ng, and the
Viziers and Emirs and officers of state, and slaves, and soldiers of the
guard, bared their limbs, and fell beside the King with violent outcries
and wailings; and the whole of the people in the Hall prostrated their
bodies with wailings and lamentations. And Baba Mustapha feigned to
bewail himself, and Noorna bin Noorka knelt beside Kadza, and shrieked
loudest, striking her breast and scattering her hair; and that Hall was
as a pit full of serpents writhing, and of tigers and lions and wild
beasts howling, each pitching his howl a note above his neighbours, so
that the tone rose and sank, and there was no one soul erect in that Hall
save Shagpat, he on his throne of cushions smiling behind the lathers,
inanimate, serene as they that sin not. After an hour's lapse there came
a pause, and the people hearkened for the voice of the King; but in the
intervals a louder moan would strike their ears, and they whispered among
themselves, ''Tis that of the fakir, El Zoop!' and the moaning and howling
prevailed again. And again they heard another moan, a deep one, as of the
earth in its throes, and said among themselves, ''Tis that of Bootlbac,
the drumbeater!' and this led off to the howl of Areep, the dervish; and
this was followed by the shriek of Zeel, the garlic-seller; and the waul
of Krooz el Krazawik, the carrier; and the complainings of Dob, the
confectioner; and the groan of Sallap, the broker; and the yell of
Azawool, the builder. There would have been no end to it known; but the
King rose and commenced plucking his beard and his hair,--they likewise
in silence. When he had performed this ceremony a space, the King called,
and a basin of water was brought to him, and handed round by slaves, and
all dipped in it their hands, and renewed their countenances and
re-arranged their limbs; and the Hall brightened with the eye of the
King, and he cried, 'O people, lo, the plot is revealed to me, and 'tis a
deep one; but, by this beard, we'll strike at the root of it, and a blow
of deadliness. Surely we have humiliated ourselves, and vengeance is
ours! How say ye?'

A noise like the first sullen growl of a vexed wild beast which telleth
that fury is fast travelling and the teeth will flash, followed these
words; and the King called to his soldiers of the guard, 'Ho! forth with
this wretch that dared defile Shagpat, the holy one! and on your heads be
it to fetch hither Feshnavat, the son of Feil, that was my Vizier, h