ose-water to give it a perfume, and sweet seeds
to increase its flavour; and that made of the pomegranate; all highly
cooled by lumps of floating ice.

The king then, doubling himself down with his head reclining towards his
food, buried his hand in the pilaus and other dishes before him, and ate
in silence, whilst the princes and the servants in waiting, in attitudes
of respect, remained immovable. When he had finished he got up, and
walked into an adjoining room, where he washed his hands, drank his
coffee, and smoked his water-pipe.

In the course of his eating he ordered one of the pilaus, of which he
had partaken, to be carried to Mirza Ahmak, his host, by a servant in
waiting. As this is considered a mark of peculiar honour, the mirza was
obliged to give a present in money to the bearer. A similar distinction
was conferred upon the poet for his impromptu, and he also made a
suitable present. His majesty also sent one of the messes, of which he
had freely partaken, to the doctor's wife, who liberally rewarded the
bearer. And in this manner he contrived to reward two persons, the one
who received the present, and the other who bore it.

The princes then sat down, and when they had eat their fill they rose,
and the dishes were served up in another room, where the noble of
nobles, the court poet, the master of the horse, and all the officers of
state and courtiers who had attended his majesty, were seated, and who
continued the feast which the king and his sons had begun. After this,
the dinner was taken in succession to the different servants, until the
dishes were cleared by the tent-pitchers and scullions.

In the meanwhile the Shah had been introduced into the harem by the
doctor in person; and as immediate death would have been inflicted upon
any one who might have been caught peeping, I waited in the greatest
suspense until I could learn what might have taken place there; but what
was my horror! what my consternation! on hearing (as soon as the king
had returned to the great saloon) that the doctor had made a present of
his Curdish slave to his majesty! At this intelligence I grew sick with
apprehension; and, although there was every reason to rejoice at her
leaving her present situation, yet there were consequences which
I anticipated--consequences which might even ultimately affect her
life,--at the very thought of which my blood ran cold. We had been too
much enamoured to listen to the dictates of prudence