and whatso I am able to perform thou canst do as well as I can.  Still it is my firm resolve to fare forth upon this adventure alone and unaided, and thou must stay and take care of our sister and our house.”  So next day Prince Bahman learned from the Princess the road whereon he was to travel and the marks and signs whereby to find the place.  Presently, he donned armour and arms and bidding the twain adieu, he took horse and was about to ride forth with the stoutest of hearts, whereat Princess Perizadah’s eyes brimmed with tears and in faltering accents she addressed him saying, “O dear my brother, this bitter separation is heart-breaking; and sore sorrowful am I to see thee part from us.  This disunion and thine absence in a distant land cause me grief and woe far exceeding that wherewith I mourned and pined for the rarities wherefor thou quittest us.  If only we might have some news of thee from day to day then would I fell somewhat comforted and consoled; but not ’tis clear otherwise and regret is of none avail.”—­And as the morn began to dawn Shahrazad held her peace till

      The end of the Six Hundred and Seventy-fourth Night.

Then she said—­I have heard, O auspicious King, that Prince Bahman made answer in these words:  “O sister mine, I am fully determined in mind to attempt this derring-do; be thou not however anxious or alarmed, for Inshallah—­God willing—­I shall return successful and triumphant.  After my departure shouldst thou at any time feel in fear for my safety, then by this token which I leave thee thou shalt know of my fate and lot, good or evil.”  Then, drawing from his waist-shawl a little hunting-knife like a whittle, he gave it to Princess Perizadah, saying, “Take now this blade and keep it ever by thee; and shouldst thou at any day or hour be solicitous concerning my condition, draw it from its sheath; and if the steel be clean and bright as ’tis now then know that I am alive and safe and sound; but an thou find stains of blood thereon then shalt thou know that I am slain, and naught remaineth for thee to do save to pray for me as for one dead.”  With these words of solace the Prince departed on his journey, and travelled straight along the road to India, turning nor to right hand nor to left but ever keeping the same object in view.  Thus a score of days was spent in journeying from the land of Iran, and upon the twentieth he reached the end of his travel.  Here he suddenly sighted an ancient man of frightful aspect sitting beneath a tree hard by his thatched hut wherein he was wont to shelter himself from the rains of spring and the heats of summer and the autumnal miasmas and the wintry frosts.  So shotten in years was this Shaykh that hair and beard, mustachios and whiskers were white as snow, and the growth of his upper lip was so long and so thick that it covered and concealed his mouth, while his beard swept the ground and the nails of his hands and feet had grown to resemble the claws of a wild beast.  Upon his