and placed them in the dish.\nBut the brightness and lustre they had in the day-time, and the variety\nof the colours, so dazzled the eyes both of mother and son, that they\nwere astonished beyond measure; for they had only seen them by the light\nof a lamp; for though Aladdin had seen them hang on the trees like\nfruit, beautiful to the eye, yet as he was but a boy, he did not take\nmuch notice of them; but looked on them only as trinkets.\n\nAfter they had admired the beauty of this present some time, Aladdin\nsaid to his mother, \u201cNow you cannot excuse yourself from going to the\nsultan, under the pretext of not having a present to make him, since\nhere is one which will gain you a favourable reception.\u201d\n\nThough Aladdin\u2019s mother, notwithstanding the beauty and lustre of the\npresent, did not believe it so valuable as her son esteemed it, she\nthought it might nevertheless be agreeable to the sultan, and found that\nshe could not have anything to say against it, but was always thinking\nof the request Aladdin wanted her to make to the sultan by favour of his\npresent. \u201cMy son,\u201d said she, \u201cI cannot conceive that your present will\nhave its desired effect, and that the sultan will look upon me with a\nfavourable eye; and I am sure, that if I attempt to acquit myself on\nthis message of yours, I shall have no power to open my mouth; and\ntherefore I shall not only lose my labour, but the present, which you\nsay is so extraordinary, and shall return home again in confusion, to\ntell you that your hopes are frustrated. I have told you the\nconsequence, and you ought to believe me; but,\u201d added she, \u201cI will exert\nmy best endeavour to please you, and wish I may have power to ask the\nsultan as you would have me; but certainly he will either laugh at me,\nor send me back like a fool, or be in so great a rage, as to make us\nboth the victims of his fury.\u201d\n\nShe used a great many more arguments to endeavour to make him change his\nmind; but the charms of the princess Badr-oul-boudour had made too great\nan impression on his heart to dissuade him from his design. Aladdin\npersisted in desiring his mother to execute his resolution, and she, as\nmuch out of tenderness as for fear he should be guilty of a greater\npiece of extravagance, condescended to his request.\n\nAs it was now late, and the time of day for going to the sultan\u2019s palace\nwas past, it was put off till the next. The mother and son talked of\ndifferent matters the remaining part of the day; and Aladdin took a\ngreat deal of pains to encourage his mother in the task she had\nundertaken to go to the sultan; while she notwithstanding all his\narguments, could not persuade herself she could ever succeed; and it\nmust be confessed she had reason enough to doubt. \u201cChild,\u201d said she to\nAladdin, \u201cif the sultan should receive me as favourably as I wish for\nyour sake, and should hear my proposal with calmness, and after this\nkind reception should think of asking me where lie your riches and your\nestate, (for he will sooner inquire after that than your person,)\u2014if, I\nsay, he should ask me the question, what answer would you have me return\nhim?\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us not be uneasy, mother,\u201d replied Aladdin, \u201cabout what may never\nhappen. First, let us see how the sultan receives, and what answer he\ngives you. If it should so fall out, that he desires to be informed of\nall that you mention, I have thought of an answer, and am confident that\nthe lamp, which hath subsisted us so long, will not fail me in time of\nneed.\u201d\n\nAladdin\u2019s mother could not say anything against what her son then\nproposed; but reflected that the lamp might be capable of doing greater\nwonders than just providing victuals for them. This consideration\nsatisfied her, and at the same time removed all the difficulties which\nmight have prevented her from undertaking the service she had promised\nher son with the sultan; when Aladdin who penetrated into his mother\u2019s\nthoughts, said to her, \u201cAbove all things, mother, be sure to keep the\nsecret, for thereon depends the success we have to expect;\u201d and after\nthis caution, Aladdin and his mother parted to go to bed. But violent\nlove, and the great prospect of so immense a fortune, had so much\npossessed the son\u2019s thoughts, that he could not rest as well as he could\nhave wished. He rose at daybreak, and went presently and awakened his\nmother, pressing her to get herself dressed to go to the sultan\u2019s\npalace, and to get in first, as the grand vizier, the other viziers, and\nall the great officers of state, went in to take their seats in the\ndivan, where the sultan always assisted in person.\n\nAladdin\u2019s mother did all her son desired. She took the china dish, in\nwhich they had put the jewels the day before, tied up in two napkins,\none finer than the other, which was tied at four comers for more easy\ncarriage, and set forwards for the sultan\u2019s palace, to the great\nsatisfaction of Aladdin. When she came to the gates, the grand vizier,\nand the other viziers and most distinguished lords of the court, were\njust gone in; and, notwithstanding the crowd of people who had business\nat the divan was extraordinarily great, she got into the divan, which\nwas a large spacious hall, the entry into which was very magnificent.\nShe placed herself just before the sultan, grand vizier, and the great\nlords, who sat in that council, on his right and left hand. Several\ncauses were called, according to their order, and pleaded and adjudged,\nuntil the time the divan generally broke up, when the sultan rising,\ndismissed the council, and returned to his apartment, attended by the\ngrand vizier; the other viziers and ministers of state returned, as also\ndid all those whose business called them thither; some pleased with\ngaining their causes, others dissatisfied at the sentences pronounced\nagainst them, and some in expectation of theirs being heard the next\nsitting.\n\nAladdin\u2019s mother, seeing the sultan rise and retire, and all the people\ngo away, judged rightly that he would not come again that day, and\nresolved to go home. When Aladdin saw her return with the present\ndesigned for the sultan, he knew not at first what to think of her\nsuccess, and in the fear he was in lest she should bring him some ill\nnews, he had not courage enough to ask her any questions, till his\nmother, who had never set foot into the sultan\u2019s palace before, and knew\nnot what was every day practised there, freed him from his\nembarrassment, and said to him, with a great deal of simplicity, \u201cSon, I\nhave seen the sultan, and am very well persuaded he has seen me too; for\nI placed myself just before him, and nothing could hinder him from\nseeing me; but he was so much taken up with all those who talked on all\nsides of him, that I pitied him, and wondered at his patience in hearing\nthem. At last I believe he was heartily tired, for he rose up suddenly,\nand would not hear a great many who were ready prepared to speak to him,\nbut went away, at which I was very well pleased, for indeed I began to\nlose all patience, and was extremely tired with staying so long. But\nthere is no harm done: I will go again to-morrow; perhaps the sultan may\nnot be so busy.\u201d\n\nThough Aladdin\u2019s passion was very violent, he was forced to be satisfied\nwith this excuse, and to fortify himself with patience. He had at least\nthe satisfaction to find that his mother had got over the greatest\ndifficulty, which was to procure access to the sultan, and hoped that\nthe example of those she saw speak to him would embolden her to acquit\nherself better of her commission when a favourable opportunity offered\nto speak to him.\n\nThe next morning she went to the sultan\u2019s palace with the present, as\nearly as the day before; but when she came there, she found the gates of\nthe divan shut, and understood that the council sat but every other day,\ntherefore she must come again the next. This news she carried to her\nson, whose only relief was to guard himself with patience. She went six\ntimes afterwards on the day appointed, placed herself always directly\nbefore the sultan, but with as little success as the first time, and\nmight have perhaps come a thousand times to as little purpose, if the\nsultan himself had not taken a particular notice of her: for it is very\nprobable that only those who came with petitions approached the sultan,\nand each pleaded their cause in its turn, and Aladdin\u2019s mother was not\none of them.\n\nThat day at last, after the council was broke up, when the sultan was\nreturned to his own apartment, he said to his grand vizier, \u201cI have for\nsome time observed a certain woman, who comes constantly every day that\nI go into council, and has something wrapped up in a napkin: she always\nstands up from the beginning to the breaking up of the council, and\naffects to place her self just before me. Do you know what she wants?\u201d\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d replied the grand vizier, who knew no more than the sultan what\nshe wanted, but had not a mind to seem uninformed, \u201cyour majesty knows\nthat women often form complaints on trifles; perhaps this woman may come\nto complain to your majesty, that somebody has sold her some bad flour,\nor some such trifling matter.\u201d The sultan was not satisfied with this\nanswer, but replied, \u201cIf this woman comes again next council-day, do not\nfail to call her, that I may hear what she has to say.\u201d The grand\nvizier, made answer by kissing his hand, and lifting it up above his\nhead, signifying his willingness to lose it if he failed.\n\nBy this time, Aladdin\u2019s mother was so much used to go to the council,\nand stand before the sultan, that she did not think it any trouble, if\nshe could but satisfy her son that she neglected nothing that lay in her\npower to please him; so the next council-day she went to the divan, and\nplaced herself before the sultan as usual; and before the grand vizier\nhad made his report of business, the sultan perceived her, and\ncompassionating her for having waited so long, he said to the vizier,\n\u201cBefore you enter upon any business, remember the woman I spoke to you\nabout; bid her come near, and let us hear and dispatch her business\nfirst.\u201d The grand vizier immediately called the chief of the officers,\nwho stood ready to obey his commands; and pointing to her, bid him go to\nthat woman and tell her to come before the sultan.\n\nThe chief of the officers went to Aladdin\u2019s mother, and, at a sign he\ngave her, she followed him to the foot of the sultan\u2019s throne, where he\nleft her, and retired to his place by the grand vizier. Aladdin\u2019s\nmother, by the example of a great many others whom she saw salute the\nsultan, bowed her head down to the carpet which covered the steps of the\nthrone, and remained in that posture till the sultan bid her rise, which\nshe had no sooner done, than the sultan said to her, \u201cGood woman, I have\nobserved you to stand a long time, from the beginning to the rising of\nthe divan; what business brings you here?\u201d\n\nAt these words, Aladdin\u2019s mother prostrated herself a second time; and\nwhen she got up again, said, \u201cMonarch of monarchs, before I tell your\nmajesty the extraordinary and almost incredible business which brings me\nbefore your high throne, I beg of you to pardon the boldness or rather\nthe impudence of the demand I am going to make, which is so uncommon,\nthat I tremble, and am ashamed to propose it to my sultan.\u201d In order to\ngive her the more freedom to explain herself, the sultan ordered\neverybody to go out of the divan but the grand vizier, and then told her\nthat she might speak without restraint.\n\nAladdin\u2019s mother, not content with this favour of the sultan\u2019s to save\nher the trouble and confusion of speaking before so many people, was\nnotwithstanding for securing herself against his anger, which, from the\nproposal she was going to make, she was not a little apprehensive of;\ntherefore resuming her discourse, she said, \u201cI beg of your majesty, if\nyou should think my demand the least injurious or offensive, to assure\nme first of your pardon and forgiveness.\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d replied the sultan, \u201cI\nwill forgive you, be it what it will, and no hurt shall come to you:\nspeak boldly.\u201d\n\nWhen Aladdin\u2019s mother had taken all these precautions, for fear of the\nsultan\u2019s anger, she told him faithfully how Aladdin had seen the\nprincess Badroul-boudour, the violent love that fatal sight had inspired\nhim with, the declaration he had made to her of it when he came home,\nand what representations she had made to dissuade him from \u201ca passion no\nless injurious,\u201d said she, \u201cto your majesty, as sultan, than to the\nprincess your daughter. But,\u201d continued she, \u201cmy son, instead of taking\nmy advice and reflecting on his boldness, was so obstinate as to\npersevere in it, and to threaten me with some desperate act, if I\nrefused to come and ask the princess in marriage of your majesty; and it\nwas not till after an extreme violence on myself, I was forced to have\nthis complaisance for him, for which I beg your majesty once more to\npardon not only me, but forgive Aladdin my son, for entertaining such a\nrash thought as to aspire to so high an alliance.\u201d\n\nThe sultan hearkened to this discourse with a great deal of mildness,\nwithout shewing the least anger or passion; but before he gave her any\nanswer, he asked her what she had brought tied up in that napkin. She\ntook the china dish, which she had set down at the foot of the throne,\nbefore she prostrated herself before him; she untied it, and presented\nit to the sultan.\n\nThe sultan\u2019s amazement and surprise were inexpressible, when he saw so\nmany large, beautiful, and valuable jewels collected in one dish. He\nremained for some time motionless with admiration. At last, when he had\nrecovered himself, he received the present from Aladdin\u2019s mother\u2019s hand,\nand crying out in a transport of joy, \u201cHow rich and how beautiful!\u201d\nAfter he had admired and handled all the jewels, one after another, he\nturned about to his grand vizier, and shewing him the dish, said, \u201cLook\nhere, and confess that your eyes never beheld any thing so rich and\nbeautiful before.\u201d The vizier was charmed. \u201cWell,\u201d continued the sultan,\n\u201cwhat sayest thou to such a present? Is it not worthy of the princess my\ndaughter! And ought I not to bestow her on one who values her at so\ngreat price?\u201d\n\nThese words put the grand vizier into a strange agitation. The sultan\nhad some time before signified to him his intention of bestowing the\nprincess his daughter on a son of his; therefore he was afraid, and not\nwithout grounds, that the sultan, dazzled by so rich and extraordinary a\npresent, might change his mind. Thereupon, going to him, and whispering\nhim in the ear, he said to him, \u201cSir, I cannot but own that the present\nis worthy of the princess; but I beg of your majesty to grant me three\nmonths before you come to a resolution. I hope, before that time, my\nson, on whom you have had the goodness to look with a favourable eye,\nwill be able to make a nobler present than Aladdin, who is an entire\nstranger to your majesty.\u201d\n\nThe sultan, though he was very well persuaded that it was not possible\nfor the vizier to provide so considerable a present for his son to make\nthe princess, yet he hearkened to him, and granted him that favour. So\nturning about to Aladdin\u2019s mother, he said to her, \u201cGood woman, go home,\nand tell your son that I agree to the proposal you have made me; but I\ncannot marry the princess my daughter till some furniture I design for\nher be got ready, which cannot be finished these three months; but at\nthe expiration of that time come again.\u201d\n\nAladdin\u2019s mother returned home much more overjoyed than she could have\nimagined, for she looked upon her access to the sultan as a thing\nimpossible; and besides, she had met with a favourable answer instead of\nthe refusal and confusion she expected. From two circumstances Aladdin,\nwhen he saw his mother return, judged that she brought him good news;\nthe one was, that she returned sooner than ordinary; and the next was,\nthe gaiety of her countenance. \u201cWell, mother,\u201d said he to her, \u201cmay I\nentertain any hopes, or must I die with despair?\u201d When she had pulled\noff her veil, and had sat herself down on the sofa by him, she said to\nhim, \u201cNot to keep you long in suspense, son, I will begin by telling\nyou, that instead of thinking of dying, you have every reason to be very\nwell satisfied.\u201d Then pursuing her discourse, she told him how that she\nhad an audience before everybody else, which made her come home so soon;\nthe precautions she had taken lest she should have displeased the\nsultan, by making the proposal of marriage between him and the princess\nBadr-oul-boudour, and the favourable answer she had from the caliph\u2019s\nown mouth; and that, as far as she could judge, the present wrought that\npowerful effect. \u201cBut when I least expected it,\u201d said she, \u201cand he was\ngoing to give me an answer, the grand vizier whispered him in the ear,\nand I was afraid it might be some obstacle to his good intentions\ntowards us.\u201d\n\nAladdin thought himself the most happy of all men, at hearing of this\nnews, and thanked his mother for all the pains she had taken in the\npursuit of this affair, the good success of which was of so great\nimportance to his peace. Though, through his impatience to enjoy the\nobject of his passion, three months seemed an age, yet he disposed\nhimself to wait with patience, relying on the sultan\u2019s word, which he\nlooked upon to be irrevocable. But all that time he not only counted the\nhours, days, and weeks, but every moment. When two of the three months\nwere passed, his mother one evening going to light the lamp, and finding\nno oil in the house, went out to buy some, and when she came into the\ncity, found a general rejoicing. The shops, instead of being shut up,\nwere open, dressed with foliage, every one striving to shew their zeal\nin the most distinguished manner. The streets were crowded with officers\nin habits of ceremony, mounted on horses richly caparisoned, each\nattended by a great many footmen. Aladdin\u2019s mother asked the\noil-merchant what was the meaning of all those doings. \u201cWhence came you,\ngood woman,\u201d said he, \u201cthat you don\u2019t know that the grand vizier\u2019s son\nis to marry the princess Badr-oul-boudour, the sultan\u2019s daughter,\nto-night? She will presently return from the baths; and these officers\nthat you see, are to assist at the cavalcade to the palace, where the\nceremony is to be solemnised.\u201d\n\nThis was news enough for Aladdin\u2019s mother. She ran, till she was quite\nout of breath, home to her son, who little suspected any such thing.\n\u201cChild,\u201d cried she, \u201cyou are undone! you depend upon the sultan\u2019s fine\npromises, but they will come to nothing.\u201d Aladdin was terribly alarmed\nat these words. \u201cMother,\u201d replied he, \u201chow do you know the sultan has\nbeen guilty of a breach of promise?\u201d \u201cThis night,\u201d answered the mother,\n\u201cthe grand vizier\u2019s son is to marry the princess Badr-oul-boudour.\u201d She\nthen related how she had heard it; so that from all circumstances he had\nno reason to doubt the truth of what she said.\n\nAt this account, Aladdin was thunderstruck. Any other man would have\nsunk under the shock; but a secret motive of jealousy soon roused his\nspirits, and he bethought himself of the lamp, which had till then been\nso useful to him; and without venting his rage in empty words against\nthe sultan, the vizier, or his son, he only said, \u201cPerhaps, mother, the\nvizier\u2019s son may not be so happy to-night as he promises himself: while\nI go into my chamber a moment, do you go and get supper ready.\u201d She\naccordingly went about it, and she guessed that her son was going to\nmake use of the lamp, to prevent if possible, the consummation of the\nmarriage.\n\nWhen Aladdin had got into his chamber, he took the lamp, and rubbed it\nin the same place as before, and immediately the genie appeared, and\nsaid to him, \u201cWhat wouldst thou have? I am ready to obey thee as thy\nslave, and the slave of all those who have that lamp in their hands; I\nand the other slaves of the lamp.\u201d \u201cHear me,\u201d said Aladdin; \u201cthou hast\nhitherto brought me whatever I wanted as to provisions; but now I have\nbusiness of the greatest importance for thee to execute. I have demanded\nthe princess Badr-oul-boudour in marriage of the sultan her father: he\npromised her to me, but he asked three months\u2019 time: and instead of\nkeeping that promise, has this night, before the expiration of that\ntime, married her to the grand vizier\u2019s son. I have just heard this, and\nhave no doubt of it. What I ask of you is, that as soon as the bride and\nbridegroom are in bed, you bring them both hither in their bed.\u201d\n\u201cMaster,\u201d replied the genie, \u201cI will obey you. Have you any other\ncommands?\u201d \u201cNone, at present,\u201d answered Aladdin; and then the genie\ndisappeared.\n\nAladdin went down stairs, and supped with his mother, with the same\ntranquillity of mind as usual; and after supper, talked of the\nprincess\u2019s marriage as of an affair wherein he had not the least\nconcern; and afterwards returned to his own chamber again, and left his\nmother to go to bed; but he for his part, sat up till the genie had\nexecuted his orders.\n\nIn the meantime, everything was prepared with the greatest magnificence\nin the sultan\u2019s palace, to celebrate the princess\u2019s nuptials; and the\nevening was spent with all the usual ceremonies and great rejoicings\ntill midnight, when the grand vizier\u2019s son, on a signal given him by the\nchief of the princess\u2019s eunuchs, slipped away from the company, and was\nintroduced by that officer into the princess\u2019s apartment, where the\nnuptial bed was prepared. He went to bed first, and in a little time\nafter, the sultaness, accompanied by her own women, and those of the\nprincess, brought the bride, who, according to the custom of new-married\nladies, made great resistance. The sultaness herself helped to undress\nher, put her into bed by a kind of violence; and after having kissed\nher, and wished her good night, retired with all the women, and the last\nwho came out shut the door.\n\nNo sooner was the door shut, but the genie, as the faithful slave of the\nlamp, and punctual in executing the command of those who possessed it,\nwithout giving the bridegroom the least time to caress his bride, to the\ngreat amazement of them both, took up the bed, and transported it in an\ninstant into Aladdin\u2019s chamber, where he set it down.\n\nAladdin, who waited impatiently for this moment, did not suffer the\nvizier\u2019s son to remain long in bed with the princess. \u201cTake this\nnew-married man,\u201d said he to the genie, \u201cand shut him up in the house of\noffice, and come again to-morrow morning after daybreak.\u201d The genie\npresently took the vizier\u2019s son out of bed, and carried him in his shirt\nwhither Aladdin bid him; and after he had breathed upon him, which\nprevented his stirring, he left him there.\n\nGreat as was Aladdin\u2019s love for the princess Badr-oul-boudour, he did\nnot talk much to her when they were alone; but only said with a\npassionate air, \u201cFear nothing, adorable princess; you are here in\nsafety; for, notwithstanding the violence of my passion, which your\ncharms have kindled, it shall never exceed the bounds of the profound\nrespect I owe you. If I have been forced to come to this extremity, it\nis not with any intention of affronting you but to prevent an unjust\nrival\u2019s possessing you contrary to the sultan your father\u2019s promise in\nfavour of me.\u201d\n\nThe princess, who knew nothing of these particulars, gave very little\nattention to what Aladdin could say. The fright and amazement of so\nunexpected an adventure had put her into such a condition, that could\nnot get one word from her. However, he undressed himself and got into\nthe vizier\u2019s son\u2019s place, and lay with his back to the princess, putting\na sabre between himself and her, to show that he deserved to be\npunished, if he attempted anything against her honour.\n\nAladdin, very well satisfied with having thus deprived his rival of the\nhappiness he had flattered himself with enjoying that night, slept very\nquietly, though the princess Badr-oul-boudour never passed a night so\nill in her life; and if we consider the condition the genie left the\ngrand vizier\u2019s son in, we may imagine that the new bridegroom spent it\nmuch worse.\n\nAladdin had no occasion the next morning to rub the lamp to call the\ngenie; he came at the hour appointed, and just when he had done dressing\nhimself, and said to him, \u201cI am here, master; what are your commands?\u201d\n\u201cGo,\u201d said Aladdin, \u201cfetch the vizier\u2019s son out of the place where you\nleft him, and put him into his bed again, and carry it to the sultan\u2019s\npalace, from whence you brought it.\u201d The genie presently returned with\nthe vizier\u2019s son. Aladdin took up his sabre, the bridegroom was laid by\nthe princess, and in an instant the nuptial bed was transported into the\nsame chamber of the palace from whence it had been brought. But we must\nobserve, that all this time the genie never appeared either to the\nprincess or the grand vizier\u2019s son. His hideous form would have made\nthem die with fear. Neither did they hear anything of the discourse\nbetween Aladdin and him; they only perceived the motion of the bed, and\ntheir transportation from one place to another; which we may well\nimagine was enough to frighten them.\n\nAs soon as the genie had set down the nuptial-bed in its proper place,\nthe sultan, curious to know how the princess his daughter had spent the\nwedding-night, opened the door to wish her good morning. The grand\nvizier\u2019s son, who was almost perished with cold, by standing in his\nshirt all night, and had not had time to warm himself in bed, no sooner\nheard the door open, but he got out of bed, and ran into the wardrobe,\nwhere he had undressed himself the night before.\n\nThe sultan went to the bed-side, kissed the princess between the eyes,\naccording to custom, wishing her a good-morrow, and asked her smiling,\nhow she had passed the night. But lifting up her head, and looking at\nher more earnestly, he was extremely surprised to see her so melancholy,\nand that neither by a blush nor any other sign she could satisfy his\ncuriosity. She only cast at him a sorrowful look, expressive of great\naffliction or great dissatisfaction. He said a few words to her; but\nfinding that he could not get a word from her, he attributed it to her\nmodesty, and retired. Nevertheless, he suspected that there was\nsomething extraordinary in this silence, and thereupon went immediately\nto the sultaness\u2019s apartment, and told her in what a state he found the\nprincess, and how she received him. \u201cSir,\u201d said the sultaness, \u201cyour\nmajesty ought not to be surprised at this behaviour; all new-married\npeople always have a reserve about them the next day; she will be quite\nanother thing in two or three days\u2019 time, and then she will receive the\nsultan her father as she ought; but I will go and see her,\u201d added she;\n\u201cI am very much deceived if she receives me in the same manner.\u201d\n\nAs soon as the sultaness was dressed, she went to the princess\u2019s\napartment, who was still in bed. She undrew the curtain, wished her\ngood-morrow, and kissed her. But how great was her surprise when she\nreturned no answer; and looking more attentively at her, she perceived\nher to be very much dejected, which made her judge that something had\nhappened which she did not understand. \u201cHow comes it, child,\u201d said the\nsultaness, \u201cthat you do not return my caresses? Ought you to treat your\nmother after this manner? And do you think I do not know what may have\nhappened in your circumstances? I am apt to believe you do not think so,\nand something extraordinary has happened: come, tell me freely, and\nleave me no longer in a painful suspense.\u201d\n\nAt last the princess Badr-oul-boudour broke silence with a great sigh,\nand said, \u201cAlas! madam, most honoured mother, forgive me if I have\nfailed in the respect I owe you. My mind is so full of the extraordinary\nthings which have befallen me this night, that I have not yet recovered\nmy amazement and fright, and scarce know myself.\u201d Then she told her how\nthe instant after she and her husband were in bed, the bed was\ntransposed into a dark dirty room, where he was taken from her and\ncarried away, where she knew not, and she was left alone with a young\nman, who, after he had said something to her, which her fright did not\nsuffer her to hear, laid himself down by her, in her husband\u2019s place,\nbut first put his sabre between them; and in the morning her husband was\nbrought to her again, and the bed was transported back to her own\nchamber in an instant. \u201cAll this,\u201d said she, \u201cwas but just done, when\nthe sultan my father came into my chamber. I was so overwhelmed with\ngrief, that I had not power to make him one word of answer; therefore I\nam afraid that he is offended at the manner in which I received the\nhonour he did me: but I hope he will forgive me, when he knows my\nmelancholy adventure, and the miserable state I am in at present.\u201d\n\nThe sultaness heard all the princess told her very patiently, but would\nnot believe it. \u201cYou did well, child,\u201d said she, \u201cnot to speak of this\nto your father: take care not to mention it to anybody, for you will\ncertainly be thought mad if you talk at this rate.\u201d \u201cMadam,\u201d replied the\nprincess, \u201cI can assure you I am in my right senses: ask my husband, and\nhe will tell you the same story.\u201d \u201cI will,\u201d said the sultaness; \u201cbut if\nhe should talk in the same manner I shall not be better persuaded of the\ntruth. Come, rise, and throw off this idle fancy; it will be a fine\nstory indeed, if all the feasts and rejoicings in the kingdom should be\ninterrupted by such a vision. Do not you hear the trumpets sounding, and\ndrums beating, and concerts of the finest music? Cannot all these\ninspire you with joy and pleasure, and make you forget all the fancies\nyou tell me of?\u201d At the same time, the sultaness called the princess\u2019s\nwomen, and after she had seen her get up, and set her toilet, she went\nto the sultan\u2019s apartment, and told him that her daughter had got some\nold notions in her head, but that there was nothing in them.\n\nThen she sent for the vizier\u2019s son, to know of him something of what the\nprincess had told her; but he, thinking himself highly honoured to be\nallied to the sultan, resolved to disguise the matter. \u201cSon-in-law,\u201d\nsaid the sultaness, \u201care you as much infatuated as your wife?\u201d \u201cMadam,\u201d\nreplied the vizier\u2019s son, \u201cmay I be so bold as to ask the reason of that\nquestion?\u201d \u201cOh! that is enough,\u201d answered the sultaness; \u201cI ask no more,\nI see you are wiser than her.\u201d\n\nThe rejoicings lasted all that day in the palace, and the sultaness, who\nnever left the princess, forgot nothing to divert her, and induce her to\ntake part in the various diversions and shows: but she was so struck\nwith the idea of what had happened to her that it was easy to see her\nthoughts were entirely taken up about it. Neither was the grand vizier\u2019s\nson\u2019s affliction less, but that his ambition made him disguise it, and\nnobody doubted but he was a happy bridegroom.\n\nAladdin, who was well acquainted with what passed in the palace, never\ndisputed but that the new-married couple were to lie together again that\nnight, notwithstanding the troublesome adventure of the night before;\nand therefore, having as great an inclination to disturb them, he had\nrecourse to his lamp, and when the genie appeared, and offered his\nservices, he said to him, \u201cThe grand vizier\u2019s son and the princess\nBadr-oul-boudour are to lie together again to-night: go, and as soon as\nthey are in bed, bring the bed hither, as thou didst yesterday.\u201d\n\nThe genie obeyed Aladdin as faithfully and exactly as the day before:\nthe grand vizier\u2019s son passed the night as coldly and disagreeably as\nbefore, and the princess had the mortification again to have Aladdin for\nher bedfellow, with the sabre between them. The genie, according to\nAladdin\u2019s orders, came the next morning, and brought the bridegroom and\nlaid him by his bride, and then carried the bed and new-married couple\nback again to the palace.\n\nThe sultan, after the reception the princess Badr-oul-boudour had given\nhim that day, was very anxious to know how she passed the second night,\nand if she would give him the same reception, and therefore went into\nher chamber as early as the morning before. The grand vizier\u2019s son, more\nashamed and mortified with the ill success of this last night, no sooner\nheard him coming, but he jumped out of bed, and ran hastily into the\nwardrobe. The sultan went to the princess\u2019s bed-side, and after the\ncaresses he had given her the former morning, bid her good-morrow.\n\u201cWell, daughter,\u201d he said, \u201care you in a better humour than you were\nyesterday morning?\u201d Still the princess was silent, and the sultan\nperceived her to be more troubled, in greater confusion than before, and\ndoubted not but that something very extraordinary was the cause; but\nprovoked that his daughter should conceal it, he said to her in a rage,\nwith his sabre in his hand, \u201cDaughter, tell me what is the matter, or I\nwill cut off your head immediately.\u201d\n\nThe princess, more frightened at the menaces and tone of the enraged\nsultan, than at the sight of the drawn sabre, at last broke silence, and\nsaid, with tears in her eyes, \u201cMy dear father and sultan, I ask your\nmajesty\u2019s pardon if I have offended you, and hope, that out of your\ngoodness and clemency you will have compassion on me, when I have told\nyou in what a miserable condition I have spent this last night and the\nnight before.\u201d\n\nAfter this preamble, which appeased and affected the sultan, she told\nhim what had happened to her in so moving a manner, that he, who loved\nher tenderly, was most sensibly grieved. She added, \u201cIf your majesty\ndoubts the truth of this account, you may inform yourself from my\nhusband, who, I am persuaded, will tell you the same thing.\u201d\n\nThe sultan immediately felt all the extreme uneasiness so surprising an\nadventure must have given the princess. \u201cDaughter,\u201d said he, \u201cyou are\nvery much to blame for not telling me this yesterday, since it concerns\nme as much as yourself. I did not marry you with an intention to make\nyou miserable, but that you might enjoy all the happiness you deserve\nand might hope for from a husband, who to me seemed agreeable to you.\nEfface all these troublesome ideas out of your memory; I will take care\nand give orders that you shall have no more such disagreeable and\ninsupportable nights.\u201d\n\nAs soon as the sultan got back to his own apartment, he sent for the\ngrand vizier. \u201cVizier,\u201d said he, \u201chave you seen your son, and has he not\ntold you anything?\u201d The vizier replied, \u201cNo.\u201d Then the sultan related\nall that the princess Badr-oul-boudour had told him, and afterwards\nsaid, \u201cI do not doubt but that my daughter has told me the truth; but\nnevertheless I should be glad to have it confirmed by your son;\ntherefore go and ask him how it was.\u201d\n\nThe grand vizier went immediately to his son, and communicated to him\nwhat the sultan had told him, and enjoined him to conceal nothing from\nhim, but to tell him the whole truth. \u201cI will disguise nothing from you,\nfather,\u201d replied the son, \u201cfor indeed all that the princess says is\ntrue; but what relates particularly to myself she knows nothing of.\nAfter my marriage, I have passed two such nights as are beyond\nimagination or expression; not to mention the fright I was in, to feel\nmy bed lifted up four times, and transported from one place to another,\nwithout being able to guess how it was done. You shall judge of the\nmiserable condition I was in, to pass two whole nights in nothing but my\nshirt, standing in a kind of privy, unable to stir out of the place\nwhere I was put, or to make the least movement, though I could not\nperceive any obstacle to prevent me. Yet I must tell you that all this\nill-usage does not in the least lessen those sentiments of love, respect\nand latitude I entertain for the princess, and of which she is so\ndeserving; but I must confess, that notwithstanding all the honour and\nsplendour that attends my marrying my sovereign\u2019s daughter I would much\nrather die, than live longer in so great an alliance, if I must undergo\nwhat I have already endured. I do not doubt but that the princess\nentertains the same sentiments, and that she will readily agree to a\nseparation, which is so necessary both for her repose and mine.\nTherefore, father, I beg you, by the same tenderness you had for me to\nprocure me so great an honour, to get the sultan\u2019s consent that our\nmarriage may be declared null and void.\u201d\n\nNotwithstanding the grand vizier\u2019s ambition to have his son allied to\nthe sultan, the firm resolution he saw he had formed to be separated\nfrom the princess, made him not think it proper to propose to him to\nhave a little patience for a few days, to see if this disappointment\nwould not have an end; but left him to go and give the sultan an account\nof what he had told him, assuring him that all was but too true. Without\nwaiting till the sultan himself, whom he found pretty much disposed to\nit, spoke of breaking the marriage, he begged of him to give his son\nleave to retire from the palace; alleging for an excuse, that it was not\njust that the princess should be a moment longer exposed to so terrible\na persecution upon his son\u2019s account.\n\nThe grand vizier found no great difficulty to obtain what he asked. From\nthat instant the sultan, who had determined it already, gave orders to\nput a stop to all rejoicings in the palace and town, and sent expresses\nto all parts of his dominions to countermand his first orders; and in a\nshort time all rejoicings ceased.