he might send me down into the Enchanted Treasury; and first he drew from his finger a Ring which he placed upon mine.  So I descended and found four halls all full of gold and silver which counted as naught, and the Accursed had charged me not to touch aught thereof.  Then I entered a mighty fine flower-garden everywhere bedecked with tall trees whose foliage and fruitage bewildered the wits, for all, O my mother, were of vari-coloured glass, and lastly I reached the Hall wherein hung this Lamp.  So I took it straightway and put it out[FN#107] and poured forth its contents.”  And so saying Alaeddin drew the Lamp from his breast-pocket and showed it to his mother, together with the gems and jewels which he had brought from the garden; and there were two large bag-pockets full of precious stones, whereof not one was to be found amongst the kings of the world.  But the lad knew naught anent their worth deeming them glass or crystal; and presently he resumed, “After this, O mother mine, I reached the Hoard-door carrying the Lamp and shouted to the accursed Sorcerer, which called himself my uncle, to lend me a hand and hale me up, I being unable to mount of myself the last step for the over weight of my burthen.  But he would not and said only, ’First hand me the Lamp!’ As, however, I had placed it at the bottom of my breast-pocket and the other pouches bulged out beyond it, I was unable to get at it and said, ’O my uncle, I cannot reach thee the Lamp, but I will give it to thee when outside the Treasury.’  His only need was the Lamp and he designed, O my mother, to snatch it from me and after that slay me, as indeed he did his best to do by heaping the earth over my head.  Such then is what befel me from this foul Sorcerer.”  Hereupon Alaeddin fell to abusing the Magician in hot wrath and with a burning heart and crying, “Well-away!  I take refuge from this damned wight, the ill-omened, the wrongdoer, the for-swearer, the lost to all humanity, the arch-traitor, the hypocrite, the annihilator of ruth and mercy.”—­And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

     When it was the Five Hundred and Thirty-fourth Night,

Quoth Dunyazad, “O sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy, do tell us some of thy pleasant tales,” whereupon Shahrazad replied, “With love and good will.”—­It hath reached me, O King of the Age, that when Alaeddin’s mother heard his words and what had befallen him from the Maghrabi, the Magician, she said, “Yea, verily, O my son, he is a miscreant, a hypocrite who murthereth the folk by his magic; but ’twas the grace of Allah Almighty, O my child, that saved thee from the tricks and the treachery of this accursed Sorcerer whom I deemed to be truly thine uncle."[FN#108] Then, as the lad had not slept a wink for three days and found himself nodding, he sought his natural rest, his mother doing on like wise; nor did he awake till about noon on the second day.  As soon as he shook