Ahmed, shocked and grieved at having been dismissed in such summary fashion, knew not what to think, and lost himself in conjectures without being able to discover any reason for the princess's abrupt leave-taking; his reflections resulted in attributing it to the caprice of a woman who would be ready to veer around again, at the first opportunity, but it was to no purpose that he visited Bedreddin to purchase benzoin and skins of the civet cat, he saw nothing more of the Princess Ayesha; he made countless pilgrimages to the mosque of the sultan Hassan and wasted much time standing by the third pillar; the black slave in yellow damask did not appear, and the result of it all was that he sank into a deep, black fit of melancholy.
Leila taxed her ingenuity in inventing a thousand things for his diversion: she played for him on the guzla; she told him most wonderful tales, adorned his chamber with festoons and garlands of flowers of which the colors were so agreeably mated and diversified that the sense of sight was as much gratified as was that of smell; sometimes she even danced before him, displaying as much agility and grace as the most skilful almée; any other than Mahmoud-Ben-Ahmed would have been touched by such attention and good will, but his thoughts were elsewhere and the longing to find Ayesha again left him no repose. Many a time he had gone and wandered about the princess's palace, but had never succeeded in catching a glimpse of her; nothing was visible behind the tightly closed lattices; the palace was like a tomb.
His friend Abdul-Malek, alarmed by his condition, frequently came to see him, and on such occasions could not help observing Leila's beauty and accom-