\n\nThis sudden and unexpected change gave rise, both in the city and\nkingdom, to various speculations and inquiries; but no other account\ncould be given of it, except that both the vizier and his son went out\nof the palace very much dejected. Nobody but Aladdin knew the secret. He\nrejoiced within himself for the happy success procured for him by his\nlamp, which now he had no more occasion to rub to produce the genie, to\nprevent the consummation of the marriage, which he had certain\ninformation was broken off, and that his rival had left the palace. But,\nwhat is most particular, neither the sultan nor the grand vizier, who\nhad forgotten Aladdin and his request, had the least thought that he had\nany hand in the enchantment which caused the dissolution of the\nmarriage.\n\nNevertheless, Aladdin waited till the three months were completed, which\nthe sultan had appointed for the communication of the marriage between\nthe princess Badr-oul-boudour and himself; but the next day sent his\nmother to the palace, to remind the sultan of his promise.\n\nAladdin\u2019s mother went to the palace, as her son had bid her, and stood\nbefore the divan in the same place as before. The sultan no sooner cast\nhis eyes upon her, but he knew her again, and remembered her business,\nand how long he had put her off; therefore, when the grand vizier was\nbeginning to make his report, the sultan interrupted him, and said,\n\u201cVizier, I see the good woman who made me the present some months hence:\nforbear your report till I have heard what she has to say.\u201d The vizier\nthen, looking about the divan, presently perceived Aladdin\u2019s mother, and\nsent the chief of the officers for her.\n\nAladdin\u2019s mother came to the foot of the throne and prostrated herself\nas usual, and when she rose up again, the sultan asked her what she\nwould have. \u201cSir,\u201d said she, \u201cI come to represent to your majesty, in\nthe name of my son, Aladdin, that the three months, at the end of which\nyou ordered me to come again, are expired; and to beg you to remember\nyour promise.\u201d\n\nThe sultan, when he took his time to answer the request of this good\nwoman, the first time he saw her, little thought of hearing any more of\na marriage which he imagined must be very disagreeable to the princess,\nwhen he only considered the meanness and poverty of Aladdin\u2019s mother in\nher dress, not above the common run; but this summons for him to be as\ngood as his word was somewhat embarrassing to him; he declined giving an\nanswer till he had consulted his vizier, and signified to him the little\ninclination he had to conclude a match for his daughter with a stranger\nwhose fortune he supposed to be very mean indeed.\n\nThe grand vizier freely told the sultan his thoughts on the matter, and\nsaid to him, \u201cIn my opinion, sir, there is an infallible way for your\nmajesty to avoid a match so disproportionable, without giving Aladdin,\nwere he better known to your majesty, any cause of complaint; which is,\nto set so high a value upon the princess, that were he never so rich, he\ncould not come up to it. This is the only way to make him desist from so\nbold, not to say rash, an undertaking, which he never weighed before he\nengaged in it.\u201d\n\nThe sultan, approving of the grand vizier\u2019s advice, turned about to\nAladdin\u2019s mother, and after some reflection, said to her, \u201cGood woman,\nit is true sultans ought to be as good as their words, and I am ready to\nkeep mine, by making your son happy by the marriage of the princess, my\ndaughter. But as I cannot marry her without some valuable consideration\nfrom your son, you may tell him, I will fulfil my promise as soon as he\nshall send me forty basins of massy gold, brimful of the same things you\nhave already made me a present of, and carried by the like number of\nblack slaves, who shall be led by as many young and handsome well-made\nwhite slaves, all dressed magnificently. On these conditions, I am ready\nto bestow the princess, my daughter, on him; therefore, good woman, go\nand tell him so, and I will wait till you bring me his answer.\u201d\n\nAladdin\u2019s mother prostrated herself a second time before the sultan\u2019s\nthrone, and retired. On her way home, she laughed within herself at her\nson\u2019s foolish imagination. \u201cWhere,\u201d said she, \u201ccan he get so many such\nlarge gold basins and enough of that coloured glass to fill them? Must\nhe go again to that subterraneous abode, the entrance into which is\nstopped up, and gather them off the trees? But where will he get so many\nsuch slaves as the sultan requires? It is altogether out of his power,\nand I believe he will not be well satisfied with my embassy this time.\u201d\nWhen she came home, full of these thoughts, she said to her son,\n\u201cIndeed, child, I would not have you think any farther of your marriage\nwith the princess Badr-oul-boudour. The sultan received me very kindly,\nand I believe he was well inclined to you; but if I am not very much\ndeceived, the grand vizier has made him change his mind, as you will\nguess from what I have to tell you. After I had represented to his\nmajesty that the three months were expired, and begged of him to\nremember his promise, I observed that he whispered with his grand vizier\nbefore he gave me this answer.\u201d Then she gave her son an exact account\nof what the sultan said to her, and the conditions on which he consented\nto the match. Afterwards she said to him, \u201cThe sultan expects your\nanswer immediately; but,\u201d continued she, laughing, \u201cI believe he may\nwait long enough.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot so long, mother, as you imagine,\u201d replied Aladdin; \u201cthe sultan is\nmistaken if he thinks by this exorbitant demand to prevent my\nentertaining thoughts of the princess. I expected greater difficulties,\nand that he would have set a higher price upon that incomparable\nprincess. But I am very well pleased; his demand is but a trifle to what\nI could have done for her. But while I think of satisfying his request\ngo and get us something for dinner, and leave the rest to me.\u201d\n\nAs soon as Aladdin\u2019s mother was gone out to market, Aladdin took up the\nlamp, and rubbing it, the genie appeared, and offered his service as\nusual. \u201cThe sultan,\u201d said Aladdin to him, \u201cgives me the princess, his\ndaughter, in marriage; but demands first of me forty large basins of\nmassy gold, brimful of the fruits of the garden from whence I took this\nlamp you are slave to; and these he expects to have carried by as many\nblack slaves, each preceded by a young handsome well-made white slave,\nrichly clothed. Go, and fetch me this present as soon as possible, that\nI may send it to him before the divan breaks up.\u201d The genie told him his\ncommand should be immediately obeyed, and disappeared.\n\nIn a little time afterwards the genie returned with forty black slaves,\neach bearing on his head a basin of massy gold of twenty marks\u2019 weight,\nfull of pearls, diamonds, rubies and emeralds, all larger and more\nbeautiful than those presented to the sultan before. Each basin was\ncovered with a silver stuff, embroidered with flowers of gold: all\nthese, and the white slaves, quite filled the house, which was but a\nsmall one, and the little court before it, and the little garden behind.\nThe genie asked Aladdin if he had any other commands. Aladdin telling\nhim that he wanted nothing farther then, the genie disappeared.\n\nWhen Aladdin\u2019s mother came from market, she was in a great surprise to\nsee so many people and such vast riches. As soon as she had laid down\nher provisions, she was going to pull off her veil; but Aladdin\nprevented her, and said, \u201cMother, let us lose no time: but before the\nsultan and the divan rise, I would have you return to the palace, and go\nwith this present, as the dowry he asked for the princess\nBadr-oul-boudour, that he may judge by my diligence and exactness of the\nardent and sincere zeal I have to procure myself the honour of this\nalliance.\u201d Without waiting for his mother making a reply, Aladdin opened\nthe street door, and made the slaves walk out; a white slave followed\nalways by a black one with a basin on his head. When they were all got\nout, the mother followed the last black slave, and he shut the door, and\nthen retired to his chamber, full of hopes that the sultan, after this\npresent, which was such as he required, would at length receive him as\nhis son-in-law.\n\nThe first white slave that went out of the house made all the people,\nwho were going by and saw him, stop; and before they were all got out of\nthe house, the streets were crowded with spectators, who ran to see so\nextraordinary and noble a sight. The dress of each slave was so rich,\nboth for the stuff and the jewels, that those who were dealers in them\nvalued each at no less than a million of money; besides the neatness and\npropriety of the dress, the good grace, noble air, and delicate shape\nand proportion of each slave was unparalleled; their grave walk at an\nequal distance from each other, the lustre of the jewels, which were\nlarge, and curiously set in their girdles of massy gold, in beautiful\nsymmetry, and those ensigns of precious stones in their hats, which were\nof so particular a taste, put the crowds of spectators into so great\nadmiration, that they could not be weary of gazing at them, and\nfollowing them with their eyes as far as possible; but the streets were\nso crowded with people that none could move out of the spot they stood\non. As they were to pass through a great many streets to go to the\npalace, a great part of the city had an opportunity of seeing them. As\nsoon as the first of these slaves arrived at the palace gate, the\nporters formed themselves into order, and took him for a king, by the\nrichness and magnificence of his habit, and were going to kiss the hem\nof his garment; but the slave, who was instructed by the genie,\nprevented them, and said, \u201cWe are only slaves; our master will appear at\na proper time.\u201d\n\nThen this slave, followed by the rest, advanced into the second court,\nwhich was very spacious, and in which the sultan\u2019s household was ranged\nduring the sitting of the divan. The magnificence of the officers, who\nstood at the head of their troops, was very much eclipsed by the slaves\nwho bare Aladdin\u2019s present, of which they themselves made a part.\nNothing was ever seen so beautiful and brilliant in the sultan\u2019s palace\nbefore; and all the lustre of the lords of his court was not to be\ncompared to them.\n\nAs the sultan, who had been informed of their march, and coming to the\npalace, had given orders for them to be admitted when they came, they\nmet with no obstacle, but went into the divan in good order, one part\nfiling to the right and the other to the left. After they had all\nentered, and had formed a great semicircle before the sultan\u2019s throne,\nthe black slaves laid the basins on the carpet, and all prostrated\nthemselves, touching the carpet with their foreheads and at the same\ntime the white slaves did the same. When they all rose again, the black\nslaves uncovered the basins, and then all stood with their arms crossed\nover their breasts with great modesty.\n\nIn the meantime, Aladdin\u2019s mother advanced to the foot of the throne,\nand having paid her respects, said to the sultan, \u201cSir, my son Aladdin\nis sensible this present, which he has sent your majesty, is much below\nthe princess Badr-oul-boudour\u2019s worth; but hopes, nevertheless, that\nyour majesty will accept of it, and make it agreeable to the princess,\nwith the greater confidence that he has endeavoured to conform to the\nconditions you were pleased to impose on him.\u201d\n\nThe sultan was not able to give the least attention to this compliment\nof Aladdin\u2019s mother. The moment he cast his eyes on the forty basins,\nbrimful of the most precious, brilliant, and beautiful jewels he had\never seen, and the fourscore slaves, who appeared, by the comeliness of\ntheir persons, and the richness and magnificence of their dress, like so\nmany kings, he was so struck that he could not recover from his\nadmiration; but, instead of answering the compliment of Aladdin\u2019s\nmother, addressed himself to the grand vizier, who could not any more\nthan the sultan comprehend from whence such a profusion of riches could\ncome.\u2014\u201cWell, vizier,\u201d said he aloud, \u201cwho do you think it can be that\nhas sent me so extraordinary a present, and neither of us know? Do you\nthink him worthy of the princess Badr-oul-boudour, my daughter?\u201d\n\nThe vizier, notwithstanding his envy and grief to see a stranger\npreferred to be the sultan\u2019s son-in-law before his son, durst not\ndisguise his sentiments. It was too visible that Aladdin\u2019s present was\nmore than sufficient to merit his being received into that great\nalliance; therefore, adopting the sultan\u2019s sentiments, he returned this\nanswer: \u201cI am so far, sir, from having any thoughts that the person who\nhas made your majesty so noble a present is unworthy of the honour you\nwould do him, that I should be bold to say he deserved much more, if I\nwas not persuaded that the greatest treasure in the world ought not to\nbe put in a balance with the princess, your majesty\u2019s daughter.\u201d\u2014This\nadvice was applauded by all the lords who were then in council.\n\nThe Sultan made no longer hesitation, nor thought of informing himself\nwhether Aladdin was endowed with all the qualifications requisite in one\nwho aspired to be his son-in-law. The sight alone of such immense\nriches, and Aladdin\u2019s diligence in satisfying his demand, without\nstarting the least difficulty on the exorbitant conditions he had\nimposed on him, easily persuaded him that he could want nothing to\nrender him accomplished, and such as he desired. Therefore, to send\nAladdin\u2019s mother back with all the satisfaction she could desire, he\nsaid to her, \u201cGood woman, go and tell your son that I wait to receive\nhim with open arms and embrace him; and the more haste he makes to come\nand receive the princess my daughter from my hands, the greater pleasure\nhe will do me.\u201d\n\nAs soon as Aladdin\u2019s mother retired, overjoyed as a woman in her\ncondition must be, to see her son raised beyond all expectations to such\ngreat fortune, the sultan put an end to the audience for that day; and,\nrising from his throne, ordered that the princess\u2019s eunuchs should come\nand carry those basins into their mistress\u2019s apartment, whither he went\nhimself to examine them with her at his leisure. The fourscore slaves\nwere not forgotten, but were conducted into the palace; and some time\nafter, the sultan, telling the princess Badr-oul-boudour of their\nmagnificent appearance, ordered them to be brought before her apartment,\nthat she might see through the lattices he exaggerated not in his\naccount of them.\n\nIn the meantime Aladdin\u2019s mother got home, and shewed in her air and\ncountenance the good news she brought her son. \u201cMy son,\u201d said she to\nhim, \u201cyou have now all the reason in the world to be pleased: you are,\ncontrary to my expectations, arrived at the height of your desires, and\nyou know what I always told you. Not to keep you too long in suspense,\nthe sultan, with the approbation of the whole court, has declared that\nyou are worthy to possess the princess Badr-oul-boudour, and waits to\nembrace you, and conclude your marriage; therefore you must think of\nmaking some preparations for that interview, that may answer the high\nopinion he has formed of your person; and after the wonders I have seen\nyou do, I am persuaded nothing can be wanting. But I must not forget to\ntell you, the sultan waits for you with great impatience, therefore lose\nno time to go to him.\u201d\n\nAladdin, charmed with this news, and full of the object which possessed\nhis soul, made his mother very little reply, but retired to his chamber.\nThere after he had rubbed his lamp, which had never failed him in\nwhatever he wished for, the obedient genie appeared. \u201cGenie,\u201d said\nAladdin, \u201cI want to bathe immediately; and you must afterwards provide\nme the richest and most magnificent habit ever worn by a monarch.\u201d No\nsooner were the words out of his mouth, but the genie rendered him, as\nwell as himself invisible, and transported him into a bath of the finest\nmarble of all sorts of colours, where he was undressed, without seeing\nby whom, in a neat and spacious hall. From the hall he was led to the\nbath, which was of a moderate heat, and he was there rubbed and washed\nwith all sorts of scented water. After he had passed through several\ndegrees of heat, he came out, quite a different man from what he was\nbefore. His skin was clear, white, and red, and his body lightsome and\nfree; and when he returned into the hall, he found instead of his own, a\nsuit, the magnificence of which very much surprised him. The genie\nhelped him to dress, and when he had done, transported him back to his\nown chamber, where he asked him if he had any other commands. \u201cYes,\u201d\nanswered Aladdin; \u201cI expect you should bring me as soon as possible a\nhorse, that surpasses in beauty and goodness the best in the sultan\u2019s\nstables, with a saddle, bridle, and housing, and other accoutrements\nworth a million of money. I want also twenty slaves, as richly clothed\nas those who carried the present to the sultan, to walk by my side, and\nfollow me, and twenty more such to go before me in two ranks. Besides\nthese, bring my mother six women slaves to wait on her, as richly\ndressed at least as any of the princess Badr-oul-boudour\u2019s, each loaded\nwith a complete suit fit for any sultaness. I want also ten thousand\npieces of gold in ten purses. Go, and make haste.\u201d\n\nAs soon as Aladdin had given these orders, the genie disappeared, and\npresently returned with the horse, the forty slaves, ten of whom carried\neach a purse with one thousand pieces of gold, and six women slaves,\neach carrying on her head a different dress for Aladdin\u2019s mother,\nwrapped up in a piece of silver stuff, and presented them all to\nAladdin.\n\nOf the ten purses Aladdin took but four, which he gave to his mother,\ntelling her those were to supply her with necessaries; the other six he\nleft in the hands of the slaves who brought them, with an order to throw\nthem by handfuls among the people as they went to the sultan\u2019s palace.\nThe six slaves who carried the purses he ordered likewise to march\nbefore him, three on the right hand and three on the left. Afterwards he\npresented the six women slaves to his mother, telling her they were her\nslaves, and that the dresses they had brought were for her use.\n\nWhen Aladdin had thus settled matters, he told the genie he would call\nfor him when he wanted him, and thereupon the genie disappeared.\nAladdin\u2019s thoughts now were only of answering, as soon as possible, the\ndesire the sultan had shown to see him. He despatched one of the forty\nslaves to the palace, with an order to address himself to the chief of\nthe officers, to know when he might have the honour to come and throw\nhimself at the sultan\u2019s feet. The slave soon acquitted himself of his\nmessage, and brought for answer that the sultan waited for him with\nimpatience.\n\nAladdin immediately mounted his horse, and began his march in the order\nwe have already described: and though he was never on a horse\u2019s back\nbefore, he appeared with such extraordinary grace, that the most\nexperienced horseman would not have taken him for a novice. The streets\nthrough which he was to pass were almost instantly filled with an\ninnumerable concourse of people, who made the air echo with their\nacclamations, especially every time the six slaves who carried the\npurses threw handfuls of gold into the air on both sides. Neither did\nthese acclamations and shouts of joy come only from those who scrambled\nfor the money, but from a superior rank of people, who could not forbear\napplauding publicly Aladdin\u2019s generosity. Not only those who knew him\nonce when he played in the streets like a vagabond, did not know him\nagain; those who saw him but a little while before hardly knew him, so\nmuch were his features altered: such were the effects of the lamp, as to\nprocure by degrees to those who possessed it perfections agreeable to\nthe rank the right use of it advanced them to. Much more attention was\npaid to Aladdin\u2019s person than to the pomp and magnificence of his\nattendants, which had been taken notice of the day before, when the\nslaves walked in procession with the present to the sultan. Nevertheless\nthe horse was very much admired by good judges, who knew not how to\ndiscern his beauties, without being dazzled with the jewels and richness\nof the furniture: and when the report was everywhere spread about, that\nthe sultan was going to give the princess Badr-oul-boudour in marriage\nto him, nobody regarded his birth; nor envied his good fortune, so\nworthy he seemed of it.\n\nWhen he arrived at the palace, everything was prepared for his\nreception; and when he came to the second gate, he would have alighted\nfrom off his horse, agreeable to the custom observed by the grand\nvizier, the generals of the armies, and governors of provinces of the\nfirst rank; but the chief of the officers, who waited on him by the\nsultan\u2019s order, prevented him, and attended him to the council hall,\nwhere he helped him to dismount; though Aladdin opposed him very much,\nbut could not prevail. The officers formed themselves into two ranks at\nthe entrance of the hall. The chief put Aladdin on his right hand, and\nthrough the midst of them led him to the sultan\u2019s throne.\n\nAs soon as the sultan perceived Aladdin, he was no less surprised to see\nhim more richly and magnificently clothed than ever he had been himself,\nthan surprised at his good mien, fine shape, and a certain air of\nunexpected grandeur, very different from the meanness his mother\nappeared in.\n\nBut notwithstanding, his amazement and surprise did not hinder him from\nrising off his throne and descending two or three steps quick enough to\nprevent Aladdin\u2019s throwing himself at his feet. He embraced him with all\nthe demonstrations of friendship. After this civility, Aladdin would\nhave cast himself at his feet again; but he held him fast by the hand,\nand obliged him to sit between him and the grand vizier.\n\nThen Aladdin, resuming the discourse, said, \u201cI receive, sir, the honour\nwhich your majesty out of your great goodness is pleased to confer on\nme; but permit me to tell you, that I have not forgotten that I am your\nslave; that I know the greatness of your power, and that I am not\ninsensible how much my birth is below the splendour and lustre of the\nhigh rank to which I am raised. If in any way,\u201d continued he, \u201cI could\nhave merited so favourable a reception, I confess I owe it merely to the\nboldness which chance inspired in me to raise my eyes, thoughts, and\ndesires to the divine princess, who is the object of my wishes. I ask\nyour majesty\u2019s pardon for my rashness, but I cannot dissemble, that I\nshould die with grief if I should lose my hopes of seeing them\naccomplished.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy son,\u201d answered the sultan, embracing him a second time, \u201cyou would\nwrong me to doubt for a moment of my sincerity: your life from this\nmoment is too dear to me not to preserve it, by presenting you with the\nremedy which is at my disposal. I prefer the pleasure of seeing and\nhearing you before all your treasure added to mine.\u201d\n\nAfter these words the sultan gave a signal, and immediately the air\nechoed with the sound of trumpets and hautboys, and other musical\ninstruments: and at the same time the sultan led Aladdin into a\nmagnificent hall, where there was prepared a noble feast. The sultan and\nAladdin ate by themselves, the grand vizier and the great lords of the\ncourt, according to their dignity and rank, waited all the time. The\nconversation turned on different subjects; but all the while the sultan\ntook so great a pleasure in seeing him, that he hardly ever took his\neyes off him; and throughout all their conversation Aladdin shewed so\nmuch good sense, as confirmed the sultan in the good opinion he had of\nhim.\n\nAfter the feast, the sultan sent for the chief judge of his capital, and\nordered him to draw up immediately a contract of marriage between the\nprincess Badr-oul-boudour his daughter, and Aladdin. In the meantime the\nsultan and he entered into another conversation on various subjects, in\nthe presence of the grand vizier and the lords of the court, who all\nadmired the solidity of his wit, the great ease and freedom wherewith he\ndelivered himself, and the beautiful thoughts, and his delicacy in\nexpressing them.\n\nWhen the judge had drawn up the contract in all the requisite forms, the\nsultan asked Aladdin if he would stay in the palace and solemnise the\nceremonies of marriage that day. To which he answered, \u201cSir, though\ngreat is my impatience to enjoy your majesty\u2019s goodness, yet I beg of\nyou to give me leave to defer it till I have built a palace fit to\nreceive the princess in; I therefore desire you to grant me a convenient\nspot of ground near your palace, that I may come the more frequently to\npay my respects to you, and I will take care to have it finished with\nall diligence.\u201d \u201cSon,\u201d said the sultan, \u201ctake what ground you think\nproper; there is land enough before my palace; but consider, I cannot\nthen see you so soon united with my daughter, which would complete my\njoy.\u201d After these words he embraced Aladdin again, who took his leave\nwith as much politeness as if he had been bred up and had always lived\nat court.\n\nAladdin mounted his horse again, and returned home in the same order he\ncame, with the acclamations of the people, who wished him all happiness\nand prosperity. As soon as he dismounted, he retired to his own chamber,\ntook the lamp, and called the genie as before, who in the usual manner\nmade him a tender of his service. \u201cGenie,\u201d said Aladdin, \u201cI have all the\nreason in the world to commend your exactness in executing hitherto\npunctually whatever I have asked you to do; but now, if you have any\nregard for the lamp your mistress, you must show, if possible, more zeal\nand diligence than ever. I would have you build me, as soon as you can,\na palace over against and at a proper distance from the sultan\u2019s fit to\nreceive my spouse, the princess Badr-oul-boudour. I leave the choice of\nthe materials to you, that is to say, porphyry, jasper, agate, lapis\nlazuli, and the finest marble of the most varied colours, and of the\nrest of the building. But I expect, that in that highest storey of this\npalace you shall build me a large hall with a dome, and four equal\nfronts; and that, instead of layers of bricks, the walls be made of\nmassy gold and silver, laid alternately; that each front shall contain\nsix windows, the lattices of all which, except one, must be left\nunfinished and imperfect, and shall be so enriched with art and\nsymmetry, diamonds, rubies and emeralds, that they shall exceed\neverything of the kind that has ever been in the world. I would have an\ninner and outer court before this palace; and a curious garden; but\nabove all things take care that there be laid in a place which you shall\npoint out to me, a treasure of gold and silver coin. Besides, this\npalace must be well provided with kitchens, and offices, store-houses,\nand rooms to keep choice furniture in, for every season of the year. I\nmust have stables full of the finest horses, with their equerries and\ngrooms, and hunting equipage. There must be officers to attend the\nkitchens and offices, and women slaves to wait on the princess. You\nunderstand what I mean; therefore go about it, and come and tell me when\nall is finished.\u201d\n\nBy the time Aladdin had instructed the genie with his intentions\nrespecting the building of his palace, the sun was set. The next morning\nby break of day, Aladdin, whose love for the princess would not let him\nsleep, was no sooner up but the genie presented himself, and said, \u201cSir,\nyour palace is finished; come and see how you like it.\u201d Aladdin had no\nsooner signified his consent, but the genie transported him thither in\nan instant, and he found it so much beyond his expectation, that he\ncould not enough admire it. The genie led him through all the\napartments, where he met with nothing but what was rich and magnificent,\nwith officers and slaves, all dressed according to their rank and the\nservices to which they were appointed. Then the genie shewed him the\ntreasury, which was opened by a treasurer, where Aladdin saw heaps of\npurses, of different sizes, piled up to the top of the ceiling, and\ndisposed in most pleasing order. The genie assured him of the\ntreasurer\u2019s fidelity, and thence led him to the stables, where he shewed\nhim some of the finest horses in the world, and the grooms busy in\ndressing them; from thence they went to the store-houses, which were\nfilled with all necessary provisions, both for the food and ornament of\nthe horses.\n\nWhen Aladdin had examined the palace from top to bottom, and\nparticularly the hall with the four-and-twenty windows, and found it\nmuch beyond whatever he could have imagined, he said to the genie,\n\u201cGenie, no one can be better satisfied than I am; and indeed I should be\nvery much to blame if I found any fault. There is only one thing\nwanting, which I forgot to mention; that is, to lay from the sultan\u2019s\npalace to the door of the apartment designed for the princess, a carpet\nof fine velvet for her to walk upon.\u201d The genie immediately disappeared,\nand Aladdin saw what he desired executed that minute. Then the genie\nreturned and carried Aladdin home, before the gates of the sultan\u2019s\npalace were opened.\n\nWhen the porters, who had always been used to an open prospect, came to\nopen the gates, they were amazed to find it obstructed, and to see a\ncarpet of velvet spread for a great way. They did not immediately see\nwhat it meant; but when they could discern Aladdin\u2019s palace distinctly,\ntheir surprise was increased. The news of so extraordinary a wonder was\npresently spread through the palace. The grand vizier, who came soon\nafter the gates were open, was no less amazed than other people at this\nnovelty, but ran and acquainted the sultan, and endeavoured to make him\nbelieve it to be all enchantment. \u201cVizier,\u201d replied the sultan, \u201cwhy\nwill you have it to be enchantment? You know as well as I, that it is\nAladdin\u2019s palace, which I gave him leave to build, to receive my\ndaughter in. After the proof we have had of his riches, can we think it\nstrange that he should build a palace in so short a time? He has a mind\nto surprise us, and let us see what wonders are to be done with ready\nmoney every day. Confess sincerely with me that that enchantment you\ntalk of proceeds from a little envy.\u201d The hour of going to council put\nan end to the conversation.\n\nWhen Aladdin had been conveyed home and had dismissed the genie, he\nfound his mother up, and dressing herself in one of those suits that\nwere brought her. By the time the sultan came from the council, Aladdin\nhad prepared his mother to go to the palace with her slaves, and desired\nher, if she saw the sultan, to tell him she came to do herself the\nhonour to attend the princess towards evening to her palace. Accordingly\nshe went; but though she and the women slaves who followed her were all\ndressed like sultanesses, yet the crowd was nothing near so great,\nbecause they were all veiled, and had each an upper garment on,\nagreeable to the richness and magnificence of their habits. As for\nAladdin, he mounted his horse, and took leave of his paternal house for\never, taking care not to forget his wonderful lamp, by the assistance of\nwhich he had reaped such advantages, and arrived at the utmost height of\nhis wishes, and went to the palace in the same pomp as the day before.\n\nAs soon as the porters of the sultan\u2019s palace saw Aladdin\u2019s mother, they\nwent and informed the sultan, who presently ordered the bands of\ntrumpets, cymbals, drums, fifes, and hautboys, placed in different parts\nof the palace, to play and beat, so that the air resounded with\nconcerts, which inspired the whole city with joy: the merchants began to\nadorn their shops and houses with fine carpets and cushions, and bedeck\nthem with boughs, and prepare illuminations against night. The artists\nof all sorts left their work, and the people all repaired to the great\nspace between the sultan\u2019s and Aladdin\u2019s palace; which last drew all\ntheir attention, not only because it was new to them, but because there\nwas no comparison between the two buildings. But their amazement was, to\ncomprehend by what unheard-of miracle so magnificent a palace should be\nso soon built; it being apparent to all that there were no prepared\nmaterials, or any foundations laid, the day before.\n\nAladdin\u2019s mother was received in the palace with honour, and introduced\ninto the princess Badr-oul-boudour\u2019s apartment, by the chief of the\neunuchs. As soon as the princess saw her, she went and saluted her, and\ndesired her to sit down on her sofa; and while her women made an end of\ndressing her, and adorned her with the jewels Aladdin had presented her\nwith, a noble collation was served up. At the same time, the sultan, who\nhad a mind to be as much with his daughter as possible before he parted\nwith her, came and paid her great respect. Aladdin\u2019s mother had often\ntalked to the sultan in public, but he had never seen her with her veil\noff, as she was then; and though she was somewhat advanced in years, she\nhad the remains of a good face, which shewed what she had been in her\nyouth. The sultan, who had always seen her dressed very meanly, not to\nsay poorly, was surprised to find her as richly and magnificently\nclothed as the princess his daughter. This made him think Aladdin\nequally prudent and wise in whatever he undertook.\n\nWhen it was night, the princess took her leave of the sultan her father:\ntheir adieus were tender, and accompanied with tears. They embraced each\nother several times, and at last the princess left her own apartment,\nand set forward for Aladdin\u2019s palace, with his mother on her left hand,\nfollowed by a hundred women slaves, dressed with surprising\nmagnificence. All the bands of music, which played from the time\nAladdin\u2019s mother arrived, joined together, led the procession, followed\nby a hundred chiaoux, and the like number of black eunuchs, in two\nfiles, with their officers at their head. Four hundred of the sultan\u2019s\nyoung pages carried flambeaux on each side, which, together with the\nilluminations of the sultan\u2019s and Aladdin\u2019s palaces, made it as light as\nday.\n\nIn this order the princess walked on the carpet, which was spread from\nthe sultan\u2019s palace to Aladdin\u2019s, preceded by bands of musicians, who,\nas they advanced, joining with those on the terraces of Aladdin\u2019s\npalace, formed a concert, which extraordinary and confused as it\nappeared, increased the joy not only of the crowd assembled in the great\nsquare, but of all that were in the two palaces, the town, and a great\nway round about it.\n\nAt length the princess arrived at the new palace. Aladdin ran with all\nimaginable joy to receive her at the entrance of the apartment appointed\nfor him. His mother had taken care to point him out to the princess, in\nthe midst of the officers that surrounded him, and she was charmed with\nhis person as soon as she saw him. \u201cAdorable princess,\u201d said Aladdin to\nher, accosting her and saluting her respectfully, \u201cif I have the\nmisfortune to have displeased you by my boldness in aspiring to the\npossession of so lovely a princess, and my sultan\u2019s daughter, I must\ntell you, that you ought to blame your bright eyes and charms, not\nme.\u201d\u2014\u201cPrince, as I may now call you,\u201d answered the princess, \u201cI am\nobedient to the will of my father: and it is enough for me to have seen\nyou, to tell you that I obey without reluctance.\u201d\n\nAladdin, charmed with so agreeable and satisfactory an answer, would not\nkeep the princess standing after she had walked so far, which was more\nthan she was used to do; but took her by the hand, which he kissed with\nthe greatest demonstrations of joy, and led her into a large hall,\nilluminated with an infinite number of wax candles, where, by the care\nof the genie, a noble feast was served up. The plates were of massy\ngold, and contained the most delicate meats. The vases, basins, and\ngoblets, with which the beaufet was furnished, were gold also, and of\nexquisite workmanship, and all the other ornaments and embellishments of\nthe hall were answerable to this great wealth. The princess, dazzled to\nsee so much riches collected in one place, said to Aladdin, \u201cI thought,\nprince, that nothing in the world was so beautiful as the sultan my\nfather\u2019s palace; but the sight of this hall alone is sufficient to shew\nI was deceived.\u201d\n\nThen Aladdin led the princess to the place appointed for her, and as\nsoon as she and his mother were sat down, a band of the most harmonious\ninstruments, accompanied with the voices of beautiful ladies, began a\nconcert, which lasted without intermission to the end of the repast. The\nprincess was so charmed, that she declared she never heard anything like\nit in the sultan her father\u2019s court; but she knew not that the musicians\nwere fairies chosen by the genie, slave of the lamp.\n\nWhen the supper was ended, and the table taken away, there entered a\ncompany of dancers, who danced, according to the custom of the country,\nseveral figure dances, ending with a dancing man and woman, who\nperformed their parts with surprising lightness and agility, and shewed\nall the address they were capable of. About midnight, Aladdin, according\nto the custom of that time in China, rose up and presented his hand to\nthe princess Badr-oul-boudour to dance with her, and to finish the\nceremonies of their nuptials. They danced with so good a grace, that\nthey were the admiration of all the company. When they left off, Aladdin\ndid not let the princess\u2019s hand go, but led her to the apartment where\nthe nuptial bed was prepared. The princess\u2019s women helped to undress\nher, and put her to bed: Aladdin\u2019s officers did the same by him, and\nthen all retired. Thus ended the ceremonies and rejoicings at the\nmarriage of Aladdin with the princess Badr-oul-boudour.\n\nThe next morning when Aladdin awaked, his valets-de-chambre presented\nthemselves to dress him, and brought him another habit as rich and\nmagnificent as that he wore the day before. Then he ordered one of the\nhorses appointed for his use to be got ready, mounted him, and went in\nthe midst of a large troop of slaves to the sultan\u2019s palace. The sultan\nreceived him with the same honours as before, embraced him, placed him\non the throne near him, and ordered in breakfast. Aladdin replied, \u201cI\nbeg your majesty will dispense with me from accepting that honour\nto-day; I came to ask you to come and take a repast in the princess\u2019s\npalace, attended by your grand vizier, and all the lords of your court.