and the other answered, “For an hundred gold dinars!” But when he questioned him as to its contents the man replied, “I know not; whoso taketh it his luck be his lot.”  Thereupon he brought out to him the hundred ducats and the broker made over to him the box which he charged upon his shoulders and carried off to his cell.  There arrived he bolted himself in and opened the coffer wherein he found a white slave-girl which was a model of beauty and loveliness and stature and perfect grace:  but she was like one drunken with wine.  So he shook her but she was not aroused when he said to himself, “What may be the story of this handmaiden?” and he was never tired of looking upon her while she was in that condition and he kept saying to himself, “Would Heaven I wot and she be on life or in death; withal I see her breath coming and going.”  Now when it was about midnight, the handmaiden revived and looking around and about her, cried, “Where am I?” and said the Bhang-eater, “Thou, O my lady, art in my home;” whereby she understood what had befallen her.—­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 Sixth 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 deed fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the handmaiden understood what had befallen her at the hands of her enemies.  Now the cause thereof was that the Sultan of that city had bought him for concubine one Kut al-Kulub,[FN#268] or Heart’s-food hight, and she became to him the liefest of all the women he before had, amongst whom his wife, the daughter of his uncle, had bee preferred; but all fell into the rank of the common and from the time he bought the new handmaid he was wholly occupied with her love and he never went near the other inmates of his Harem, not even his cousin.  So they were filled with exceeding jealousy against Heart’s-food the new comer.  Now one day of the days the Sultan went forth to hunt and bird and enjoy the occasion and solace himself in the gardens together with the Lords of his land, and they rode on till they found themselves amiddlemost of the waste pursuing their quarry.  But when two days had passed, his wife together with the women which were concubines arose and invited all the neighbourhood whereamong was Kut al-Kulub, and she spread for them a sumptuous banquet and lavished upon the new comers all manner of attentions and the wife began to play