him.’  He will exclaim, ‘Is this thy son a gypsey musician?’ and do thou explain, saying, ‘Aye, verily I am a Jankali;’ and he will cry out to thee, ’O dog, thou art a gypsey and yet durst thou marry the daughter of the Shaykh al-Islam?’ Then do thou make answer, ’O my lord, ’twas my ambition to be ennobled by thine alliance and I have espoused thy daughter only that the mean name of Jankali may pass away from me and that I may be under the skirt of thy protection.’” Hereat, O my lord the Sultan, I arose without stay and delay and did as the damsel bade me and agreed with the Chiefs of the Gypsies for fifty piastres.[FN#113] On the second day about noon lo and behold! all the Janakilah met before the house of the Shaykh al-Islam and they, a tom-toming and a-piping and a-dancing, crowded into the courtyard of the mansion.—­And Shahrazad perceived 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 Three Hundred and Fifty-seventh 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 youth continued:—­So the Janakilah entered the house of the Shaykh al-Islam all a-drumming and a-dancing.  Presently the family came out and asked, “What is to do?  And what be this hubbub?” The fellows answered, “We are gypsey-folk and our son is in your house having wedded the daughter of the Shaykh al-Islam.”  Hearing these words the family went up and reported to its head, and he, rising from his seat, descended to the courtyard which he found full of Jankalis.  He enquired of them their need and they told him that the youth, their kinsman, having married the daughter of the house, they were come to make merry at the bride-feast.  Quoth the Shaykh, “This indeed be a sore calamity that a gypsey should espouse the daughter of the Shaykh al-Islam.  By Allah, I will divorce her from him.”  So he sent after me, O our lord the Sultan, and asked me saying, “What is thy breed and what wilt thou take to be off with thyself?” Said I, “A Jankali; and I married thy daughter with one design namely to sink the mean name of a gypsey drummer in the honour of connection and relationship with thee.”  He replied, “’Tis impossible that my daughter can cohabit with thee:  so up and divorce her.”  I rejoined, “Not so:  I will never repudiate her.”  Then we fell to quarrelling but the folk interposed between us and arranged that I should receive forty purses[FN#114] for putting her away.