\u201d\nThe sultan consented with pleasure, rose up immediately, and, as it was\nnot far off, went thither on foot, with Aladdin on his right hand, the\ngrand vizier on his left, preceded by the chiaoux and principal officers\nof his palace, and followed by all the great lords of his court.\n\nThe nearer the sultan approached Aladdin\u2019s palace, the more he was\nstruck with its beauty, but was much more amazed when he entered it; and\ncould not forbear breaking out into exclamations of approbation. But\nwhen he came into the hall with the four-and-twenty windows, into which\nAladdin had invited him, and had seen the ornaments, and, above all,\ncast his eyes on the windows, enriched with diamonds, rubies, emeralds,\nall large perfect stones; and when Aladdin had observed to him, that it\nwas as rich on the outside, he was so much surprised, that he remained\nsome time motionless. After he recovered himself, he said to his vizier,\n\u201cIs it possible that there should be such a stately palace so nigh my\nown, and I be an utter stranger to it till now?\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d replied the\ngrand vizier, \u201cyour majesty may remember that the day before yesterday,\nyou gave Aladdin, whom you accepted for your son-in-law, leave to build\na palace over against your own, and that very day at sunset there was no\npalace on this spot, and yesterday I had the honour first to tell you\nthat the palace was built and finished.\u201d \u201cI remember it,\u201d replied the\nsultan, \u201cbut never imagined that the palace was one of the wonders of\nthe world; for where in all the world besides shall we find walls built\nof courses of massy gold and silver, instead of courses of brick, stone,\nor marble: and diamonds, rubies, and emeralds set thick about the\nwindows? There never was anything mentioned like it in this world\nbefore.\u201d\n\nThe sultan would examine and admire the beauty of all the windows and\ncounting them, found that there were but three-and-twenty windows that\nwere so richly adorned, and he was greatly astonished that the\ntwenty-fourth was left imperfect. \u201cVizier,\u201d said he, for that minister\nmade a point of never leaving him, \u201cI am surprised that a hall of this\nmagnificence should be left thus imperfect.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d replied the grand\nvizier, \u201cwithout doubt Aladdin only wanted time to finish this window\nlike the rest; for it is not to be supposed but that he has sufficient\njewels for it, and that he will set about it the first opportunity.\u201d\n\nAladdin, who had left the sultan to go and give some orders, returned\njust as the vizier had given that prince his supposed reasons. \u201cSon,\u201d\nsaid the sultan to him, \u201cthis hall is the most worthy of admiration of\nany hall in the world; there is only one thing that surprises me, which\nis, to find one of the windows unfinished. Is it from the forgetfulness\nor negligence of the workmen or want of time, that they have not put the\nfinishing stroke to so beautiful a piece of architecture?\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d\nanswered Aladdin, \u201cit was for none of these reasons that your majesty\nsees it in this condition. The thing was done by design, and it was by\nmy orders that the workmen left it thus, since I had a mind that your\nmajesty should have the glory of finishing this hall and the palace also\ntogether, and I beg of you to approve of my good intention, that I may\nremember the favours I have received from you.\u201d \u201cIf you did it with this\nintention,\u201d replied the sultan, \u201cI take it kindly, and will give orders\nabout it immediately.\u201d He accordingly sent for the most considerable\njewellers and goldsmiths in his capital.\n\nIn the meantime, the sultan went out of this hall, and Aladdin led him\ninto that where he had regaled the princess Badr-oul-boudour on their\nwedding-day. The princess came immediately afterwards, and received the\nsultan her father with an air that shewed how much she was satisfied\nwith her marriage. Two tables where immediately spread with the most\ndelicious meats, all served up in gold dishes. The sultan, princess,\nAladdin, and the grand vizier, sat down at the first, and all the lords\nof the court at the second, which was very long. The sultan was very\nmuch pleased with the meats, and owned he had never eaten anything more\nexcellent. He said the same of the wines, which were delicious; but what\nhe most of all admired was four large beaufets, profusely furnished with\nlarge flagons, basins, and cups, all of massy gold, set with jewels. He\nwas besides charmed with several bands of music, which were ranged along\nthe hall, and formed most agreeable concerts.\n\nWhen the sultan rose from table, he was informed that the jewellers and\ngoldsmiths he had sent for attended; upon which he returned to the hall,\nand shewed them the window which was unfinished. \u201cI sent for you,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cto fit up this window in as great perfection as the rest; examine\nthem well, and make all the despatch you can, to make them all alike.\u201d\n\nThe jewellers and goldsmiths examined the other three-and-twenty windows\nwith great attention, and after they had consulted together to know what\neach could furnish, they returned, and presented themselves before the\nsultan, whose principal jeweller, undertaking to speak for the rest,\nsaid, \u201cSir, we are all willing to exert our utmost care and industry to\nobey your majesty, but among us all we cannot furnish jewels enough for\nso great a work.\u201d \u201cI have more than are necessary,\u201d said the sultan;\n\u201ccome to my palace, and you shall choose what are fitting.\u201d\n\nWhen the sultan returned to his palace, he ordered his jewels to be\nfetched out, and the jewellers took a great quantity, particularly those\nwhich Aladdin had made him a present of, which they soon used without\nmaking any great advance in their work. They came again several times\nfor more, and in a month\u2019s time had not finished half their work. In\nshort, they used all the jewels the sultan had of his own, and borrowed\nof the vizier, and yet the work was not half done.\n\nAladdin, who knew that all the sultan\u2019s endeavours to make this window\nlike the rest were in vain, and that he never could compass it with\ncredit, sent for the jewellers, and goldsmiths, and not only bid them\ndesist from their work, but ordered them to undo what they had begun,\nand to carry all their jewels back to the sultan and to the vizier. They\nundid in a few hours what they had been six weeks about, and retired,\nleaving Aladdin alone in the hall. He took the lamp, which he carried\nabout him, and rubbed it, and presently the genie appeared. \u201cGenie,\u201d\nsaid Aladdin, \u201cI ordered thee to leave one of the four-and-twenty\nwindows of this hall imperfect, and thou hast executed my commands\npunctually; now, I would have thee make it like the rest.\u201d The genie\nimmediately disappeared. Aladdin went out of the hall, and returning\nsoon after into it, he found the window, as he wished it to be, like the\nothers.\n\nIn the meantime, the jewellers and goldsmiths reached the palace, and\nwere introduced into the sultan\u2019s presence, where the first jeweller,\npresenting the jewels which he had brought back, said, in the name of\nall the rest, \u201cSir, your majesty knows how long we have been upon the\nwork you were pleased to set us about, in which we used all imaginable\nindustry. It was far advanced, when Aladdin obliged us not only to leave\noff, but to undo what we had already begun, and bring your majesty your\njewels back.\u201d The sultan asked them if Aladdin gave them any reason for\nso doing, and they answering that he had given them none, he ordered a\nhorse to be brought to him presently, which he mounted, and rode to\nAladdin\u2019s palace, with some few attendants on foot by his side. When he\ncame there, he alighted at the staircase, which led up to the hall with\nthe twenty-four windows, and went directly up to it, without giving\nprevious notice to Aladdin; but it happened that at that very juncture\nAladdin was opportunely there, and had just time to receive him at the\ndoor.\n\nThe sultan, without giving Aladdin time to complain obligingly of his\nnot giving him notice, that he might have acquitted himself with the\nmore duty and respect, said to him, \u201cSon, I come myself to know the\nreason why you left so noble and magnificent a hall as this is\nimperfect.\u201d\n\nAladdin disguised the true reason, which was, that the sultan was not\nrich enough in jewels to be at so great an expense, but said, \u201cIt is\ntrue your majesty saw this hall unfinished, but I beg of you now to see\nif anything is wanting.\u201d\n\nThe sultan went directly to the window which was left imperfect, and\nwhen he found it like the rest, he fancied that he was mistaken, and\nexamined the two windows on each side, and afterwards all the\nfour-and-twenty; and when he was convinced that the window, which\nseveral workmen had been so long about, was finished in so short a time,\nhe embraced Aladdin, and kissed him between his eyes. \u201cMy son,\u201d said he,\n\u201cwhat a man you are to do such surprising things always in the twinkling\nof an eye! There is not your fellow in the world. The more I know you,\nthe more I admire you.\u201d\n\nAladdin received these praises from the sultan with a great deal of\nmodesty, and replied in these words: \u201cSir, it is a great honour to me to\ndeserve your majesty\u2019s goodwill and approbation, and I assure you I\nshall study to deserve them more.\u201d\n\nThe sultan returned to his palace as he came, but would not let Aladdin\ngo back with him. When he came there, he found the grand vizier waiting\nfor him, to whom he related the wonder he had been a witness of with the\nutmost admiration, and in such terms as left that minister no room to\ndoubt but that the fact was as the sultan related it; though he was the\nmore confirmed in his belief that Aladdin\u2019s palace was the effect of\nenchantment, as he told the sultan the first moment he saw it. He was\ngoing to repeat the same thing again, but the sultan interrupted him,\nand said, \u201cYou told me so once before. I see, vizier, you have not\nforgot your son\u2019s marriage to my daughter.\u201d The grand vizier plainly saw\nhow much the sultan was prepossessed, and therefore avoided any\ndisputes, and let him remain in his own opinion. The sultan, as certain\nas he rose in a morning, went into the closet to look at Aladdin\u2019s\npalace, and would go many times in a day to contemplate and admire it.\n\nAll this time, Aladdin did not confine himself in his palace, but took\ncare to shew himself once or twice a week in the town, by going\nsometimes to one mosque, and sometimes to another, to prayers or to pay\na visit to the grand vizier, who affected to pay his court to him on\ncertain days, or to do the principal lords of the court the honour to\nreturn their visits, after he had regaled them at his palace. Every time\nhe went out, he caused two slaves, who walked by the side of his horse,\nto throw handfuls of money among the people, as he passed through the\nstreets and squares, which were generally on those occasions crowded.\nBesides, no one came to his palace gates to ask alms, but returned\nsatisfied with his liberality. In short, he so divided his time, that\nnot a week passed but Aladdin went either once or twice a hunting,\nsometimes in the environs of the city, sometimes further off; at which\ntimes the villages through which he passed felt the effects of his\ngenerosity, which gained him the love and blessings of the people; and\nit was common for them to swear by his head. In short, without giving\nthe least umbrage to the sultan, to whom he paid all imaginary respect,\nit might be said that Aladdin, by his affable behaviour and liberality,\nhad won the affections of the people, and was more beloved than the\nsultan himself. With all these good qualities he shewed a courage and\nzeal for the public good which could not be sufficiently applauded. He\ngave sufficient proofs of both in a revolt on the borders of that\nkingdom: for he no sooner understood that the sultan was levying an army\nto disperse the rebels, but he begged the command of it, which he found\nno difficulty to obtain. As soon as he was at the head of the army, he\nmarched against the rebels with so much expedition, that the sultan\nheard of the defeat of the rebels before he had received an account of\nhis arrival in the army. And though this action rendered his name famous\nthroughout the kingdom, it made no alteration in his disposition; but he\nwas as affable after his victory as before.\n\nAladdin had behaved himself after this manner several years, when the\nAfrican magician, who undesignedly had been the instrument of raising\nhim to so high a pitch of fortune, bethought himself of him in Africa,\nwhither after his expedition, he returned; and though he was almost\npersuaded that Aladdin died miserably in the subterraneous abode where\nhe left him, yet he had the curiosity to inform himself about his end\nwith certainty; and as he was a great geomancer, he took out of a\ncupboard a square covered box, which he made use of in his geomantic\nobservations, then set himself down on his sofa, set it before him and\nuncovered it. After he had prepared and levelled the sand which was in\nit, with an intention to discover whether or no Aladdin died in the\nsubterraneous abode, he cast the points, drew the figures, and formed a\nhoroscope, by which, when he came to examine it, he found that Aladdin\ninstead of dying in the cave, had escaped out of it, lived splendidly,\nwas very rich, had married a princess, and was very much honoured and\nrespected.\n\nThe magician no sooner understood by the rules of his diabolical art,\nthat Aladdin had arrived to that height of good fortune, but a colour\ncame into his face, and he cried out in a rage, \u201cThis poor sorry\ntailor\u2019s son has discovered the secret and virtue of the lamp! I\nbelieved his death to be certain, but find too plainly he enjoys the\nfruit of my labour and study. But I will prevent his enjoying it long,\nor perish in the attempt.\u201d He was not a great while deliberating on what\nhe should do; but the next morning mounted a barb which was in his\nstable, set forwards, and never stopped but just to refresh himself and\nhorse, till he arrived at the capital of China. He alighted, took up his\nlodgings in a khan, and stayed there the remainder of the day and the\nnight, to refresh himself after so long a journey.\n\nThe next day his first object was to inquire what people said of\nAladdin; and, taking a walk through the town, he went to the most public\nand frequented places, where people of the best distinction met to drink\na certain warm liquor, which he had drank often when he was there\nbefore. As soon as he sat down, he was presented with a glass of it,\nwhich he took; but, listening at the same time to the discourse of the\ncompany on each side of him, he heard them talking of Aladdin\u2019s palace.\nWhen he had drank off his glass, he joined them; and, taking this\nopportunity, asked them particularly what palace that was they spoke so\nadvantageously of. \u201cFrom whence come you?\u201d said the person to whom he\naddressed himself; \u201cyou must certainly be a stranger, not to have seen\nor heard talk of prince Aladdin\u2019s palace (for he was called so after his\nmarriage with the princess Badr-oul-boudour.) I do not say,\u201d continued\nthe man, \u201cthat it is one of the wonders of the world, but that it is the\nonly wonder of the world, since nothing so grand, rich, and magnificent\nwas ever seen. Certainly you must have come from a great distance, not\nto have heard of it; it must have been talked of all over the world. Go\nand see it, and then judge whether I have told you more than the truth.\u201d\n\u201cForgive my ignorance,\u201d replied the African magician; \u201cI arrived here\nbut yesterday, and came from the farthest part of Africa, where the fame\nof this palace had not reached when I came away. For the affair which\nbrought me hither was so urgent, that my sole object was to get here as\nsoon as I could, without stopping anywhere, or making any acquaintance.\nBut I will not fail to go and see it; my impatience is so great, I will\ngo immediately and satisfy my curiosity, if you will do me the favour to\nshew me the way thither.\u201d\n\nThe person to whom the African magician addressed himself took a\npleasure in shewing him the way to Aladdin\u2019s palace, and he got up, and\nwent thither instantly. When he came to the palace, and had examined it\non all sides, he doubted not but that Aladdin had made use of the lamp\nto build it. Without attending to the inability of Aladdin, a poor\ntailor\u2019s son, he knew that none but the genies, the slaves of the lamp,\nthe attaining of which he had missed, could have performed such wonders;\nand, piqued to the quick at Aladdin\u2019s happiness and greatness, he\nreturned to the khan where he lodged.\n\nThe next thing was to know where the lamp was; if Aladdin carried it\nabout with him, or where he kept it; and this he was to discover by an\noperation of geomancy. As soon as he entered his lodging, he took his\nsquare box of sand, which he always carried along with him when he\ntravelled, and after he had performed some operations, he knew that the\nlamp was in Aladdin\u2019s palace; and so great was his joy at the discovery,\nthat he could hardly contain himself. \u201cWell,\u201d said he, \u201cI shall have the\nlamp, and I defy Aladdin\u2019s preventing my carrying it off, and making him\nsink to his original meanness, from which he has taken so high a\nflight.\u201d\n\nIt was Aladdin\u2019s misfortune at that time to be gone a-hunting for eight\ndays, of which only three were expired, which the magician came to know\nby this means. After he had performed this operation, which gave him so\nmuch joy, he went to the master of the khan, entered into discourse with\nhim on indifferent matters, and, among the rest, told him he had been to\nsee Aladdin\u2019s palace; and, after exaggerating on all that he had seen\nmost surprising and most striking to him and all the world, he added,\n\u201cBut my curiosity leads me farther, and I shall not be easy till I have\nseen the person to whom this wonderful edifice belongs.\u201d \u201cThat will be\nno difficult matter,\u201d replied the master of the khan; \u201cthere is not a\nday passes but he gives an opportunity when he is in town, but at\npresent he is not at home, and has been gone these three days on a\nhunting-match, which will last eight.\u201d\n\nThe magician wanted to know no more: he took his leave of the master of\nthe khan, and returning to his own chamber, said to himself, \u201cThis is an\nopportunity I ought by no means to let slip, but will make the best use\nof it.\u201d To that end he went to a maker and seller of lamps, and asked\nfor a dozen of copper lamps. The master of the shop told him he had not\nso many by him, but if he would have patience till the next day, he\nwould get him so many against any time he had a mind to have them. The\nmagician appointed his time, and bid him take care that they should be\nhandsome and well polished. After promising to pay him well, he returned\nto his inn.\n\nThe next day the magician called for the twelve lamps, paid the man his\nfull price for them, put them into a basket which he brought on purpose,\nand, with the basket hanging on his arm, went directly to Aladdin\u2019s\npalace; and when he came near it, he began crying, \u201cWho will change old\nlamps for new ones?\u201d As he went along, he gathered a crowd of children\nabout him who hooted at him, and thought him, as did all who chanced to\nbe passing by, mad or a fool, to offer to change new lamps for old ones.\n\nThe African magician never minded their scoffs and hootings, or all they\ncould say to him, but still continued crying, \u201cWho will change old lamps\nfor new ones?\u201d He repeated this so often, walking backwards and forwards\nabout the princess Badr-oul-boudour\u2019s palace, that the princess, who was\nthen in the hall with the four-and-twenty windows, hearing a man cry\nsomething, and not being able to distinguish his words, by reason of the\nhooting of the children and increasing mob about him, sent one of her\nwomen slaves down to know what he cried.\n\nThe slave was not long before she returned, and ran into the hall,\nlaughing so heartily that the princess could not forbear herself. \u201cWell,\ngiggler,\u201d said the princess, \u201cwill you tell me what you laugh at?\u201d\n\u201cMadam,\u201d answered the slave, laughing still, \u201cwho can forbear laughing,\nto see a fool, with a basket on his arm, full of fine new lamps, asking\nto exchange them for old ones? The children and mob crowding about him\nso that he can hardly stir, make all the noise they can by deriding\nhim.\u201d\n\nAnother woman slave, hearing this, said, \u201cNow you speak of lamps, I know\nnot whether the princess may have observed it, but there is an old one\nupon the cornice, and whoever owns it will not be sorry to find a new\none in its stead. If the princess has a mind, she may have the pleasure\nto try if this fool is so silly as to give a new lamp for an old one,\nwithout taking anything for the exchange.\u201d\n\nThe lamp this slave spoke of was Aladdin\u2019s Wonderful Lamp, which he, for\nfear of losing it, had laid upon the cornice before he went hunting;\nwhich precaution he made use of several times before, but neither the\nprincess, the slaves, nor the eunuchs had ever taken notice of it. At\nall other times but hunting, he carried it about him, and then, indeed,\nhe might have locked it up; but other people have been guilty of as\ngreat oversights, and will be so to the end of time.\n\nThe princess Badr-oul-boudour, who knew not the value of this lamp, and\nthe interest that Aladdin, not to mention herself, had to keep it safe\nfrom everybody else, entered into the pleasantry, and bid a eunuch take\nit, and go and make the exchange. The eunuch obeyed, went out of the\nhall, and no sooner got to the palace gates, but he saw the African\nmagician, called to him, and showing him the old lamp, said to him,\n\u201cGive me a new lamp for this.\u201d\n\nThe magician never doubted but this was the lamp he wanted. There could\nbe no other such in this palace, where all was gold or silver. He\nsnatched it eagerly out of the eunuch\u2019s hand, and thrusting it as far as\nhe could into his breast, offered him his basket, and bid him choose\nwhich he liked best. The eunuch picked out one, and carried it to the\nprincess Badr-oul-boudour; but the exchange was no sooner made, than the\nplace rung with the shouts of the children, deriding the magician\u2019s\nfolly.\n\nThe African magician gave everybody leave to laugh as much as they\npleased: he stayed not long about Aladdin\u2019s palace, but made the best of\nhis way, without crying any longer, \u201cNew lamps for old ones.\u201d His end\nwas answered, and by his silence he got rid of the children and the mob.\n\nAs soon as he got out of the square between the two palaces, he skulked\ndown the streets which were the least frequented; and having no more\noccasion for his lamps or basket, set all down in the midst of a street\nwhere nobody saw him; then scouring down another street or two, he\nwalked till he came to one of the city gates, and pursuing his way\nthrough the suburbs, which were very long, he bought some provisions\nbefore he left the city, got into the fields, and turned into the road\nwhich led to a lonely remote place, where he stopped for a time, to\nexecute the design he came about, never caring for his horse, which he\nleft at the khan; but thinking himself perfectly compensated by the\ntreasure he had acquired.\n\nIn this place the African magician passed the remainder of the day, till\nthe darkest time of night, when he pulled the lamp out of his breast,\nand rubbed it. At that summons, the genie appeared, and said, \u201cWhat\nwouldst thou have? I am ready to obey thee as thy slave, and the slave\nof all those who have that lamp in their hands; both I and the other\nslaves of the lamp.\u201d \u201cI command thee,\u201d replied the magician, \u201cto\ntransport me immediately, and the palace which thou and the other slaves\nof the lamp have built in this town, such as it is, and with all the\npeople in it, to such a place in Africa.\u201d The genie made no reply, but\nwith the assistance of the other genies, the slaves of the lamp,\ntransported him and the palace entire immediately to the place he\nappointed in Africa; where we will leave the magician, palace, and the\nprincess Badr-oul-boudour, to speak of the surprise of the sultan.\n\nAs soon as the sultan rose the next morning, according to custom, he\nwent into his closet, to have the pleasure of contemplating and admiring\nAladdin\u2019s palace; but when he first looked that way, and, instead of a\npalace, saw an empty space, such as it was before the palace was built,\nhe thought he was mistaken, and rubbed his eyes: he looked again, and\nsaw nothing more the second time than the first, though the weather was\nfine, the sky clear, and the daybreak beginning to appear had made all\nobjects very distinct. He looked through the two openings on the right\nand left, and saw nothing more than he had formerly been used to see out\nof them. His amazement was so great, that he stood for some time turning\nhis eyes to the spot where the palace had stood, but where it was no\nlonger to be seen. He could not comprehend how so large a palace as\nAladdin\u2019s which he saw plainly every day, and but the day before, should\nvanish so soon, and not leave the least remains behind. \u201cCertainly,\u201d\nsaid he to himself, \u201cI am not mistaken; it stood there; if it had\ntumbled down, the materials would have lain in heaps; and if it had been\nswallowed up by an earthquake, there would be some mark left.\u201d Whatever\nwas the case, though he was convinced that no palace stood there, he\ncould not help staying there some time, to see whether he might not be\nmistaken. At last he retired to his apartment, not without looking\nbehind him before he quitted the spot, and ordered the grand vizier to\nbe fetched in all haste; and in the meantime sat down, his mind agitated\nby so many different thoughts, that he knew not what to resolve on.\n\nThe grand vizier did not make the sultan wait long for him, but came\nwith so much precipitation, that neither he nor his attendants, as they\npassed by, missed Aladdin\u2019s palace; neither did the porters, when they\nopened the palace gates, observe any alteration.\n\nWhen he came into the sultan\u2019s presence, he said to him, \u201cSir, the haste\nin which your majesty sent for me makes me believe something very\nextraordinary has happened, since you know this is council-day, and I\nshall not fail attending you there very soon.\u201d \u201cIndeed,\u201d said the\nsultan, \u201cit is something very extraordinary, as you say, and you will\nallow it to be so: tell me what has become of Aladdin\u2019s palace.\u201d\n\u201cAladdin\u2019s palace!\u201d replied the grand vizier, in great amazement; \u201cI\nthought as I passed by it, it stood in its usual place: such substantial\nbuildings are not so easily removed.\u201d \u201cGo into my closet,\u201d said the\nsultan, \u201cand tell me if you can see it.\u201d\n\nThe grand vizier went into the closet, where he was struck with no less\namazement than the sultan had been. When he was well assured that there\nwas not the least appearance of this palace, he returned to the sultan.\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the sultan, \u201chave you seen Aladdin\u2019s palace?\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d\nanswered the vizier, \u201cyour majesty may remember that I had the honour to\ntell you, that that palace, which was the subject of your admiration,\nwith all its immense riches, was only the work of magic and a magician;\nbut your majesty would not pay the least attention to what I said.\u201d\n\nThe sultan, who could not deny what the grand vizier had represented to\nhim, flew into a greater passion. \u201cWhere is that impostor, that wicked\nwretch,\u201d said he, \u201cthat I may have his head cut off immediately.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d\nreplied the grand vizier, \u201cit is some days since he came to take his\nleave of your majesty; he ought to be sent to, to know what has become\nof his palace, since he cannot be ignorant of what has been transacted.\u201d\n\u201cThat is too great an indulgence,\u201d replied the sultan; \u201cgo and order a\ndetachment of thirty horse, to bring him to me loaded with chains.\u201d The\ngrand vizier went and gave orders for a detachment of thirty horse, and\ninstructed the officer who commanded them how they were to act, that\nAladdin might not escape them. The detachment pursued their orders; and\nabout five or six leagues from the town, met him returning from hunting.\nThe officer went up to him, and told him that the sultan was so\nimpatient to see him that he had sent them to accompany him home.\n\nAladdin had not the least suspicion of the true reason of their meeting\nhim but pursued his way hunting; but when he came within half a league\nof the city, the detachment surrounded him, and the officer addressed\nhimself to him, and said, \u201cPrince Aladdin, it is with great regret that\nI declare to you the sultan\u2019s order to arrest you, and to carry you\nbefore him as a criminal. I beg of you not to take it ill that we acquit\nourselves of our duty, and to forgive us.\u201d\n\nAladdin, who felt himself innocent, was very much surprised at this\ndeclaration, and asked the officer if he knew what crime he was accused\nof, who replied he did not. Then Aladdin, finding that his retinue was\nmuch inferior to this detachment, alighted off his horse, and said to\nthe officer, \u201cExecute your orders; I am not conscious that I have\ncommitted any crime against the sultan\u2019s person or government.\u201d A large\nlong chain was immediately put about his neck, fastened round his body,\nso that both his arms were pinioned down; then the officer put himself\nat the head of the detachment, and one of the troopers taking hold of\nthe end of the chain, and proceeding after the officer, led Aladdin who\nwas obliged to follow him on foot, into the town.\n\nWhen this detachment entered the suburbs, the people who saw Aladdin\nthus led as a state criminal, never doubted but that his head was to be\ncut off; and as he was generally beloved, some took sabres and other\narms; and those who had none, gathered stones, and followed the\ndetachment. The last five of the detachment faced about to disperse\nthem; but their numbers presently increased so much, that the detachment\nbegan to think that it would be well if they could get into the sultan\u2019s\npalace before Aladdin was rescued; to prevent which, according to the\ndifferent extent of the streets, they took care to cover the ground by\nextending or closing. In this manner they arrived at the palace square,\nand there drew up in a line, and faced about till their officer and the\ntrooper that led Aladdin had got within the gates, which were\nimmediately shut.\n\nAladdin was carried before the sultan, who waited for him, attended by\nthe grand vizier, in a balcony; and as soon as he saw him, he ordered\nthe executioner, who waited there on purpose, to cut off his head\nwithout hearing him, or giving him leave to clear himself.\n\nAs soon as the executioner had taken off the chain that was fastened\nabout Aladdin\u2019s neck and body, and laid down a skin stained with the\nblood of the many criminals he had executed, he made Aladdin kneel down,\nand tied a bandage over his eyes. Then drawing his sabre, he took his\nmeasures to strike the blow, by flourishing it three times in the air,\nwaiting for the sultan\u2019s giving the signal to separate his head from his\nbody.\n\nAt that instant, the grand vizier, perceiving that the populace had\nforced the guard of horse, and crowded the great square before the\npalace, and were scaling the walls in several places, and beginning to\npull them down, to force their way in, he said to the sultan, before he\ngave the signal, \u201cI beg of your majesty to consider what you are going\nto do, since you will hazard your palace being forced; and who knows\nwhat fatal consequence may attend it?\u201d \u201cMy palace forced!\u201d replied the\nsultan; \u201cwho can have that boldness?\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d answered the grand vizier,\n\u201cif your majesty but cast your eyes towards the great square, and on the\npalace walls, you will know the truth of what I say.\u201d\n\nThe sultan was so frightened when he saw so great a crowd, and perceived\nhow enraged they were, that he ordered the executioner to put his sabre\nimmediately in the scabbard, and to unbind Aladdin; and at the same time\nbid the chiaoux declare to the people that the sultan had pardoned him,\nand that they might retire.\n\nThen all those who had already got upon the walls, and were witnesses of\nwhat had passed, abandoned their design, and got quickly down, overjoyed\nthat they had saved the life of a man they dearly loved, published the\nnews among the rest, which was presently confirmed by the chiaoux from\nthe top of the terraces. The justice which the sultan had done to\nAladdin soon disarmed the populace of their rage; the tumult abated, and\nthe mob dispersed.\n\nWhen Aladdin found himself at liberty, he turned towards the balcony,\nand perceiving the sultan, raised his voice, and said to him in a moving\nmanner, \u201cI beg of your majesty to add one favour more to that which I\nhave already received, which is, to let me know my crime.\u201d \u201cYour crime!\u201d\nanswered the sultan; \u201cperfidious wretch! do you not know it? Come up\nhither, and I will shew it you.\u201d\n\nAladdin went up, and presenting himself to the sultan, the latter going\nbefore him without looking at him, said, \u201cFollow me;\u201d and then led him\ninto his closet. When he came to the door, he said, \u201cGo in; you ought to\nknow whereabouts your palace stood; look round, and tell me what is\nbecome of it.\u201d\n\nAladdin looked round, but saw nothing. He perceived very well the spot\nof ground his palace had stood on; but not being able to divine how it\nshould disappear, this extraordinary and surprising event threw him into\nso great confusion and amazement, that he could not return one word of\nanswer.\n\nThe sultan growing impatient, said to him again, \u201cWhere is your palace,\nand what is become of my daughter?\u201d Then Aladdin, breaking silence, said\nto him, \u201cSir, I see very well, and own that the palace which I have\nbuilt is not in the same place it was, but is vanished; neither can I\ntell your majesty where it may be, but can assure you I have no hand in\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am not so much concerned about your palace,\u201d replied the sultan; \u201cI\nvalue my daughter ten thousand times before it, and would have you find\nher out, otherwise I will cause your head to be struck off, and no\nconsideration shall prevent it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI beg of your majesty,\u201d answered Aladdin, \u201cto grant me forty days to\nmake my inquiries; and if in that time I have not the success I wish\nfor, I will come again, and offer my head at the foot of your throne, to\nbe disposed of at your pleasure.\u201d \u201cI give you the forty days you ask\nfor,\u201d said the sultan; \u201cbut think not to abuse the favour I shew you, by\nimagining you shall escape my resentment: for I will find you out in\nwhatsoever part of the world you are.\u201d\n\nAladdin went out of the sultan\u2019s presence with great humiliation, and in\na condition worthy of pity. He crossed the courts of the palace, hanging\ndown his head, and in so great confusion that he durst not lift up his\neyes. The principal officers of the court, who had all professed\nthemselves his friends, and whom he had never disobliged, instead of\ngoing up to him to comfort him, and offer him a retreat in their houses,\nturned their backs on him, as much to avoid seeing him, as lest he\nshould know them. But had they accosted him with a word of comfort, or\noffer of service, they would have no more known Aladdin. He did not know\nhimself, and was no longer in his senses, as plainly appeared by asking\neverybody he met, and at every house, if they had seen his palace or\ncould tell him any news of it.\n\nThese questions made everybody believe that Aladdin was mad. Some\nlaughed at him, but people of sense and humanity, particularly those who\nhad any connection of business or friendship with him, really pitied\nhim. For three days he rambled about the city after this manner, without\ncoming to any resolution, or eating anything but what some good people\nforced him to take out of charity.\n\nAt last, as he could no longer, in his unhappy condition, stay in a city\nwhere he had formerly made so fine a figure, he quitted it, and took the\nroad to the country, and after he had traversed several fields in a\nfrightful uncertainty, at the approach of night he came to a river side.\nThere, possessed by his despair he said to himself \u201cWhere shall I seek\nmy palace? In what province, country, or part of the world, shall I find\nthat and my dear princess, whom the sultan expects from me? I shall\nnever succeed; I had better free myself at once from so much fruitless\nfatigue and such bitter grief which preys upon me.\u201d He was just going to\nthrow himself into the river, but, as a good Mussulman, true to his\nreligion, he thought he could not do it without first saying his\nprayers. Going to prepare himself, he went first to the river side to\nwash his hands and face, according to custom. But that place being steep\nand slippery, by reason of the water\u2019s beating against it, he slid down\nand had certainly fallen into the river, but for a little rock which\nprojected about two feet out of the earth. Happily also for him, he\nstill had on the ring which the African magician put on his finger\nbefore he went down into the subterraneous abode to fetch the precious\nlamp, which had not been taken from him. In slipping down the bank he\nrubbed the ring so hard by holding on the rock, that immediately the\nsame genie appeared whom he saw in the cave where the magician left him.\n\u201cWhat wouldst thou have?\u201d said the genie, \u201cI am ready to obey thee as\nthy slave, and the slave of all those that have that ring on their\nfinger; both I and the other slaves of the ring.\u201d\n\nAladdin, agreeably surprised at an apparition he so little expected in\nthe despair he was in, replied, \u201cSave my life, genie, a second time,\neither by shewing me to the place where the palace I have caused to be\nbuilt now stands, or immediately transport it back where it first\nstood.\u201d \u201cWhat you command me,\u201d answered the genie, \u201cis not in my power;\nI am only the slave of the ring; you must address yourself to the slave\nof the lamp.