hands he said, "Wait ye patiently without speaking a word;" so
they held their peace and presently he bade them set the sack and
the mouse before him and he ordered the men to load the sack upon
the mouse. Both cried, "O our lord, 'tis impossible that a mouse
can carry a sack full of earth," when he answered, "How then can
a cow bear a colt? and when a mouse shall be able to bear a sack
then shall a cow bear a colt." All this and the Sultan was
looking out at the latticed window listening and gazing. Hereupon
the Wazir gave an order that the master of the mare take her colt
and the master of the cow carry off her calf; after which he bade
them go about their business.--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 twelfth 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
Sultan, whose Minister was the Wazir-wise-in-Allah-Almighty, on a
certain day summoned his Chief Councillor and when he came said
to him, "Verily my breast is straitened and I am beset by unease,
so I desire to hear something which may broaden my bosom;" and