The Three Hundred and Fifty-seventh 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
continued:--So the Janakilah entered the house of the Shaykh
al-Islam all a-drumming and a-dancing. Presently the family came
out and asked, "What is to do? And what be this hubbub?" The
fellows answered, "We are gypsey-folk and our son is in your
house having wedded the daughter of the Shaykh al-Islam." Hearing
these words the family went up and reported to its head, and he,
rising from his seat, descended to the courtyard which he found
full of Jankalis. He enquired of them their need and they told
him that the youth, their kinsman, having married the daughter of
the house, they were come to make merry at the bride-feast. Quoth
the Shaykh, "This indeed be a sore calamity that a gypsey should
espouse the daughter of the Shaykh al-Islam. By Allah, I will
divorce her from him." So he sent after me, O our lord the
Sultan, and asked me saying, "What is thy breed and what wilt
thou take to be off with thyself?" Said I, "A Jankali; and I
married thy daughter with one design namely to sink the mean name
of a gypsey drummer in the honour of connection and relationship
with thee." He replied, "'Tis impossible that my daughter can
cohabit with thee: so up and divorce her." I rejoined, "Not so: I
will never repudiate her." Then we fell to quarrelling but the
folk interposed between us and arranged that I should receive