Then she went to a druggist, where she furnished herself with all manner of sweet-scented waters, cloves, musk, pepper, ginger, and a great piece of ambergris, and several other Indian spices. This quite filled the porter’s basket, and she ordered him to follow her. They walked till they came to a magnificent house, whose front was adorned with fine columns, and which had a gate of ivory. There they stopped, and the lady knocked softly. Here Scheherazade, perceiving day, broke off. I must own, sister, says Dinarzade, the beginning of this story has a great deal of curiosity; I fancy the sultan will not deprive himself of the pleasure of hearing the rest of it. And, indeed, Schahriar was so far from ordering the sultaness to be put to death, that he longed impatiently for next night, to know what passed in the fine house. TWENTY-NINTH NIGHT. Dinarzade being awake before day, addressed the sultaness thus: Sister, if you be awake, I would pray you to continue the history you began yesterday; and Scheherazade went on with it thus: While the young lady and the porter staid for the opening of the gate, the porter had a thousand thoughts: he wondered that such a fine lady should come abroad to buy provisions: he concluded she could not be a slave, her air was too noble; and therefore he thought she must needs be a woman of quality. Just as he was about to ask her some questions upon that head, another lady came to open the gate, and appeared to him so beautiful, that he was perfectly surprised, or rather so much struck with her charms, that he had like to have let his basket fall, for he had never seen any beauty that equalled her. The lady who brought the porter with her, perceiving his disorder, and what occasioned it, diverted herself with it, and took so much pleasure to examine his looks, that she forgot the gate was opened. Upon this the beautiful lady said to her, Pray, sister, come in; what do you stay for? Do you not see this poor man so heavily laden, that he is scarcely able to stand under it? When she entered with the porter, the lady who opened the gate shut it, and all three, after having gone through a very fine porch, came into a spacious court, encompassed with an open gallery, which had a communication with several apartments on a floor, and extraordinarily magnificent. There was at the farther end of the court a sofa richly adorned, with a throne of amber in the middle of it, supported by four columns of ebony, enriched with diamonds and pearls of an extraordinary size, and covered with red satin embroidered with Indian gold of admirable workmanship. In the middle of the court there was a great fountain, faced with white marble, and full of clear water, which fell into it abundantly out of the mouth of a lion of brass.