morning and meeting the Sultan's daughter, till one day of the
days she went in and the twain sat down and laughed and enjoyed
themselves, when lo and behold! the King entered. And as soon as
he espied the youth and saw him seated beside his daughter, he
commanded him be arrested and they arrested him;--And Shahrazad
was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased to
say her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet
is thy story, O sister mine, and how 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 Seventy-eighth 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 when the
Sultan entered and saw the youth sitting beside his daughter he
commanded him to be arrested and they arrested him; they also
seized the Princess and bound her forearms to her sides with
straitest bonds. Then the King summoned the Linkman and bade him
smite off both their heads: so he took them and went down with
them to the place of execution. But when the tidings reached the
Kunafani he shut up shop without stay and delay and fled.
Presently the Sultan said in his mind, "Fain would I question the
Youth touching his object in entering hither, and ask him who
conducted him to my daughter and how he won access to her."