stones nor other possession; brief, none other thing save that
thou remove yon mound of ashes from beneath the windows of my
palace." Upon this he bade the youth draw near him and when he
obeyed threw open the lattice; and, showing him the hillock that
stood underneath it, said, "O Youth, I will betroth to thee my
daughter an thou be pleased to remove this heap; but if thou
prove thee unable so to do I will strike off thy head." Quoth the
Fisherman's son, "I am satisfied therewith," presently adding, "A
delay![FN#380] grant me the term of forty days." "I have allowed
thy request to thee," said the King and wrote a document bearing
the testimony of those present, when cried the youth, "O King,
bid nail up thy windows and let them not be unfastened until the
fortieth day shall have gone by." "These words be fair," quoth
the Sultan, and accordingly he gave the order. Hereat the youth
went forth from him whereupon all present in the palace cried, "O
the pity of it, that this youngster should be done to die; indeed
there were many stronger than he, yet none of them availed to
remove the heap." In this way each and every said his say, but
when the Fisherman's son returned to his cell (and he was
thoughtful concerning his life and perplext as to his affair) he
cried, "Would Heaven I knew whether the Ring hath power to carry
it off." Then shutting himself up in his cell he brought out the
signet from his breast-pocket and rubbed it, and a Voice was
heard to cry, "Here I stand (and fair befall thy command) between
thy hands. What requirest thou of me, O my lord?" The other
replied, "I want thee to remove the ash-heap which standeth under
the windows of the royal palace, and I demand that thou lay out
in lieu thereof a garden wide of sides in whose middlemost must
be a mansion tall and choice-builded of base, for the special
domicile of the Sultan's daughter; furthermore, let all this be