situation, wherein I may establish them, that they may traffic
and learn to buy and sell and give and take, whilst they divert
themselves with the sight of the place, and be come familiar with
the usages of its people." Quoth the Overseer, "There is no harm
in that;" and, looking at the two youths, he was delighted with
them and affected them with a warm affection. Now he was a great
connoisseur of bewitching glances, preferring the love of boys to
that of girls and inclining to the sour rather than the sweet of
love. So he said to himself, "This, indeed, is fine game. Glory
be to Him who created and fashioned them out of vile
water!"[FN#16] and rising stood before them like a servant to do
them honour. Then he went out and made ready for them a shop
which was in the very midst of the Exchange; nor was there any
larger or better in the bazar, for it was spacious and handsomely
decorated and fitted with shelves of ivory and ebony wood. After
this he delivered the keys to the Wazir, who was dressed as an
old merchant, saying, "Take them, O my lord, and Allah make it a
blessed abiding place to thy two sons!" The Minister took the
keys and the three returning to the Khan where they had alighted,
bade the servants transport to the shop all their goods and
stuffs.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.

When it was the One Hundred and Thirty-second Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Wazir took the shop keys, he went accompanied by Taj al-Muluk and
Aziz to the Khan, and they bade the servants transport to the
shop all their goods and stuffs and valuables of which they had
great store worth treasures of money. And when all this was duly