Thetwo sisters who envied their
                        cadette[FN#349]

In days of yore and in times long gone before there lived a king of Persia, Khusrau Shah hight, renowned for justice and righteousness.  His father, dying at a good old age, had left him sole heir to all the realm and, under his rule, the tiger and the kid drank side by side at the same Ghat;[FN#350] and his treasury was ever full and his troops and guards were numberless.  Now it was his wont to don disguise and, attended by a trusty Wazir, to wander about the street at night-time.  Whereby things seld-seen and haps peregrine became known to him, the which, should I tell thee all thereof, O auspicious King, would weary thee beyond measure.  So he took seat upon the throne of his forbears and when the appointed days of mourning were ended, according to the custom of that country, he caused his exalted name, that is Khusrau Shah, be struck upon all the coins of the kingdom and entered into the formula of public prayer.[FN#351] And when stablished in his sovranty he went forth as aforetime on one evening accompanied by his Grand Wazir, both in merchant’s habit, walking the streets and squares, the markets and lanes, the better to note what might take place both of good and of bad.  By chance they passed, as the night darkened, through a quarter where dwelt people of the poorer class; and as they walked on, the Shah heard inside a house women talking with loud voices; then going near, he peeped in by the door-chink, and saw three fair sisters who having supped together were seated on a divan talking one to other.  The King thereupon applied his ear to the crack and listened eagerly to what they said, and heard each and every declaring what was the thing she most desired.[FN#352] Quoth the eldest, “I would I were married to the Shah’s head Baker for then should I ever have bread to eat, the whitest and choicest in the city, and your hearts would be fulfilled with envy and jealousy and malice at my good luck.”  Quoth the second, “I would rather wive with the Shah’s chief Kitchener and eat of dainty dishes that are placed before his Highness, wherewith the royal bread which is common throughout the Palace cannot compare for gust and flavour.”  And quoth the third and youngest of the three, and by far the most beautiful and lively of them all, a maiden of charming nature, full of wit and humour; sharp-witted, wary and wise, when her turn came to tell her wish, “O sisters, my ambition is not as ordinary as yours.  I care not for fine bread nor glutton-like do I long for dainty dishes.  I look to somewhat nobler and higher:  indeed I would desire nothing less than to be married by the King and become the mother of a beautiful Prince, a model of form and in mind as masterful as valorous.  His hair should be golden on one side and silvern on the other:  when weeping he should drop pearls in place of tears,