Zobeide thought at first, that the porter staid only to take breath; but perceiving that he staid too long, What do you wait for? said she: are you not well enough paid? And turning to Amine, said, Sister, give him something more, that he may depart satisfied. Madam, replied the porter, it is not that which keeps me, I am over and above paid; I am sensible that I am unmannerly to stay longer than I ought, but I hope you will be so good as to pardon me, if I tell you, that I am astonished to see that there is no man with three ladies of such extraordinary beauty; and you know that a company of women without men is as melancholy a thing as a company of men without women. To this he added several other pleasant things, to prove what he said, and did not forget the Bagdad proverb, That the table is not completely furnished, except there be four in company: and so concluded that since they were but three, they wanted a fourth. The ladies fell a laughing at the porter’s discourse; after which, Zobeide said to him very gravely, Friend, you are a little too bold; and though you do not deserve that I should enter into particulars with you, yet I am willing to tell you, that we are three sisters, who do our business so secretly, that no body knows any thing of it. We have too great reason to be cautious of acquainting indiscreet persons with it; and a good author that we have read, says, “Keep your secret and do not reveal it to any body. He that reveals it is no longer master of it. If your own breast cannot keep your secret, how do you think that another person will keep it?” My ladies, replied the porter, by your very air, I judged at first that you were persons of extraordinary merit, and I conceive that I am not mistaken; though fortune has not given me wealth enough to raise me above my mean profession, yet I have not failed to cultivate my mind as much as I could, by reading books of science and history: and allow me, if you please, to tell you, that I have also read in another author a maxim which I have always happily practised: “We do not conceal our secrets,” says he, “but from such persons as are known to all the world to want discretion, and would abuse the confidence we put in them; but we make no scruple to discover them to prudent persons, because we know they can keep them.” A secret with me is as sure as if it were in a closet, whose key is lost, and the door sealed up.