he preserved respect for her and said, "O Princess of fair ones,
think not that I brought thee hither hither to minish thy honour.
Heaven forfend! Nay 'twas only to prevent the wrong man enjoying
thee, for that thy sire the Sultan promised thee to me. So do
thou rest in peace."--And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of
day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Five Hundred and Fifty-first Night,

Quoth Dunyazad, "O sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy do
tell us some of thy pleasant tales." whereupon Shahrazad replied,
"With love and good will."--It hath reached me, O King of the
Age, that when the Lady Badr al-Budur, daughter of the Sultan,
saw herself in that mean and darksome lodging, and heard
Alaeddin's words, she was seized with fear and trembling and
waxed clean distraught; nor could she return aught of reply.
Presently the youth arose and stripping off his outer dress
placed a scymitar between them and lay upon the bed beside the
Princess;[FN#145] and he did no villain deed, for it sufficed him
to prevent the consummation of her nuptials with the Wazir's son.
On the other hand the Lady Badr al-Budur passed a night the
evillest of all nights; nor in her born days had she seen a
worse; and the same was the case with the Minister's son who lay
in the chapel of ease and who dared not stir for the fear of the
Jinni which overwhelmed him. As soon as it was morning the Slave
appeared before Alaeddin, without the Lamp being rubbed, and said
to him, "O my lord, an thou require aught, command me therefor,
that I may do it upon my head and mine eyes." Said the other,
"Go, take up and carry the bride and bridegroom to their own
apartment;" so the Servitor did his bidding in an eye-glance and