ese servants of the Court--and there was but now
one day left to their hopes. The city, the suburbs, the provinces, had
been searched; disappointment followed from every quarter, and the
threatened party gave up their hearts to despair.

'A certain Durweish, knowing the consternation of the people, and feeling
pity for their unmerited sufferings, sent for the Vizier privately. "I am
not", said the Durweish, "by any means anxious to please the vanity and
silly wishes of your master, the King, but I do hear with pity the state
of despair you and your fellows are reduced to, by the unsuccessful
results of your search after the fruit, and the certain consequences which
are to follow your failure."

'Then giving the Vizier a fragment of a broken pitcher, on which was
ciphered unknown characters, he told him to take it with him to a certain
tomb, situated in the suburbs of the royal city, (directing him to the
spot with great exactness), and casting the fragment on the tomb, to
follow the directions he would there receive; he further desired him to be
secret, to go alone, and at midnight.

'The now hope-inspired Vizier went as desired at midnight, and cast the
fragment on the tomb, which instantly opened to him. He then descended a
flight of steps, from the foot of which, at a little distance, he first
espied a light not larger than a taper, but which increased as he went on
until the full splendour of noonday succeeded. Proceeding with confidence,
revived hope cheered his heart, anticipating that by success so many lives
besides his own would be preserved through his humble endeavours; and that
life would be more than doubly dear, as the prospect of losing the gift
had embittered the last few days so severely.

'The Vizier passed on courageously through halls, corridors, and
apartments of magnificent structure, decorated and furnished in the most
perfect style of elegant neatness. Everything he saw bore marks of
splendour. The King's palace was then remembered in all its costliness, to
be as much inferior to the present scene as could be detected by the
lapidary's correct eye, when comparing the diamond with the pebble.

'He was perfectly entranced as he gazed on the emerald gate, through which
he had to pass to enter a garden of luxuriant beauty, where every shrub,
plant, flower, and fruit teemed with richness. In the centre of a walk an
old man was seated in a chair of burnished gold, clad in the costume of
the country