presence, the young man hastened to meet me, and, folding me in his
arms, he said, "May I at length meet a friend I call trust?"

And I answered, "May Mahoud be the friend of thy bosom?"

Bennaskar then led me into another apartment, and meats were set
before us, and he ordered the females that danced to come and
entertain us.

Thus I spent my time with the agreeable Bennaskar: every day we varied
our enjoyments, and were mutually satisfied with each other.

I had now been with my friend eighteen days, and nothing had occurred
to interrupt our friendship, when, on the nineteenth morning,
Bennaskar appeared with a clouded visage.

"What," said I, "my lord, is the cause of your grief? Shall not Mahoud
share alike with you the smiles and the frowns of Allah?"

"Is it not," asked Bennaskar, "O Mahoud, the full of the moon?"

"It is," replied I, with a smile; "but doth Bennaskar intend to change
with that fluctuating planet?"

"O Mahoud," said Bennaskar, "the fate of thy friend is dependent on
the caprice of the stars. To-night must I put thy utmost friendship to
the trial. If Mahoud prove insincere, then is Bennaskar cursed among
men. If thy heart is not firm, now, while there is time, depart. But
why should I doubt thee? surely Mahoud is of the sons of the Faithful.
What must I say? Leave me, Mahoud, leave me; nay, if thou departest,
where shall I find thy fellow? and the presence of a friend is
necessary to my quiet."

"Then," answered I, "fear not, Bennaskar: Mahoud may be unhappy, but
he cannot be unjust. But what is this dreadful trial that obliges
Bennaskar to suspect his friend?"

"True," said Bennaskar, "Mahoud is undeserving of suspicion. Let us
wait till the sun sink from the skies, and the stars return with their
glimmering light."

Bennaskar then proceeded to the bath, and arrayed himself in a costly
robe, and desired me to do the same. I obeyed my friend, and we met in
the saloon together.

"Alas!" said Bennaskar, as we met, "how can I request my friend to
wear the image of deformity?"

"What image of deformity," said I, "must Mahoud wear? All appearances
are to Mahoud alike; and the severer the trial, the more shall I
commend thy friendship."

"Then," said Bennaskar, pulling out a pot of black ointment, "thou
must suffer me to disguise thy face with this ointment: to-night thou
must personate a black slave."

"Is such a trifle," said I, "the test of friendship? Give me the
ointment, and fu