the earth in its throes, and said among themselves, "Tis that of
Bootlbac, the drumbeater!' and this led off to the howl of Areep, the
dervish; and this was followed by the shriek of Zeel, the garlic-seller;
and the waul of Krooz el Krazawik, the carrier; and the complainings of
Dob, the confectioner; and the groan of Sallap, the broker; and the yell
of Azawool, the builder. There would have been no end to it known; but
the King rose and commenced plucking his beard and his hair,--they
likewise in silence. When he had performed this ceremony a space, the
King called, and a basin of water was brought to him, and handed round by
slaves, and all dipped in it their hands, and renewed their countenances
and re-arranged their limbs; and the Hall brightened with the eye of the
King, and he cried, 'O people, lo, the plot is revealed to me, and 'tis a
deep one; but, by this beard, we'll strike at the root of it, and a blow
of deadliness. Surely we have humiliated ourselves, and vengeance is
ours! How say ye?'

A noise like the first sullen growl of a vexed wild beast which telleth
that fury is fast travelling and the teeth will flash, followed these
words; and the King called to his soldiers of the guard, 'Ho! forth with
this wretch that dared defile Shagpat, the holy one! and on your heads be
it to fetch hither Feshnavat, the son of Feil, that was my Vizier, he
that was envious of Shagpat, and whom we spared in our clemency.'

Some of the guard went from the Hall to fulfil the King's injunction on
Feshnavat, others thrust forth Baba Mustapha in the eyes of the King.
Baba Mustapha was quaking as a frog quaketh for water, and he trembled
and was a tongueless creature deserted of his lower limbs, and with
eyeballs goggling, through exceeding terror. Now, when the King saw him,
he contracted his brows as one that peereth on a small and minute object,
crying, 'How! is't such as he, this monster of audaciousness and horrible