withered palm-leaf. Call hither my servants and camel-drivers, and the
merchants that have furnished me with stuffs, and the beggars who have
feasted at my table, and bid them take all that is here, for it is mine
no longer!" With these words he buried his face in his mantle and wept
aloud.

But MAREE JAHANN, his wife, plucked him by the sleeve. "Prithee, my
lord," said she, "bethink thee of the BROKAH or scrivener, who besought
thee but yesterday to share thy STOKH with him and gave thee his bond
for fifty thousand sequins." But the noble Prince BULLEBOYE, raising his
head, said: "Shall I sell to him for fifty thousand sequins that which I
know is not worth a SOO MARKEE? For is not all the BROKAH'S wealth, even
his wife and children, pledged on that bond? Shall I ruin him to save
myself? Allah forbid! Rather let me eat the salt fish of honest penury,
than the kibobs of dishonorable affluence; rather let me wallow in
the mire of virtuous oblivion, than repose on the divan of luxurious
wickedness."

When the prince had given utterance to this beautiful and edifying
sentiment, a strain of gentle music was heard, and the rear wall of the
apartment, which had been ingeniously constructed like a flat, opened
and discovered the Ogress of SILVER LAND in the glare of blue fire,
seated on a triumphal car attached to two ropes which were connected
with the flies, in the very act of blessing the unconscious prince.
When the walls closed again without attracting his attention, Prince
BULLEBOYE arose, dressed himself in his coarsest and cheapest stuffs,
and sprinkled ashes on his head, and in this guise, having embraced
his wife, went forth into the bazaars. In this it will be perceived
how differently the good Prince BULLEBOYE acted from the wicked Prince
BADFELLAH, who put on his gayest garments to simulate and deceive.