stuffs, and finest satins from Persia and Egypt of endless profusion; in the China warehouses stood glass vessels of all kinds, and here and there were stores wherein tapestries and thousands of foot-carpets lay for sale.  So Prince Husayn walked on from shop to shop and marvelled much to see such wondrous things whereof he had never even dreamt:  and he came at length to the Goldsmiths’ Lane and espied gems and jewels and golden and silvern vessels studded with diamonds and rubies, emeralds, pearls and other precious stones, all so lustrous and dazzling bright that the stores were lit up with their singular brilliancy.  Hereat he said to himself, “If in one street only there be such wealth and jewels so rare, Allah Almighty and none save He knoweth what may be the riches in all this city.”  He was not less astonished to behold the Brahmins, how their women-kind for excess of opulence bedecked themselves with the finest gems and were ornamented with the richest gear from front to foot:  their very slave-boys and handmaids wore golden necklaces and bracelets and bangles studded with precious stones.  Along the length of one market street were ranged hosts of flower-sellers; for all the folk, both high and low, wore wreaths and garlands:  some carried nosegays in hand, other some bound fillets round their heads, while not a few had ropes and festoons surrounding and hanging from their necks.  The whole place seemed one huge parterre of bloomery; even traders set bouquets in every shop and stall, and the scented air was heavy with perfume.  Strolling to and fro Prince Husayn was presently tired and would fain have sat him down somewhere to rest awhile, when one of the merchants, noting his look of weariness, with kindly courtesy prayed him be seated in his store.  After saluting him with the salam the stranger sat down; and anon he saw a broker come that way, offering for sale a carpet some four yards square, and crying, “This be for sale; who giveth me its worth; to wit, thirty thousand gold pieces?”—­And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till

        The end of the Six Hundred and Forty-fifth Night

Then said she:—­I have heard, O auspicious King, that the Prince marvelled with excessive marvel at the price, and, beckoning the dealer, examined his wares right well; then said he, “A carpet such as this is selleth for a few silverlings.  What special virtue hath it that thou demand therefor the sum of thirty thousand gold coins?” The broker, believing Husayn to be a merchant man lately arrived at Bishangarh, answered him saying, “O my lord, thinkest thou I price this carpet at too high a value?  My master hath bidden me not to sell it for less than forty thousand Ashrafis.”  Quoth the Prince, “It surely cloth possess some wondrous virtue, otherwise wouldst thou not demand so prodigious a sum;” and quoth the broker, “’Tis true, O my lord, its properties are singular and marvellous.  Whoever sitteth on this carpet and willeth in thought