the use of the Jinni and bade place it upon the tray, so the
Haunter ate with the travellers and was cheered by the Prince's
kindness and said to him, "By Allah, O my lord Mohammed, O thou
Son of the Sultan, I was predestined to meet thee in this place
but now let me know what may be thy need." Accordingly the youth
informed him of the city of the Camphor Islands and of the garden
containing the fowls which he fared to seek, and of his design in
wayfaring thither to bring some of them away with him. But when
the 'Aun heard from him these words, he said to him, "O thou Son
of the Sultan, that site is a far cry for thee, nor canst thou
ever arrive thereat unless assisted, seeing that its distance
from this place be a march of two hundred years for a diligent
traveller. How then canst thou reach it and return from it?
However, the old saw saith, O my son, 'Good for good and the
beginner is worthier, and ill for ill and the beginner is
unworthier.'[FN#364] Now thou hast done to me a kindly deed and I
(Inshallah!) will requite thee with its match and will reward
thee with its mate; but let whatso is with thee of companions and
slaves and beasts and provisions abide in this site and we will
go together, I and thou, and I will win for thee thy wish even as
thou hast wrought by me a kindly work." Hereupon the Prince left
all that was with him in that place and the 'Aun said to him, "O
son of the Sultan, come mount upon my shoulders." The youth did
accordingly, after he had filled his ears with cotton, and the
'Aun rose from earth and towered in air and after the space of an
hour he descended again and the rider found himself in the
grounds about the capital of the Camphor Islands. So he
dismounted from the Jinni's shoulders and looked about that wady
where he espied pleasant spots and he descried trees and blooms
and rills and birds that trilled and shrilled with various notes.