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 when the son of the Fisherman came forth the Bath-house and donned his fine dress, his was changed into other case and he appeared before the folk in semblance of the sons of Kings. Presently he went to the Sultan's palace and entering therein made his salam and, blushing for modesty, did his obeisance and blessed the Sultan with the blessing due to Caliphs. His greetings were returned and the King welcomed him and after that looked at him, and finding him after princely fashion, asked him, "What is thy need, O Youth, and what requirest thou?" Answered the other, "I seek connection with thy house, and I come desirous of betrothal with the lady concealed and the pearl unrevealed, which is thy daughter." "Art thou able to perform the condition, O Youth?" asked the King; "For I want neither means nor moneys nor precious stones nor other possession; brief, none other thing save that thou remove yon mound of ashes from beneath the windows of my palace." Upon this he bade the youth draw near him and when he obeyed threw open the lattice; and, showing him the hillock that stood underneath it, said, "O Youth, I will betroth to thee my daughter an thou be pleased to remove this heap; but if thou prove thee unable so to do I will strike off thy head." Quoth the Fisherman's son, "I am satisfied therewith," presently adding, "A delay![FN#380] grant me the term of forty days." "I have allowed thy request to thee," said the King and wrote a document bearing the testimony of those present, when cried the youth, "O King, bid nail up thy windows and let them not be unfastened until the fortieth day shall have gone by." "These words be fair," quoth the Sultan, and accordingly he gave the order. Hereat the youth went forth from him whereupon all present in the palace cried, "O the pity of it, that this youngster should be done to die; indeed there were many stronger than he, yet none of them availed to remove the heap." In this way each and every said his say, but when the Fisherman's son returned to his cell (and he was thoughtful concerning his life and perplext as to his affair) he cried, "Would Heaven I knew whether the Ring hath power to carry it off." Then shutting himself up in his cell he brought out the signet from his breast-pocket and rubbed it, and a Voice was heard to cry, "Here I stand (and fair befal thy command) between thy hands. What requirest thou of me, O my lord?" The other replied, "I want thee to remove the ash-heap which standeth under the windows of the royal palace, and I demand that thou lay out in lieu thereof a garden wide of sides in whose middlemost must