marvelled at the spectacle; and as often as the great men of the
city heard of him they sent to summon him and solaced themselves
with the sight and said, "Laud to the Lord! Allah createth whatso
He wisheth and commandeth whatso He willeth as we see in the
fashioning of this half-man." The youth also looked freely upon
the Harims of the Grandees, he being fairer than any of them; and
this case continued till the report reached the Sultan who bade
him be brought into the presence, and on seeing him marvelled at
the works of the Almighty. Presently the whole court gathered
together to gaze at him in wonderment and the tidings soon
reached the Queen who sent an Eunuch to fetch him and introduce
him into the Serraglio. The women all admired the prodigy and the
Princess looked at him and he looked at her; so his fascination
increased upon him and he said in his secret soul, "An I wed her
not I will slay myself!" After this the youth was dismissed by
the Sultan's Harim and he, whose heart burned with love for the
King's daughter, returned home. The Shaykh asked him, "Hast thou,
O my son, seen the Princess?" and he answered, "I have, O my
master; but this one look sufficeth me not, nor can I rest until
I sit by her side and fill myself with gazing upon her." Quoth
he, "O my child, we be an ascetic folk that shun the world nor
have we aught to do with enmeshing ourselves in the affairs of
the Sultan, and we fear for thee, O my son." But the youth
replied, "O my lord, except I sit by her side and stroke her neck
and shoulders with these my hands, I will slay myself." Hereupon
the Sage said in his mind, "I will do whatso I can for this good
youth and perchance Allah may enable him to win his wish." He
then arose and brought out the Kohl-pot and applied the powder to
his scholar's either eye; and, when it had settled therein, it
made him invisible to the ken of man. Then he said, "Go forth, O