\u201d \u201cIf it be so,\u201d replied Aladdin, \u201cI command thee, by the\npower of the ring, to transport me to the place where my palace stands,\nin what part of the world soever it is, and set me down under the\nprincess Badr-oul-boudour\u2019s window.\u201d These words were no sooner out of\nhis mouth, but the genie transported him into Africa, to the midst of a\nlarge meadow, where his palace stood, a small distance from a great\ncity, and set him exactly under the windows of the princess\u2019s apartment,\nand then left him. All this was done almost in an instant.\n\nAladdin, notwithstanding the darkness of the night, knew his palace and\nthe princess Badr-oul-boudour\u2019s apartment again very well; but as the\nnight was far advanced, and all was quiet in the palace, he retired to\nsome distance, and sat down at the foot of a large tree. There, full of\nhopes, and reflecting on his happiness, for which he was indebted to\npure chance, he found himself in a much more peaceable situation than\nwhen he was arrested and carried before the sultan, delivered from the\ndanger of losing his life. He amused himself for some time with these\nagreeable thoughts; but not having slept for five or six days, he was\nnot able to resist the drowsiness which came upon him, but fell fast\nasleep where he was.\n\nThe next morning, as soon as day appeared, Aladdin was agreeably\nawakened, not only by the singing of the birds which had roosted in the\ntree under which he had passed the night, but all those which perched in\nthe thick trees of the palace garden. When he cast his eyes on that\nwonderful edifice, he felt an inexpressible joy to think he should soon\nbe master of it again, and once more possess his dear princess\nBadr-oul-boudour. Pleased with these hopes, he immediately got up, went\ntowards the princess\u2019s apartment, and walked some time under her window,\nin expectation of her rising, that he might see her. During this\nexpectation, he began to consider with himself from whence the cause of\nhis misfortune proceeded; and after mature reflection, he no longer\ndoubted that it was owing to his having put his lamp out of his sight.\nHe accused himself of negligence, and the little care he took of it, to\nlet it be a moment away from him. But what puzzled him most was, he\ncould not imagine who had been so jealous of his happiness. He would\nsoon have guessed this, if he had known that both he and his palace were\nin Africa, the very name of which would soon have made him remember the\nmagician, his declared enemy; but the genie, the slave of the ring, had\nnot made the least mention of the name of the place nor had Aladdin\nasked him.\n\nThe princess Badr-oul-boudour rose earlier that morning than she had\ndone since her transportation into Africa by the magician, whose\npresence she was forced to support once a day because he was master of\nthe palace; but she had always treated him so harshly, that he dared not\nreside in it. As she was dressing, one of the women, looking through the\nwindow, perceived Aladdin, and presently ran and told her mistress. The\nprincess, who could not believe the news, went that moment herself to\nthe window, and seeing Aladdin, immediately opened it. The noise the\nprincess made in opening the window made Aladdin turn his head that way,\nwho, knowing the princess, saluted her with an air that expressed his\njoy. \u201cTo lose no time,\u201d said she to him, \u201cI have sent to have the\nprivate door opened for you. Enter and come up;\u201d and then shut the\nwindow.\n\nThe private door, which was just under the princess\u2019s apartment, was\nsoon opened, and Aladdin was conducted up into the princess\u2019s chamber.\nIt is impossible to express the joy of those lovers at seeing each\nother, after a separation which they both thought was for ever. They\nembraced several times, and showed all the marks of a sincere love and\ntenderness, after an event so unforeseen and melancholy. After these\nembracings, and shedding tears of joy, they sat down, and Aladdin,\nbeginning the discourse said, \u201cI beg of you, princess, in God\u2019s name,\nbefore we talk of anything else, to tell me, both for your own sake, the\nsultan your father\u2019s and mine, what has become of an old lamp which I\nleft upon the cornice in the hall of the four-and-twenty windows, before\nI went to hunting.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas! dear husband,\u201d answered the princess, \u201cI am afraid our misfortune\nis owing to that lamp; and what grieves me most is, that I have been the\ncause of it.\u201d \u201cPrincess,\u201d replied Aladdin, \u201cdo not blame yourself, since\nit was entirely my fault, and I ought to have taken more care of it. But\nlet us now think only of repairing the loss: tell me what has happened,\nand into whose hands it has fallen.\u201d\n\nThen the princess Badr-oul-boudour gave Aladdin an account how she\nchanged the old lamp for a new one, which she ordered to be fetched,\nthat he might see it, and how the next morning she found herself in the\nunknown country they were then in, which she was told was Africa, by the\ntraitor who had transported her thither by his magic art.\n\n\u201cPrincess,\u201d said Aladdin, interrupting her, \u201cyou have informed me who\nthe traitor is, by telling me we are in Africa. He is the most\nperfidious of all men; but this is neither a time nor place to give you\na full account of his villainies. I desire you only to tell me what he\nhas done with the lamp, and where he has put it.\u201d \u201cHe carries it\ncarefully wrapt up in his bosom,\u201d said the princess; \u201cand this I can\nassure you, because he pulled it out before me, and shewed it to me in\ntriumph.\u201d\n\n\u201cPrincess,\u201d said Aladdin, \u201cdo not be displeased that I trouble you with\nso many questions, since they are equally important both to you and me.\nBut to come to what most particularly concerns me. Tell me, I conjure\nyou, how so wicked and perfidious a man treats you?\u201d \u201cSince I have been\nhere,\u201d replied the princess, \u201che comes once every day to see me; and I\nam persuaded the little satisfaction he receives from his visits makes\nhim come no oftener. All his discourse tends to persuade me to break\nthat faith I have pledged to you, and to take him for a husband; giving\nme to understand, I ought not to entertain any hopes of ever seeing you\nagain, for that you were dead, and had had your head struck off by the\nsultan my father\u2019s order. He added, to justify himself, that you were an\nungrateful wretch: that your good fortune was owing to him, and a great\nmany other things of that nature, which I forbear to repeat; but as he\nreceived no other answer from me but grievous complaints and tears, he\nwas always forced to retire with as little satisfaction as he came. I\ndoubt not his intention is to allow me time to vanquish my grief, in\nhopes afterwards that I may change my sentiments; and if I persevere in\nan obstinate refusal, to use violence. But my dear husband\u2019s presence\nremoves all my disquiets.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am confident it is not in vain,\u201d replied Aladdin, \u201csince my\nprincess\u2019s fears are removed, and I think I have found the means to\ndeliver you from both your enemy and mine: to execute this design, it is\nnecessary for me to go to the town. I shall return by noon, and then\nwill communicate my design to you, and tell you what must be done by you\nto ensure success. But that you may not be surprised, I think it proper\nto acquaint you that I shall change my apparel, and beg of you to give\norders that I may not wait long at the private door, but that it may be\nopened at the first knock;\u201d all which the princess promised to observe.\n\nWhen Aladdin had got out of the palace by that door, he looked round\nabout him on all sides, and perceiving a peasant going into the country,\nhe hastened after him; and when he had overtaken him, made a proposal to\nhim to change clothes, which the man agreed to. They went behind a\nhedge, and there made the exchange. The countryman went about his\nbusiness, and Aladdin to the city. After traversing several streets, he\ncame to that part of the town where all sorts of merchants and artisans\nhad their particular streets, according to their trades. He went into\nthat of the druggists; and going into one of the largest and best\nfurnished shops, asked the druggist if he had a certain powder which he\nnamed.\n\nThe druggist, looking upon Aladdin by his habits to be very poor, and\nthat he had not money enough to pay for it, told him he had it, but that\nit was very dear; upon which Aladdin, penetrating his thoughts, pulled\nout his purse, and shewing him some gold, asked for half a drachm of the\npowder; which the druggist weighed, and wrapped up in a piece of paper,\nand gave him, telling him the price was a piece of gold. Aladdin put the\nmoney in his hand, and staying no longer in the town but just to get a\nlittle refreshment, returned to the palace, where he waited not long at\nthe private door. When he came into the princess\u2019s apartment, he said to\nher, \u201cPrincess, perhaps the aversion you tell me you have for your\nravisher, may be an objection to your executing what I am going to\npropose to you; but give me leave to tell you, it is proper that you\nshould at this juncture dissemble a little, and do violence to your\ninclinations, if you would deliver yourself from him, and give my lord\nthe sultan, your father, the satisfaction of seeing you again.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you will take my advice,\u201d continued he, \u201cdress yourself this moment\nin one of your richest habits, and when the African magician comes, make\nno difficulty to give him the best reception; receive him with an open\ncountenance, without affectation or constraint, yet so as that, if there\nremains any cloud of affliction, he may imagine time will dissipate it.\nIn your conversation, let him understand that you strive to forget me;\nand that he may be the more fully convinced of your sincerity, invite\nhim to sup with you, and give him to understand you should be glad to\ntaste some of the best wines of his country. He will presently go to\nfetch you some. During his absence, put into one of the cups like that\nyou are accustomed to drink out of, this powder, and setting it by,\ncharge the slave you design that night to attend you, upon a signal you\nshall agree upon with her, to bring that cup to you. When the magician\nand you have eaten and drank as much as you choose, let her bring you\nthe cup, and change cups with him. He will take it as so great a favour\nthat he will not refuse you, and will empty the cup; but no sooner will\nhe have drank it off, than you will see him fall backwards. If you have\nany reluctance to drink out of his cup, you may pretend only to do it,\nwithout fear of being discovered; for the effect of the powder is so\nquick, that he will not have time enough to know whether you drink or\nnot.\u201d\n\nWhen Aladdin had finished, \u201cI own,\u201d answered the princess, \u201cI shall do\nmyself a great violence in consenting to make the magician such advances\nas I see absolutely necessary for me to make; but what cannot one\nresolve to do against a cruel enemy? I will therefore follow your\nadvice, since both my repose and yours depend on it.\u201d After the princess\nhad agreed to the measures proposed by Aladdin, he took his leave of\nher, and went and spent the rest of the day in the neighbourhood of the\npalace till it was night, when he might safely return to the private\ndoor.\n\nThe princess Badr-oul-boudour, who was not only inconsolable to be\nseparated from her dear husband, whom she loved from the first moment,\nand still continued to love more out of inclination than duty, but also\nfrom the sultan her father, who had always shewed a tender and paternal\nlove for her, had, ever since that cruel separation, lived in great\nneglect of her person. She had almost, as one may say, forgot the\nneatness so becoming persons of her sex and quality, particularly after\nthe first time the magician paid her a visit; and she understood by some\nof the women, who knew him again, that it was he who took the old lamp\nin exchange for a new one, which notorious cheat rendered the sight of\nhim more abhorred. However, the opportunity of taking the revenge he\ndeserved sooner than she durst hope for, made her resolve to gratify\nAladdin. As soon, therefore, as he was gone, she sat down at her toilet,\nand was dressed by her women to the best advantage, in the richest\nhabit, most suitable to her design. Her girdle was of the finest and\nlargest diamonds set in gold, which she suited with a necklace of\npearls, six on a side, so well proportioned to that in the middle, which\nwas the largest and most valuable, that the greatest sultanesses and\nqueens would have been proud to have been adorned with only two of the\nsmallest. Her bracelets, which were of diamonds and rubies intermixed,\nanswered admirably to the richness of the girdle and necklace.\n\nWhen the princess Badr-oul-boudour was completely dressed, she consulted\nher glass and women upon her adjustment; and when she found she wanted\nno charms to flatter the foolish passion of the African magician, she\nsat down on a sofa, expecting his arrival.\n\nThe magician came at the usual hour, and as soon as he entered the great\nhall, where the princess waited to receive him, she rose up in all her\nbeauty and charms and pointed with her hand to the most honourable\nplace, waiting till he sat down, that she might sit at the same time\nwhich was a piece of civility she had never shewn him before.\n\nThe African magician, dazzled more with the lustre of the princess\u2019s\neyes than the glittering of the jewels with which she was adorned, was\nvery much surprised. The majestic and graceful air with which she\nreceived him, so opposite to her former behaviour, quite confounded him.\n\nWhen he had sat down, the princess, to free him from his embarrassment,\nbroke silence first. Looking at him all the time in a manner sufficient\nto make him believe that he was not so odious to her as she had given\nhim to understand before, said to him, \u201cYou are doubtless, amazed to\nfind me so much altered to-day from what I used to be; but your surprise\nwill not be so great when I acquaint you that I am naturally of a\ndisposition so opposite to melancholy and grief, sorrow and uneasiness,\nthat I always strive to put them as far away as possible when I find the\nsubject of them is past. I have reflected on what you told me of\nAladdin\u2019s fate, and know the sultan my father\u2019s temper so well, that I\nam persuaded, with you, that Aladdin could not escape the terrible\neffects of his rage; therefore should I continue to lament him all my\nlife, my tears cannot recall him. For this reason, after I have paid all\nthe duties my love requires of me to his memory, now he is in the grave,\nI think I ought to endeavour to comfort myself. These are the motives of\nthe change you see in me; and to begin to cast off all melancholy, I am\nresolved to banish it entirely; and persuaded you will bear me company\nto-night, I have ordered a supper to be prepared; but as I have no wines\nbut of China, I have a great desire to taste of the product of Africa,\nwhere I now am, and doubt not you will get some of the best.\u201d\n\nThe African magician, who looked upon the happiness of coming so soon\nand so easily into the princess Badr-oul-boudour\u2019s good graces as\nimpossible, could not think of words expressive enough to testify how\nsensible he was of her favours: but to put an end the sooner to a\nconversation which would have embarrassed him, if he had engaged farther\nin it, he turned it upon the wines of Africa, and said, \u201cOf all the\nadvantages Africa can boast, that of producing the most excellent wines\nis one of the principal. I have a vessel of seven years old, which has\nnever been broached; and it is indeed, not praising it too much to say\nit is the finest wine in the world. If my princess,\u201d added he, \u201cwill\ngive me leave, I will go and fetch two bottles, and return again\nimmediately.\u201d \u201cI should be sorry to give you that trouble,\u201d replied the\nprincess, \u201cyou had better send for them.\u201d \u201cIt is necessary I should go\nmyself,\u201d answered the African magician; \u201cfor nobody but myself knows\nwhere the key of the cellar is laid, or has the secret to unlock the\ndoor.\u201d \u201cIf it be so,\u201d said the princess, \u201cmake haste back again; for the\nlonger you stay the greater will be my impatience, and we shall sit down\nto supper as soon as you come back.\u201d\n\nThe African magician, full of hopes of his expected happiness, rather\nflew than ran, and returned quickly with the wine. The princess not\ndoubting in the least but he would make haste, put with her own hand the\npowder Aladdin gave her into the cup that was set apart for that\npurpose. They sat down at the table opposite to each other, the\nmagician\u2019s back towards the beaufet. The princess presented him with the\nbest at the table, and said to him, \u201cIf you please, I will entertain you\nwith a concert of vocal and instrumental music: but as we are only two,\nI think conversation may be more agreeable.\u201d This the magician took as a\nnew favour.\n\nAfter they had eaten some time, the princess called for some wine, and\ndrank the magician\u2019s health; and afterwards said to him, \u201cIndeed you\nwere in the right to commend your wine, since I never tasted of any so\ndelicious in my life.\u201d \u201cCharming princess,\u201d said he, holding in his hand\nthe cup which had been presented to him, \u201cmy wine becomes more exquisite\nby your approbation of it.\u201d \u201cThen drink my health,\u201d replied the\nprincess; \u201cyou will find I understand wines.\u201d He drank the princess\u2019s\nhealth, and returning the cup, said, \u201cI think myself happy, princess,\nthat I reserved this wine for so good an occasion; and I own I never\nbefore drank any so excellent in every respect.\u201d\n\nWhen they had drank two or three cups more a-piece the princess, who had\ncompletely charmed the African magician by her civility and obliging\nbehaviour, gave the signal to the slave who served them with wine,\nbidding her bring the cup which had been filled for herself, and at the\nsame time bring the magician a full cup. When they both had their cups\nin their hands, she said to him, \u201cI know not how you here express your\nloves when drinking together as we are: with us in China, the lover and\nhis mistress reciprocally exchange cups, and drink each other\u2019s health;\u201d\nat the same time she presented to him the cup which was in her hand, and\nheld out her hand to receive his. He for his part hastened to make the\nexchange with the more pleasure, because he looked upon this favour as\nthe most certain token of an entire conquest over the princess, which\nraised his happiness to its height. Before he drank, he said to her,\nwith the cup in his hand, \u201cIndeed, princess, we Africans are not so\nrefined in the art of love as you Chinese: and instructing me in a\nlesson I was ignorant of, informs me how sensible I ought to be of the\nfavour done me. I shall never, lovely princess, forget my recovering, by\ndrinking out of your cup, that life, which your cruelty, had it\ncontinued, would have made me despair of.\u201d\n\nThe princess Badr-oul-boudour, who began to be tired with this barefaced\ndeclaration of the African magician, interrupted him, by saying, \u201cLet us\ndrink first, and then say what you will afterwards;\u201d and at the same\ntime set the cup to her lips, while the African magician, who was eager\nto get his wine off first, drank up the very last drop. In finishing it\nhe had reclined his head back, to show his eagerness, and remained some\ntime in that state. The princess kept her cup at her lips, till she saw\nhis eyes turn in his head, and he fell backwards lifeless.\n\nThe princess had no occasion to order the back-door to be opened to\nAladdin; for her women were so disposed from the great hall to the foot\nof the staircase, that the word was no sooner given, that the African\nmagician was fallen backwards, but the door opened that instant.\n\nAs soon as Aladdin entered the hall, he saw the magician stretched\nbackwards on the sofa. The princess Badr-oul-boudour rose from her seat,\nand ran overjoyed to him, to embrace him; but he stopped her, and said,\n\u201cPrincess, it is not yet time; oblige me by retiring to your apartment,\nand let me be left alone a moment, while I endeavour to transport you\nback to China as quickly as you were brought from thence.\u201d\n\nWhen the princess, her women and eunuchs were gone out of the hall,\nAladdin shut the door, and going directly to the dead body of the\nmagician, opened his vest, and took out the lamp carefully wrapt up, as\nthe princess told him, and unfolding and rubbing it the genie\nimmediately appeared. \u201cGenie,\u201d said Aladdin, \u201cI have called thee to\ncommand thee, on the part of thy good mistress of this lamp, to\ntransport this palace presently into China to the same place from whence\nit was brought hither.\u201d The genie bowed his head in token of obedience,\nand disappeared. Immediately the palace was transported into China, and\nits removal was only felt by two little shocks, the one when it was\nlifted up, the other when it was set down, and both in a very short\ninterval of time.\n\nAladdin went down to the princess\u2019s apartment, and embracing her, said,\n\u201cI can assure you, princess, that your joy and mine will be complete\nto-morrow morning.\u201d The princess, who had not quite supped, guessing\nthat Aladdin might be hungry, ordered the meats that were served up in\nthe great hall, and were scarce touched, to be brought down. The\nprincess and Aladdin ate as much as they thought fit, and drank in like\nmanner of the African magician\u2019s old wine: during which time their\ndiscourse could not be any otherwise than satisfactory, and then they\nretired to their own chamber.\n\nFrom the time of the transportation of Aladdin\u2019s palace, and of the\nprincess Badr-oul-boudour in it, the sultan, that princess\u2019s father, was\ninconsolable for the loss of her, as he considered it. He hardly slept\nnight or day and instead of taking measures to avoid everything that\ncould keep off his affliction, he, on the contrary, indulged in it; for\nwhereas before he used to go every morning into his closet, to please\nhimself with that agreeable prospect, he went now many times in the day,\nto renew his tears, and plunge himself into the deepest melancholy, by\nthe idea of no more seeing that which once gave him so much pleasure,\nand reflecting how he had lost what was the most dear to him in this\nworld.\n\nThe very morning of the return of Aladdin\u2019s palace, the sultan went by\nbreak of day into his closet, to indulge his sorrows. Collected in\nhimself, and in a pensive mood, he cast his eyes in a melancholy manner\ntowards the place where he remembered the palace once stood, expecting\nonly to see an open space; but perceiving that vacancy filled up, he at\nfirst imagined it to be the effect of a fog; but looking more\nattentively, he was convinced beyond the power of doubt that it was his\nson-in-law\u2019s palace. Then joy and gladness succeeded to sorrow and\ngrief. He returned immediately into his apartment, and ordered a horse\nto be saddled and brought to him in all haste, which he mounted that\ninstant, thinking he could not make haste enough to get to Aladdin\u2019s\npalace.\n\nAladdin, who foresaw what would happen, rose that morning by daybreak,\nput on one of the most magnificent habits his wardrobe afforded, and\nwent up into the hall of twenty-four windows, from whence he perceived\nthe sultan coming, and got down soon enough to receive him at the foot\nof the great staircase, and to help him to dismount. \u201cAladdin,\u201d said the\nsultan, \u201cI cannot speak to you till I have seen and embraced my\ndaughter.\u201d\n\nHe led the sultan into the princess Badr-oul-boudour\u2019s apartment, who,\nhaving been told by him, when he rose, that she was no longer in Africa,\nbut in China, and in the capital of the sultan her father, had just done\ndressing herself. The sultan embraced her with his face bathed in tears\nof joy; and the princess, on her side, gave him all the testimonies of\nthe extreme pleasure the sight of him gave her.\n\nThe sultan was some time before he could open his lips, so great was his\nsurprise and joy to find his daughter again, after he had given her up\nfor lost; and the princess, after seeing her father, let fall tears of\njoy.\n\nAt last the sultan broke silence, and said, \u201cI would believe, daughter,\nyour joy to see me makes you seem so little changed, as if no misfortune\nhad befallen you; for a large palace cannot be so suddenly transported\nas yours has been, without great fright and terrible anguish. I would\nhave you tell me all that has happened, and conceal nothing from me.\u201d\n\nThe princess, who took great pleasure in giving the sultan the\nsatisfaction he demanded, said, \u201cSir, if I appear so little altered, I\nbeg of your majesty to consider that I received new life yesterday\nmorning by the presence of my dear husband and deliverer Aladdin, whom I\nlooked upon and bewailed as lost to me; and the happiness of seeing and\nembracing whom has almost recovered me to my former state of health. But\nmy greatest trouble was only to find myself forced from your majesty and\nmy dear husband; not only in respect to the inclination I bore to my\nhusband, but from the uneasiness I laboured under besides, for fear that\nhe, though innocent, should feel the effects of your anger, to which I\nknew he was left exposed. I suffered but little from the insolence of\nthe wretch who had carried me off; for having secured the ascendant over\nhim, I always put a stop to his disagreeable discourse, and was as\nlittle constrained as I am at present.\n\n\u201cAs to what relates to my transportation, Aladdin had no hand in it; I\nmyself am the innocent cause of it.\u201d To persuade the sultan of the truth\nof what she said, she gave him a full account how the African magician\ndisguised himself like a seller of lamps, and offered to change new\nlamps for old ones; and how she amused herself in making that exchange,\nbeing entirely ignorant of the secret and importance of that lamp; how\nthe palace and herself were carried away and transported into Africa\nwith the African magician, who was recollected by two of her women and\nthe eunuch who made the exchange of the lamp, when he had the boldness\nto pay her the first visit, after the success of his audacious\nenterprise, to propose himself for her husband; how he persecuted her\ntill Aladdin\u2019s arrival; how he and she concerted measures together to\nget the lamp from him again, which he carried about him; and the success\nthey had; and particularly by her dissimulation, inviting him to supper\nand giving him the cup with the powder prepared for him. \u201cFor the rest,\u201d\nadded she, \u201cI leave it to Aladdin to give you an account.\u201d\n\nAladdin had not much to tell the sultan, but only said, \u201cWhen the\nprivate door was opened, I went up into the great hall, where I found\nthe magician lying dead on the sofa; as I thought it not proper for the\nprincess to stay there any longer, I desired her to go down into her own\napartment, with her women and eunuchs. As soon as I was alone, and had\ntaken the lamp out of the magician\u2019s breast, I made use of the same\nsecret he had done to remove the palace, and carry off the princess; and\nby that means the palace was brought into the same place where it stood\nbefore; and I have the happiness to bring back the princess to your\nmajesty, as you commanded me. But that your majesty may not think that I\nimpose upon you, if you will give yourself the trouble to go up into the\nhall, you shall see the magician punished as he deserved.\u201d\n\nThe sultan, to be assured of the truth, rose up instantly, and went up\ninto the hall, where, when he saw the African magician dead, and his\nface already livid by the strength of the poison, he embraced Aladdin\nwith great tenderness, and said, \u201cMy son, be not displeased at my\nproceedings against you; they arose from my paternal love, and therefore\nyou ought to forgive the excesses to which it hurried me.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d\nreplied Aladdin, \u201cI have not the least reason to complain of your\nmajesty\u2019s conduct, since you did nothing but what your duty required of\nyou. This infamous magician, the basest of men, was the sole cause of my\nmisfortune. When your majesty has leisure, I will give you an account of\nanother villainous action he was guilty of to me, which was no less\nblack and base than this, from which I was preserved by the grace of God\nin a very particular manner.\u201d \u201cI will take an opportunity, and that very\nshortly,\u201d replied the sultan, \u201cto hear it; but in the meantime let us\nthink only of rejoicing, and the removal of this odious object.\u201d\n\nAladdin ordered the magician\u2019s dead carcass to be removed and thrown on\nthe dunghill, for the birds and beasts to prey upon. In the meantime the\nsultan commanded the drums, trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments of\nmusic, to announce the public joy, and a feast of ten days to be\nproclaimed for joy of the return of the princess Badr-oul-boudour, and\nAladdin with his palace.\n\nThus Aladdin escaped a second time the almost inevitable danger of\nlosing his life: but this was not the last, since he ran as great a\nhazard a third time, the circumstances of which I shall relate.\n\nThe African magician had a younger brother, who was a great necromancer,\nand even surpassed him in villainy and pernicious designs. As they did\nnot live together, or in the same city, but oftentimes when one was in\nthe east the other was in the west, they failed not every year to inform\nthemselves, by their art of necromancy, where each other was, how they\ndid, and whether they stood in need of each other\u2019s assistance.\n\nSome time after the African magician had failed in his enterprise\nagainst Aladdin\u2019s happiness, his younger brother, who had not heard any\ntidings of him for a year, and was not in Africa, but in a distant\ncountry, had the curiosity to know in what part of the world he was, how\nhe did, and what he was doing; and as he, as well as his brother, always\ncarried a geomantic square instrument about him, he prepared the sand,\ncast the points, and drew the figures. On examining the houses, he found\nthat his brother was no longer living; by another house, that he had\nbeen poisoned, and died suddenly; and by another, that it was in the\ncapital of the kingdom of China; and that the person who poisoned him\nwas of mean birth, and married to a princess, a sultan\u2019s daughter.\n\nWhen the magician had after this manner informed himself of his\nbrother\u2019s fate, he lost no time in useless regret, which could not\nrestore him to life again; but resolving immediately to revenge his\ndeath, he took horse, and set forwards for China: where, after crossing\nplains, rivers, mountains, deserts, and a long tract of country without\nstopping, he arrived after incredible fatigues.\n\nWhen he came to the capital of China, which his knowledge of geomancy\npointed out to him, and being certain he had not mistaken any other\nkingdom for it, he took a lodging. The next day he went out, and walked\nthrough the town, not so much to observe the beauties, which were\nindifferent to him, but with an intention to take proper measures to\nexecute his pernicious designs. He introduced himself into the most\nfrequented places, where he listened to everybody\u2019s discourse. In a\nplace where people resorted to divert themselves with all sorts of\ngames, and where some are conversing while others play, he heard some\npersons talk of the virtue and piety of a woman called Fatima, who had\nretired from the world, and of the miracles she performed. As he fancied\nthat this woman might be serviceable to him in the project he had in his\nhead, he took one of the company aside, and desired him to tell him more\nparticularly who that holy woman was, and what sort of miracles she\nperformed.\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d said the person to whom he addressed himself, \u201chave you never\nseen or heard talk of her? She is the admiration of the whole town, for\nher fasting, her austerities, and her exemplary life. Except Mondays and\nFridays, she never stirs out of her little cell; and on those days on\nwhich she comes into the town, she does an infinite deal of good; for\nthere is not a person who has the headache, but is cured by her laying\nher hand upon them.\u201d\n\nThe magician wanted no further information. He only asked the person in\nwhat part of the town this holy woman\u2019s cell was. After he had shewn him\nit, and he had concluded and determined on the detestable design he had\nin his head, and that he might know the way again, and be fully\ninformed, he watched all her steps the first day she went out after he\nhad made this inquiry, without losing sight of her till evening, when he\nsaw her re-enter her cell. When he had fully observed the place, he went\nto one of those houses where they sell a certain hot liquor, and where\nany person may pass the night, particularly in the great heats, when the\npeople of that country prefer lying on a mat to a bed. About midnight,\nafter the magician had satisfied the master of the house for what little\nhe had called for, he went out, and proceeded directly to the cell of\nFatima, the holy woman, the name she was known by throughout the town.\nHe had no difficulty in opening the door, which was only fastened with a\nlatch, and he shut it again after he had got in, without any noise; and\nwhen he entered the cell, perceived Fatima by moonlight lying in the air\non a sofa, covered only by an old mat, with her head leaning against the\nwall. He awakened her and clapped a dagger to her breast.\n\nPoor Fatima, opening her eyes, was very much surprised to see a man with\na dagger at her breast ready to stab her, and who said to her, \u201cIf you\ncry out, or make the least noise, I will kill you: but get up and do as\nI bid you.\u201d\n\nFatima, who had lain down in her clothes, got up trembling with fear.\n\u201cDo not be so much frightened,\u201d said the magician, \u201cI only want your\nhabit: give it me presently, and take mine.\u201d Accordingly Fatima and he\nchanged clothes. Then he said, \u201cColour my face as yours is, that I may\nbe like you;\u201d but perceiving that the poor creature could not help\ntrembling, to encourage her, he said, \u201cI tell you again you need not\nfear anything: I swear by the name of God I will not take away your\nlife.\u201d Fatima lighted her lamp, made him come into the cell, and taking\na pencil and dipping it into a certain liquor, rubbed it over his face,\nand assured him the colour would not change, and that his face was of\nthe same dye as her own: after which she put her own head-dress on his\nhead, with a veil, with which she showed him how to hide his face as he\npassed through the town. After this, she put a long string of beads\nabout his neck which hung down to the middle of his body, and giving him\nthe stick she used to walk with, in his hand, brought him a\nlooking-glass, and bid him look if he was not as like her as possible.\nThe magician found himself disguised as he wished to be; but he did not\nkeep the oath he so solemnly swore to the good Fatima; but instead of\nstabbing her, for fear the blood might discover him, he strangled her;\nand when he found she was dead, threw her body into a cistern just by\nthe cell.\n\nThe magician, thus disguised like the holy woman Fatima, spent the\nremainder of the night in the cell, after he had committed so horrid a\nmurder. The next morning, two hours after sunrise, though it was not a\nday the holy woman used to go out on, he crept out of the cell, being\nwell persuaded that nobody would ask him any questions about it; or, if\nthey should, he had an answer ready for them. As one of the first things\nhe did after his arrival was to find out Aladdin\u2019s palace, where he was\nto execute his designs, he went directly thither.\n\nAs soon as the people saw the holy woman, as they imagined him to be,\nthey presently gathered about him in a great crowd. Some begged his\nblessing, others kissed his hand, and others, more reserved, only the\nhem of his garment: while others, whether their heads ached, or they had\na mind to be preserved against that distemper, stooped for him to lay\nhis hands upon them; which he did, muttering some words in form of\nprayer, and, in short, counterfeited so well, that everybody took him\nfor the holy woman.\n\nAfter frequently stopping to satisfy these kind of people, who received\nneither good nor harm from this imposition of hands, he came at last to\nthe square before Aladdin\u2019s palace. The crowd was so great that the\neagerness to get at him increased in proportion. Those who were the most\nzealous and strong, forced their way through the crowd to get room.\nThere were such quarrels, and so great a noise, that the princess, who\nwas in the hall of four-and-twenty windows, heard it, and asked what was\nthe matter; but nobody being able to give her an account, she ordered\nthem to go and see, and inform her. One of her women looked out of a\nwindow, and then told her it was a great crowd of people that were\ngathering about the holy woman, to be cured of the headache by the\nimposition of her hands.\n\nThe princess, who had for a long time heard a great deal of this holy\nwoman, but had never seen her, conceived a great curiosity to have some\nconversation with her, which the chief of the eunuchs perceiving, told\nher it was an easy matter to bring her to her, if she desired and\ncommanded it; and the princess shewing a desire, he immediately sent\nfour eunuchs for the pretended holy woman.\n\nAs soon as the crowd saw the eunuchs coming, they made way, and the\nmagician perceiving also that they were coming for him, advanced to meet\nthem, overjoyed to find his plot took so well. \u201cHoly woman,\u201d said one of\nthe eunuchs, \u201cthe princess wants to see you, and has sent us for you.\u201d\n\u201cThe princess does me too great an honour,\u201d replied the false Fatima; \u201cI\nam ready to obey her command,\u201d and at the same time followed the eunuchs\nto the palace.\n\nWhen the magician, who under a holy garment disguised a wicked heart,\nwas introduced into the great hall, and perceived the princess, he began\na prayer, which contained a long enumeration of vows and good wishes for\nthe princess\u2019s health and prosperity, and that she might have everything\nshe desired. Then he displayed all his deceitful, hypocritical rhetoric,\nto insinuate himself into the princess\u2019s favour under the cloak of\npiety, which it was no hard matter for him to do; for as the princess\nherself was naturally good she was easily persuaded that all the world\nwas like her, especially those who made profession of serving God in\nsolitary retreat.