She then said to him, “Remain here till I come back”; and went to the King, with whom she found a very numerous assemblage of the wise men.  As soon as she entered, the King made her sit beside him on the throne.  “O my mother Alka,” he said, “I could not close an eye last night from anxiety concerning yesterday’s events.”  “Have you no wise men,” returned she, “who eat the bread of the divan?” She then turned to them, saying, “Select the wisest among you!” and they chose the wisest among them.  She ordered them to take the sandboard again, but they became so confused that they were obliged to begin again three times from the beginning.  “What do you discover?” said the King angrily.  “O our master,” replied they, “he whom we seek has been carried away by a beast of the desert, which is flying with him between Heaven and earth.”  “How is this?” said the King to Alka; “have you ever seen anything like it?” He seized his sword in a rage, and three fled, and he killed four of the others.  When Alka went home, she released Saif, and told him what had happened.  Next morning Alka took the gazelle, and slaughtered it in a copper kettle.  She then took a golden mortar, and reversed it over it, and said to Saif Zul Yezn, “Sit on this mortar till I come back.”  She then went to the divan, and chose out six wise men, who again took the sandboard, and began again three times over in confusion.  “Alas,” said the King, in anger, “What misfortune do you perceive?” “O our master,” they exclaimed in consternation, “our understanding is confused, for we see him sitting on a golden mountain, which is in the midst of a sea of blood, surrounded by a copper wall.”  The King was enraged, and broke up the assembly, saying, “O Alka, I will now depend on you alone.”  “To-morrow I will attempt to show you the stranger,” she replied.  When she came home, she related to Saif what had happened, and said, “I shall know by to-morrow what to tell the King to engage his attention, and prevent him from pursuing you.”  Next morning she found Taka speaking to Saif Zul Yezn alone; and she asked her, “What does he wish?” “Mother,” replied Taka, “he wishes to go to the King’s palace, to see him and the divan.”  “What you wish shall be done,” said she to Saif, “but you must not speak.”  He assented to the condition, and she dressed him as her attendant, gave him a sandboard, and went with him to the King, who said to her, “I could not sleep at all last night, for thinking of the stranger for whom we are seeking.”  “Now that the affair is in my hands,” returned she, “you will find me a sufficient protection against him.”  She immediately ordered Saif to give her the sandboard.  She took it, and when she had made her calculations, she said joyfully to the King, “O my lord, I can give you the welcome news of the flight of the stranger, owing to his dread of you and your revenge.”  When the King heard this, he rent his clothes, slapped his face, and said, “He would not have departed, without having taken the book.”  “I