that they could see the four kinds of fish swimming about in it.
They looked at them for some time, and then the Sultan ordered them
to make a camp by the edge of the water.

When night came the Sultan called his vizir, and said to him,
"I have resolved to clear up this mystery. I am going out alone,
and do you stay here in my tent, and when my ministers come to-morrow,
say I am not well, and cannot see them. Do this each day till
I return."

The grand-vizir tried to persuade the Sultan not to go, but in vain.
The Sultan took off his state robe and put on his sword, and when he
saw all was quiet in the camp he set forth alone.

He climbed one of the hills, and then crossed the great plain, till,
just as the sun rose, he beheld far in front of him a large building.
When he came near to it he saw it was a splendid palace of beautiful
black polished marble, covered with steel as smooth as a mirror.

He went to the gate, which stood half open, and went in, as nobody
came when he knocked. He passed through a magnificent courtyard
and still saw no one, though he called aloud several times.

He entered large halls where the carpets were of silk, the lounges
and sofas covered with tapestry from Mecca, and the hangings of the most
beautiful Indian stuffs of gold and silver. Then he found himself
in a splendid room, with a fountain supported by golden lions.
The water out of the lions' mouths turned into diamonds and pearls,
and the leaping water almost touched a most beautifully-painted dome.
The palace was surrounded on three sides by magnificent gardens,