\n\nWhen the pretended-Fatima had made an end of his long harangue, the\nprincess said to him, \u201cI thank you, good mother, for your prayers; I\nhave great confidence in them, and hope God will hear them. Come and sit\nby me.\u201d The false Fatima sat down with affected modesty: then the\nprincess, resuming her discourse, said, \u201cMy good mother, I have one\nthing to ask you, which you must not refuse me; which is, to stay with\nme, that you may entertain me with your way of living; and that I may\nlearn from your good example how to serve God.\u201d \u201cPrincess,\u201d said the\ncounterfeit Fatima, \u201cI beg of you not to ask what I cannot consent to,\nwithout neglecting my prayers and devotions.\u201d \u201cThat shall be no\nhindrance to you,\u201d answered the princess; \u201cI have a great many\napartments unoccupied; you shall choose which you like best, and shall\nhave as much liberty to perform your devotions as if you were in your\nown cell.\u201d\n\nThe magician, who wanted nothing more than to introduce himself into\nAladdin\u2019s palace, where it would be a much easier matter for him to\nexecute his pernicious designs, under the favour and protection of the\nprincess, than if he had been forced to come and go from the cell to the\npalace, did not urge much to excuse himself from accepting the obliging\noffer the princess made him. \u201cPrincess,\u201d said he, \u201cwhatever resolution a\npoor wretched woman, as I am, may have made to renounce the pomp and\ngrandeur of this world, I dare not presume to oppose the will and\ncommands of so pious and charitable a princess.\u201d\n\nUpon this the princess, rising up, said, \u201cCome along with me, I will\nshew you what empty apartments I have, that you may make choice of which\nyou like best.\u201d The magician followed the princess Badr-oul-boudour, and\nof all the apartments she shewed him, made choice of that which was the\nworse furnished, saying it was too good for him, and that he only\naccepted of it to please her.\n\nAfterwards the princess would have brought him back again into the great\nhall to make him dine with her: but he considering that then he should\nbe obliged to show his face, which he had always taken care to hide; and\nfearing that the princess should find out that he was not Fatima, he\nbegged of her earnestly to dispense with him, telling her that he never\nate anything but bread and dried fruits, and desiring to eat that slight\nrepast in his own apartment; that the princess granted him, saying, \u201cYou\nmay be as free here, good mother, as if you were in your own cell: I\nwill order you a dinner, but remember I expect you as soon as you have\nfinished your repast.\u201d\n\nAfter the princess had dined, and the false Fatima had been informed by\none of the eunuchs that she had risen from the table, he failed not to\nwait upon her. \u201cMy good mother,\u201d said the princess, \u201cI am overjoyed to\nhave the company of so holy a woman as yourself, who will confer a\nblessing upon this palace. But now I am speaking of this palace, pray\nhow do you like it? And before I shew you it all, tell me first what you\nthink of this hall.\u201d\n\nUpon this question, the counterfeit Fatima, who, to act his part the\nbetter, affected to hang down his head, without so much as ever once\nlifting it up, at last looked up, and surveying the hall from one end to\nthe other, when he had examined it well, said to the princess, \u201cAs far\nas such a solitary being as I can judge, who am unacquainted with what\nthe world calls beautiful; this hall is truly admirable and most\nbeautiful: there wants but one thing.\u201d \u201cWhat is that, good mother?\u201d\nanswered the princess Badr-oul-boudour; \u201ctell me, I conjure you. For my\npart I always believed, and have heard say, it wanted nothing; but if it\ndoes, it shall be supplied.\u201d\n\n\u201cPrincess,\u201d said the false Fatima, with great dissimulation, \u201cforgive me\nfor the liberty I have taken; but my opinion is, if it can be of any\nimportance, that if a roc\u2019s egg was hung up in the middle of this dome,\nthis hall would have no parallel in the four quarters of the world, and\nyour palace would be the wonder of the universe.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy good mother,\u201d said the princess, \u201cwhat bird is a roc, and where may\none get an egg?\u201d \u201cPrincess,\u201d replied the pretended Fatima, \u201cit is a bird\nof prodigious size, which inhabits the top of mount Caucasus; the\narchitect who built your palace can get you one.\u201d\n\nAfter the princess Badr-oul-boudour had thanked the false Fatima for\nwhat she believed her good advice, she conversed with her upon other\nmatters; but could not forget the roc\u2019s egg, which she made account to\ntell Aladdin of when he returned from hunting. He had been gone six\ndays, which the magician knew and therefore took advantage of his\nabsence; but he returned that evening after the false Fatima had taken\nleave of the princess, and retired to his apartment. As soon as he\narrived, he went directly up to the princess\u2019s apartment, saluted and\nembraced her, but she seemed to receive him coldly. \u201cMy princess,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cI think you are not so cheerful as you used to be. Has anything\nhappened during my absence which has displeased you, or given you any\ntrouble or dissatisfaction? In the name of God do not conceal it from\nme. I will leave nothing undone that is in my power to please you.\u201d \u201cIt\nis a trifling matter,\u201d replied the princess, \u201cwhich gives me so little\nconcern that I could not have thought you could have perceived it in my\ncountenance; but since you have unexpectedly discovered some alteration,\nI will no longer disguise a matter of so little consequence from you.\n\n\u201cI always believed, as well as you,\u201d continued the princess\nBadr-oul-boudour, \u201cthat our palace was the most superb, magnificent, and\ncomplete in the world; but I will tell you now what I find fault with,\nupon examining the hall of four-and-twenty windows. Do not you think\nwith me, that it would be complete if a roc\u2019s egg was hung up in the\nmidst of the dome?\u201d \u201cPrincess,\u201d replied Aladdin, \u201cit is enough that you\nthink there wants such a thing. You shall see by the diligence used to\nrepair that deficiency, that there is nothing which I would not do for\nyour sake.\u201d\n\nAladdin left the princess Badr-oul-boudour that moment, and went up into\nthe hall of four-and-twenty windows, where pulling out of his bosom the\nlamp, which after the danger he had been exposed to, he always carried\nabout him, he rubbed it; upon which the genie immediately appeared.\n\u201cGenie,\u201d said Aladdin, \u201cthere wants a roc\u2019s egg to be hung up in the\nmidst of the dome. I command thee, in the name of this lamp, to repair\nthe deficiency.\u201d Aladdin had no sooner pronounced these words, but the\ngenie gave so loud and terrible a cry, that the hall shook, and Aladdin\ncould scarce stand upright. \u201cWhat! wretch,\u201d said the genie, in a voice\nthat would have made the most undaunted man tremble, \u201cis it not enough\nthat I and my companions have done everything for you, but you, by an\nunheard-of ingratitude, must command me to bring my master, and hang him\nup in the midst of this dome? This attempt deserves that you, your wife,\nand your palace, should be immediately reduced to ashes; but you are\nhappy in not being the author of this request, and that it does not come\nfrom yourself. Know, then, that the true author is the brother of the\nAfrican magician, your enemy, whom you have destroyed as he deserved. He\nis now in your palace, disguised in the clothes of the holy woman\nFatima, whom he murdered: and it is he who has suggested to your wife to\nmake this pernicious demand. His design is to kill you, therefore take\ncare of yourself.\u201d After these words, the genie disappeared.\n\nAladdin lost not a word of what the genie had said. He had heard talk of\nthe holy woman Fatima, and how she pretended to cure the headache. He\nreturned to the princess\u2019s apartment, and without mentioning a word of\nwhat had happened, he sat down, and complained of a great pain which had\nsuddenly seized his head; upon which the princess ordered the holy woman\nto be presently fetched, and then told him how that holy woman came to\nthe palace, and that she had appointed her an apartment.\n\nWhen the pretended Fatima came, Aladdin said, \u201cCome hither, good mother,\nI am glad to see you here at so fortunate a time: I am tormented with a\nviolent pain in my head, and request your assistance, by the confidence\nI have in your good prayers, and hope you will not refuse me that favour\nwhich you do to so many persons afflicted with this distemper.\u201d So\nsaying, he rose up, but held down his head. The counterfeit Fatima\nadvanced towards him, with his hand all the time on a dagger concealed\nin his girdle under his gown; which Aladdin observing, he seized his\nhand before he had drawn it, pierced him to the heart with his own\ndagger, and then threw him down on the floor dead.\n\n\u201cMy dear husband, what have you done?\u201d cried the princess in surprise.\n\u201cYou have killed the holy woman.\u201d \u201cNo, my princess,\u201d answered Aladdin\nwithout emotion, \u201cI have not killed Fatima, but a wicked wretch that\nwould have assassinated me, if I had not prevented him. This wicked\nman,\u201d added he, uncovering his face, \u201chas strangled Fatima, whom you\naccused me of killing, and disguised himself in her clothes, to come and\nmurder me: but that you may know him better, he is brother to the\nAfrican magician.\u201d Then Aladdin told her how he came to know those\nparticulars, and afterwards ordered the dead body to be taken away.\n\nThus was Aladdin delivered from the persecution of two brothers who were\nmagicians. Within a few years afterwards the sultan died in a good old\nage, and as he left no male children, the princess Badr-oul-boudour, as\nlawful heir of the crown, succeeded him, and communicating the power to\nAladdin, they reigned together many years, and left a numerous and\nillustrious posterity behind them.\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d said the sultaness Scheherazade, after she had finished the story\nof the Wonderful Lamp, \u201cyour majesty without doubt has observed in the\nperson of the African magician a man abandoned to the unbounded passion\nfor possessing immense treasures by the most unworthy means. On the\ncontrary, your majesty sees in Aladdin a person of mean birth raised to\nthe regal dignity by making use of the same treasures, which came to him\nwithout his seeking, but just as he had an occasion for them to compass\nthe end proposed; and in the sultan you will have learnt what dangers a\njust and equitable monarch runs, even to the risk of being dethroned,\nwhen, by crying injustice, and against all the rules of equity, he dares\nby an unreasonable precipitation, condemn an innocent person to death,\nwithout giving him leave to justify himself. In short, you must abhor\nthose two wicked magicians, one of whom sacrificed his life to attain\ngreat riches, the other his life and religion to revenge him, and both\nreceived the chastisements they deserved.\u201d[233]\n\n\n\n\n KHUDADAD AND HIS BROTHERS.\n\n\nQuoth Dunyazad, \u201cO sister mine, how rare is thy tale and delectable!\u201d\nand quoth Shahrazad, \u201cAnd what is this compared with that I could relate\nto you after the coming night, an this my lord the King deign leave me\non life?\u201d So Shahryar said to himself, \u201cIndeed I will not slay her until\nshe tell me the whole tale.\u201d\n\n\n And when it was the Five Hundred and Ninety-second Night,[234]\n\nShahrazad began to relate the adventures of\n\n\n _KHUDADAD[235] AND HIS BROTHERS._\n\nSaid she, O auspicious King, this my tale relateth to the Kingdom of\nDiy\u00e1r Bakr[236] in whose capital-city of Harr\u00e1n[237] dwelt a Sultan of\nillustrious lineage, a protector of the people, a lover of his lieges, a\nfriend of mankind and renowned for being gifted with every good quality.\nNow Allah Almighty had bestowed upon him all that his heart could\ndesire, save boon of child, for though he had lovely wives within his\nHarem-door and fair concubines galore, he had not been blessed with a\nson; wherefor he offered up incessant worship to the Creator. One night\nthere appeared to him in a dream a man of comely visage and holy of\nsemblance like unto a prophet, who addressed him, saying, \u201cO puissant\nKing, thy vows are at length heard. Arise to-morrow at day-dawn, pray a\ntwo-bow prayer and offer up thy petitions; then haste thee to the Chief\nGardener of thy palace and require of him a pomegranate whereof do thou\neat as many seeds as seemeth best to thee; after which perform another\ntwo-bow prayer, and Allah will shower favours and graces upon thy head.\u201d\nThe King, awaking at peep of day, called to mind the vision of the\nnight, and returning thanks to the Almighty, made his orisons and\nkneeling invoked a benedicite. Then he rose and repaired to the garth,\nand receiving a pomegranate from the Head-Gardener, counted out and ate\nfifty grains thereof; to wit, one for each of his wives. After this he\nlay the night in turn with them all and by the omnipotence of the\nCreator all gave in due time signs of pregnancy, save one Fir\u00fazah[238]\nhight. So the King conceived a grudge against her, saying in his soul,\n\u201cAllah holdeth this woman vile and accursed and He willeth not that she\nbecome the mother of a Prince, and on this wise hath the curse of\nbarrenness become her lot.\u201d He would have had her done to death but the\nGrand Wazir made intercession for her and suggested to the Sultan that\nperchance Firuzah might prove with child and withal not show outward\nsignal thereof, as is the manner of certain women; wherefore to slay her\nmight be to destroy a Prince with the mother. Quoth the King, \u201cSo be it!\nslay her not, but take heed that she abide no longer or at court or in\nthe city, for I cannot support the sight of her.\u201d Replied the Minister,\n\u201cIt shall be done even as thy Highness biddeth: let her be conveyed to\nthe care of thy brother\u2019s son, Prince Sam\u00edr.\u201d The King did according to\nthe counsel of his Wazir and despatched his loathed Queen to\nSamaria[239] accompanied by a writ with the following purport, to his\nnephew, \u201cWe forward this lady to thy care: entreat her honourably and,\nshouldest thou remark tokens of pregnancy in her, see that thou acquaint\nus therewith without stay or delay.\u201d So Firuzah journeyed to Samaria,\nand when her time was fulfilled she gave birth to a boy babe, and became\nthe mother of a Prince who in favour was resplendent as the sheeny day.\nHereat the lord of Samaria sent message by letter to the Sultan of\nHarran saying, \u201cA Prince hath been borne by the womb of Firuzah: Allah\nAlmighty give thee permanence of prosperity!\u201d By these tidings the King\nwas filled with joy; and presently he replied to his cousin, Prince\nSamir, \u201cEach one of my forty-and-nine spouses hath been blessed with\nissue and it delighteth me beyond bounds that Firuzah hath also given me\na son. Let him be named Khudadad\u2014God\u2019s gift\u2014do thou have due care of him\nand whatsoever thou mayest need for his birth-ceremonies shall be\ncounted out to thee without regard to cost.\u201d Accordingly Prince Samir\ntook in hand with all pleasure and delight the charge of Prince\nKhudadad; and, as soon as the child reached the age for receiving\ninstruction, he caused him to be taught cavalarice and archery and all\nsuch arts and sciences which it behoveth the sons of the Kings to learn,\nso that he became perfect in all manner knowledge. At eighteen years of\nage he waxed seemly of semblance and such were his strength and valiance\nthat none in the whole world could compare with him. Presently, feeling\nhimself gifted with unusual vigour and virile character he addressed one\nday of the days Firuzah his parent, saying, \u201cO mother mine, grant me thy\nleave to quit Samaria and fare in quest of fortune, especially of some\nbattle-field where I may prove the force and prowess of me. My sire, the\nSultan of Harran, hath many foes, some of whom are lusting to wage war\nwith him; and I marvel that at such time he doth not summon me and make\nme his aid in this mightiest of matters. But seeing that I possess such\ncourage and Allah-given strength it behoveth me not to remain thus idly\nat home. My father knoweth naught of my lustihood, nor forsooth doth he\nthink of me at all; nevertheless \u2019tis suitable that at such a time I\npresent myself before him, and tender my services until my brothers be\nfit to fight and to front his foes.\u201d Hereto his mother made answer, \u201cO\nmy dear son, thine absence pleaseth me not, but in truth it becometh\nthee to help thy father against the enemies who are attacking him on all\nsides, provided that he send for thine aidance.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began\nto dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n The end of the Five Hundred and Ninety-third Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that Khudadad replied\nto his mother Firuzah, \u201cIndeed I am unable to brook delay; moreover such\nlonging have I in heart to look upon the Sultan, my sire, that an I go\nnot and visit him and kiss his feet I shall assuredly die. I will enter\nhis employ as a stranger and all unknown to him, nor will I inform him\nthat I am his son; but I shall be to him as a foreigner or as one of his\nhired knaves, and with such devotion will I do him suit and service\nthat, when he learneth that I am indeed his child, he may grant me his\nfavour and affection.\u201d Prince Samir also would not suffer him to depart\nand forbade him therefrom; but one day of the days the Prince suddenly\nset out from Samaria under pretext that he was about to hunt and chase.\nHe mounted a milk-white steed, whose reins and stirrups were of gold and\nthe saddle and housings were of azure satin dubbed with jewels and\nfringed with pendants of fresh pearls. His scymitar was hilted with a\nsingle diamond, the scabbard of chaunders-wood was crusted with rubies\nand emeralds and it depended from a gemmed waist-belt; while his bow and\nrichly wrought quiver hung by his side. Thus equipped and escorted by\nhis friends and familiars he presently arrived at Harran-city after the\nfairest fashion; and, when occasion offered itself, he made act of\npresence before the King and did his obeisance at Darb\u00e1r. The Sultan,\nremarking his beauty and comeliness, or haply by reason of an outburst\nof natural affection, was pleased to return his salam; and, graciously\ncalling him to his side, asked of him his name and pedigree, whereto\nKhudadad answered, \u201cO my liege, I am the son of an Emir of Cairo. A\nlonging for travel hath made me quit my native place and wander from\nclime to clime till at length I have come hither; and, hearing that thou\nhast matters of importance in hand, I am desirous of approving to thee\nmy valiancy.\u201d The King joyed with exceeding joy to hear this stout and\ndoughty speech, and forthwith gave him a post of command in his army;\nand Khudadad by careful supervision of the troops soon won the esteem of\nhis officers by his desire to satisfy them and the hearts of his\nsoldiers by reason of his strength and courage, his goodly nature and\nhis kindly disposition. He also brought the host and all its equipments\nand munitions of warfare into such excellent order and method that the\nKing on inspecting them was delighted and created the stranger Chief\nCommandant of the forces and made him an especial favourite; while the\nWazirs and Emirs, also the Nabobs and the Notables, perceiving that he\nwas highly reputed and regarded, showed him abundant good will and\naffection. Presently, the other Princes, who became of no account in the\neyes of the King and the lieges, waxed envious of his high degree and\ndignity. But Khudadad ceased not to please the Sultan his sire, at all\ntimes when they conversed together, by his prudence and discretion, his\nwit and wisdom, and gained his regard ever more and more; and when the\ninvaders, who had planned a raid on the realm, heard of the discipline\nof the army and of Khudadad\u2019s provisions for materials of war, they\nabstained from all hostile intent. After a while the King committed to\nKhudadad the custody and education of the forty-nine Princes, wholly\nrelying on his sagesse and skill; and thus, albeit Khudadad was of age\nlike his brothers, he became their master by reason of his sapience and\ngood sense. Whereupon they hated him but the more; and, when taking\ncounsel one day, quoth one to other, \u201cWhat be this thing our sire hath\ndone that he should make a stranger-wight his cup-companion and set him\nto lord it over us? We can do naught save by leave of this our governor,\nand our condition is past bearing; so contrive we to rid ourselves of\nthis foreigner and at least render him vile and contemptible in the eyes\nof our sire the Sultan.\u201d Said one, \u201cLet us gather together and slay him\nin some lonely spot;\u201d and said another, \u201cNot so! to kill him would\nbenefit us naught, for how could we keep the matter hidden from the\nKing? He would become our enemy and Allah only wotteth what evil might\nbefal us. Nay, rather let us crave permission of him and fare a-hunting\nand then tarry we in some far-off town; and after a while the King will\nmarvel at our absence, then grief will be sore upon him and at length,\nwaxing displeased and suspicious, he will have this fellow expelled the\npalace or haply done to death. This is the only sure and safe way of\nbringing about his destruction.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn\nShahrazad held her peace till\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n The end of the Five Hundred and Ninety-fourth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the forty-and-nine\nbrothers agreed to hold this plan the wisest and, presently going\ntogether to Khudadad, asked leave of him to ride about the country\nawhile or fare to the chase, promising they would return by set of sun.\nHe fell into the snare and allowed them to go; whereupon they sallied\nforth a-hunting but did not come back that day or the next. On the third\nmorning the King who missed them asked Khudadad wherefore it was that\nnone of his sons were to be seen; and he answered that three days before\nthey had gotten leave from him to go a-hunting and had not returned.\nHereat the father was perplexed with sore perplexity; and, when sundry\ndays more had passed by and still the Princes appeared not, the old\nSultan was much troubled in mind and hardly restraining his rage\nsummoned Khudadad and in hot wrath exclaimed, \u201cO thou neglectful\nstranger, what courage and over-daring is this of thine that thou didst\nsuffer my sons fare to the chace and didst not ride with them. And now\n\u2019tis but right that thou set out and search for them and bring them\nback; otherwise thou shalt surely die.\u201d Khudadad, hearing these harsh\nwords, was startled and alarmed; however he got him ready and mounted\nhis horse forthwith and left the city in quest of the Princes his\nbrethren, wandering about from country to country, like unto a herd\nseeking a straying flock of goats. Presently, not finding any trace of\nthem in homestead or on desert-ground, he became sad and sorrowful\nexceedingly, saying in his soul, \u201cO my brothers, what hath befallen you\nand where can ye be dwelling? Perchance some mighty foeman hath made you\nprisoners so that ye cannot escape; and I may never return unto Harran\ntill I find you; for this will be a matter of bitter regret and repine\nto the King.\u201d So he repented more and more having suffered them to go\nwithout his escort and guidance. At length whilst searching for them\nfrom plain to plain and forest to forest he chanced come upon a large\nand spacious prairie in the middlemost whereof rose a castle of black\nmarble; so he rode on at a foot pace and when close under the walls he\nespied a lady of passing beauty and loveliness who was seated at a\nwindow in melancholy plight and with no other ornament than her own\ncharms. Her lovely hair hung down in dishevelled locks; her raiment was\ntattered and her favour was pale and showed sadness and sorrow. Withal\nshe was speaking under her breath and Khudadad, giving attentive ear,\nheard her say these words, \u201cO youth, fly this fatal site, else thou wilt\nfall into the hands of the monster who dwelleth here; a man-devouring\nEthiopian[240] is lord of this palace; and he seizeth all whom Fate\nsendeth to this prairie and locketh them up in darksome and narrow cells\nthat he may preserve them for food.\u201d Khudadad exclaimed, \u201cO my lady,\ntell me I pray thee who thou art and whereabouts was thy home;\u201d and she\nanswered, \u201cI am a daughter of Cairo and of the noblest thereof. But\nlately, as I wended my way to Baghdad, I alighted upon this plain and\nmet that Habashi, who slew all my servants and carrying me off by force\nplaced me in this palace. I no longer care to live, and a thousand times\nbetter were it for me to die; for that this Abyssinian lusteth to enjoy\nme and albeit to the present time I have escaped the caresses of the\nimpure wretch, to-morrow an I still refuse to gratify his desire he will\nsurely ravish me and do me dead. So I have given up all hope of safety;\nbut thou, why hast thou come hither to perish? Escape without stay or\ndelay, for he hath gone forth in quest of wayfarers and right soon will\nhe return. Moreover he can see far and wide and can descry all who\ntraverse this wold.\u201d Now hardly had the lady spoken these words when the\nAbyssinian drew in sight; and he was as a Gh\u00fal of the Wild, big of bulk,\nand fearsome of favour and figure, and he mounted a sturdy Tartar steed,\nbrandishing, as he rode, a weighty blade which none save he could wield.\nPrince Khudadad seeing this monstrous semblance was sore amazed and\nprayed Heaven that he might be victorious over that devil: then\nunsheathing his sword he stood awaiting the Abyssinian\u2019s approach with\ncourage and steadfastness; but the blackamoor when he drew near deemed\nthe Prince too slight and puny to fight and was minded to seize him\nalive. Khudadad, seeing how his foe had no intent to combat, struck him\nwith his sword on the knee a stroke so dour that the negro foamed with\nrage and yelled a yell so loud that the whole prairie resounded with the\nplaint. Thereupon the brigand, fiery with fury, rose straight in his\nshovel-stirrups and struck fiercely at Khudadad with his huge sword and,\nbut for the Prince\u2019s cunning of fence and the cleverness of his courser,\nhe would have been sliced in twain like unto a cucumber. Though the\nscymitar whistled through the air, the blow was harmless, and in an\neye-twinkling Khudadad dealt him a second cut and struck off his right\nhand which fell to the ground with the sword hilt it gripped, when the\nblackamoor losing his balance rolled from the saddle and made earth\nresound with the fall. Thereupon the Prince sprang from his steed and\ndeftly severing the enemy\u2019s head from his body threw it aside. Now the\nlady had been looking down at the lattice rigid in prayer for the\ngallant youth; and, seeing the Abyssinian slain and the Prince\nvictorious, she was overcome with exceeding joy and cried but to her\ndeliverer, \u201cPraise be to Almighty Allah, O my lord, who by thy hand hath\ndefeated and destroyed this fiend. Come now to me within the castle,\nwhose keys are with the Abyssinian; so take them and open the door and\ndeliver me.\u201d Khudadad found a large bunch of keys under the dead man\u2019s\ngirdle wherewith he opened the portals of the fort and entered a large\nsaloon in which was the lady; and, no sooner did she behold him than\nrunning to meet him she was about to cast herself at his feet and kiss\nthem when Khudadad prevented her. She praised him with highest praise\nand extolled him for valiancy above all the champions of the world, and\nhe returned the salam to her who, when seen near hand seemed endued with\nmore grace and charms than had appeared from afar. So the Prince joyed\nwith extreme joy and the twain sat down in pleasant converse. Presently,\nKhudadad heard shrieks and cries and weeping and wailing with groans and\nmoans and ever loudening lamentations; so he asked the lady, saying,\n\u201cWhence are these clamours and from whom come these pitiful complaints?\u201d\nAnd, she pointing to a wicket in a hidden corner of the court below,\nanswered, saying, \u201cO my lord, these sounds come therefrom. Many wretches\ndriven by Destiny have fallen into the clutches of the Abyssinian Gh\u00fal\nand are securely locked up in cells, and each day he was wont to roast\nand eat one of the captives.\u201d \u201c\u2019Twill please me vastly,\u201d quoth Khudadad,\n\u201cto be the means of their deliverance: come, O my lady, and show me\nwhere they are imprisoned.\u201d Thereupon the twain drew near to the place\nand the Prince forthright tried a key upon the lock of the dungeon but\nit did not fit; then he made essay of another wherewith they opened the\nwicket. As they were so doing the report of the captives\u2019 moaning and\ngroaning increased yet more and more until Khudadad, touched and\ntroubled at their impatience, asked the cause of it. The lady replied,\n\u201cO my lord, hearing our footsteps and the rattling of the key in the\nlock they deem that the cannibal, according to his custom, hath come to\nsupply them with food and to secure one of them for his evening meal.\nEach feareth lest his turn for roasting be come, so all are affrighted\nwith sore affright and redouble their shouts and cries.\u201d\u2014\u2014And as the\nmorn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n The end of the Five Hundred and Ninety-fifth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the sounds from\nthat secret place seemed to issue from under ground or from the depths\nof a draw-well. But when the Prince opened the dungeon door, he espied a\nsteep staircase and descending thereby found himself in a deep pit,\nnarrow and darksome, wherein were penned more than an hundred persons\nwith elbows pinioned and members chained; nor saw he aught of light save\nthrough one bull\u2019s-eye. So he cried to them, \u201cO ye unfortunates, fear ye\nno more! I have slain the Abyssinian; and render ye praise to Allah\nAlmighty who hath rid you of your wrong-doer: also I come to strike off\nyour fetters and return you to freedom.\u201d Hearing these glad tidings the\nprisoners were in raptures of delight and raised a general cry of joy\nand jubilee. Hereupon Khudadad and the lady began to loose their hands\nand feet; and each, as he was released from his durance, helped to\nunchain his fellows: brief, after a moment of time all were delivered\nfrom their bonds and bondage. Then each and every kissed Khudadad\u2019s feet\nand gave thanks and prayed for his welfare; and when those whilom\nprisoners entered the court-yard whereupon the sun was shining sheen,\nKhudadad recognised amongst them his brothers, in quest of whom he had\nso long wandered. He was amazed with exceeding amazement and exclaimed,\n\u201cLaud be to the Lord, that I have found you one and all safe and sound:\nyour father is sorely sad and sorrowful at your absence; and Heaven\nforfend that this devil hath devoured any from amongst you.\u201d He then\ncounted their number, forty-and-nine, and set them apart from the rest;\nand all in excess of joy fell upon one another\u2019s necks and ceased not to\nembrace their saviour. After this the Prince spread a feast for the\ncaptives, each and every, whom he had delivered; and, when they had\neaten and drunken their full, he restored to them the gold and silver,\nthe Turkey carpets and pieces of Chinese silk and brocade and other\nvaluables innumerable which the Abyssinian had plundered from the\ncaravans, as also their own personal goods and chattels, directing each\nman to claim his own; and what remained he divided equally amongst them.\n\u201cBut,\u201d quoth he, \u201cby what means can ye convey these bales to your own\ncountries, and where can ye find beasts of burden in this wild wold?\u201d\nQuoth they, \u201cO our Lord, the Abyssinian robbed us of our camels with\ntheir loads and doubtless they are in the stables of the castle.\u201d\nHereupon Khudadad fared forth with them to the stables and there found\ntethered and tied not only the camels but also the forty-nine horses of\nhis brothers the princes, and accordingly he gave to each one his own\nanimal. There were moreover in the stables hundreds of Abyssinian\nslave-boys who, seeing the prisoners released, were certified that their\nlord the cannibal was slain and fled in dismay to the forest and none\nthought of giving chase to them. So the merchants loaded their\nmerchandise upon the camels\u2019 backs and farewelling the Prince set out\nfor their own countries. Then quoth Khudadad to the lady, \u201cO thou rare\nin beauty and chastity, whence earnest thou when the Abyssinian seized\nthee and whither now wouldst thou wend? Inform me thereof that I may\nrestore thee to thy home; haply these Princes, my brethren, sons of the\nSultan of Harran, know thine abode; and doubtless they will escort thee\nthither.\u201d The lady turning to Khudadad presently made answer, \u201cI live\nfar from here and my country, the land of Egypt, is over distant for\ntravel. But thou, O valorous Prince, hast delivered mine honour and my\nlife from the hands of the Abyssinian and hast shown me such favour that\n\u2019twould ill become me to conceal from thee my history. I am the daughter\nof a mighty king; reigning over the Sa\u2019\u00edd or upper Nile-land; and when a\ntyrant foeman seized him and, reaving him of life as well as of his\nrealm, usurped his throne and seized his kingdom, I fled away to\npreserve my existence and mine honour.\u201d Thereupon Khudadad and his\nbrothers prayed the lady to recount all that had befallen her and\nreassured her, saying, \u201cHenceforth thou shalt live in solace and luxury:\nneither toil nor trouble shall betide thee.\u201d When she saw that there was\nno help for her but to tell all her tale, she began in the following\nwords to recount the\n\n\n _HISTORY OF THE PRINCESS OF DARYABAR._[241]\n\nIn an island of the islands standeth a great city called Dary\u00e1b\u00e1r,\nwherein dwelt a king of exalted degree. But despite his virtue and his\nvalour he was ever sad and sorrowful having naught of offspring, and he\noffered up without surcease prayers on that behalf. After long years and\nlongsome supplications a half boon was granted to him; to wit, a\ndaughter (myself) was born. My father who grieved sore at first\npresently rejoiced with joy exceeding at the unfortunate ill-fated birth\nof me; and, when I came of age to learn, he bade me be taught to read\nand write; and caused me to be instructed in court-ceremonial and royal\nduties and the chronicles of the past, to the intent that I might\nsucceed him as heiress to his throne and his kingship. Now it happened\none day that my sire rode out a-hunting and gave chase to a wild\nass[242] with such hot pursuit that he found himself at eventide\nseparated from his suite; so, wearied with the chase, he dismounted from\nhis steed and seating himself by the side of a forest-path, he said to\nhimself, \u201cThe onager will doubtless seek cover in this copse.\u201d Suddenly\nhe espied a light shining bright amidst the trees and, thinking that a\nhamlet might be hard by, he was minded to night there and at day-dawn to\ndetermine his further course. Hereupon he arose and walking towards the\nlight he found that it issued from a lonely hut in the forest; then\npeering into the inside he espied an Abyssinian burly of bulk and in\nsemblance like unto a Satan, seated upon a divan. Before him were ranged\nmany capacious jars full of wine and over a fire of charcoal he was\nroasting a bullock whole and eating the flesh and ever and anon drinking\ndeep draughts from one of the pitchers. Furthermore the King sighted in\nthat hut a lady of exquisite beauty and comeliness sitting in a corner\ndirely distressed: her hands were fast bound with cords, and at her feet\na child of two or three years of age lay beweeping his mother\u2019s sorry\nplight.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n The end of the Five Hundred and Ninety-sixth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that seeing the doleful\nstate of these twain, my sire was filled with ruth and longed to fall\nupon the ogre sword in hand; however, not being able to cope with him he\nrestrained his wrath and remained on stealthy watch. The giant having\ndrained all the pitchers of wine and devoured half of the barbacued\nbullock presently addressed himself to the lady and said, \u201cO loveliest\nof Princesses how long, wilt thou prove thee coy and keep aloof from me?\nDost thou not see how desirous I am of winning thy heart and how I am\ndying for the love of thee? \u2019Tis therefore only right that thou also\nshouldst return my affection and know me as thine own, when I will\nbecome to thee the kindest of mankind.\u201d \u201cO thou Ghul of the waste,\u201d\ncried the lady, \u201cwhat be this whereof thou pratest? Never; no, never\nshalt thou win thy wish of me, however much thou mayest lust therefor.\nTorment me or, an thou wilt, destroy me downright, but for my part I\nwill on no wise yield me to thy lusts.\u201d At these words the infuriated\nsavage roared aloud, \u201c\u2019Tis enough and more than enough: thy hate\nbreedeth hatred in me and now I desire less to have and hold thee than\nto do thee die.\u201d Then he seized her with one hand, and drawing his sabre\nwith the other, would have struck off her head from her body when my\nfather shot at him a shaft so deftly that it pierced his heart and came\nout gleaming at his back and he fell to the ground and found instant\nadmission into Jahannam. Hereupon my sire entered the hut and unbinding\nthe lady\u2019s bonds enquired of her who she was and by what means that ogre\nhad brought her thither. Answered she, \u201cNot far from this site there\nliveth on the sea-shore a race of Saracens, like unto the demons of the\ndesert. Sorely against my will I was wedded to their Prince and the\nfulsome villain thou hast now slain was one of my husband\u2019s chief\nofficers. He fell madly in love to me and he longed with excessive\nlonging to get me into his power and to carry me off from my home.