lad, "Allah veileth!"[FN#376] Then the Jew fell to increasing his
offer for the cock until he reached a full dinar.--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

The Four Hundred and Sixty-first 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 Jew
raised his bid for the cock till he reached a gold piece when the
lad said, "Here with it." So the man gave him the dinar and took
from him the fowl and slaughtered it forthright. Then he turned
to a boy, one of his servants, and said to him, "Take this cock
and carry it home and say to thy mistress, 'Pluck it, but open it
not until such time as I shall return.'" And the servant did his
bidding. But when the Fisherman's son who was standing hard by
heard these words and saw the bargain, he waited for a while and
as soon as the servant had carried off the fowl, he arose and
buying two cocks at four faddahs he slaughtered them and repaired
with them to the house of the Jew. Then he rapped at the door and
when the mistress came out to him he bespoke her saying, "The
house master saith to thee, 'Take these two silvers and send me