after this, O King of the Age, our sire resolved upon a
Pilgrimage to the Holy House of Meccah--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 Sixty-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
youngest sister continued to the Sultan:--So our sire, O King of
the Age, resolved upon a Pilgrimage to the Holy House of Meccah
and stablished the same Wazir Viceregent in his stead to deal
commandment and break off and carry out. So he said in his heart,
"Now have I won my will of the Sultan's Harem." So the King gat
him ready and fared forth to Allah's Holy House after committing
us to the charge of his Minister. But when he had been gone ten
days, and the Wazir knew that he must be far from the city where
he had left behind him me and my sisters and my mother, behold,
an Eunuch of the Minister's came in to us and kissed ground
before the Queen and said to her "Allah upon thee, O my lady,
pity my lord the Wazir, for his heart is melted by thy love and
his wits wander and his right mind; and he is now become as one