\nAccordingly, one day of the days when my husband was out of the way and\nI was in privacy, he carried me off with this my babe from the palace to\nthis wild wood wherein is none save He[243] and where well he wot that\nall search and labour would be baffled; then, hour after hour he\ndesigned guilty designs against me, but by the mercy of Almighty Allah I\nhave ever escaped all carnal soil of that foul monster. This evening, in\ndespair of my safety, I was rejecting his brutal advances when he\nattempted to take my life and in the attempt he was slain by thy\nvalorous hand. This is then my story which I have told thee.\u201d My father\nreassured the Princess, saying, \u201cO my lady, let thy heart be at ease; at\ndaybreak I will take thee away from this wilderness and escort thee to\nDaryabar, of which city I am the Sultan; and, shouldst thou become fain\nof that place, then dwell therein until thy husband shall come in quest\nof thee.\u201d Quoth the lady, \u201cO my lord, this plan doth not displease me.\u201d\nSo with the earliest light next morning my father took mother and child\naway from that forest and set forth homewards when suddenly he fell in\nwith his Sirdars and officers who had been wandering hither and thither\nduring the livelong night in search of him. They rejoiced with great joy\non seeing the King and marvelled with exceeding marvel at the sight of a\nveiled one with him, admiring much that so lovesome a lady should be\nfound dwelling in a wold so wild. Thereupon the King related to them the\ntale of the ogre and of the Princess and how he had slain the\nblackamoor. Presently they set forth on their homeward way; one of the\nEmirs seating the dame behind him on his horse\u2019s crupper while another\ntook charge of the child. They reached the royal city, where the King\nordered a large and splendid mansion to be built for his guest, the babe\nalso received a suitable education; and thus the mother passed her days\nin perfect comfort and happiness. After the lapse of some months, when\nno tidings, however fondly expected, came of her husband, she resigned\nherself to marrying my father whom she had captivated by her beauty and\nloveliness and amorous liveliness,[244] whereupon he wedded her, and\nwhen the marriage-contract was drawn up (as was customary in those\ndays), they sojourned together in one stead. As time went on the lad\ngrew up to be a lusty youth of handsome mien; moreover he became perfect\nin courtly ceremonial and in every art and science that befit Princes.\nThe King and all the Ministers and Emirs highly approved of him, and\ndetermined that I should be married to him, and that he should succeed\nthe sovereign as heir to throne and kingship. The youth also was well\npleased with such tokens of favour from my father, but chiefly he\nrejoiced with exceeding joy to hear talk of his union with his\nprotector\u2019s only daughter. One day my sire desired to place my hand in\nhis to the intent that the marriage ceremony should at once take place,\nbut first he would impose upon my suitor certain conditions, whereof one\nwas that he should wed none other but his wife\u2019s daughter, that is,\nmyself. This pledge displeased the haughty youth, who forthwith refused\nhis consent thereto, deeming himself by the demand of such condition a\ndespised and contemptible suitor of villain birth.\u2014\u2014And as the morn\nbegan to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n The end of the Five Hundred and Ninety-seventh Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that, the lady\ncontinued:\u2014On this wise the wedding was deferred, and this delay became\na matter of sore displeasure to the young man, who thought in his heart\nthat my father was his foe. Therefore he ever strove to lure him into\nhis power till one day in a frenzy of rage he slew him and proclaimed\nhimself King of Daryabar. Moreover the murtherer would have entered my\nchamber to kill me also had not the Wazir, a true and faithful servant\nof the crown, at the tidings of his liege lord\u2019s death speedily taken me\naway, and hidden me in the house of a friend where he bade me remain\nconcealed. Two days afterwards, having fitted out a ship, he embarked me\ntherein with a Kahram\u00e1nah\u2014an old duenna\u2014and set sail for a country whose\nKing was of my father\u2019s friends, to the intent that he might consign me\nto his charge, and obtain from him the aid of an army wherewith he might\navenge himself upon the ungrateful and ungracious youth who had proved\nhimself a traitor to the salt.[245] But a few days after our weighing\nanchor a furious storm began to blow making the captain and crew sore\nconfounded and presently the waves beat upon the vessel with such\nexceeding violence that she brake up, and the Wazir and the duenna and\nall who were therein (save myself) were drowned in the billows. But I,\nalbeit well nigh a-swoon, clung to a plank and was shortly after washed\nashore by the send of the sea, for Allah of His mighty power had\npreserved me safe and sound from death-doom by the raging of the ocean,\nto the end that further troubles might befal me. When I returned to\nsense and consciousness, I found myself alive on the strand and offered\nup grateful thanks to Almighty Allah; but not seeing the Wazir or any\none of the company I knew that they had perished in the waters.\u2014\u2014And as\nthe morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n The end of the Five Hundred and Ninety-eighth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Princess of\nDaryabar continued:\u2014Presently, calling to remembrance the murther of my\nfather I cried aloud with an exceeding bitter cry and was sore afraid at\nmy lonesome plight, insomuch that I would fain have cast myself again\ninto the sea, when suddenly the voice of man and tramp of horse-hooves\nfell upon my ears. Then looking about I descried a band of cavaliers in\nthe midst of whom was a handsome prince: he was mounted upon a steed of\npurest Rabite[246] blood and was habited in a gold-embroidered surcoat;\na girdle studded with diamonds girt his loins and on his head was a\ncrown of gold; in fine it was evident from his garb as from his aspect\nthat he was a born ruler of mankind. Thereupon, seeing me all alone on\nthe sea-shore, the knights marvelled with exceeding marvel; then the\nPrince detached one of his captains to ascertain my history and acquaint\nhim therewith; but albeit the officer plied me with questions I answered\nhim not a word and shed a flood of tears in the deepest silence. So\nnoting the waifage on the sand they thought to themselves, \u201cPerchance\nsome vessel hath been wrecked upon this shore and its planks and timber\nhave been cast up on the land, and doubtless this lady was in that ship\nand hath been floated ashore on some plank.\u201d Whereupon the cavaliers\ncrowded around me and implored me to relate unto them what had befallen\nme; nevertheless I still answered them not a word. Presently the Prince\nhimself drew near to me and, much amazed, sent away his suite from about\nme and addressed me in these words, \u201cO my lady, fear naught of ill from\nme nor distress thyself by needless affright. I would convey thee to my\nhome and under my mother\u2019s care; wherefore I am curious to know of thee\nwho thou art. The Queen will assuredly befriend thee and keep thee in\ncomfort and happiness.\u201d And now understanding that his heart was drawn\ntowards me, I told him all that had betided me, and he on hearing the\nstory of my sad destiny became moved with the deepest emotion and his\neyes brimmed with tears. Then he comforted me and carried me with him\nand committed me to the Queen his mother, who also lent kindly ear to my\ntale of the past, first and last, and hearing it she also was greatly\ngrieved, and wearied not day or night in tending me and (as far as in\nher lay) striving to make me happy. Seeing, moreover, that her son was\ndeeply enamoured of me and love-distraught she agreed to my becoming his\nwife, while I also consented when I looked upon his handsome and noble\nface and figure and to his proved affection for me and his goodness of\nheart. Accordingly, in due time the marriage was celebrated with royal\npomp and circumstance. But what escape is there from Fate? On that very\nnight, the night of the wedding, a King of Zanzibar who dwelt hard by\nthat island, and had erewhile practised against the kingdom, seizing his\nopportunity, attacked us with a mighty army, and having put many to\ndeath, bethought him to take me and my husband alive. But we escaped\nfrom his hands and fleeing under the murks of night to the sea-shore\nfound there a fisherman\u2019s boat, which we entered thanking our stars and\nlaunched it and floated far away on the current, unknowing whither\nDestiny was directing us. On the third day we espied a vessel making us,\nwhereat we rejoiced with joy excessive, deeming her to be some\nmerchantman coming to our aidance. No sooner had it lain alongside,\nhowever, than up there sprang five or six pirates,[247] each brandishing\na naked brand in hand, and boarding us tied our arms behind us and\ncarried us to their craft. They then tare the veil from my face and\nforthwith desired to possess me, each saying to other, \u201cI will enjoy\nthis wench.\u201d On this wise wrangling and jangling ensued till right soon\nit turned to battle and bloodshed, when moment by moment and one by one\nthe ravishers fell dead until all were slain save a single pirate, the\nbravest of the band. Quoth he to me, \u201cThou shalt fare with me to Cairo\nwhere dwelleth a friend of mine and to him will I give thee, for\nerewhile I promised him that on this voyage I would secure for him a\nfair woman for handmaid.\u201d Then seeing my husband, whom the pirates had\nleft in bonds he exclaimed, \u201cWho may be this hound? Is he to thee a\nlover or a friend?\u201d and I made answer \u201cHe is my wedded husband.\u201d \u201c\u2019Tis\nwell,\u201d cried he: \u201cin very sooth it behoveth me to release him from the\nbitter pangs of jealousy and the sight of thee enfolded in another\u2019s\nfond embrace.\u201d Whereat the ruffian raised aloft the ill-fated Prince,\nbound foot and hand, and cast him into the sea, while I shrieked aloud\nand implored his mercy, but all in vain. Seeing the Prince struggling\nand drowning in the waves I cried out and screamed and buffetted my face\nand tare my hair and would fain have cast myself into the waters but I\ncould not, for he held me fast and lashed me to the mainmast. Then,\npursuing our course with favouring winds we soon arrived at a small\nport-village where he bought camels and boy-slaves and journeyed on\ntowards Cairo; but when several stages of the road were left behind us,\nthe Abyssinian who dwelt in this castle suddenly overtook us. From afar\nwe deemed him to be a lofty tower, and when near us could hardly believe\nhim to be a human being.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held\nher peace till\n\n\n The end of the Five Hundred and Ninety-ninth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Princess of\nDaryabar continued:\u2014At once unsheathing his huge sword the Habashi made\nfor the pirate and ordered him to surrender himself prisoner, with me\nand all his slaves, and with pinioned elbows to accompany him. Hereat\nthe robber with hot courage and heading his followers rushed fiercely on\nthe Abyssinian, and for a long time the fight raged thick and fast, till\nhe and his lay dead upon the field; whereupon the Abyssinian led off the\ncamels and carried me and the pirate\u2019s corpse to this castle, and\ndevoured the flesh of his foe at his evening meal. Then turning to me as\nI wept with bitter weeping he said, \u201cBanish from thy breast this woe and\nthis angry mood; and abide in this castle at perfect ease and in\ncomfort, and solace thyself with my embraces. However, since thou\nappearest at this present to be in dire distress, I will excuse thee for\nto-night, but without fail I shall require thee of thyself on the\nmorrow.\u201d He then led me into a separate chamber and locking fast the\ngates and doors, fell asleep alone in another place. Arising early on\nthe next morning he searched the castle round about unlocked the wicket\nwhich he closed again and sallied forth, according to his custom, in\nquest of wayfarers. But the caravan escaped him and anon he returned\nempty-handed when thou didst set upon him and slay him. On this wise the\nPrincess of Daryabar related her history to Prince Khudadad who was\nmoved with ruth for her: then comforting her he said, \u201cHenceforth fear\nnaught nor be on any wise dismayed. These princes are the sons of the\nKing of Harran; and if it please thee, let them lead thee to his court\nand stablish thee in comfort and luxury: the King also will guard thee\nfrom all evil. Or, shouldest thou be loath to fare with them, wilt thou\nnot consent to take for spouse him who hath rescued thee from so great\ncalamity?\u201d The Princess of Daryabar consented to wed with him and\nforthwith the marriage was celebrated with grand display in the castle\nand here they found meats and drinks of sundry sorts, and delicious\nfruits and fine wines wherewith the cannibal would regale himself when\na-weary of man\u2019s flesh. So Khudadad made ready dishes of every colour\nand feasted his brothers. Next day taking with them such provaunt as was\nat hand, all set forth for Harran, and at the close of each stage they\nchose a suitable stead for nighting; and, when but one day\u2019s journey lay\nbefore them, the Princes supped that night off what was left to them of\ntheir viaticum and drained all the wine that remained. But when the\ndrink had mastered their wits, Khudadad thus addressed his brothers,\nsaying, \u201cHitherto have I withheld from you the secret of my birth, which\nnow I must disclose. Know ye then that I am your brother, for I also am\na son of the King of Harran, whom the Lord of Samaria-land brought up\nand bade educate; and lastly, my mother is the Princess Firuzah.\u201d Then\nto the Princess of Daryabar, \u201cThou didst not recognise my rank and\npedigree and, had I discovered myself erewhile, haply thou hadst been\nspared the mortification of being wooed by a man of vulgar blood. But\nnow ease thy mind for that thy husband is a Prince.\u201d Quoth she, \u201cAlbeit\nthou discoveredst to me naught until this time, still my heart felt\nassured that thou wast of noble birth and the son of some potent\nsovereign.\u201d The Princes one and all appeared outwardly well pleased and\noffered each and every warm congratulations whilst the wedding was\ncelebrating; but inwardly they were filled with envy and sore annoy at\nsuch unwelcome issue of events, so much so that when Khudadad retired\nwith the Princess of Daryabar to his tent and slept, those ingrates,\nforgetful of the service rendered to them by their brother in that he\nhad rescued them when prisoners in the hands of the man-devouring\nAbyssinian, remained deep in thought and seeking a safe place took\ncounsel one with other to kill him. Quoth the foremost of them, \u201cO my\nbrethren, our father showed him the liveliest affection when he was to\nus naught save a vagrant and unknown, and indeed made him our ruler and\nour governor; and now, hearing of his victory won from the ogre and\nlearning that the stranger is his son, will not our sire forthwith\nappoint this bastard his only heir and give him dominion over us so that\nwe must all be forced to fall at his feet and bear his yoke? My rede is\nthis that we make an end of him in this very spot.\u201d Accordingly they\nstole softly into his tent and dealt him from every side strokes with\ntheir swords, so that they slashed him in every limb and fondly thought\nthat they had left him dead on the bed without their awaking the\nPrincess. Next morning they entered the city of Harran and made their\nsalams to the King, who despaired of sighting them again, so he rejoiced\nwith exceeding joy on seeing them restored to him safe and sound and\nsane, and asked why they had tarried from him so long. In reply they\ncarefully concealed from him their being thrown into the dungeon by the\nGhul of Abyssinia and how Khudadad had rescued them: on the contrary all\ndeclared that they had been delayed whilst a-hunting and a-visiting the\nadjacent cities and countries. So the Sultan gave full credence to their\naccount and held his peace. Such was their case; but as regards\nKhudadad, when the Princess of Daryabar awoke in the morning she found\nher bridegroom lying drowned in blood gashed and pierced with a score of\nwounds.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n The end of the full Six Hundredth Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that, the Princess,\ndeeming her bridegroom dead, wept at this sight right sore; and, calling\nto mind his youth and beauty, his valour and his many virtues, she\nwashed his face with her tears and exclaimed, \u201cWell-away and woe is me,\nO my lover, O Khudadad, do these eyes look upon thee in sudden and\nviolent death? Are these thy brothers (the devils!) whom thy courage\nhath saved, the destroyers of thee? Nay \u2019tis I am thy murtheress; I who\nsuffered thee to ally thy Fate with my hapless destiny, a lot that\ndoometh to destruction all who befriend me.\u201d Then considering the body\nattentively she perceived that breath was slowly coming and going\nthrough his nostrils, and that his limbs were yet warm. So she made fast\nthe tent-door and ran city-wards to seek a surgeon, and anon having\nfound a skilful leech, she returned with him, but lo and behold!\nKhudadad was missing. She wist not what had become of him, but thought\nin her mind that some wild beast had carried him off; then she wept\nbitterly and bemoaned her mishap, so that the surgeon was moved to ruth\nand with words of comfort and consolation offered her house and service;\nand lastly he bore her to the town and assigned to her a separate\ndwelling. He also appointed two slave-girls to wait upon her, and albeit\nhe knew naught of her condition he was ever in attendance on her with\nthe honour and homage due to the kings. One day, she being somewhat less\nsad of heart, the surgeon, who had now informed himself of her\ncondition, asked her, saying, \u201cO my lady, be pleased to acquaint me with\nthine estate and thy misfortunes, and as far as in me lieth I will\nstrive to aid and succour thee.\u201d And she, observing the leech to be\nshrewd and trustworthy withal, made known to him her story. Quoth the\nsurgeon, \u201cAn it be thy wish, I would gladly escort thee to thy\nfather-in-law the King of Harran, who is indeed a wise sovereign and a\njust; and he will rejoice to see thee and will take vengeance on the\nunnatural Princes, his sons, for the blood of thy husband unjustly\nshed.\u201d These words pleased well the Princess; so the surgeon hired two\ndromedaries which they mounted and the twain set forth for the city of\nHarran. Alighting that same evening at a caravanserai the leech asked\nwhat news had come from town; and the Keeper answered, \u201cThe King of\nHarran had a son passing valiant and accomplished who abode with him for\nsome years as a stranger; but lately he was lost, nor doth any know of\nhim whether he be dead or alive. The Princess Firuzah his mother hath\nsent all-wheres in search of him, yet hath she found nor trace nor\ntidings of him. His parents and indeed all the folk, rich and poor, weep\nand wail for him and albeit the Sultan hath other forty and nine sons,\nnone of them can compare with him for doughty deeds and skilful craft,\nnor from any one of them deriveth he aught of comfort or consolation.\nFull quest and search have been made but hitherto all hath been in\nvain.\u201d The surgeon thereupon made known these words to the Princess of\nDaryabar, who was minded to go straightway and acquaint the mother of\nKhudadad with everything that had befallen her husband; but the surgeon,\nafter full reflection, said, \u201cO Princess, shouldst thou fare with this\nintent, haply ere thou arrive thither the forty-nine Princes may hear of\nthy coming; and they, by some means or other, will assuredly do thee\ndie, and thy life will be spent to no purpose. Nay, rather let me go\nfirst to Prince Khudadad\u2019s mother: I will tell her all thy tale and she\ndoubtless will send for thee. Until such time do thou remain secret in\nthis Serai.\u201d Accordingly the leech rode on leisurely for the city and on\nthe road he met a lady mounted upon a she mule[248] whose housings were\nof the richest and finest, while behind her walked confidential\nservants, followed by a band of horsemen and foot-soldiers and Habashi\nslaves; and, as she rode along, the people formed espalier, standing on\neither side to salute her while she passed. The leech also joined the\nthrong and made his obeisance, after which quoth he to a bystander,\nwhich was a Darwaysh, \u201cMethinks this lady must be a queen?\u201d \u201c\u2019Tis even\nso,\u201d quoth the other, \u201cshe is the Consort of our Sultan and all the folk\nhonour and esteem her above her sister-wives for that in truth she is\nthe mother of Prince Khudadad and of him thou surely hast heard.\u201d\nHereupon the surgeon accompanied the cavalcade; and, when the lady\ndismounted at a cathedral-mosque and gave alms of Ashrafis[249] and gold\ncoins to all around (for the King had enjoined her that until Khudadad\u2019s\nreturn she should deal charity to the poor with her own hand, and pray\nfor the youth\u2019s being restored to his home in peace and safety), the\nmediciner also mingled with the throng which joined in supplications for\ntheir favourite and whispered to a slave saying, \u201cO my brother, it\nbehoveth me that I make known without stay or delay to Queen Firuzah a\nsecret which is with me.\u201d Replied he, \u201cAn it be aught concerning Prince\nKhudadad \u2019tis well: the King\u2019s wife will surely give ear to thee; but an\nit be other, thou wilt hardly win a hearing, for that she is distraught\nby the absence of her son and careth not for aught beside.\u201d The surgeon,\nstill speaking low, made reply, \u201cMy secret concerneth that which is on\nher mind.\u201d \u201cIf this be so,\u201d returned the slave, \u201cdo thou follow her\ntrain privily till it arrive at the palace gate.\u201d Accordingly, when the\nLady Firuzah reached her royal apartments, the man made petition to her,\nsaying, \u201cA stranger would fain tell somewhat to thee in private;\u201d and\nshe deigned give permission and command, exclaiming, \u201c\u2019Tis well, let him\nbe brought hither.\u201d Hereupon the slave presented to her the surgeon whom\nthe Queen with gracious mien bade approach; and he, kissing ground\nbetween her hands, made his petition in these words: \u201cI have a long tale\nto tell thy Highness whereat thou shalt greatly marvel.\u201d Then he\ndescribed to her Khudadad\u2019s condition, the villainy of his brothers and\nhis death at their hands and of his corpse having been carried off by\nwild beasts. Queen Firuzah hearing of her son\u2019s murther fell straightway\na-swooning to the ground, and the attendants ran up and, raising her,\nbesprinkled her face with rosewater until she recovered sense and\nconsciousness. Then she gave orders to the surgeon, saying, \u201cHie thee\nstraightway to the Princess of Daryabar and convey to her greetings and\nexpressions of sympathy both from myself and from his sire;\u201d and as the\nleech departed she called to mind her son and wept with sore weeping. By\nchance the Sultan, who was passing by that way, seeing Firuzah in tears\nand sobs and breaking out into sore and bitter lamentation, asked of her\nthe reason thereof.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her\npeace till\n\n\n The end of the Six Hundred and First Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that when her husband\nenquired of Queen Firuzah why and wherefore she wept and wailed, and\nmoaned and groaned, she told him all she had heard from the leech, and\nher husband was filled with hot wrath against his sons. So he rose up\nand went straightway to the audience-chamber, where the townsfolk had\ngathered together to petition him and to pray for justice and redress;\nand they, seeing his features working with rage, were all sore afraid.\nPresently the Sultan seated himself on the throne of his kingship and\ngave an order to his Grand Wazir, saying, \u201cO Wazir Hasan, take with thee\na thousand men of the guard which keepeth watch and ward over the palace\nand do thou bring hither the forty-and-nine Princes, my unworthy sons,\nand cast them into the prison appointed unto man-slayers and murtherers;\nand have a heed that none of them escape.\u201d The Wazir did as he was\nbidden, and seizing the Princes one and all cast them into gaol with the\nmurtherers and other criminals, then reported his action to his liege\nlord. Hereat the Sultan dismissed sundry claimants and suppliants,\nsaying, \u201cFor the space of one full-told month henceforth it besitteth me\nnot to sit in the justice-hall. Depart hence, and, when the thirty days\nshall have passed away, do ye return hither again.\u201d After this rising\nfrom the throne he took with him the Wazir Hasan, and entering the\napartment of Queen Firuzah, gave command to the Minister that he bring\nin all haste and with royal state and dignity from the caravanserai, the\nPrincess of Daryabar and the mediciner. The Wazir straightway took horse\naccompanied by the Emirs and soldiers; and, leading a fine white\nshe-mule richly adorned with jewelled trappings from out of the royal\nstables, he rode to the caravanserai wherein abode the Princess of\nDaryabar. Having told her all that the King had done, he seated her upon\nthe animal and, mounting the surgeon upon a steed of Turcoman[250]\nblood, all three proceeded with pomp and grandeur to the palace. The\nshop-keepers and townsfolk ran out to greet the lady as the calvacade\nwound its way through the streets; and, when they heard say that she was\nthe wife of Prince Khudadad, they rejoiced with exceeding joy for that\nthey should now receive tidings of his whereabouts. As soon as the\nprocession reached the palace gates the Princess of Daryabar saw the\nSultan, who had come forth to greet her, and she alighted from the mule\nand kissed his feet. The King then raised her by the hand and conducted\nher to the chamber wherein sat Queen Firuzah awaiting her visit, and all\nthree fell on one another\u2019s necks and wept sore and could on no wise\ncontrol their grief. But whenas their sorrow was somewhat assuaged, the\nPrincess of Daryabar said to the King, \u201cO my lord the Sultan, I would\nproffer humble petition that full vengeance may fall upon those, one and\nall, by whom my husband hath been so foully and cruelly murthered.\u201d\nReplied the King, \u201cO my lady, rest assured that I will assuredly put to\ndeath all those villains in requital for the blood of Khudadad;\u201d\npresently adding, \u201c\u2019Tis true that the dead body of my brave son hath not\nbeen found, still it seemeth but right to me that a tomb be built, a\ncenotaph whereby his greatness and goodness may be held in everlasting\nremembrance.\u201d Thereupon he summoned the Grand Wazir and bade that a\ngreat Mausoleum of white marble be edified amiddlemost the city and the\nMinister straightway appointed workmen and made choice of a suitable\nspot in the very centre of the capital. So there they built a gorgeous\ncenotaph crowned with a noble dome under which was sculptured a figure\nof Khudadad; and, when the news of its completion reached the King, he\nappointed a day for ceremonious mourning and perlections of the Koran.\nAt the appointed time and term the townsfolk gathered together to see\nthe funeral procession and the obsequies for the departed; and the\nSultan went in state to the Mausoleum together with all the Wazirs, the\nEmirs and Lords of the land, and took seat upon carpets of black satin\npurfled with flowers of gold which were dispread over the marble floor.\nAfter a while a bevy of Knights rode up, with downcast heads and\nhalf-closed eyes; and twice circuiting the dome[251] they halted the\nthird time in front of the door, and cried out aloud, \u201cO Prince, O son\nof our Sultan, could we by the sway of our good swords and the strength\nof our gallant arms restore thee to life, nor heart nor force would fail\nus in the endeavour; but before the fiat of Almighty Allah all must bow\nthe neck.\u201d Then the horsemen rode away to the place whence they came,\nfollowed by one hundred hermits hoar of head and dwellers of the caves\nwho had passed their lives in solitude and abstinence nor ever held\nconverse with man or womankind, neither did they appear in Harran at any\ntime save for the obsequies of the reigning race. In front came one of\nthese greybeards steadying with one hand a huge and ponderous tome which\nhe bore upon his head. Presently all the holy men thrice compassed the\nMausoleum, then standing on the highway the eldest cried with a loud\nvoice, \u201cO Prince, could we by dint of orisons and devotions bring thee\nback to life, these hearts and souls of ours would be devoted to\nquickening thee, and on seeing thee arise once again we would wipe thy\nfeet with our own age-white beards.\u201d And when they also retired came one\nhundred maidens of wondrous beauty and loveliness, mounted on white\nbarbs whose saddles were richly embroidered and set with jewels: their\nfaces were bare and on their heads they bore golden canisters filled\nwith precious stones, rubies and diamonds. They also rode in circuit\nround the cenotaph and, halting at the door, the youngest and fairest of\nthem, speaking in the name of her sisterhood, exclaimed, \u201cO Prince,\ncould our youth and our charms avail thee aught, we would present\nourselves to thee and become thy handmaids; but alas! thou knowest full\nwell that our beauties are here all in vain nor can our love now warm\nthy clay.\u201d Then they also departed in the deepest grief. As soon as they\nhad disappeared the Sultan and all with him rose up and walked thrice\nround the figure that had been set up under the dome; then standing at\nits feet the father said, \u201cO my beloved son, enlighten these eyes which\ntears for the stress of separation have thus bedimmed.\u201d He then wept\nbitterly and all his Ministers and Courtiers and Grandees joined in his\nmourning and lamentations; and, when they had made an end of the\nobsequies, the Sultan and his suite returned palace-wards and the door\nof the dome was locked.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held\nher peace till\n\n\n The end of the Six Hundred and Second Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Sultan\ncommanded congregational prayers in all the mosques for a full told week\nand he ceased not to mourn and weep and wail before the cenotaph of his\nson for eight days. And as soon as this term was passed he commanded the\nGrand Wazir that vengeance be meted out for the murther of Prince\nKhudadad, and that the Princes be brought out from their dungeons and be\ndone to death. The tidings were bruited about the city, and preparations\nwere made for executing the assassins and crowds of folk collected to\ngaze upon the scaffold, when suddenly came a report that an enemy whom\nthe King had routed in bygone times was marching upon the city with a\nconquering army. Hereat the Sultan was sore troubled and perplexed and\nthe ministers of state said one to other, \u201cAlas! had Prince Khudadad\nbeen on life he would forthwith have put to flight the forces of the foe\nhowever fierce and fell.\u201d Natheless the Sovran set out from the city\nwith his suite and host, and eke he made ready for flight to some other\nland by way of the river should the enemy\u2019s force prove victorious. Then\nthe two powers met in deadly combat; and the invader, surrounding the\nKing of Harran\u2019s many on every side, would have cut him to pieces with\nall his warriors, when behold, an armed force hitherto unseen rode\nathwart the plain at a pace so swift and so sure that the two hostile\nKings gazed upon them in uttermost amazement, nor wist any one whence\nthat host came. But when it drew near, the horsemen charged home on the\nenemies and in the twinkling of an eye put them to flight; then hotly\npursuing felled them with the biting sword and the piercing spear.\nSeeing this onslaught the King of Harran marvelled greatly and rendering\nthanks to heaven said to those around him, \u201cLearn ye the name of the\nCaptain of yonder host, who he may be and whence came he.\u201d But when all\nthe foemen had fallen upon the field save only a few who escaped hither\nand thither and the hostile sultan who had been taken prisoner, the\nCaptain of the friendly forces returned from pursuit well pleased to\ngreet the King. And, lo and behold! as the twain drew near one to other\nthe Sultan was certified that the Captain was none other than his\nbeloved child, Khudadad, whilome lost and now found. Accordingly, he\nrejoiced with joy unspeakable that his enemy had thus been vanquished\nand that he had again looked upon his son, Khudadad, who stood before\nhim alive and safe and sound. \u201cO my sire,\u201d presently exclaimed the\nPrince, \u201cI am he whom thou deemest to have been slain; but Allah\nAlmighty hath kept me on life that I might this day stand thee in good\nstead and destroy these thine enemies.\u201d \u201cO my beloved son,\u201d replied the\nKing, \u201csurely I had despaired and never hoped again to see thee with\nthese mine eyes.\u201d So father and son dismounted and fell upon each\nother\u2019s necks and quoth the Sultan, clasping the youth\u2019s hand, \u201cLong\nsince have I known of thy valiant deeds, and how thou didst save thine\nill-omened brothers from the hands of the man-devouring Abyssinian, and\nof the evil wherewith they requited thee. Go now to thy mother, of whom\nnaught remaineth, through bitter tears for thee, save skin and bone: be\nthou the first to gladden her heart and give her the good tidings of\nthis thy victory.\u201d As they rode along, the Prince enquired of the\nSultan, his sire, how he had heard tell of the Habashi and of the rescue\nof the Princes from the cannibal\u2019s clutches. \u201cHath one of my brothers,\u201d\nadded he, \u201cinformed thee of this adventure?\u201d \u201cNot so, O my son,\u201d replied\nthe King, \u201cnot they, but the Princess of Daryabar told me the miserable\ntale thereof: she hath dwelt for many days with me and \u2019twas she who\nfirst and foremost demanded vengeance for thy blood.\u201d When Khudadad\nheard that the Princess his spouse was his father\u2019s guest, he rejoiced\nwith exceeding joy and cried, \u201cSuffer me first to see my mother;[252]\nthen will I go to the Princess of Daryabar.\u201d The King of Harran hereat\nstruck off the head of his chief enemy and exposed it publicly\nthroughout the streets of his capital, and all the people exulted\nmightily not only at the victory but also for the return of Khudadad\nsafe and sound; and dancing and feasting were in every household.\nPresently Queen Firuzah and the Princess of Daryabar presented\nthemselves before the Sultan and offered their congratulations to him,\nthen they went to see Khudadad both hand in hand and the three falling\non one another\u2019s necks wept for very joy.\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn\nShahrazad held her peace till\n\n\n The end of the Six Hundred and Third Night.\n\nThen said she:\u2014\u2014I have heard, O auspicious King, that after this the\nKing and his Queen and daughter-in-law sat long conversing, and they\nmarvelled much how Khudadad, albeit he was sorely gashed and pierced\nwith the sword, had escaped alive from that wildest of wolds, whereupon\nthe Prince at the bidding of his sire told his tale in these words: \u201cA\npeasant mounted on a camel chanced to pass by my pavilion and seeing me\nsore wounded and weltering in my blood, set me upon his beast and\nconveyed me to his house; then, choosing some roots of desert-herbs he\nplaced them on the hurts so that they kindly healed, and I speedily\nrecovered strength. After returning thanks to my benefactor and giving\nhim liberal largesse, I set out for the city of Harran and on the road I\nsaw the forces of the foe in countless numbers marching upon thy city.\nWherefore I made the matter known to the folk of the townships and\nvillages round about and besought their aid; then collecting a large\nforce I placed myself at the head thereof, and arriving in the nick of\ntime destroyed the invading hosts.\u201d Hereupon the Sultan gave thanks to\nAllah Almighty and said, \u201cLet all the Princes who conspired against thy\nlife be put to death;\u201d and sent forthright for the Sworder of his\nvengeance; but Khudadad made request to his sire and said, \u201cIn good\nsooth, O my lord the King, they all deserve the doom thou hast ordained,\nyet be not these my brethren and eke thine own flesh and blood? I have\nfreely forgiven them their offence against me and I humbly pray thy\npardon also, that thou grant them their lives, for that blood ever\ncalleth unto blood.\u201d The Sultan at length consented and forgave their\noffence. Then, summoning all the Ministers, he declared Khudadad his\nheir and successor, in presence of the Princes whom he bade bring from\nthe prison house. Khudadad caused their chains and fetters to be\nstricken off and embraced them one by one, showing them the same\nfondness and affection as he had shown to them in the castle of the\ncannibal Habashi. All the folk on hearing of this noble conduct of\nPrince Khudadad raised shouts of applause and loved him yet more than\nbefore. The surgeon who had done such good service to the Princess of\nDaryabar received a robe of honour and much wealth; and on this wise\nthat which began with mishap had issue in all happiness. When Queen\nShahrazad ended this story she said to Shahryar, \u201cO my lord, thou art\ndoubtless astonished to find that the Caliph Har\u00fan al-Rashid changed his\nwrath against Gh\u00e1nim[253] and his mother and sister to feelings of\nfavour and affection, but I am assured that thou wilt be the more\nsurprised on hearing the story of the curious adventures of that same\nCaliph with the blind man, B\u00e1b\u00e1 Abdullah.\u201d Quoth Dunyazad, as was her\nway, to her sister Shahrazad, \u201cO sister mine, what a rare and delectable\ntale hast thou told and now prithee favour us with another.\u201d She\nreplied, \u201cIt is well nigh dawn but, if my life be spared, I will tell\nthee as the morrow morrows a strange and wonderful history of the Caliph\nHarun al-Rashid.\u201d[254]\u2014\u2014And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her\npeace till\n\n\n The end of the Six Hundred and Fourth Night.\n\nWhen she began to relate the History of\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 1:\n\n M. Zotenberg empowered me to offer his \u201cAladdin\u201d to an \u201cOriental\u201d\n publishing-house well-known in London; and the result was the\n \u201cno-public\u201d reply. The mortifying fact is that Oriental studies are\n now at their nadir in Great Britain, which is beginning to show so\n small in the Eastern World.\n\nFootnote 2:\n\n P.N. of a Jinni who rules the insect-kingdom and who is invoked by\n scribes to protect their labours from the worm.\n\nFootnote 3:\n\n Both name and number suggest the \u201cCalc. Edit.\u201d of 1814. See\n \u201cTranslator\u2019s Foreword\u201d vol. i., xix.