The prince of Persia thought himself in one of those magnificent palaces that are promised us in the other world, for he had never seen any thing that equalled the shining splendour of the place; the carpets, cushions, and other furniture of the sofas, the moveables, ornaments, and architecture, were all surprisingly beautiful.  A little time after Ebn Thaher and he were sat down, a very handsome black slave set before them a table covered with several very fine dishes, the delicious smell of which made them judge of the delicacy of the sauce.  While eating, they were waited upon by the slave who had introduced them, and who invited them to eat of what she knew to be the greatest dainties; when they had done, they were served with excellent wine by the other slaves, who afterwards presented to each of them a fine gold basin full of water to wash their hands, and also a golden pot full of the perfume of aloes, with which they both perfumed their beards and clothes; nor was odoriferous water forgotten, which the slaves brought to them in a golden vessel, enriched with diamonds and rubies, made particularly for that use, and which they threw upon their beards and faces, according to custom.  They then went to their places; but had scarcely seated themselves, when the slave entreated them to rise and follow her; and opening a gate of the hall in which they were, they entered into a spacious saloon of a marvellous structure.  It was a dome of the most agreeable fashion, supported by a hundred pillars of marble, white as alabaster; the bases and chapiters of the pillars were adorned with four-footed beasts and birds of several sorts gilded.  The foot-carpet of this noble parlour consisted of one piece of gold cloth, embroidered with garlands of roses in red and white silk; and the dome being painted in the same manner, after the Arabian form, was one of the most charming objects the eye ever beheld:  betwixt each column was placed a little sofa adorned in the same manner, and great vessels of china, crystal, jasper, jet, porphyry, agate, and other precious materials, garnished with gold and jewels:  the spaces betwixt the columns were so many large windows, with jets high enough to lean on, covered with the same sort of stuff as the sofas, from which was a prospect into one of the most delightful gardens in the world, the walks of which, being made of little pebbles of different colours, much resembled the foot-carpet of the saloon; so that it appeared, both within and without, as if the dome and the garden, with all their ornaments, had stood upon the same carpet.  The prospect round was thus diversified:  at the ends of the walks were two canals of clear water, of the same circular figure as the dome; one of which, being higher than the other, emptied itself into the lowermost, in form of a table-cloth; and curious pots of gilded brass, with flowers and greens, were placed at equal distances on the banks of the canals:  the walks lay betwixt great plots of ground, planted with straight and bushy trees, among winch were thousands of birds, whose notes formed a melodious concert, and entertained the beholder by sometimes flying about, at others by playing together, and sometimes by fighting in the air.