thy nuptial couch." And the miscreant laid at the feet of the great
khan the portrait of the peerless Chaoukeun.

The chief finished his repast, and then with his lance, turned over the
image of the pearl beyond all price. He looked at it, then passed it to
those around him. The savage warriors stared at the lovely portrait,
and admired it not--yet did they long for war. "Tell me, O chiefs,"
said the great khan, "is that baby-face you look at worth contending
for?"

And, with one voice, the chiefs replied, that she was worthy to share
the nuptial couch of the great khan.

"Be it so," replied he, "I am no judge of beauty. Let the encampment be
broken up--this evening we move southwards." And the Tartar chief
entered the northern provinces of the celestial empire, with his hundred
thousand warriors, destroying all with fire and sword, proving his
sincere wish to unite himself to the Chinese nation by the
indiscriminate slaughter of man, woman, and child; and his ardent love
for the peerless Chaoukeun, by making a nuptial torch of every town and
village.

Ti-tum, tilly-lilly, ti-tum, ti.

But we must return to the celestial court, and astonish the world with
the wonderful events which there took place. The astrologers and wise
men had consulted the heavens, and had ascertained that on the
thirty-third minute after the thirteenth hour, the marriage procession
must set out, or the consummation would not be prosperous. Who can
describe the pomp and glory of the spectacle, or give an adequate idea
of its splendour? Alas! it would not be possible, even if it were
attempted by ten thousand poets, each with ten thousand tongues of
silver, singing for ten thousand years. Such, however, was the order of
the procession.

First walked ten thousand officers of justice, with long bamboos,
striking right and left to clear the way, to the cadence of soft music,
blending with the plaintive cries of those who limped away and rubbed
their shins.

Then marching, ten abreast, one hundred thousand lanterns to assist the
sun, partially eclipsed by the splendour of the procession.

Next appeared, slowly keeping time to a dead march, five thousand
decapitated criminals, each carrying his own head by its long tail of
hair.

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"Staffir Allah! What is that but a lie?" exclaimed the pacha. "Did you
hear what the dog has dared to breathe into our ears, Mus