is thy story, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" Quoth she, "And where is this compared with that I should relate to you on the coming night an the King suffer me to survive?" Now when it was the next night and that was The Four Hundred and Sixty-first Night, Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the Jew raised his bid for the cock till he reached a gold piece when the lad said, "Here with it." So the man gave him the dinar and took from him the fowl and slaughtered it forthright. Then he turned to a boy, one of his servants, and said to him, "Take this cock and carry it home and say to thy mistress, 'Pluck it, but open it not until such time as I shall return.'" And the servant did his bidding. But when the Fisherman's son who was standing hard by heard these words and saw the bargain, he waited for a while and as soon as the servant had carried off the fowl, he arose and buying two cocks at four faddahs he slaughtered them and repaired with them to the house of the Jew. Then he rapped at the door and when the mistress came out to him he bespoke her saying, "The house master saith to thee, 'Take these two silvers and send me the bird which was brought to thee by the servant boy.'"[FN#377] Quoth she, "'Tis well," so he gave her the two fowls and took from her the cock which her husband had slaughtered. Then he returned to the bakery, and when he was private he opened the belly of the cock and found therein a signet-ring with a bezel-gem which in the sun showed one colour and in the shade another. So he took it up and hid it in his bosom, after which he gutted the bird and cooked it in the furnace and ate it. Presently the Jew having finished his business, returned home and said to his wife, "Bring me the cock." She brought him the two fowls and he seeing them asked her, "But where be the first cock?" And she answered him, "Thou thyself sentest the boy with these two birds and then orderedst him to bring thee the first cock." The Jew held his peace but was sore distressed at heart, so sore indeed that he came nigh to die and said to himself, "Indeed it hath slipped from my grasp!" Now the Fisherman's son after he had mastered the ring waited until the evening evened when he said, "By Allah, needs must this bezel have some mystery;" so he withdrew into the privacy of the furnace and brought it out from his bosom and fell a-rubbing it. Thereupon the Slave of the Ring appeared and cried, "Here I stand[FN#378] between thy hands." Then the Fisherman's son said to himself, "This indeed is the perfection of good fortune," and returned the gem to his breast-pocket as it was. Now when morning