the taste that Ashimullah had displayed
in his choice, and regretted very deeply that he could not behold the
charms of the wives of the Vizier. Nay, so great was his anxiety
concerning them that he determined to send one of his Sultanas to pay a
visit to the harem of Ashimullah, in order that, while seeming to
render honor to Ashimullah, she might report to him of the beauty of
Ashimullah's wives.

"We must make ready for the visit of the Sultana," observed Lallakalla,
with a smile.

When the Sultana returned from her visit, the Sultan came to her
without delay, and she said:

"O Most Translucent Majesty, wonderful indeed are the wives of
Ashimullah! For as they came before me, one after another, I did not
know which of them to call most beautiful; for the brown hair, the
golden, the black, and the ruddy are all most fair to see. I would
that your Majesty could behold them!"

"I would that I could!" said the Sultan, stroking his beard.

"Yet, O Sultan, since all men are mortal, and it is not given to any to
be perfectly happy in this world, know that there is an alloy in the
happiness of Ashimullah the Vizier. For these most lovely ladies have,
each and all of them, so strong and vehement a temper and so great a
reciprocal hatred, that Ashimullah is compelled to keep them apart,
each in her own chamber, and by no means can they be allowed to come
together for an instant. Not even my presence would have restrained
them, and therefore I saw each alone."

"I do not object to a little temper," observed the Sultan, stroking his
beard again. "It is a sauce to beauty, and keeps a man alive."

"It is only toward one another that they are fierce," said the Sultana.
"For all spoke with the greatest love of Ashimullah, and with the most
dutiful respect."

"I do not see on what account they are so fond of Ashimullah," said the
Sultan, frowning.

That night the Sultan did not once close his eyes, for he could think
of nothing save the marvelous and varied beauty of the wives of the
Vizier; and between the rival charms of the black, the brown, the
ruddy, and the golden, his Majesty was so torn and tossed about that,
when he rose, his brow was troubled and his cheek pale. And being no
longer able to endure the torment that he suffered, he sent the Sultana
again to visit the house of Ashimullah, bidding her observe most
carefully which of the ladies was in truth most beautiful. But the
Sultana, having returned, profe