Before Scheherazade went to the palace, she called her favorite slave girl Dinarzade, aside, and said, “As soon as I shall have presented myself before the sultan, I will entreat him to suffer you to sleep in the bridal chamber, that I may enjoy for the last time your company. If I obtain this favor, as I expect, remember to awaken me to-morrow morning an hour before daybreak, and say, ‘If you are not asleep, my mistress, I beg of you, till the morning appears, to recount to me one of those delightful stories you know.’ I will immediately begin to tell one; and I flatter myself that by these means I shall free the kingdom from the terror in which it is.” Dinarzade promised to do what was required.
Within a short time Scheherazade was conducted by her father to the palace, and was admitted to the presence of the sultan. They were no sooner alone than the sultan ordered her to take off her veil. He was charmed with her beauty; but perceiving that she wept, he demanded the cause. “Sire,” answered Scheherazade, “I have a slave girl whom I love—I earnestly wish that she might be permitted to pass the night in this apartment, that we may again see each other, and once more take a tender farewell. Will you allow me the consolation of giving her this last proof of my affection?” Schah-riar having agreed to it, they sent for Dinarzade, who came directly. The sultan passed the night with Scheherazade on an elevated couch, as was the custom among the eastern mon-
26