-xx. There is another version of\n the first two hundred Nights, from the \u201cCalc. Edit.\u201d into Urdu by one\n Haydar Ali, 1 vol. roy. 8vo lithog. Calc. 1263 (1846).\u2014R. F. B.\n\nFootnote 4:\n\n \u201cAlf Leilah\u201d in Hindostani, 4 vols. in 2, royal 8vo, lithographed,\n Lakhnau, 1263 (1846).\u2014R. F. B.\n\nFootnote 5:\n\n This is the \u201cAlif\u201d (!) Leila, Tarjuma-i Alif (!) Laila ba-Zuban-i-Urdu\n (Do Jild, ba-harf\u00e1t-i-Yurop), an Urdu translation of the Arabian\n Nights, printed entirely in the Roman character, etc., etc.\u2014R. F. B.\n\nFootnote 6:\n\n _i.e._ The Thousand Tales.\n\nFootnote 7:\n\n From the MS. in the Biblioth\u00e8que Nationale (Supplement Arab. No. 2523)\n vol. ii., p. 82, verso to p. 94, verso. The Sisters are called\n D\u00edn\u00e1rz\u00e1d and Shahr\u00e1z\u00e1d, a style which I have not adopted.\n\nFootnote 8:\n\n The old versions read \u201cOrnament (Adornment?) of the Statues,\u201d Zierde\n der Bilds\u00e4ulen (Weil). I hold the name to be elliptical, Zayn (al-Din\n = Adornment of The Faith and owner of) al-Asn\u00e1m = the Images. The\n omission of Al-Din in proper names is very common; _e.g._, Fakhr\n (Al-Din) Al-Iftakh\u00e1ri (Iftikh\u00e1r-al-Din) and many others given by De\n Sacy (Chrest. i. 30, and in the Treatise on Coffee by Abd al-K\u00e1dir).\n So Al-Kam\u00e1l, Al-Im\u00e1d, Al-Baha are = Kamal al-D\u00edn, etc. in Ibn\n Khallikan, iii. 493. Sanam properly = an idol is popularly applied to\n all artificial figures of man and beast. I may note that we must not\n call the hero, after Galland\u2019s fashion, unhappily adopted by Weil,\n _tout bonnement_ \u201cZayn.\u201d\n\nFootnote 9:\n\n Galland persistently writes \u201cBalsorah,\u201d a European corruption common\n in his day, the childhood of Orientalism in Europe. The Hindostani\n versions have \u201cBansr\u00e1,\u201d which is worse.\n\nFootnote 10:\n\n For notes on Geomancy (Zarb Raml) see vol. iii. 269.\n\nFootnote 11:\n\n The Hindostani Version enlarges upon this:\u2014\u201cBesides this, kings cannot\n escape perils and mishaps which serve as warnings and examples to them\n when dealing their decrees.\u201d\n\nFootnote 12:\n\n In the XIXth century we should say \u201cAll the \u2014\u2014ologies.\u201d\n\nFootnote 13:\n\n In the Hindostani Version he begins by \u201cbreaking the seal which had\n been set upon the royal treasury.\u201d\n\nFootnote 14:\n\n \u201cThree things\u201d (says Sa\u2019di in the Gulistan) \u201clack permanency, Wealth\n without trading, Learning without disputation, Government without\n justice.\u201d (chap. viii. max. 8). The Bakhtiy\u00e1r-n\u00e1meh adds that\n \u201cGovernment is a tree whose root is legal punishment (Siy\u00e1sat); its\n root-end is justice; its bough, mercy; its flower, wisdom; its leaf,\n liberality; and its fruit, kindness and benevolence. The foliage of\n every tree whose root waxeth dry (lacketh sap) taketh a yellow tint\n and beareth no fruit.\u201d\n\nFootnote 15:\n\n For this word, see vol. ix. 108. It is the origin of the Fr. \u201cDouane\u201d\n and the Italian \u201cDogana\u201d through the Spanish Aduana (Ad-D\u00edw\u00e1n) and the\n Proven\u00e7al \u201cDoana.\u201d M\u00e9nage derives it from the Gr. \u03b4\u03bf\u03ba\u03ac\u03bd\u03b7 = a place\n where goods are received, and others from \u201cDoge\u201d (Dux) for whom a tax\n on merchandise was levied at Venice. Littr\u00e9 (s. v.) will not decide,\n but rightly inclines to the Oriental origin.\n\nFootnote 16:\n\n A Had\u00eds says, \u201cThe dream is the inspiration of the True Believer;\u201d but\n also here, as the sequel shows, the Prince believed the Shaykh to be\n the Prophet, concerning whom a second Hadis declares, \u201cWhoso seeth me\n in his sleep seeth me truly, for Satan may not assume my semblance.\u201d\n See vol. iv. 287. The dream as an inspiration shows early in\n literature, _e.g._\n\n \u2014\u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03b3\u03ac\u03c1 \u1f44\u03bd\u03b1\u03c1 \u1f10\u03ba \u0394\u03b9\u03cc\u03c2 \u1f10\u03c3\u03c4\u03b9\u03bd (Il. i. 63).\n\n and\n\n \u2014\u0398\u03b5\u1f36\u03cc\u03c2 \u03bc\u03bf\u03b9 \u1f10\u03bd\u03cd\u03c0\u03bd\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd \u1f20\u03bb\u03b8\u03b5\u03bd \u1f4c\u03bd\u03b5\u03b9\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2 (Il. ii. 55).\n\n in which the Dream is \u0394\u03b9\u1f78\u03c2 \u1f04\u03b3\u03b3\u03b5\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2.\n\nFootnote 17:\n\n In the Hindostani Version he becomes a P\u00edr = saint, spiritual guide.\n\nFootnote 18:\n\n A favourite sentiment. In Sir Charles Murray\u2019s excellent novel,\n \u201cHassan: or, the Child of the Pyramid,\u201d it takes the form, \u201cwhat\u2019s\n past is past and what is written is written and shall come to pass.\u201d\n\nFootnote 19:\n\n In the H. V. the Prince digs a vat or cistern-shaped hole a yard deep.\n Under the ringed slab he also finds a door whose lock he breaks with\n his pickaxe and seeing a staircase of white marble lights a candle and\n reaches a room whose walls are of porcelain and its floor and ceiling\n are of crystal.\n\nFootnote 20:\n\n Arab. Khaw\u00e1bi (plur. of Kh\u00e1biyah) large jars usually of pottery. In\n the H. V. four shelves of mother o\u2019 pearl support ten jars of porphyry\n ranged in rows and the Prince supposes (with Galland) that the\n contents are good old wine.\n\nFootnote 21:\n\n Arab. \u201c\u2019At\u00edk\u201d: the superficial similarity of the words has produced a\n new noun in Arabic, _e.g._ Ab\u00fa Ant\u00edk\u00e1 = father of antiquities, a\n vendor of such articles mostly modern, \u201cbrand-new and intensely old.\u201d\n\nFootnote 22:\n\n In the text \u201cAshkh\u00e1s\u201d (plural of Shakhs) vulgarly used, throughout\n India, Persia and other Moslem realms, in the sense of persons or\n individuals. For its lit. sig. see vols. iii. 26; and viii. 159. The\n H. V. follows Galland in changing to pedestals the Arab. thrones, and\n makes the silken hanging a \u201cpiece of white satin\u201d which covers the\n unoccupied base.\n\nFootnote 23:\n\n The blessed or well-omened: in these days it is mostly a servile name,\n _e.g._ Sidi Mub\u00e1rak Bombay. See vol. ix. 58, 330.\n\nFootnote 24:\n\n In the text \u201cM\u00edn\u201d for \u201cMan,\u201d a Syro-Egyptian form, common throughout\n this MS.\n\nFootnote 25:\n\n \u201cAy Ni\u2019am,\u201d an emphatic and now vulgar expression.\n\nFootnote 26:\n\n The MS. here has \u201c\u2019Im\u00e1rah\u201d = a building, probably a clerical error for\n Magh\u00e1rah, a cave, a souterrain.\n\nFootnote 27:\n\n Arab. \u201cZahab-raml\u00ed,\u201d explained in \u201cAlaeddin.\u201d So Al-Mutanabbi sang:\u2014\n\n \u201cI become not of them because homed in their ground: \u273f Sandy earth is\n the gangue wherein gold is found.\u201d\n\nFootnote 28:\n\n Wal\u00edmah prop. = marriage-feast. For the different kinds of\n entertainments see vols. vi. 74; viii. 231.\n\nFootnote 29:\n\n Arab. Mukattaf al-Yadayn, a servile posture: see vols. iii. 218; ix.\n 320.\n\nFootnote 30:\n\n Here the Arabic has the advantage of the English; \u201cShakhs\u201d meaning\n either a person or an image. See supra, p. 12.\n\nFootnote 31:\n\n Arab. \u201cKaw\u00e1rij\u00ed\u201d = one who uses the paddle, a paddler, a rower.\n\nFootnote 32:\n\n In the Third Kalandar\u2019s Tale (vol. i. 143) Prince \u2019Aj\u00edb is forbidden\n to call upon the name of Allah, under pain of upsetting the skiff\n paddled by the man of brass. Here the detail is omitted.\n\nFootnote 33:\n\n Arab. \u201cWahsh,\u201d which Galland translates \u201cTiger,\u201d and is followed by\n his Hind. translator.\n\nFootnote 34:\n\n Arab. \u201cLaffa \u2019l-isnayn bi-zul\u00famati-h,\u201d the latter word = Khurt\u00fam, the\n trunk of an elephant, from Zalm = the dewlap of sheep or goat.\n\nFootnote 35:\n\n In the text \u201cY\u00e1min,\u201d a copyist\u2019s error, which can mean nothing else\n but \u201cYasim\u00edn.\u201d\n\nFootnote 36:\n\n The H. V. rejects this detail for \u201ca single piece of mother-o\u2019-pearl\n twelve yards long,\u201d etc. Galland has _une seule \u00e9caille de poisson_.\n In my friend M. Zotenberg\u2019s admirable translation of Tabari (i. 52) we\n read of a bridge at Baghdad made of the ribs of Og bin \u2019Unk (= Og of\n the Neck), the fabled King of Bashan.\n\nFootnote 37:\n\n I have noted that this is the primitive attire of Eastern man in all\n hot climates, and that it still holds its ground in that grand\n survival of heathenry, the Meccan Pilgrimage. In Galland the four\n strips are of _taffetas jaune_, the Hind. \u201cTaft\u00ed.\u201d\n\nFootnote 38:\n\n The word is Hiz\u00e1m = girdle, sash, waist-belt, which Galland turns into\n _nappes_. The object of the cloths edged with gems and gums was to\n form a barrier excluding hostile Jinns: the European magician usually\n drew a magic circle.\n\nFootnote 39:\n\n This is our corruption of the Malay Aigla = sandal wood. See vol. ix.\n 150.\n\nFootnote 40:\n\n Lit. = the Day of Assembly, \u201cYaum al-Mahshar.\u201d These lines were\n translated at Cannes on Feb. 22nd, 1886, the day before the earthquake\n which brought desolation upon the Riviera. It was a second curious\n coincidence. On Thursday, July 10th, 1863\u2014the morning when the great\n earthquake at Accra laid in ruins the town and the stout old fort\n built in the days of James II\u2014I had been reading the Koranic chapter\n entitled \u201cEarthquakes\u201d (No. XCIX) to some Moslem friends who had\n visited my quarters. Upwards of a decade afterwards I described the\n accident in \u201cOcean Highways,\u201d (New Series, No. II., Vol. I. pp.\n 448\u2013461), owned by Tr\u00fcbner & Co., and edited by my friend Clements\n Markham, and I only regret that this able Magazine has been\n extinguished by that dullest of Journals, \u201cProceedings of the R. S. S.\n and monthly record of Geography.\u201d\n\nFootnote 41:\n\n Galland has _un tremblement pareil \u00e0 celui qu\u2019Israfyel_ (Isr\u00e1f\u00edl)\n _doit causer le jour du jugement_.\n\nFootnote 42:\n\n The idea is Lady M. W. Montague\u2019s (\u201cThe Lady\u2019s Resolve.\u201d)\n\n In part she is to blame that has been tried:\n He comes too near that comes to be denied.\n\n As an unknown correspondent warns me the sentiment was probably\n suggested by Sir Thomas Overbury (\u201cA Wife.\u201d St. xxxvi):\u2014\n\n \u2014In part to blame is she\n Which hath without consent bin only tride:\n He comes too near that comes to be denide.\n\nFootnote 43:\n\n These highly compromising magical articles are of many kinds. The\n ballad of The Boy and the Mantle is familiar to all, how in the case\n of Sir Kay\u2019s lady:\u2014\n\n When she had tane the mantle\n With purpose for to wear;\n It shrunk up to her shoulder\n And left her backside bare.\n\n Percy, Vol. I., 1 and Book III.\n\n Percy derives the ballad from \u201cLe Court Mantel,\u201d an old French piece\n and Mr. Evans (Specimens of Welsh Poetry) from an ancient MS. of Tegan\n Earfron, one of Arthur\u2019s mistresses, who possessed a mantle which\n would not fit immodest women. See also in Spenser, Queen Florimel\u2019s\n Girdle (F. Q. iv. 5, 3), and the detective is a horn in the Morte\n d\u2019Arthur, translated from the French, temp. Edward IV., and first\n printed in A.D. 1484. The Spectator (No. 579) tells us \u201cThere was a\n Temple upon Mount _Etna_ which was guarded by dogs of so exquisite a\n smell, that they could discover whether the Persons who came thither\n were chaste or not;\u201d and that they caused, as might be expected,\n immense trouble. The test-article becomes in the Tuti-n\u00e1meh the Tank\n of Trial at Agra; also a nosegay which remains fresh or withers; in\n the Kath\u00e1 Sarit S\u00e1gara, the red lotus of Shiva; a shirt in Story lxix.\n Gesta Romanorum; a cup in Ariosto; a rose-garland in \u201cThe Wright\u2019s\n Chaste Wife,\u201d edited by Mr. Furnival for the Early English Text\n Society; a magic picture in Bandello, Part I., No. 21; a ring in the\n Pentamerone, of Basile; and a distaff in \u201cL\u2019Adroite Princesse,\u201d a\n French imitation of the latter.\n\nFootnote 44:\n\n Looking glasses in the East are mostly made, like our travelling\n mirrors, to open and shut.\n\nFootnote 45:\n\n In Eastern countries the oarsman stands to his work and lessens his\n labour by applying his weight which cannot be done so forcibly when\n sitting even upon the sliding-seat. In rowing as in swimming we have\n forsaken the old custom and have lost instead of gaining.\n\nFootnote 46:\n\n I have explained this word in vol. iii. 100; viii. 51, etc., and may\n add the interpretation of Mr. L. C. Casartelli (p. 17) \u201cLa Philosophie\n Religieuse du Mazd\u00e9isme, etc.,\u201d Paris Maisonneuve, 1884. \u201cA divine\n name, which has succeeded little (?) is the ancient title _Bagh_, the\n O. P. _Baga_ of the Cuneiforms (_Baga vazraka Auramazda_, _etc._) and\n the _Bagha_ of the Avesta, whose memory is preserved in Baghdad\u2014the\n city created by the Gods (?). The Pahlevi books show the word in the\n compound _Bagh\u00f4bakht_, lit. = what is granted by the Gods, popularly,\n Providence.\u201d\n\nFootnote 47:\n\n The H. V. makes the old woman a \u201cfinished procuress whose skill was\n unrivalled in that profession.\u201d\n\nFootnote 48:\n\n In the text \u201cAl-S\u00e1d\u00ed w\u2019al-Gh\u00e1d\u00ed:\u201d the latter may mean those who came\n for the morning meal.\n\nFootnote 49:\n\n An antistes, a leader in prayer (vols. ii. 203, and iv. 227); a\n reverend, against whom the normal skit is directed. The H. V. makes\n him a Muezzin, also a Mosque-man; and changes his name to Murad. Im\u00e1m\n is a word with a host of meanings, _e.g._, model (and master), a\n Sir-Oracle, the Caliph, etc., etc.\n\nFootnote 50:\n\n _i.e._ being neighbours they would become to a certain extent\n answerable for the crimes committed within the quarter.\n\nFootnote 51:\n\n Arab. \u201cNakshat\u201d and \u201cSifrat.\u201d\n\nFootnote 52:\n\n Arab. \u201cFaraj\u00edyah,\u201d for which see vol. i. 210, 321.\n\nFootnote 53:\n\n For this aphrodisiac see vol. vi. 60.\n\nFootnote 54:\n\n In the text \u201cAy ni\u2019am,\u201d still a popular expression.\n\nFootnote 55:\n\n Arab. \u201c\u2019Ilm al-H\u00edah,\u201d gen. translated Astrology, but here meaning\n scientific Physiognomy. All these branches of science, including\n Palmistry, are nearly connected: the features and the fingers, mounts,\n lines, etc. being referred to the sun, moon and planets.\n\nFootnote 56:\n\n Arab. \u201cMihaffah bi-takhtraw\u00e1n\u201d: see vols. ii. 180; v. 175.\n\nFootnote 57:\n\n The H. V. is more explicit: \u201cdo not so, or the King of the J\u00e4nn will\n slay thee even before thou canst enjoy her and will carry her away.\u201d\n\nFootnote 58:\n\n Arab. \u201cShahwah\u201d the rawest and most direct term. The Moslem religious\n has no absurd shame of this natural passion. I have heard of a Persian\n Imam, who, suddenly excited as he was sleeping in a friend\u2019s house,\n awoke the master with, \u201cShahwah d\u00e1ram\u201d = \u201cI am lustful\u201d and was at\n once gratified by a \u201cMut\u2019ah,\u201d temporary and extempore marriage to one\n of the slave-girls. These morganatic marriages are not, I may note,\n allowed to the Sunnis.\n\nFootnote 59:\n\n Arab. \u201cMin ba\u2019di an\u201d for \u201cMin ba\u2019di m\u00e1\u201d = after that, still popular in\n the latter broad form.\n\nFootnote 60:\n\n The word has been used in this tale with a threefold sense Egypt, old\n Cairo (Fostat) and new Cairo, in fact to the land and to its capital\n for the time being.\n\nFootnote 61:\n\n Arab. \u201cKabbaltu\u201d = I have accepted, _i.e._ I accept emphatically.\n Arabs use this form in sundry social transactions, such as marriages,\n sales, contracts, bargains and so forth, to denote that the engagement\n is irrevocable and that no change can be made. De Sacy neglected to\n note this in his Grammar, but explains it in his Chrestomathy (i. 44,\n 53), and rightly adds that the use of this energetic form _peut-\u00eatre\n serait susceptible d\u2019applications plus \u00e9tendues_.\n\nFootnote 62:\n\n _La nuit de l\u2019entr\u00e9e_, say the French: see Lane \u201cLeylet ed-dukhlah\u201d\n (M.E. chapt. vi.)\n\nFootnote 63:\n\n This MS. uses \u201cMil\u00e1h\u201d (pleasant) for \u201cMub\u00e1h\u201d (permitted). I must\n remark, before parting with Zayn al-Asnam, that its object is to\n inculcate that the price of a good wife is \u201cfar above rubies\u201d (Prov.\n xxxi. 10: see the rest of this fine chapter), a virtuous woman being\n \u201ca crown to her husband\u201d (_ibid._ xxii. 4); and \u201ca prudent wife is\n from the Lord\u201d (Prov. xix. 4). The whole tale is told with extreme\n delicacy and the want of roughness and energy suggests a European\n origin.\n\nFootnote 64:\n\n _i.e._ Sun of the Heart.\n\nFootnote 65:\n\n Sh\u012bve-Z\u0101d is his daughter whom he wants Prince As\u012bl to marry.\n\nFootnote 66:\n\n _i.e._ the \u201cHeight or Glory (\u2019Al\u00e1) of the Faith (al-D\u00edn)\u201d pron.\n Al\u00e1addeen; which is fairly represented by the old form \u201cAladdin;\u201d and\n better by De Sacy\u2019s \u201cAla-eddin.\u201d The name has occurred in The Nights,\n vol. iv. 29\u201333; it is a household word in England and who has not\n heard of Thomas Hood\u2019s \u201cA-lad-in?\u201d Easterns write it in five different\n ways and in the Paris MS. it is invariably \u201c\u2019Al\u00ed al-d\u00edn,\u201d which is a\n palpable mistake. The others are (1) \u2019Al\u00e1 al-D\u00edn, (2) \u2019Al\u00e1 yad\u00edn, (3)\n \u2019Alah D\u00edn in the H. V., and (4) \u2019Al\u00e1a al-Din (with the Hamzah), the\n last only being grammatical. In Galland the _Histoire de la Lampe\n merveilleuse_ is preceded by the _Histoire du Dormeur Eveill\u00e9_ which,\n being \u201cThe Story of Ab\u00fa al-Hasan the Wag, or the Sleeper awakened,\u201d of\n the Bresl. Edit. (Nights cclxxi-ccxc), is here omitted. The Alaeddin\n Story exists in germ in Tale ii. of the \u201cDravidian Nights\n Entertainments,\u201d (Madana Kamara-Sank\u00e1d\u00e1i), by Pandit S. M. Natisa\n Shastri (Madras, 1868, and London, Tr\u00fcbner.) We are told by Mr. Coote\n that it is well represented in Italy. The Messina version is by Pitr\u00e8,\n \u201cLa Lanterna Magica,\u201d also the Palermitan \u201cLanterne;\u201d it is \u201cIl\n Matrimonio di Cajussi\u201d of Rome (R. H. Busk\u2019s _Folk-lore_); \u201cIl Gallo e\n il Mago,\u201d of Visentini\u2019s \u201cFiabe Mantovane,\u201d and the \u201cPesciolino,\u201d and\n \u201cIl Contadino che aveva tre Figli,\u201d of Imbriana. In \u201cLa Fanciulla e il\n Mago,\u201d of De Gubernatis (\u201cNovelline di Santo Stefano de Calcenaja,\u201d p.\n 47), occurs the popular incident of the original. \u201cThe Magician was\n not a magician for nothing. He feigned to be a hawker and fared\n through the streets, crying out, \u2018Donne, donne, chi baratta anelli di\n ferro contra anelli di argento?\u2019\u201d\n\n Alaeddin has ever been a favourite with the stage. Early in the\n present century it was introduced to the Parisian opera by M. Etienne,\n to the Feydeau by Th\u00e9aulon\u2019s _La Clochette_; to the Gymnase by _La\n Petite-Lampe_ of MM. Scribe and Melesville, and to the Panorama\n Dramatique by MM. Merle, Cartouche and Saintine (Gauttier, vii. 380.)\n\nFootnote 67:\n\n This MS. always uses D\u00edn\u00e1rz\u00e1d like Galland.\n\nFootnote 68:\n\n Arab. \u201c\u2019Abadan,\u201d a term much used in this MS. and used correctly. It\n refers always and only to future time, past being denoted by \u201cKattu\u201d\n from Katta = he cut (in breadth, as opposed to Kadda = he cut\n lengthwise). See De Sacy, Chrestom. ii. 443.\n\nFootnote 69:\n\n In the text \u201cIbn m\u00edn,\u201d a vulgarism for \u201cman.\u201d Galland adds that the\n tailor\u2019s name was Mustapha\u2014_il y avait un tailleur nomm\u00e9 Mustafa_.\n\nFootnote 70:\n\n In classical Arabic the word is \u201cMaghribi,\u201d the local form of the root\n Gharaba = he went far away, (the sun) set, etc., whence \u201cMaghribi\u201d = a\n dweller in the Sunset-land. The vulgar, however, prefer \u201cMaghrab\u201d and\n \u201cMaghrabi,\u201d of which foreigners made \u201cMogrebin.\u201d For other information\n see vols. vi. 220; ix. 50. The \u201cMoormen\u201d are famed as magicians; so we\n find a Maghrabi Sahh\u00e1r = wizard, who by the by takes part in a\n transformation scene like that of the Second Kalandar (vol. i. p. 134,\n The Nights), in p. 10 of Spitta Bey\u2019s \u201cContes Arabes Modernes,\u201d etc. I\n may note that \u201cSihr,\u201d according to Jauhari and Firoz\u00e1b\u00e1di = anything\n one can hold by a thin or subtle place, _i.e._, easy to handle. Hence\n it was applied to all sciences, \u201cSahh\u00e1r\u201d being = to \u2019\u00c1lim (or sage):\n and the older Arabs called poetry \u201cSihr al-hal\u00e1l\u201d\u2014lawful magic.\n\nFootnote 71:\n\n _i.e._ blood is thicker than water, as the Highlanders say.\n\nFootnote 72:\n\n A popular saying amongst Moslems which has repeatedly occurred in The\n Nights. The son is the \u201clamp of a dark house.\u201d Vol. ii. 280.\n\nFootnote 73:\n\n Out of respect to his brother, who was probably the senior: the H.V.\n expressly says so.\n\nFootnote 74:\n\n Al-Marh\u00fam = my late brother. See vol. ii. 129, 196.\n\nFootnote 75:\n\n This must refer to Cairo not to Al-Medinah whose title is\n \u201cAl-Munawwarah\u201d = the Illumined.\n\nFootnote 76:\n\n A picturesque term for birth-place.\n\nFootnote 77:\n\n In text \u201cY\u00e1 R\u00e1jul\u201d (for Rajul) = O man, an Egypto-Syrian form, broad\n as any Doric.\n\nFootnote 78:\n\n Arab. Sh\u00faf-hu, the colloquial form of Shuf-hu.\n\nFootnote 79:\n\n For the same sentiment see \u201cJuln\u00e1r the Sea-born,\u201d Nights\n dccxliii.-xliv.\n\nFootnote 80:\n\n \u201cI will hire thee a shop in the Chauk\u201d\u2014Carfax market street says the\n H.V.\n\nFootnote 81:\n\n The MS. writes the word Khw\u00e1j\u00e1 for Khw\u00e1jah (see vol. vi. 46). Here we\n are at once interested in the scapegrace who looked Excelsior. In fact\n the tale begins with a strong inducement to boyish vagabondage and\n scampish indolence; but the Moslem would see in it the hand of Destiny\n bringing good out of evil. Amongst other meanings of \u201cKhw\u00e1jah\u201d it is a\n honorific title given by Khor\u00e1s\u00e1nis to their notables. In Arab. the\n similarity of the word to \u201cKhuw\u00e1j\u201d = hunger, has given rise to a host\n of conceits, more or less frigid (Ibn Khallik\u00e1n, iii. 45).\n\nFootnote 82:\n\n Arab. \u201cW\u00e1hid min al-Tujj\u00e1r,\u201d the very vulgar style.\n\nFootnote 83:\n\n _i.e._ the Saturday (see vol. ii. 305) established as a God\u2019s rest by\n the so-called \u201cMosaic\u201d commandment No. iv. How it gradually passed out\n of observance, after so many centuries of most stringent application,\n I cannot discover: certainly the text in Cor. ii. 16\u201317 is\n insufficient to abolish or supersede an order given with such singular\n majesty and impressiveness by God and so strictly obeyed by man. The\n popular idea is that the Jewish Sabbath was done away with in Christ;\n and that sundry of the 1604 councils, _e.g._ Laodicea, anathematized\n those who kept it holy after such fashion. With the day the aim and\n object changed; and the early Fathers made it the \u201cFeast of the\n Resurrection\u201d which could not be kept too joyously. The \u201cSabbatismus\u201d\n of our Sabbatarians, who return to the Israelitic practice and yet\n honour the wrong day, is heretical and vastly illogical; and the\n Sunday is better kept in France, Italy and other \u201cCatholic\u201d countries\n than in England and Scotland.\n\nFootnote 84:\n\n For \u201cMushayyad\u00e1t\u201d see vol. viii. 23.\n\nFootnote 85:\n\n All these words s\u00e1r\u00fa, dakhal\u00fa, jalas\u00fa, &c. are in the plur. for the\n dual\u2014popular and vulgar speech. It is so throughout the MS.\n\nFootnote 86:\n\n The Persians apply the Arab. word \u201cSahr\u00e1\u201d = desert, to the waste\n grounds about a town.\n\nFootnote 87:\n\n Arab. Kash\u00e1k\u00edsh from the quadril. \u221a kashkasha = he gathered fuel.\n\nFootnote 88:\n\n In text \u201cShayy bi-l\u00e1sh\u201d which would mean lit. a thing gratis or in\n vain.\n\nFootnote 89:\n\n In the text \u201cSabba raml\u201d = cast in sand. It maybe a clerical error for\n \u201cZaraba raml\u201d = he struck sand _i.e._ made geomantic figures.\n\nFootnote 90:\n\n Arab. Mauza\u2019 = a place, an apartment, a saloon.\n\nFootnote 91:\n\n Galland makes each contain _quatre vases de bronze, grands comme des\n cuves_.\n\nFootnote 92:\n\n The Arab. is \u201cL\u00edw\u00e1n,\u201d for which see vols. iv. 71 and vii. 347. Galland\n translates it by a \u201cterrace\u201d and \u201cniche.\u201d\n\nFootnote 93:\n\n The idea is borrowed from the _lume eterno_ of the Rosicrucians. It is\n still prevalent throughout Syria where the little sepulchral lamps\n buried by the Hebrews, Greeks and Romans are so called. Many tales are\n told of their being found burning after the lapse of centuries: but\n the traveller will never see the marvel.\n\nFootnote 94:\n\n The first notice of the signet-ring and its adventures is by Herodotus\n in the Legend of the Samian Polycrates; and here it may be observed\n that the accident is probably founded on fact; every fisherman knows\n that fish will seize and swallow spoon-bait and other objects that\n glitter. The text is the Talmudic version of Solomon\u2019s seal-ring. The\n king of the demons, after becoming a \u201cBottle-imp,\u201d prayed to be set\n free upon condition of teaching a priceless secret, and after cajoling\n the Wise One flung his signet into the sea and cast the owner into a\n land four hundred miles distant. Here David\u2019s son begged his bread\n till he was made head cook to the King of Ammon at Mash Kern\u00edn. After\n a while, he eloped with Na\u2019\u00fazah, the daughter of his master, and\n presently when broiling a fish found therein his missing property. In\n the Moslem version, Solomon had taken prisoner Am\u00ednah, the daughter of\n a pagan prince, and had homed her in his Harem, where she taught him\n idolatry. One day before going to the Hammam he entrusted to her his\n signet-ring presented to him by the four angelic Guardians of sky,\n air, water and earth when the mighty Jinni Al-Sakhr (see vol. i. 41;\n v. 36), who was hovering about unseen, snatching away the ring,\n assumed the king\u2019s shape, whereby Solomon\u2019s form became so changed\n that his courtiers drove him from his own doors. Thereupon Al-Sakhr,\n taking seat upon the throne, began to work all manner of iniquity,\n till one of the Wazirs, suspecting the transformation, read aloud from\n a scroll of the law: this caused the demon to fly shrieking and to\n drop the signet into the sea. Presently Solomon, who had taken service\n with a fisherman, and received for wages two fishes a day, found his\n ring and made Al-Sakhr a \u201cBottle-imp.\u201d The legend of St. Kentigern or\n Mungo of Glasgow, who recovered the Queen\u2019s ring from the stomach of a\n salmon, is a palpable imitation of the Biblical incident which paid\n tribute to C\u00e6sar.\n\nFootnote 95:\n\n The Magician evidently had mistaken the powers of the Ring. This is\n against all probability and possibility, but on such abnormal traits\n are tales and novels founded.\n\nFootnote 96:\n\n These are the Gardens of the Hesperides and of King Isope (Tale of\n Beryn Supplem. Canterbury Tales, Chaucer Soc. p. 84):\u2014\n\n In mydward of this gardyn stant a feir\u00e8 tre\n Of alle manner levis that under sky be,\n I-forgit and i-fourmyd, ech\u00e8 in his degre\n Of sylver, and of golde fyne, that lusty been to see.\n\n So in the Kath\u00e1 (S. S.) there are trees with trunks of gold, branches\n of pearls, and buds and flowers of clear white pearls.\n\nFootnote 97:\n\n The text causes some confusion by applying \u201cSullam\u201d to staircase and\n ladder, hence probably the latter is not mentioned by Galland and Co.,\n who speak only of an _escalier de cinquante marches_. \u201cSullam\u201d (plur.\n \u201cSal\u00e1lim\u201d) in modern Egyptian is popularly used for a flight of steps:\n see Spitta-Bey\u2019s \u201cContes Arabes Modernes,\u201d p. 70. The H. V. places\n under the slab a hollow space measuring four paces (kadam = 2\u00b75 feet),\n and at one corner a wicket with a ladder. This leads to a vault of\n three rooms, one with the jars of gold; the second not to be swept by\n the skirts, and the third opening upon the garden of gems. \u201cThere thou\n shalt see a path, whereby do thou fare straight forwards to a lofty\n palace with a flight of fifty steps leading to a flat terrace; and\n here shalt thou find a niche wherein a lamp burneth.\u201d\n\nFootnote 98:\n\n In the H. V. he had thrust the lamp into the bosom of his dress,\n which, together with his sleeves, he had filled full of fruit, and had\n wound his girdle tightly around him lest any fall out.\n\nFootnote 99:\n\n Africa (Arab. Afrik\u00edyah) here is used in its old and classical sense\n for the limited tract about Carthage (Tunis) _i.e._, Africa Propria.\n But the scribe imagines it to be the P.N. of a city: so in J\u00fadar (vol.\n vi. 222) we find F\u00e1s and Mikn\u00e1s (Fez and Mequinez) converted into one\n settlement. The Maghribi, Mauritanian or Maroccan is famed for sorcery\n throughout the Moslem world: see vol. vi. 220. The Moslem \u201cKingdom of\n Afrikiyah\u201d was composed of four provinces, Tunis, Tripoli,\n Constantina, and Bugia; and a considerable part of it was held by the\n Berber tribe of Sanh\u00e1ja or Sinh\u00e1ga, also called the Zenag, whence our\n modern \u201cSenegal.\u201d Another noted tribe which held Bajaiyah (Bugia) in\n Afrikiyah proper was the \u201cZaw\u00e1wah,\u201d the European \u201cZouaves,\u201d (Ibn\n Khall. iv. 84.)\n\nFootnote 100:\n\n Galland omits the name, which is outlandish enough.\n\nFootnote 101:\n\n Meaning that he had incurred no blood-guiltiness, as he had not killed\n the lad and only left him to die.\n\nFootnote 102:\n\n The H. V. explains away the improbability of the Magician forgetting\n his gift. \u201cIn this sore disquietude he bethought him not of the ring\n which, by the decree of Allah, was the means of Alaeddin\u2019s escape; and\n indeed not only he but oft times those who practice the Black Art are\n baulked of their designs by Divine Providence.\u201d\n\nFootnote 103:\n\n See vol. vii. 60. The word is mostly derived from \u201c\u2019afar\u201d = dust, and\n denotes, according to some, a man coloured like the ground or one who\n \u201cdusts\u201d all his rivals. \u201c\u2019Ifr\u201d (fem. \u2019Ifrah) is a wicked and dangerous\n man. Al-Jannabi, I may here notice, is the chief authority for Afrikus\n son of Abraha and xviiith Tobba being the eponymus of \u201cAfrica.\u201d\n\nFootnote 104:\n\n Arab. \u201cGhayr an\u201d = otherwise that, except that, a favourite form in\n this MS. The first word is the Syriac \u201cGheir\u201d = for, a conjunction\n which is most unnecessarily derived by some from the Gr. \u03b3\u1f70\u03c1.\n\nFootnote 105:\n\n Galland and the H. V. make the mother deliver a little hygienic\n lecture about not feeding too fast after famine: exactly what an\n Eastern parent would not dream of doing.\n\nFootnote 106:\n\n The lad now turns the tables upon his mother and becomes her master,\n having \u201ca crow to pick\u201d with her.\n\nFootnote 107:\n\n Arab. \u201cMun\u00e1fik\u201d for whose true sense, \u201can infidel who pretendeth to\n believe in Al-Islam,\u201d see vol. vi. p. 207. Here the epithet comes last\n being the climax of abuse, because the lowest of the seven hells (vol.\n viii. 111) was created for \u201chypocrites,\u201d _i.e._ those who feign to be\n Moslems when they are Miscreants.\n\nFootnote 108:\n\n Here a little abbreviation has been found necessary to avoid the whole\n of a twice-told tale; but nothing material has been omitted.\n\nFootnote 109:\n\n Arab. \u201cTaffaytu-hu.\u201d This is the correct term = to extinguish. They\n relate of the great scholar Firoz\u00e1b\u00e1d\u00ed, author of the \u201cK\u00e1m\u00fas\u201d (ob.\n A.H. 817 = A.D. 1414), that he married a Badawi wife in order to study\n the purest Arabic and once when going to bed said to her,\n \u201cUktuli\u2019s-sir\u00e1j,\u201d the Persian \u201cChir\u00e1gh-r\u00e1 bi-kush\u201d = Kill the lamp.\n \u201cWhat,\u201d she cried, \u201cThou an \u2019\u00c1lim and talk of killing the lamp instead\n of putting it out!\u201d\n\nFootnote 110:\n\n In the H. V. the mother takes the \u201cfruits\u201d and places them upon the\n ground; \u201cbut when darkness set in, a light shone from them like the\n rays of a lamp or the sheen of the sun.\u201d\n\nFootnote 111:\n\n For these fabled Giant rulers of Syria, Og King of Bashan, etc. see\n vols. vii. 84; ix. 109, 323. D\u2019Herbelot (s.v. Giabbar = Giant)\n connects \u201cJab\u00e1birah\u201d with the Heb. Ghibbor, Ghibborim and the Pers.\n D\u00edv, Div\u00e1n: of these were \u2019\u00c1d and Shadd\u00e1d, Kings of Syria: the\n Falast\u00edn (Philistines) \u2019Auj, Am\u00e1lik and Ban\u00fa Shayth or Seth\u2019s\n descendants, the sons of God (Benu-Elohim) of the Book of Genesis (vi.\n 2) who inhabited Mount Hermon and lived in purity and chastity.\n\nFootnote 112:\n\n The H. V. explains that the Jinni had appeared to the mother in\n hideous aspect, with noise and clamour, because she had scoured the\n Lamp roughly; but was more gentle with Alaeddin because he had rubbed\n it lightly. This is from Galland.\n\nFootnote 113:\n\n Arab. Musawwadatayn = lit. two black things, rough copies, etc.\n\nFootnote 114:\n\n Arab. Ban\u00fa Adam, as opposed to Ban\u00fa Elohim (Sons of the Gods), B.\n al-J\u00e1nn etc. The Ban\u00fa al-Asfar = sons of the yellow, are Esau\u2019s\n posterity in Edom, also a term applied by Arab historians to the\n Greeks and Romans whom Jewish fable derived from Idum\u00e6a: in my vol.\n ii. 220, they are the people of the yellow or tawny faces. For the\n legend see Ibn Kkall. iii. 8, where the translator suggests that the\n by-name may be = the \u201csons of the Emperor\u201d Flavius, confounded with\n \u201cflavus,\u201d a title left by Vespasian to his successors. The Ban\u00fa\n al-Khashkhash = sons of the (black) poppy are the Ethiopians.\n\nFootnote 115:\n\n Arab. H\u00e1! h\u00e1! so H\u00e1ka (fem. H\u00e1ki) = Here for thee!\n\nFootnote 116:\n\n So in Medi\u00e6val Europe Papal bulls and Kings\u2019 letters were placed for\n respect on the head. See Duffield\u2019s \u201cDon Quixote.\u201d Part i. xxxi.\n\nFootnote 117:\n\n Galland makes the Juif only _rus\u00e9 et adroit_.\n\nFootnote 118:\n\n Arab. \u201cGhash\u00edm\u201d = a \u201cJohnny Raw\u201d from the root \u201cGhashm\u201d = iniquity:\n Builders apply the word to an unhewn stone; addressed to a person it\n is considered slighting, if not insulting. See vol. ii. 330.\n\nFootnote 119:\n\n The carat (K\u00edr\u00e1t) being most often, but not always, one twenty-fourth\n of the dinar. See vols. iii. 239; vii. 289.\n\nFootnote 120:\n\n Kan\u00e1n\u00ed, plur. of Kinn\u00ednah.\n\nFootnote 121:\n\n Here and below silver is specified, whenas the platters in Night\n dxxxv. were of gold. This is one of the many changes, contradictions\n and confusions which are inherent in Arab stories. See Spitta-Bey\u2019s\n \u201cContes Arabes,\u201d Preface.\n\nFootnote 122:\n\n _i.e._ the Slave of the Lamp.\n\nFootnote 123:\n\n This may be true, but my experience has taught me to prefer dealing\n with a Jew than with a Christian. The former will \u201cjew\u201d me perhaps,\n but his commercial cleverness will induce him to allow me some gain in\n order that I may not be quite disheartened: the latter will strip me\n of my skin and will grumble because he cannot gain more.\n\nFootnote 124:\n\n Arab. \u201cH\u00e1lah mutawassitah,\u201d a phrase which has a European touch.\n\nFootnote 125:\n\n In the text \u201cJauharj\u00edyyah,\u201d common enough in Egypt and Syria; an Arab.\n plur. of an Arabised Turkish sing,\u2014ji for\u2014chi = (crafts-) man.\n\nFootnote 126:\n\n We may suppose some years may have passed in this process and that\n Alaeddin from a lad of fifteen had reached the age of manhood. The H.\n V. declares that for many a twelvemonth the mother and son lived by\n cotton spinning and the sale of the plate.\n\nFootnote 127:\n\n _i.e._ Full moon of full moons: See vol. iii. 228. It is pronounced\n \u201cBadroo\u2019l-Budoor,\u201d hence Galland\u2019s \u201cBadr-oul-boudour.\u201d\n\nFootnote 128:\n\n In the H. V. Alaeddin \u201cbethought him of a room adjacent to the Baths\n where he might sit and see the Princess through the door-chinks, when\n she raised her veil before the handmaids and eunuchs.\u201d\n\nFootnote 129:\n\n This is the common conceit of the brow being white as day and the hair\n black as night.\n\nFootnote 130:\n\n Such a statement may read absurdly to the West but it is true in the\n East. \u201cSelim\u201d had seen no woman\u2019s face unveiled, save that of his\n sable mother Rosebud in Morier\u2019s Tale of Yeldoz, the wicked woman\n (\u201cThe Mirza,\u201d vol. iii. 135). The H. V. adds that Alaeddin\u2019s mother\n was old and verily had little beauty even in her youth. So at the\n sight of the Princess he learnt that Allah had created women exquisite\n in loveliness and heart-ensnaring; and at first glance the shaft of\n love pierced his heart and he fell to the ground afaint. He loved her\n with a thousand lives and, when his mother questioned him, \u201chis lips\n formed no friendship with his speech.\u201d\n\nFootnote 131:\n\n \u201cThere is not a present (Teshurah) to bring to the Man of God\u201d (1 Sam.\n ix. 7), and Menachem explains Teshurah as a gift offered with the\n object of being admitted to the presence. See also the offering of oil\n to the King in Isaiah lvii. 9. Even in Maundriell\u2019s Day Travels (p.\n 26) it was counted uncivil to visit a dignitary without an offering in\n hand.\n\nFootnote 132:\n\n As we shall see further on, the magical effect of the Ring and the\n Lamp extend far and wide over the physique and morale of the owner:\n they turn a \u201craw laddie\u201d into a finished courtier, warrior, statesman,\n etc.\n\nFootnote 133:\n\n In Eastern states the mere suspicion of having such an article would\n expose the suspected at least to torture. Their practical system of\n treating \u201ctreasure trove,\u201d as I saw when serving with my regiment in\n Gujar\u00e1t (Guzerat), is at once to imprison and \u201cmolest\u201d the finder, in\n order to make sure that he has not hidden any part of his find.\n\nFootnote 134:\n\n Here the MS. text is defective, the allusion is, I suppose, to the\n Slave of the Lamp.\n\nFootnote 135:\n\n In the H. V. the King retired into his private apartment; and,\n dismissing all save the Grand Wazir, \u201ctook cognisance of special\n matters\u201d before withdrawing to the Harem.\n\nFootnote 136:\n\n The lev\u00e9e, Divan or Darb\u00e1r being also a _lit de justice_ and a Court\n of Cassation: see vol. i. 29.\n\nFootnote 137:\n\n All this is expressed by the Arabic in one word \u201cTamann\u00e1.\u201d Galland\n adds _pour marquer qu\u2019il etait pr\u00eat \u00e0 la perdre s\u2019il y manquait_; and\n thus he conveys a wrong idea.