ile, and said, "Take courage, my
prince, all goes well." In short, that very moment, the sultan
of the genii appeared in the shape of a very handsome man, yet
there was something of a sternness in his air.

As soon as sultan Zeyn had made him the compliment he had been
taught by Mobarec, the sultan of the genii smiling, answered, "My
son, I loved your father, and every time he came to pay me his
respects, I presented him with a statue, which he carried away
with him. I have no less kindness for you. I obliged your
father, some days before he died, to write that which you read on
the piece of white satin. I promised him to receive you under my
protection, and to give you the ninth statue, which in beauty
surpasses those you have already. I had begun to perform my
promise to him. It was I whom you saw in a dream in the shape of
an old man; I caused you to open the subterraneous place, where
the urns and the statues are deposited: I have a great share in
all that has befallen you, or rather am the occasion of all. I
know the motive that brought you hither; you shall obtain what
you desire. Though I had not promised your father to give it, I
would willingly grant it to you: but you must first swear to me
by all that is sacred, that you will return to this island, and
that you will bring me a maid who is in her fifteenth year, has
never loved, nor desired to. She must also be perfectly
beautiful: and you so much a master of yourself, as not even to
desire her as you are conducting her hither."

Sultan Zeyn took the rash oath demanded of him. "But, my lord,"
said he, "suppose I should be so fortunate as to meet with such a
maid as you require, how shall I know that I have found her?" "I
own," answered the sultan of the genii, smiling, "that you might
be mistaken in her appearance: that knowledge is above the sons
of Adam, and therefore I do not mean to depend upon your judgment
in that particular: I will give you a looking-glass which will be
more certain than your conjectures. When you shall have seen a
maiden fifteen years of age, perfectly beautiful, you need only
look into the glass in which you shall see her figure. If she be
chaste, the glass will remain clean and unsullied; but if, on the
contrary, it sullies, that will be a certain sign that she has
not always been prudent, or at least that she has desired to
cease to be so. Do not forget the oath you have taken: keep it
like a man of honour; otherwi