me, as well as I give mine to you?’ ‘Yes, madam,’ replied the Prince, in an ecstacy of joy; ‘what can I do better, and with greater pleasure? Yes, my sultaness, my queen, I’ll give you my heart without the least reserve.’ ‘Then,’ answered the Fairy, ‘you are my husband, and I am your wife. But, as I suppose,’ pursued she, ‘that you have eaten nothing to-day, a slight repast shall be served up for you, while preparations are making for our wedding feast at night, and then I will show you the apartments of my palace, and you shall judge if this hall is not the meanest part of it.’
Some of the Fairy’s women, who came into the hall with them, and guessed her intentions, went iminediately out, and returned presently with some excellent meats and wines.
When Prince Ahmed had ate and drunk as much as he cared for, the Fairy Paribanou carried him through all the apartments, where he saw diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and all sorts of fine jewels, intermixed with pearls, agate, jasper, porphyry, and all sorts of the most precious marbles. But, not to mention the richness of the furniture, which was inestimable, there was such profuseness