\n\nFootnote 138:\n\n This would be still the popular address, nor is it considered rude or\n slighting. In John (ii. 4) \u201cAtto,\u201d the Heb. Eshah, is similarly used,\n not complimentarily, but in popular speech.\n\nFootnote 139:\n\n This sounds ridiculous enough in English, but not in German; _e.g._\n Deine K\u00f6nigliche Hoheit is the formula de rigueur when an Austrian\n officer, who always addresses brother-soldiers in the familiar second\n person, is speaking to a camarade who is also a royalty.\n\nFootnote 140:\n\n \u201cSur\u00e1yy\u00e1t\u201d (lit. = the Pleiades) and \u201cSham\u2019\u00e1d\u00edn\u201d a would be Arabic\n plur. of the Persian \u201cSham\u2019ad\u00e1n\u201d = candlestick, chandelier, for which\n more correctly Sham\u2019ad\u00e1n\u00e1t is used.\n\nFootnote 141:\n\n _i.e._ betrothed to her\u2014_j\u2019agr\u00e9e la proposition_, says Galland.\n\nFootnote 142:\n\n Here meaning Eunuch-officers and officials. In the cdlxxvith Night of\n this volume the word is incorrectly written \u00c3gh\u00e1t in the singular.\n\nFootnote 143:\n\n In the H. V. Alaeddin on hearing this became as if a thunderbolt had\n stricken him, and, losing consciousness, swooned away.\n\nFootnote 144:\n\n These calls for food at critical times, and oft-recurring allusions to\n eating are not yet wholly obsolete amongst the civilised of the xixth\n century. The ingenious M. Jules Verne often enlivens a tedious scene\n by _Dejeunons_! And French travellers, like English, are not unready\n to talk of food and drink, knowing that the subject is never\n displeasing to their readers.\n\nFootnote 145:\n\n The H. V. gives a sketch of the wedding. \u201cAnd when the ceremonies\n ended at the palace with pomp and parade and pageant, and the night\n was far spent, the eunuchs led the Wazir\u2019s son into the bridal\n chamber. He was the first to seek his couch; then the Queen, his\n mother-in-law, came into him leading the bride, and followed by her\n suite. She did with her virgin daughter as parents are wont to do,\n removed her wedding-raiment, and donning a night-dress, placed her in\n her bridegroom\u2019s arms. Then, wishing her all joy, she with her ladies\n went away and shut the door. At that instant came the Jinni,\u201d etc.\n\nFootnote 146:\n\n The happy idea of the wedding night in the water-closet is repeated\n from the tale of Nur al-D\u00edn Ali Hasan (vol. i. 221), and the mishap of\n the Hunchback bridegroom.\n\nFootnote 147:\n\n For the old knightly practice of sleeping with a drawn sword\n separating man and maid, see vol. vii. 353 and Mr. Clouston\u2019s \u201cPopular\n Tales and Fictions,\u201d vol. i. 316. In Poland the intermediary who\n married by procuration slept alongside the bride in all his armour.\n The H. V. explains, \u201cHe (Alaeddin) also lay a naked sword between him\n and the Princess, so she might perceive that he was ready to die by\n that blade should he attempt to do aught of villainy by the bride.\u201d\n\nFootnote 148:\n\n Galland says: _Ils ne s\u2019aper\u00e7urent que de l\u2019\u00e9branlement du lit et que\n de leur transport d\u2019un lieu \u00e0 l\u2019autre: c\u2019\u00e9tait bien assez pour leur\n donner une frayeur qu\u2019il est ais\u00e9 d\u2019imaginer_.\n\nFootnote 149:\n\n Galland very unnecessarily makes the Wazir\u2019s son pass into the\n wardrobe (_garderobe_) to dress himself.\n\nFootnote 150:\n\n Professional singing and dancing girls: properly the word is the fem.\n of \u2019\u00c1lim = a learned man; but it has been anglicised by Byron\u2019s\n\n \u201cThe long chibouque\u2019s dissolving cloud supply,\n Where dance the Almahs to wild minstrelsy.\u201d\u2014(The Corsair, ii. 2.)\n\n They go about the streets with unveiled faces and are seldom admitted\n into respectable Harems, although on festal occasions they perform in\n the court or in front of the house; but even this is objected to by\n the Mrs. Grundy of Egypt. Lane (M. E. chap. xviii) derives with Saint\n Jerome the word from the Heb. or Ph\u0153nician Almah = a virgin, a girl, a\n singing-girl; and thus explains \u201cAl\u00e1moth\u201d in Psalms xlvi, and I Chron.\n xv. 20. Parkhurst (s.v. \u2019Alamah) = an undeflowered virgin, renders Job\n xxxix. 30, \u201cthe way of a man with a maid\u201d (bi-\u00e1lmah). \u201cThe way of a\n man in his virgin state, shunning youthful lust and keeping himself\n pure and unspotted.\u201d\n\nFootnote 151:\n\n The text reads \u201cRafa\u2019\u201d (he raised) \u201cal-Bashkh\u00e1nah\u201d which in Suppl.\n Nights (ii. 165) is a hanging, a curtain. Apparently it is a\n corruption of the Pers. \u201cPashkh\u00e1nah,\u201d a mosquito-curtain.\n\nFootnote 152:\n\n The father suspected that she had not gone to bed a clean maid.\n\nFootnote 153:\n\n Arab. Aysh = Ayyu Shayyin and Lalysh = li ayyi Shayyin. This\n vulgarism, or rather popular corruption, is of olden date and was used\n by such a purist as Al-Mutanabbi in such a phrase as \u201cAysh Khabara-k?\u201d\n = how art thou? See Ibn Khallikan, iii. 79.\n\nFootnote 154:\n\n In the H. V. the Minister sends the Chob-d\u00e1r = rod-bearer,\n mace-bearer, usher, etc.\n\nFootnote 155:\n\n In the text S\u00e1hal for Sahal, again the broad \u201cDoric\u201d of Syria.\n\nFootnote 156:\n\n Arab. Dahab ramli = gold dust washed out of the sand, _placer_-gold. I\n must excuse myself for using this Americanism, properly a diluvium or\n deposit of sand, and improperly (Bartlett) a find of drift gold. The\n word, like many mining terms in the Far West, is borrowed from the\n Spaniards; it is not therefore one of the many American vulgarisms\n which threaten hopelessly to defile the pure well of English speech.\n\nFootnote 157:\n\n Arab. \u201cRatl,\u201d by Europeans usually pronounced \u201cRotl\u201d (Rotolo).\n\nFootnote 158:\n\n In the H. V. she returns from the bazar; and, \u201cseeing the house filled\n with so many persons in goodliest attire, marvelled greatly. Then\n setting down the meat lately bought she would have taken off her veil,\n but Alaeddin prevented her and said,\u201d etc.\n\nFootnote 159:\n\n The word is popularly derived from Serai in Persian = a palace; but it\n comes from the Span. and Port. _Cerrar_ = to shut up, and should be\n written with the reduplicated liquid.\n\nFootnote 160:\n\n In the H. V. the dresses and ornaments of the slaves were priced at\n ten millions (Kar\u00far = a crore) of gold coins. I have noticed that\n Messer Marco \u201cMilione\u201d did not learn his high numerals in Arabia, but\n that India might easily have taught them to him.\n\nFootnote 161:\n\n Arab. \u201cR\u00e1ih yas\u00edr,\u201d peasant\u2019s language.\n\nFootnote 162:\n\n Arab. K\u00e1\u2019ah, the apodyterium or undressing room upon which the\n vestibule of the Hammam opens. See the plan in Lane\u2019s M. E. chapt.\n xvi. The K\u00e1r\u2019ah is now usually called \u201cMaslakh\u201d = stripping-room.\n\nFootnote 163:\n\n Arab. \u201cHammam-hu\u201d = went through all the operations of the Hammam,\n scraping, kneading, soaping, wiping and so forth.\n\nFootnote 164:\n\n For this aphrodisiac see vol. vi. 60. The subject of aphrodisiacs in\n the East would fill a small library: almost every medical treatise\n ends in a long disquisition upon fortifiers, provocatives, etc. We may\n briefly divide them into three great classes. The first is the\n medicinal, which may be either external or internal. The second is the\n mechanical, such as scarification, flagellation, and the application\n of insects as practised by certain savage races. There is a venerable\n Joe Miller of an old Brahmin whose young wife always insisted, each\n time before he possessed her, upon his being stung by a bee in certain\n parts. The third is magical, superstitious and so forth.\n\nFootnote 165:\n\n This may sound exaggerated to English ears, but a petty Indian Prince,\n such as the G\u00e1ikw\u00e1r, or Rajah of Baroda, would be preceded in state\n processions by several led horses all whose housings and saddles were\n gold studded with diamonds. The sight made one\u2019s mouth water.\n\nFootnote 166:\n\n _i.e._ the \u2019Arab al-\u2019Arb\u00e1; for which see vols. i. 112; v. 101.\n\nFootnote 167:\n\n Arab. \u201cAl-Kand\u00edl al-\u2019aj\u00edb:\u201d here its magical virtues are specified and\n remove many apparent improbabilities from the tale.\n\nFootnote 168:\n\n This was the highest of honours. At Abyssinian Harar even the Grandees\n were compelled to dismount at the door of the royal \u201ccompound.\u201d See my\n \u201cFirst Footsteps in East Africa,\u201d p. 296.\n\nFootnote 169:\n\n \u201cThe right hand\u201d seems to me a European touch in Galland\u2019s\n translation, _leur chef mit Aladdin \u00e0 sa droite_. Amongst Moslems the\n great man sits in the sinistral corner of the Divan as seen from the\n door, so the place of honour is to his left.\n\nFootnote 170:\n\n Arab. \u201cM\u00fasik\u00e1,\u201d classically \u201cMusik\u00ed\u201d = \u039c\u03bf\u03c5\u03c3\u03b9\u03ba\u1f74: the Pers. form is\n \u201cM\u00fasik\u00e1r\u201d; and the Arab. equivalent is Al-Lahn. In the H. V. the King\n \u201cmade a signal and straightway drums (_dhol_) and trumpets (_traf\u00edr_)\n and all manner wedding instruments struck up on every side.\u201d\n\nFootnote 171:\n\n Arab. \u201cMarmar Sum\u00e1ki\u201d = porphyry of which ancient Egypt supplied the\n finest specimens. I found a vein of it in the Anti-Libanus. Strange to\n say, the quarries which produced the far-famed giallo antico, verd\u2019\n antico (serpentine limestone) and rosso antico (mostly a porphyry)\n worked by the old Nilotes, are now unknown to us.\n\nFootnote 172:\n\n _i.e._ velvets with gold embroidery: see vol. viii. 201.\n\nFootnote 173:\n\n The Arabic says, \u201cThere was a kiosque with four-and-twenty alcoves\n (L\u00edw\u00e1n, for which see vols. iv. 71; vi. 347) all builded of emerald,\n etc., and one remained with the kiosque (kushk) unfinished.\u201d I adopt\n Galland\u2019s reading _salon \u00e0 vingt-quatre crois\u00e9es_ which are mentioned\n in the Arab. text towards the end of the tale, and thus avoid the\n confusion between kiosque and window. In the H. V. there is a domed\n belvedere (b\u00e1rah-dari-i-gumbaz-d\u00e1r), four-sided, with six doors on\n each front (_i.e._ twenty-four), and all studded with diamonds, etc.\n\nFootnote 174:\n\n In Persia this is called \u201cP\u00e1-and\u00e1z,\u201d and must be prepared for the Shah\n when he deigns to visit a subject. It is always of costly stuffs, and\n becomes the perquisite of the royal attendants.\n\nFootnote 175:\n\n Here the European hand again appears to me: the Sultan as a good\n Moslem should have made the Wuz\u00fa-ablution and prayed the dawn-prayers\n before doing anything worldly.\n\nFootnote 176:\n\n Arab. \u201cF\u00ed ghuz\u00fani z\u00e1lika,\u201d a peculiar phrase; Ghazn = a crease, a\n wrinkle.\n\nFootnote 177:\n\n In the H. V. the King \u201cmarvelled to see Alaeddin\u2019s mother without her\n veil and magnificently adorned with costly jewels and said in his\n mind, \u2018Methought she was a grey-haired crone, but I find her still in\n the prime of life and comely to look upon, somewhat after the fashion\n of Badr al-Bud\u00far.\u2019\u201d This also was one of the miracles of the Lamp.\n\nFootnote 178:\n\n For this word see vols. i. 46, vii. 326. A Joe Miller is told in\n Western India of an old General Officer boasting his knowledge of\n Hindostani. \u201cHow do you say, Tell a plain story, General?\u201d asked one\n of the hearers, and the answer was, \u201cMayd\u00e1n-k\u00ed b\u00e1t bolo!\u201d = \u201cspeak a\n word about the plain\u201d (or level space).\n\nFootnote 179:\n\n The prehistoric Arabs: see supra p. 134.\n\nFootnote 180:\n\n Popularly, Jer\u00edd, the palm-frond used as javelin: see vol. vi. 263.\n\nFootnote 181:\n\n In order to keep off the evil eye, one of the functions of iron and\n steel: see vol. ii. 316.\n\nFootnote 182:\n\n The H. V. adds, \u201cLittle did the Princess know that the singers were\n fairies whom the Slave of the Lamp had brought together.\u201d\n\nFootnote 183:\n\n Alexander the Great: see vols. v. 252, x. 57. The H. V. adds, \u201cThen\n only one man and one woman danced together, one with other, till\n midnight, when Alaeddin and the Princess stood up; for it was the wont\n of China in those days that bride and bridegroom perform together in\n presence of the wedding company.\u201d\n\nFootnote 184:\n\n The exceptional reserve of this and other descriptions makes M. H.\n Zotenberg suspect that the tale was written for one of the Mameluke\n Princesses: I own to its modesty but I doubt that such virtue would\n have recommended it to the dames in question. The H. V. adds a few\n details:\u2014\u201cThen, when the bride and bridegroom had glanced and gazed\n each at other\u2019s face, the Princess rejoiced with excessive joy to\n behold his comeliness, and he exclaimed, in the courtesy of his\n gladness, \u2018O happy me, whom thou deignest, O Queen of the Fair, to\n honour despite mine unworth, seeing that in thee all charms and graces\n are perfected.\u2019\u201d\n\nFootnote 185:\n\n The term has not escaped ridicule amongst Moslems. A common fellow\n having stood in his way the famous wit Ab\u00fa al-\u2019Ayn\u00e1 asked \u201cWhat is\n that?\u201d \u201cA man of the Sons of Adam\u201d was the reply. \u201cWelcome, welcome,\u201d\n cried the other, \u201cAllah grant thee length of days! I deemed that all\n his sons were dead.\u201d See Ibn Khallikan iii. 57.\n\nFootnote 186:\n\n This address to an inanimate object (here a window) is highly\n idiomatic and must be cultivated by the practical Arabist. In the H.\n V. the unfinished part is the four-and-twentieth door of the\n fictitious (ja\u2019al\u00ed) palace.\n\nFootnote 187:\n\n This is true Orientalism, a personification or incarnation which\n Galland did not think proper to translate.\n\nFootnote 188:\n\n Arab. \u201cLa\u2019ab al-And\u00e1b;\u201d the latter word is from the \u221a \u201cNadb\u201d =\n brandishing or throwing the javelin.\n\nFootnote 189:\n\n The \u201cmothers\u201d are the prime figures, the daughters being the\n secondary. For the \u201c\u2019Ilm al-Raml\u201d = (Science of the sand) our geomancy\n see vol. iii. 269, and D\u2019Herbelot\u2019s sub. v. _Raml_ or _Reml_.\n\nFootnote 190:\n\n This is from Galland, whose _certaine boisson chaude_ evidently means\n tea. It is preserved in the H. V.\n\nFootnote 191:\n\n _i.e._ his astrolabe, his \u201cZ\u00edj\u201d or table of the stars, his almanack,\n etc. For a highly fanciful derivation of the \u201cArstable\u201d see Ibn\n Khallik\u00e1n (iii. 580). He makes it signify \u201cbalance or lines (Pers.\n \u2018Astur\u2019) of the sun,\u201d which is called \u201cL\u00e1b\u201d as in the case of wicked\n Queen L\u00e1b (The Nights, vol. vii. 296). According to him the Astrolabe\n was suggested to Ptolemy by an armillary sphere which had accidentally\n been flattened by the hoof of his beast: this is beginning late in the\n day, the instrument was known to the ancient Assyrians. Chardin\n (Voyages ii. 149) carefully describes the Persian variety of\u2014\n\n \u201cThe cunning man hight Sidrophil\n\n (as Will. Lilly was called). Amongst other things he wore at his\n girdle an astrolabe not bigger than the hollow of a man\u2019s hand, often\n two to three inches in diameter and looking at a distance like a\n medal.\u201d These men practised both natural astrology = astronomy, as\n well as judicial astrology which foretells events and of which Kepler\n said that \u201cshe, albeit a fool, was the daughter of a wise mother, to\n whose support and life the silly maid was indispensable.\u201d Isidore of\n Seville (A.D. 600\u2013636) was the first to distinguish between the two\n branches, and they flourished side by side till Newton\u2019s day. Hence\n the many astrological terms in our tongue, _e.g._ consider,\n contemplate, disaster, jovial, mercurial, saturnine, etc.\n\nFootnote 192:\n\n In the H. V. \u201cNew brass lamps for old ones! who will exchange?\u201d So in\n the story of the Fisherman\u2019s son, a Jew who had been tricked of a\n cock, offers to give new rings for old rings. See Jonathan\u2019s Scott\u2019s\n excerpts from the Wortley-Montague MSS. vol. vi. pp. 210\u201312. This is\n one of the tales which I have translated for vol. iv.\n\nFootnote 193:\n\n The H. V. adds that Alaeddin loved to ride out a-hunting and had left\n the city for eight days whereof three had passed by.\n\nFootnote 194:\n\n Galland makes her say, _H\u00e9 bien, folle, veux-tu me dire pourquoi tu\n ris?_ The H. V. renders \u201cCease, giddyhead, why laughest thou?\u201d and the\n vulgate \u201cWell, giggler,\u201d said the Princess, etc.\n\nFootnote 195:\n\n Nothing can be more improbable than this detail, but upon such\n abnormal situations almost all stories, even in our most modern\n \u201cSociety-novels,\u201d depend and the cause is clear\u2014without them there\n would be no story. And the modern will, perhaps, suggest that \u201cthe\n truth was withheld for a higher purpose, for the working out of\n certain ends.\u201d In the H. V. Alaeddin, when about to go a-hunting,\n always placed the Lamp high up on the cornice with all care lest any\n touch it.\n\nFootnote 196:\n\n The H. V. adds, \u201cThe Magician, when he saw the Lamp, at once knew that\n it must be the one he sought; for he knew that all things, great and\n small, appertaining to the palace would be golden or silvern.\u201d\n\nFootnote 197:\n\n In truly Oriental countries the Wazir is expected to know everything,\n and if he fail in this easy duty be may find himself in sore trouble.\n\nFootnote 198:\n\n _i.e._, must be obeyed.\n\nFootnote 199:\n\n We see that \u201cChina\u201d was in those days the normal Oriental \u201cdespotism\n tempered by assassination.\u201d\n\nFootnote 200:\n\n In the H. V. Alaeddin promises, \u201cif I fail to find and fetch the\n Princess, I will myself cut off my head and cast it before the\n throne.\u201d Hindus are adepts in suicide and this self-decapitation,\n which sounds absurd further West, is quite possible to them.\n\nFootnote 201:\n\n In Galland Alaeddin unconsciously rubbed the ring against _un petit\n roc_, to which he clung in order to prevent falling into the stream.\n In the H. V. \u201cThe bank was high and difficult of descent and the youth\n would have rolled down headlong had he not struck upon a rock two\n paces from the bottom and remained hanging over the water. This mishap\n was of the happiest for during his fall he struck the stone and rubbed\n his ring against it,\u201d etc.\n\nFootnote 202:\n\n In the H. V. he said, \u201cFirst save me that I fall not into the stream\n and then tell me where is the pavilion thou builtest for her and who\n hath removed it.\u201d\n\nFootnote 203:\n\n Alluding to the preparatory washing, a mere matter of cleanliness\n which precedes the formal Wuz\u00fa-ablution.\n\nFootnote 204:\n\n In the H. V. the Princess ends with, \u201cI had made this resolve that\n should he approach me with the design to win his wish perforce, I\n would destroy my life. By day and by night I abode in fear of him; but\n now at the sight of thee my heart is heartened.\u201d\n\nFootnote 205:\n\n The Fellah had a natural fear of being seen in fine gear, which all\n would have supposed to be stolen goods; and Alaeddin was justified in\n taking it perforce, because _necessitas non habet legem_. See a\n similar exchange of dress in Spitta-Bey\u2019s \u201cContes Arabes Modernes,\u201d p.\n 91. In Galland the peasant when pressed consents; and in the H. V.\n Alaeddin persuades him by a gift of money.\n\nFootnote 206:\n\n _i.e._ which would take effect in the shortest time.\n\nFootnote 207:\n\n Her modesty was startled by the idea of sitting at meat with a strange\n man and allowing him to make love to her.\n\nFootnote 208:\n\n In the text Kid\u00ed, pop. for Ka-z\u00e1lika. In the H. V. the Magician\n replies to the honeyed speech of the Princess, \u201cO my lady, we in\n Africa have not so gracious customs as the men of China. This day I\n have learned of thee a new courtesy which I shall ever keep in mind.\u201d\n\nFootnote 209:\n\n Galland makes the Princess poison the Maghrabi, which is not gallant.\n The H. V. follows suit and describes the powder as a mortal poison.\n\nFootnote 210:\n\n Contrast this modesty with the usual scene of reunion after severance,\n as in the case of Kamar al-Zam\u00e1n and immodest Queen Bud\u00far, vol. iii.\n pp. 302\u2013304.\n\nFootnote 211:\n\n His dignity forbade him to walk even the length of a carpet: see vol.\n vii. for this habit of the Mameluke Beys. When Harun al-Rashid made\n his famous pilgrimage afoot from Baghdad to Meccah (and he was the\n last of the Caliphs who performed this rite), the whole way was spread\n with a \u201cP\u00e1-and\u00e1z\u201d of carpets and costly cloths.\n\nFootnote 212:\n\n The proverb suggests our \u201cpar nobile fratrum,\u201d a pair resembling each\n other as two halves of a split bean.\n\nFootnote 213:\n\n In the H. V. \u201cIf the elder Magician was in the East the other was in\n the West; but once a year, by their skill in geomancy, they had\n tidings of each other.\u201d\n\nFootnote 214:\n\n The act was religiously laudable, but to the Eastern, as to the South\n European mind, fair play is _not_ a jewel; moreover the story-teller\n may insinuate that vengeance would be taken only by foul and unlawful\n means\u2014the Black Art, perjury, murder and so forth.\n\nFootnote 215:\n\n For this game, a prime favourite in Egypt, see vol. vi. 145. De Sacy\n (Chrestomathie i. 477) and his authorities Hyde, Syntagma Dissert. ii.\n 374; P. Labat, \u201cM\u00e9moires du Chev. d\u2019Arvieux,\u201d iii. 321; Thevenot,\n \u201cVoyage du Levant,\u201d p. 107; and Niebuhr, \u201cVoyages,\u201d I, 139, Plate 25,\n fig. H.\n\nFootnote 216:\n\n In the text \u200f\u0636\u0627\u0645\u0647\u200e evidently = \u201c(jeu de) dames\u201d (supposed to have been\n invented in Paris during the days of the Regency: see Littr\u00e9); and,\n although in certain Eastern places now popular, a term of European\n origin. It is not in Galland. According to Ibn Khallikan (iii. 69)\n \u201cNard\u201d = tables, arose with King Ardash\u00edr son of Babuk, and was\n therefore called Nardash\u00edr (Nard Ardash\u00edr?). He designed it as an\n image of the world and its people, so the board had twelve squares to\n represent the months; the thirty pieces or men represented the days\n and the dice were the emblems of Fate and Lot.\n\nFootnote 217:\n\n _i.e._ a weaner, a name of good omen for a girl-child: see vol. vi.\n 145. The Hindi translator, Tot\u00e1r\u00e1m Shayy\u00e1n, calls her Ham\u00eddah = the\n Praiseworthy.\n\nFootnote 218:\n\n Arab. Kir\u00e1m\u00e1t: see vols. ii. 237; iv. 45. The Necromancer clearly\n smells a rat holding with Diderot:\u2014\n\n De par le Roi! Defense \u00e0 Dieu\n De faire miracle en ce lieu;\n\n and the stage properties afterwards found with the holy woman, such as\n the gallipot of colouring ointment, justify his suspicion.\n\nFootnote 219:\n\n \u201c\u2019Aj\u00e1ib\u201d plur. of \u201c\u2019Aj\u00edb,\u201d a common exclamation amongst the populace.\n It is used in Persian as well as in Arabic.\n\nFootnote 220:\n\n Evidently _la force de l\u2019imagination_, of which a curious illustration\n was given in Paris during the debauched days of the Second Empire.\n Before a highly \u201cfashionable\u201d assembly of men appeared a youth in\n fleshings who sat down upon a stool, bared his pudenda and closed his\n eyes when, by \u201cforce of fancy,\u201d erection and emission took place. But\n presently it was suspected and proved that the stool was hollow and\n admitted from below a hand whose titillating fingers explained the\n phenomenon.\n\nFootnote 221:\n\n Moslems are curious about sleeping postures and the popular saying\n is:\u2014Lying upon the right side is proper to Kings, upon the left to\n Sages; to sleep supine is the position of Allah\u2019s Saints and prone\n upon the belly is peculiar to the Devils.\n\nFootnote 222:\n\n This \u201c\u2019As\u00e1,\u201d a staff five to six feet long, is one of the properties\n of Moslem Saints and reverends who, imitating that furious old\n Puritan, Caliph Omar, make and are allowed to make a pretty liberal\n distribution of its caresses.\n\nFootnote 223:\n\n _i.e._ as she was in her own home.\n\nFootnote 224:\n\n Arab. \u201cSul\u00fak\u201d a Sufistical expression, the road to salvation, &c.\n\nFootnote 225:\n\n In the H. V. her diet consisted of dry bread and fruits.\n\nFootnote 226:\n\n This is the first mention of the windows in the Arabic MS.\n\nFootnote 227:\n\n For this \u201cRoc\u201d of the older writers see vols. v. 122; vi. 16\u201349. I may\n remind the reader that the O. Egyptian \u201cRokh,\u201d or \u201cRukh,\u201d by some\n written \u201cRekhit,\u201d whose ideograph is a monstrous bird with one claw\n raised, also denotes pure wise Spirits, the Magi, &c. I know a man who\n derives from it our \u201crook\u201d = beak and parson.\n\nFootnote 228:\n\n In the H. V. he takes the Lamp from his bosom, where he had ever kept\n it since his misadventure with the African Magician.\n\nFootnote 229:\n\n Here the mythical Rukh is mixed up with the mysterious bird S\u00edmurgh,\n for which see vol. x. 130.\n\nFootnote 230:\n\n The H. V. adds, \u201choping thereby that thou and she and all the\n household should fall into perdition.\u201d\n\nFootnote 231:\n\n Rank mesmerism, which has been practised in the East from ages\n immemorial. In Christendom Santa Guglielma worshipped at Brunate,\n \u201cworks many miracles, chiefly healing aches of head.\u201d In the H. V.\n Alaeddin feigns that he is ill and fares to the Princess with his head\n tied up.\n\nFootnote 232:\n\n Mr. Morier in \u201cThe Mirza\u201d (vol. i. 87) says, \u201cHad the Arabian Nights\u2019\n Entertainments, with all their singular fertility of invention and\n never-ending variety, appeared as a new book in the present day,\n translated literally and not adapted to European taste in the manner\n attempted in M. Galland\u2019s translation, I doubt whether they would have\n been tolerated, certainly not read with the avidity they are, even in\n the dress with which he has clothed them, however imperfect that dress\n may be.\u201d But in Morier\u2019s day the literal translation was so despised\n that an Eastern book was robbed of half its charms, both of style and\n idea. My version is here followed by the popular English version from\n Galland, so that my readers may compare the old with the new.\n\nFootnote 233:\n\n This \u201cpointing the moral,\u201d as the reader will observe, belongs to\n Galland, who had no right to introduce the stale European practice\n into an Eastern tale.\u2014R. F. B.\n\nFootnote 234:\n\n In the MS. of the Biblioth\u00e8que Nationale, Supplement Arabe (No. 2523,\n vol. ii. fol. 147), the story which follows \u201cAladdin\u201d is that of the\n Ten Wazirs, for which see Supp. Nights ii. In Galland the _Histoire de\n Codadad et de ses Fr\u00e8res_ comes next to the tale of Zayn al-Asnam: I\n have changed the sequence in order that the two stories directly\n translated from the Arabic may be together.\n\nFootnote 235:\n\n M. Hermann Zotenberg lately informed me that \u201cKhudadad and his\n Brothers\u201d is to be found in a Turkish MS., \u201cAl-Faraj b\u0227\u2019d\n al-Shiddah\u201d\u2014Joy after Annoy\u2014in the Biblioth\u00e8que Nationale of Paris.\n But that work is a mere derivation from the Persian \u201cHaz\u00e1r o yek Roz,\u201d\n for which see my vol. x. p. 499. The name Khudadad is common to most\n Eastern peoples, the Sansk. Devadatta, the Gr. \u0398\u03b5\u03bf\u03b4\u03cc\u03c3\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2, \u0398\u03b5\u03bf\u03b4\u03ce\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2,\n \u0398\u03b5\u03bf\u03b4\u03ce\u03c1\u03b7\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 and Dorotheus; the Lat. Deodatus, the Ital. Diodato, and\n Span. Diosdado, the French Dieu-donn\u00e9, and the Arab.-Persic Allad\u00e1d,\n D\u00edvd\u00e1d and Khud\u00e1baksh. Khud\u00e1 is the mod. Pers. form of the old Khud\u00e1\u00ed\n = sovereign, king, as in M\u00e1h-i-Khud\u00e1\u00ed = the sovereign moon, K\u00e1m-Khud\u00e1\u00ed\n = master of his passions, etc.\n\nFootnote 236:\n\n Lit. Homes (or habitations) of Bakr (see vol. v. 66), by the Turks\n pronounced \u201cDiy\u00e1r-i-Bek\u00edr.\u201d It is the most famous of the four\n provinces into which Mesopotamia (Heb. Naharaym, Arab. Al-J\u00e0z\u00edrah) is\n divided by the Arabs; viz: Diy\u00e1r Bakr (capital Am\u00eddah); Diy\u00e1r Modhar\n (cap. Rakkah or Aracta); Diy\u00e1r Rab\u00ed\u2019ah (cap. Nisibis) and Diy\u00e1r\n al-Jaz\u00edrah or Al-Jaz\u00edrah (cap. Mosul). As regards the \u201cKing of\n Harr\u00e1n,\u201d all these ancient cities were at some time the capitals of\n independent chiefs who styled themselves royalties.\n\nFootnote 237:\n\n The Heb. Charran, the Carrh\u00e6 of the classics where, according to the\n Moslems, Abraham was born, while the Jews and Christians make him\n emigrate thither from \u201cUr (hod. Mughayr) of the Chaldees.\u201d Hence his\n Arab. title \u201cIbrahim al-Harr\u00e1ni.\u201d My late friend Dr. Beke had a\n marvellous theory that this venerable historic Harr\u00e1n was identical\n with a miserable village to the east of Damascus _because_ the Fellahs\n call it Harr\u00e1n al-\u2019Aw\u00e1m\u00edd\u2014of the Columns\u2014from some Gr\u00e6co-Roman\n remnants of a paltry provincial temple. See \u201cJacob\u2019s Flight,\u201d etc.,\n London, Longmans, 1865.\n\nFootnote 238:\n\n P\u00edrozah = turquoise, is the Persian, Fir\u00fazah and Firuzakh (De Sacy\n Chrest. ii. 84) the Arab. forms. The stone is a favourite in the East\n where, as amongst the Russians (who affect to despise the Eastern\n origin of their blood to which they owe so much of its peculiar\n merit,) it is supposed to act talisman against wounds and death in\n battle; and the Persians, who hold it to be a guard against the Evil\n Eye, are fond of inscribing \u201cturquoise of the old rock\u201d with one or\n more of the \u201cHoly Names.\u201d Of these talismans a modern Spiritualist\n asks, \u201cAre rings and charms and amulets _magnetic_, to use an analogue\n for what we cannot understand, and has the immemorial belief in the\n power of relics a natural not to say a scientific basis?\u201d\n\nFootnote 239:\n\n Samaria is a well-known name amongst Moslems, who call the city\n Shamr\u00edn and Shamr\u00fan. It was built, according to Ibn Batrik, upon Mount\n Samir by Amri who gave it the first name; and the Tar\u00edkh Sam\u00edr\u00ed, by\n Abu al-Fath Ab\u00fa al-Hasan, is a detailed account of its garbled annals.\n As Nabl\u00fas (Neapolis of Herod., also called by him Sebaste) it is now\n familiar to the Cookite.\n\nFootnote 240:\n\n In the text Zangi-i-Adam-kh\u2019w\u00e1r afterwards called Habashi = an\n Abyssinian. Galland simply says _un n\u00e8gre_. In India the \u201cHabsh\u00ed\u201d\n (chief) of Jinj\u00edrah (= Al-Jazirah, the Island) was admiral of the\n Grand Moghul\u2019s fleets. These negroids are still dreaded by Hind\u00fas and\n Hindis and, when we have another \u201cSepoy Mutiny,\u201d a few thousands of\n them bought upon the Zanzibar coast, dressed, drilled and officered by\n Englishmen, will do us yeoman\u2019s service.\n\nFootnote 241:\n\n This seems to be a fancy name for a country: the term is Persian = the\n Oceanland or a seaport town: from \u201cDary\u00e1\u201d the sea and b\u00e1r = a region,\n tract, as in Zanzib\u00e1r = Blackland. The learned Weil explains it (in\n loco) by _Gegend der Brunnen, brunnengleicher ort_, but I cannot\n accept Scott\u2019s note (iv. 400), \u201cSignifying the seacoast of every\n country: and hence the term is applied by Oriental geographers to the\n coast of Malabar.\u201d\n\nFootnote 242:\n\n The onager, confounded by our older travellers with the zebra, is the\n G\u00far-i-kh\u00e1r of Persia, where it is the noblest game from which kings\n did not disdain to take a cognomen, _e.g._ Bahr\u00e1m-i-G\u00far. It is the\n \u201cwild ass\u201d of Jeremiah (ii. 24: xiv. 6). The meat is famous in poetry\n for combining the flavours peculiar to all kinds of flesh (Ibn\n Khallikan iii. 117; iii. 239, etc.) and is noticed by Herodotus (Clio.\n cxxxiii.) and by Xenophon (Cyro. lib. 1) in sundry passages: the\n latter describes the relays of horses and hounds which were used in\n chasing it then as now. The traveller Olearius (A.D. 1637) found it\n more common than in our present day: Shah Abbas turned thirty-two wild\n asses into an enclosure where they were shot as an item of\n entertainment to the ambassadors at his court. The skin of the wild\n ass\u2019s back produces the famous shagreen, a word seemingly derived from\n the Pers. \u201cSaghr\u00ed,\u201d _e.g._ \u201cKyafsh-i-Saghri\u201d = slippers of shagreen,\n fine wear fit for a \u201cyoung Duke.\u201d See in Ibn Khallikan (iv. 245) an\n account of a \u201cJ\u00far\u201d (the Arabised \u201cG\u00far\u201d) eight hundred years old.\n\nFootnote 243:\n\n \u201cDasht-i-l\u00e1-siw\u00e1-H\u00fa\u201d = a desert wherein is none save He (Allah), a\n howling wilderness.\n\nFootnote 244:\n\n Per. \u201cN\u00e1z o and\u00e1z\u201d = coquetry, in a half-honest sense. The Persian\n \u201cK\u00e1k\u00e1 Siy\u00e1h,\u201d _i.e._ \u201cblack brother\u201d (a domestic negro) pronounces\n N\u00e1z\u00ed-n\u00faz\u00ed.\n\nFootnote 245:\n\n In the text Nimak-har\u00e1m: on this subject see vol. viii. 12.\n\nFootnote 246:\n\n _i.e._ an Arab of noble strain: see vol. iii. 72.\n\nFootnote 247:\n\n In the text \u201cKazz\u00e1k\u201d = Cossacks, bandits, mounted highwaymen; the word\n is well known in India, where it is written in two different ways, and\n the late Mr. John Shakespear in his excellent Dictionary need hardly\n have marked the origin \u201cU\u201d (unknown).\n\nFootnote 248:\n\n Here and below the Hindostani version mounts the lady upon a camel\n (\u201cUshtur\u201d or \u201cUnth\u201d) which is not customary in India except when\n criminals are led about the bazar. An elephant would have been in\n better form.\n\nFootnote 249:\n\n The Ashrafi (Port. Xerafim) is a gold coin whose value has greatly\n varied with its date from four shillings upwards. In The (true) Nights\n we find (passim) that, according to the minting of the VIth Ommiade,\n \u2018Abd al-Malik bin Marw\u00e1n (A.H. 65\u201386 = A.D. 685\u2013703), the coinage of\n Baghdad consisted of three metals. \u201cIta quoque peregrina suis nummis\n nomina posuit, aureum Dinar denarium, argentem Dirhen (lege dirham),\n Drachma, \u00e6reum fols (fuls), follem appellans. * * * Nam vera moneta\n aurea nomine follis signabatur, ut \u00e6reorum sub Aarone Raschido\n cussorum qui hoc nomen servavit.\u201d (O. G. Tychsen, p. 8. Introduct. in\n Rem numariam Muhammedanorum). For the dinar, daric or misk\u00e1l see The\n Nights, vol. i. 32; ix. 294; for the dirham, i. 33, ii. 316, etc.; and\n for the Fals or Fils = a fish scale, a spangle of metal, vol. i. 321.\n In the debased currency of the Maroccan Empire the Fals of copper or\n iron, a substantial coin, is worth 2,160 to the French five-franc\n piece.\n\nFootnote 250:\n\n In the Hindi, as in Galland\u2019s version, the horse is naturally enough\n of Turcoman blood. I cannot but think that in India we have unwisely\n limited ourselves for cavalryremounts to the Western market that\n exports chiefly the mongrel \u201cGulf Arab\u201d and have neglected the far\n hardier animal, especially the G\u00fatd\u00e1n blood of the Tartar plains,\n which supply \u201cexcellent horses whose speed and bottom are\u201d say\n travellers in general, \u201cso justly celebrated throughout Asia.\u201d Our\n predecessors were too wise to \u201cput all the eggs in one basket.\u201d\n\nFootnote 251:\n\n An act of worship, see my Pilgrimage in which \u201cTaw\u00e1f\u201d = circuiting, is\n described in detail, ii. 38; iii. 201 et seqq. A counterpart of this\n scene is found in the _Histoire du Sultan Aqchid_ (Ikhshid) who\n determined to witness his own funeral. Gauttier vol. i. pp. 134\u2013139.\n Another and similar incident occurs in the \u201cNineteenth Vezir\u2019s Story\u201d\n (pp. 213\u201318 of the History of the Forty Vezirs, before alluded to):\n here Hasan of Basrah, an \u2019Alim who died in A.H. 110 (= A.D. 728) saw\n in vision (the \u201cdrivel of dreams?\u201d) folk of all conditions, sages,\n warriors and moon-faced maids seeking, but in vain, to release the\n sweet soul of the Prince who had perished.\n\nFootnote 252:\n\n Here after Moslem fashion, the mother ranks before the wife: \u201cA man\n can have many wives but only one mother.\u201d The idea is old amongst\n Easterns: see Herodotus and his Christian commentators on the history\n of Intaphernes\u2019 wife (Thalia, cap. cxix). \u201cO King,\u201d said that lady of\n mind logical, \u201cI may get me another mate if God will and other\n children an I lose these; but as my father and my mother are no longer\n alive, I may not by any means have another brother,\u201d etc., etc.\n\nFootnote 253:\n\n In Galland the _Histoire de Ganem, fils d\u2019 Abu A\u00efoub, surnomm\u00e9\n l\u2019esclave d\u2019Amour_, precedes Zayn al-Asn\u00e1m. In the Arab texts Ghanim\n bin Ayy\u00fab, the Thrall o\u2019 Love, occurs much earlier: see The Nights\n vol. ii. 45.\n\n It is curious to compare the conclusions of these tales with the\n formula of the latest specimens, the _Contes Arabes Modernes_ of\n Spitta-Bey, _e.g._ \u201cAnd the twain lived together (p. iii.) and had\n sons and daughters (p. ii.), cohabiting with perfect harmony (f\u00ed\n al-Kam\u00e1l pp. 42, 79); and at last they died and were buried and so\n endeth the story\u201d (wa khal\u00e1s p. 161).\n\nFootnote 254:\n\n In Galland and his translators the Adventures of Khudadad and his\n Brothers is followed by the _Histoire du Dormeur Eveill\u00e9_ which, as\n \u201cThe Sleeper and the Waker,\u201d is to be found in the first of my\n Supplemental Volumes, pp. 1\u201339. After this the learned Frenchman\n introduced, as has been said, the _Histoire de la Lampe merveilleuse_\n or \u201cAlaeddin\u201d to which I have assigned, for reasons given _in loco_, a\n place before Khudadad.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTES\n\n\n 1. P. xv, any references in the Contents of the Third Volume to pages\n 307 through 652 are to pages in the Fourth Volume of the\n Supplement.\n 2. P. 3, changed \u201cPilds\u00e4ulen\u201d to \u201cBilds\u00e4ulen\u201d.\n 3. P. 136, changed \u201cleur chef mit Aladdin a sa droite\u201d to \u201cleur chef\n mit Aladdin \u00e0 sa droite\u201d.\n 4. P. 208, changed \u201ccalled himself the lamp\u201d to \u201ccalled himself the\n slave of the lamp\u201d.\n 5. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.\n 6. Retained anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as\n printed.\n 7. Footnotes have been re-indexed using numbers and collected together\n at the end of the last chapter.\n 8. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.","title":"Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights \u2014 Volume 3 (of 6) Part 1","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":127178}