me eat by myself in my own room.”  Now the Accursed hereby purposed to avert the danger of haply raising his face-kerchief at meal-times, when his intent might be baffled by his beard and mustachios discovering him to be a man.  The Princess replied, “O my Lady Fatimah, be of good heart; naught shall happen save what thou wishest.  But now arise and let me show thee the apartment in the palace which I would prepare for thy sojourn with us.”—­And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

      When it was the Five Hundred and Eighty-ninth Night,

Quoth Dunyazad, “O sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us some of thy pleasant tales,” whereupon Shahrazad replied, “With love and good will.”—­It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that the Lady Badr al-Budur arose and taking the Necromancer who had disguised himself as the Devotee, ushered him in to the place which she had kindly promised him for a home and said, “O my Lady Fatimah, here thou shalt dwell with every comfort about thee and in all privacy and repose; and the place shall be named after thy name;” whereupon the Maghrabi acknowledged her kindness and prayed for her.  Then the Princess showed him the jalousies and the jewelled Kiosque with its four and twenty windows[FN#224] and said to him, “What thinkest thou, O my Lady Fatimah, of this marvellous pavilion?” The Moorman replied, “By Allah, O my daughter, ’tis indeed passing fine and wondrous exceedingly; nor do I deem that its fellow is to be found in the whole universe; but alas for the lack of one thing which would enhance its beauty and decoration !” The Princess asked her, “O my Lady Fatimah, what lacketh it and what be this thing would add to its adornment?  Tell me thereof, inasmuch as I was wont to believe it wholly perfect.”  The Maroccan answered, “O my lady, all it wanteth is that there be hanging from the middle of the dome the egg of a fowl called the Rukh;[FN#225] and, were this done, the pavilion would lack its peer all the world over.”  The Princess asked, “What be this bird and where can we find her egg?” and the Maroccan answered, “O my lady, the Rukh is indeed a giant fowl which carrieth off camels and elephants in her pounces and flieth away with them, such is her stature and strength; also this fowl is mostly found in Mount Kaf; and the architect who built this pavilion is able to bring thee one of her eggs.”  They then left such talk as it was the hour for the noon day meal and, when the handmaid had spread the table, the Lady Badr al-Budur sent down to invite the Accursed African to eat with her.  But he accepted not and for a reason he would on no wise consent; nay, he rose and retired to the room which the Princess had assigned to him and whither the slave-girls carried his dinner.  Now when evening evened, Alaeddin returned from the chase and met his wife who salam’d to him and he clasped her to his bosom and kissed her.  Presently, looking at her face he saw thereon a shade