The end of the Six Hundred and Sixtieth Night.

Then said she:—­I have heard, O auspicious King, that this felon counsel pleased the malicious Minister and all his fautors and flatterers highly approved his rede.  The Sultan kept silence and made no reply, but on the morrow he sent and summoned the Sorceress and debated with her whether he should or should not cast Prince Ahmad into prison.  Quoth she, “O King of kings, this counsel is clean contrary to sound sense and right reason.  An thou throw Prince Ahmad into gaol, so must thou also do with all his knights and their esquires; and inasmuch as they are Jinns and Marids, who can tell their power of reprisals?  Nor prison-cells nor gates of adamant can keep them in; they will forthwith escape and report such violence to the Fairy who, wroth with extreme wrath to find her husband doomed to durance vile like a common malefactor, and that too for no default or crime but by a treacherous arrest, will assuredly deal the direst of vengeance on thy head and do us a damage we shall not be able to forfend.  An thou wilt confide in me, I will advise thee how to act, whereby thou mayest win thy wish and no evil will come nigh thee or thy kingship.  Thou knowest well that to Jinns and Fairies is power given of doing in one short moment deeds marvellous and wondrous, which mortals fail to effect after long years of toil and trouble.  Now whenas thou goest a-hunting or on other expedition, thou requirest pavilions for thyself and many tents for thy retinue and attendants and soldiery; and in making ready and transporting such store much time and wealth are wastefully expended.  I would advise, O King of kings, that thou try Prince Ahmad by the following test:  do thou bid him bring to thee a Shahmiyanah[FN#340] so long and so broad that it will cover and lodge the whole of thy court and men-at-arms and camp-followers, likewise the beasts of burthen; and yet it must be so light that a man may hold it in the hollow of his hand and carry it whithersoever he listeth.”  Then, after holding her peace for a while, she added, still addressing the Sultan, “And as soon as Prince Ahmad shall acquit himself of this commission, do thou demand of him a somewhat still greater and more wondrous wherewith I will make thee ware, and which he will find grievous of execution.  On this wise shalt thou fill thy treasury with rare inventions and strange, the handicraft of Jann, nor will this cease till such time in fine when thy son shall be at his wits’ end to carry out thy requirements.  Then, humbled and abashed, he will never dare to enter thy capital or even thy presence; and thus shalt thou be saved from fear of harm at his hands, and thou shalt not have need to put him in gaol or, worse still, to do him dead.”  Hearing these words of wisdom, the Sultan made known the Witch’s device to his advisers and asked them what they deemed thereof.  They held their peace and answered not a word or good or ill; while he himself highly approved it and said