took the tail and hastened back to my mother. She said to me,
"Hast thou sold the calf?" and said I, "Yes, I have sold it, and
have taken a dollar and the calf's tail." "And what wilt thou do
for the tail?" asked she; and I answered, "I will do him
brown[FN#329] who took it from me saying, This is a kid, and I
will serve him a sleight which shall get out of him to its price
ten times one hundred."[FN#330] With these words I arose and,
taking the tail, I flayed it and studded it with nails and bits
of glass, and I asked of my mother a maiden's dress, which she
brought me; and presently I covered my face with a
Burka'-veil[FN#331] and I adorned me and perfumed myself and I
girded my loins underneath my clothes with the tail of that calf.
Then went I forth like a virgin girl till I reached the barrack
of those blackguards, when I found that they had cooked the whole
calf and naught of it remained undressed, and they had prepared
to spread the table and were about sitting downt o supper. Then I
went[FN#332] in to them and said, "The Peace be upon you," and
they rose to me in a body of their joy, and returned my greetings
and said, "By Allah, our night is a white one." So I entered to
them and supped with them, and they all inclined to me, and their
mustachios wagged in token that they would disport with me. But
when darkness came on they said, "This night is for our Shaykh,
but after this each one of us shall take her for his own
night."--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 should relate to you on the coming night an the King
suffer me to survive?" Now when it was the next night and that
was