her face and it seemed to the jeweller’s fancy as if the sun had risen in his home.  Then she asked her slave-girl, “Is this the man of whom thou spakest to me?” “Yes,” answered she; whereupon the lady turned to the jeweller and said to him, “How is it with thee?” Replied he, “Right well!  I pray Allah for thy preservation and that of the Commander of the Faithful.”  Quoth she, “Thou hast moved us to come to thee and possess thee with what we hold secret.”  Then she questioned him of his household and family; and he disclosed to her all his circumstance and his condition and said to her, “I have a house other than this; and I have set it apart for gathering together my friends and brethren; and there is none there save the old negress, of whom I spoke to thy handmaid.”  She asked him on what wise he came first to know how the affair began and the matter of Abu al-Hasan and the cause of his way-faring:  accordingly he told her all he knew and how he had advised the journey.  Thereupon she bewailed the loss of Abu al-Hasan and said to the jeweller, “Know, O such an one,[FN#209] that men’s souls are active in their lusts and that men are still men; and that deeds are not done without words nor is end ever reached without endeavour.  Rest is won only by work.”—­And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

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

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Shams al-Nahar thus addressed the jeweller, “Rest is gained only by work and success is gendered only by help of the generous.  Now I have acquainted thee with our affair and it is in thy hand to expose us or to shield us; I say no more, because thy generosity requireth naught.  Thou knowest that this my handmaiden keepeth my counsel and therefore occupieth high place in my favour; and I have selected her to transact my affairs of importance.  So let none be worthier in thy sight than she and acquaint her with thine affair; and be of good cheer, for on her account thou art safe from all fear, and there is no place shut upon thee but she shall open it to thee.  She shall bring thee my messages to Ali bin Bakkar and thou shalt be our intermediary.”  So saying, she rose, scarcely able to rise, and fared forth, the jeweller faring before her to the door of her house, after which he returned and sat down again in his place, having seen of her beauty and heard of her speech what dazzled him and dazed his wit, and having witnessed of her grace and courtesy what bewitched his sprite.  He sat musing on her perfections till his mind waxed tranquil, when he called for food and ate enough to keep soul and body together.  Then he changed his clothes and went out; and, repairing to the house of the youth Ali bin Bakkar, knocked at the door.  The servants hastened to admit him and walked before him till they had brought him to their master, whom he found strown upon his bed.  Now when he saw the jeweller, he said to him, “Thou