and required admittance. They refused me saying, "The Shaykh of
the Vagabonds is now in the baths nor may anyone go in to him."
Quoth I to them, "I am a man with a malady," whereto quoth one of
them, "This is a poor wight, so let him come within." Accordingly
I entered and found the Chief alone, whereupon I drew forth the
tail and asked him, "O Shaykh, is this the tail of a calf or a
kid?" "Who art thou?" said he, and I said, "I am the owner of the
calf;" after which I fell to beating him with the tail until his
breath was clean gone. Then I left him and went forth from the
Hamam by another door so as to avoid his followers.--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 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

The Four Hundred and Forty-second 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 youth,
the owner of the calf, after beating the Shaykh of the Vagabonds
with a sore bashing within the Bath went forth by the back door.
Whereupon (continued the Larrikin) the followers of the Chief
went in and they found him at his last breath and moaning from