ssage to her. Then ran she to
Karavejis and Veejravoosh, whispering in the ear of each, 'No word of the
Sword?' and afterward aloud, 'What think ye will be the term of the
staying of my betrothed in Aklis, crowned ape?'

They answered, 'O pearl of the morn, crowned ape till such time as
Shagpat be shaved.'

So she beat her breast, crying, 'Oh, utter stagnation, till Shagpat be
shaved! and oh, stoppage in the tide of business, dense cloud upon the
face of beauty, and frost on the river of events, till Shagpat be shaved!
And oh! my betrothed, crowned ape in Aklis till Shagpat be shaved!'

Then she lifted her hands and arms, and said, 'To him where he is, ye
Genii! and away, for he needeth comfort.'

Thereat the glittering spirits dissolved and thinned, and were as taper
gleams of curved light across the water in their ascent of the heavens.
When they were gone Noorna, exclaimed, 'Now for the dish of pomegrante
grain, O Baba Mustapha, and let nothing delay us further.'

Quoth Baba Mustapha, ''Tis ordered, O my princess and fair mistress, from
the confectioner's; and with it the sleepy drug from the seller of
medicaments--accursed flea!'

Now, she laughed, and said, 'What am I, O Baba Mustapha?'

So he said, 'Not thou, O bright shooter of beams, but I, wullahy! I'm but
a bundle of points through the pertinacity of this flea! a house of
irritabilities! a mere mass of fretfulness! and I've no thought but for
the chasing of this unlucky flea: was never flea like it in the world
before this flea; and 'tis a flea to anger the holy ones, and make the
saintly Dervish swear at such a flea.' He wriggled and curled where he
sat, and Noorna cried, 'What! shall we be defeated by a flea, we that
would shave Shagpat, and release this city and the world from bondage?'
And she looked up to the sky that was then without a cloud, blazing with
the sun on his mid seat, and exclaimed, 'O star of Shagpat! wilt thou
constantly be in the ascendant, and defeat us, the liberators of men,
with a flea?'

Now, whenever one of the twain, Baba Mustapha and the Vizier Feshnavat,
commenced speaking of the dish of pomegranate grain, the torment of the
flea took all tongue from him, and was destruction to the gravity of
council and deliberation. The dish of pomegranate grain was brought to
them by slaves, and the drug to induce sleep, yet neither could say aught
concerning it, they were as jointy grasshoppers through the action of the
flea, and the