better than return to where I left my horse and pass the night by
it; and as soon as day shall dawn I will mount and ride away."--
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Fifty-ninth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth the
king's son to himself, "I may not do better than pass the night
by my horse; and as soon as day shall dawn I will mount and ride
away." However, as he tarried talking to himself, he espied a
light within the palace, and making towards it, found that it
came from a candle that stood before a door of the Harim, at the
head of a sleeping eunuch, as he were one of the Ifrits of
Solomon or a tribesman of the Jinn, longer than lumber and
broader than a bench. He lay before the door, with the pommel of
his sword gleaming in the flame of the candle, and at his head
was a bag of leather[FN#11] hanging from a column of granite.
When the Prince saw this, he was affrighted and said, "I crave
help from Allah the Supreme! O mine Holy One, even as Thou hast
already delivered me from destruction, so vouchsafe me strength
to quit myself of the adventure of this palace!" So saying, he
put out his hand to the budget and taking it, carried it aside
and opened it and found in it food of the best. He ate his fill
and refreshed himself and drank water, after which he hung up the
provision-bag in its place and drawing the eunuch's sword from
its sheath, took it, whilst the slave slept on, knowing not
whence destiny should come to him. Then the Prince fared forwards
into the palace and ceased not till he came to a second door,
with a curtain drawn before it; so he raised the curtain and