ade him.

"Princess," said he, "whatever resolution a poor wretched woman as I
am may have made to renounce the pomp and grandeur of this world, I
dare not presume to oppose the will and commands of so pious and
charitable a princess."

Upon this the princess, rising up, said, "Come with me. I will show
you what vacant apartments I have, that you may make choice of that
you like best."

The magician followed the princess, and of all the apartments she
showed him, made choice of that which was the worst, saying that was
too good for him, and that he only accepted it to please her.

Afterward the princess would have brought him back again into the
great hall to make him dine with her; but he, considering that he
should then be obliged to show his face, which he had always taken
care to conceal with Fatima's veil, and fearing that the princess
would find out that he was not Fatima, begged of her earnestly to
excuse him, telling her that he never ate anything but bread and dried
fruits, and desiring to eat that slight repast in his own apartment.

The princess granted his request, saying, "You may be as free here,
good mother, as if you were in your own cell: I will order you a
dinner, but remember, I expect you as soon as you have finished your
repast."

After the princess had dined, and the false Fatima had been sent for
by one of the attendants, he again waited upon her. "My good mother,"
said the princess, "I am overjoyed to see so holy a woman as yourself,
who will confer a blessing upon this palace. But now I am speaking of
the palace, pray how do you like it? And before I show it all to you,
tell me first what you think of this hall."

Upon this question, the counterfeit Fatima surveyed the hall from one
end to the other. When he had examined it well, he said to the
princess, "As far as such a solitary being as I am, who am
unacquainted with what the world calls beautiful, can judge, this hall
is truly admirable; there wants but one thing."

"What is that, good mother?" demanded the princess; "tell me, I
conjure you. For my part, I always believed, and have heard say, it
wanted nothing; but if it does, it shall be supplied."

"Princess," said the false Fatima, with great dis-simulation, "forgive
me the liberty I have taken; but my opinion is, if it can be of any
importance, that if a roc's egg were hung up in the middle of the
dome, this hall would have no parallel in the four quarters of the
world, and y