d me an asking gift such as
no king could send."

"It shall be as you desire," said the messenger, and thereupon the
five-and-twenty rode away as they had come, followed by crowds of
people.

The next morning when the Demon came the tailor was ready and waiting
for him. "What hast thou for me to do to-day?" said the Evil One.

"I want," said the tailor, "a gift to send to the king such as no other
king could send him."

"Thou shalt have thy desire," said the Demon. Thereupon he smote his
hands together, and summoned, not five-and-twenty young men, but fifty
youths, all clad in clothes more splendid than the others.

All of the fifty sat upon coal-black horses, with saddles of silver and
housings of silk and velvet embroidered with gold. In the midst of all
the five-and-seventy there rode a youth in cloth of silver embroidered
in pearls. In his hand he bore something wrapped in a white napkin, and
that was the present for the king such as no other king could give. So
said the Demon: "Take it to the royal palace, and tell his majesty that
it is from the Tailor of Tailors, the Master of Masters, and One Greater
than a King."

"To hear is to obey," said the young man, and then they all rode away.

When they came to the palace the gates flew open before them, and
the king came out to meet them. The young man who bore the present
dismounted and prostrated himself in the dust, and, when the king bade
him arise, he unwrapped the napkin, and gave to the king a goblet
made of one single ruby, and filled to the brim with pieces of gold.
Moreover, the cup was of such a kind that whenever it was emptied of its
money it instantly became full again. "The Tailor of Tailors, the Master
of Masters, and One Greater than a King sends your majesty this goblet,
and bids me, his ambassador, to ask for your daughter," said the young
man.

When the king saw what had been sent him he was filled with amazement.
"Surely," said he to himself, "there can be no end to the power of one
who can give such a gift as this." Then to the messenger, "Tell your
master that he shall have my daughter for his wife if he will build
over yonder a palace such as no man ever saw or no king ever lived in
before."

"It shall be done," said the young man, and then they all went away, as
the others had done the day before.

The next morning when the Demon appeared the Tailor was ready for him.
"Build me," said he, "such and such a palace in such and such a