dignity."

The princess then conducted me to a bath, the most commodious, and the
most sumptuous imaginable; and when I came forth, instead of my own
clothes I found a costly robe, which I did not esteem so much for its
richness as because it made me appear worthy to be in her company. We
sat down on a sofa covered with rich tapestry, with cushions of the
rarest Indian brocade; and some time after she covered a table with
several dishes of delicate meats. We ate, and passed the remaining
part of the day, as also the evening, together very pleasantly.

The next day I said to her, "Fair princess, you have been too long
buried alive in this subterranean palace; pray rise--follow me and
enjoy the light of day, of which you have been deprived so many
years."

"Prince," replied she, with a smile, "if you out of ten days will
grant me nine, and resign the tenth to the genie, the light of day
would be nothing to me."

"Princess," said I, "the fear of the genie makes you speak thus. For
my part, I regard him so little that I will break in pieces his
talisman, with the spell that is written about it. Let him come; and
how brave or powerful he be, I will defy him." On saying this I gave
the talisman a kick with my foot, and broke it in pieces.

The talisman was no sooner broken than the whole palace shook as if
ready to fall to atoms, and the walls opened to afford a passage to
the genie. I had no sooner felt the shock than, at the earnest
request of the princess, I took to flight. Having hastily put on my
own robe, I ascended the stairs leading to the forest, and reached the
town in safety. My landlord, the tailor, was very glad to see me.

In my haste, however, I had left my hatchet and cord in the princess's
chamber.

Shortly after my return, while brooding over this loss and lamenting
the cruel treatment to which the princess would be exposed, the tailor
came in and said, "An old man, whom I do not know, brings your hatchet
and cords, and wishes to speak to you, for he will deliver them to
none but yourself."

At these words I changed color, and fell a-trembling. While the tailor
was asking me the reason, my chamber door opened, and the old man,
having no patience to stay, appeared with my hatchet and cords.

"I am a genie," said he, speaking to me, "a grandson of Eblis,[15]
prince of genies. Is not this your hatchet and are not these your
cords?"

[Footnote 15: Eblis, or Degial, the evil spirit, who, according to