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 Dog
said to the Cat and the Mouse, "I will abide and await you here,
and do ye twain fare into the Palace, where the Cat shall take
her station upon the crenelles over the lattice window and the
Mouse shall enter the mansion and roam about and search through
the rooms until she come upon the Ring required." So they did the
Dog's bidding and sought the places he had appointed to them and
the Mouse crept about but found naught until she approached the
bedstead and beheld the Jew asleep and the Princess lying afar
off. He had been longsome in requiring of her her person and had
even threatened her with slaughter, yet he had no power to
approach her nor indeed had he even looked upon the form of her
face. Withal the Mouse ceased not faring about until she
approached the Jew, whom she discovered sleeping upon his back
and drowned in slumber for the excess of his drink that weighed
him down. So she drew near and considered him and saw the Ring in
his mouth below his tongue whereat she was perplext how to
recover it; but presently she went forth to a vessel of oil and
dipping her tail therein approached the sleeper and drew it over
his nostrils, whereat he sneezed with a sneeze so violent that
the Ring sprang from between his jaws and fell upon the side of
the bedstead. Then she seized it in huge joy and returning to the
Cat said to her, "Verily the prosperity of our lord hath returned
to him." After this the twain went back to the Dog whom they
found expecting them, so they marched down to the sea and mounted