t the porter staid only to take
breath, but perceiving that he remained too long, "What do you
wait for," said she, "are you not sufficiently paid?" And turning
to Amene, she continued, "Sister, give him something more, that
he may depart satisfied." "Madam," replied the porter, "it is not
that which detains me, I am already more than paid for my
services; I am sensible that I act rudely in staying longer than
I ought, but I hope you will the goodness to pardon me, when I
tell you, that I am astonished not to see a man with three ladies
of such extraordinary beauty: and you know that a company of
women without men is as melancholy 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 another.

The ladies fell a laughing at the porter's reasoning; after which
Zobeide gravely addressed him, "Friend, you presume rather too
much; and though you do not deserve that I should enter into any
explanation with you, I have no objection to inform you that we
are three sisters, who transact our affairs with so much secrecy
that no one knows any thing of them. We have but too much reason
to be cautious of acquainting indiscreet persons with our
counsel; and a good author that we have read, says, 'Keep thy own
secret, and do not reveal it to any one. He that makes his secret
known it no longer its master. If thy own breast cannot keep thy
counsel, how canst thou expect the breast of another to be more
faithful?'"

"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 omitted to cultivate my mind as much as I could, by reading
books of science and history; and allow me, I beseech you, to
say, that I have also read in another author a maxim which I have
always happily followed: 'We conceal our secret from such persons
only as are known to all the world to want discretion, and would
abuse our confidence; but we hesitate not to discover it to the
prudent, because we know that with them it is safe.' A secret in
my keeping is as secure as if it were locked up in a cabinet, the
key of which is lost, and the door