the Bird woned.  He ceased not travelling by nights and days, the whole of them, until he reached the place wherein was the bird Philomelet whose habit it was to take station upon his cage between mid-afternoon and sunset, when he would enter it to pass the night.  And if any approached him with intent of capturing him, he would sit afar from the same and at set of sun he would take station upon the cage and would cry aloud speaking in a plaintive voice, “Ho thou who sayest to the mean and mesquin, ’Lodge!’[FN#294] Ho thou who sayest to the sad and severed, ‘Lodge!’ Ho thou who sayest to the woeful and doleful, ‘Lodge!’” Then if these words were grievous to the man standing before him and he make reply “Lodge!” ere the words could leave his lips the Bird would take a pinch of dust from beside the cage and hovering over the wight’s head would scatter it upon him and turn him into stone.  At length arrived the youth who had resolved to seize the Bird and sat afar from him till set of sun:  then Philomelet came and stood upon his cage and cried, “Ho thou who sayest to the mean and mesquin, ‘Lodge!’ Ho thou who sayest to the sad and severed, ‘Lodge!’ Ho thou who sayest to the woeful and the doleful, ‘Lodge!’” Now the cry was hard upon the young Prince and his heart was softened and he said, “Lodge!” This was at the time when the sun was disappearing, and as soon as he spake the word the Bird took a somewhat of dust and scattered it upon the head of the youth, who forthright became a stone.  At that time his brother was sitting at home in thought concerning the wanderer, when behold, the signet squeezed his finger and he cried, “Verily my brother hath been despoiled of life and done to death!”—­And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say.  Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, “How sweet and tasteful is thy tale, O sister mine, and enjoyable and delectable!” Quoth she, “And where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night an the Sovran suffer me to survive?” Now when it was the next night and that was

The Four Hundred and Eighteenth Night,

Dunyazad said to her, “Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!” She replied, “With love and good will!” It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the second Prince, when the signet squeezed his little finger, cried out saying, “My brother, by Allah, is ruined and lost; but needs must I also set forth and look for him and find what hath befallen him.”  Accordingly he said to his sire, “O my father, ’tis my desire to seek my brother;” and the old King answered, “Why, O my son, shouldst thou become like thy brother, both bereaving us of your company?” But the other rejoined, “There is no help for that nor will I sit at rest till I go after my lost