and
ran to bring water to the gazelle, and fanned it, and put it where the
wind could blow on it, till it grew better and gave a sneeze. And
the heart of the old woman was glad, and she gave it more water, till
by-and-by the gazelle got up.

'Show me this house,' it said, 'from beginning to end, from top to
bottom, from inside to out.'

So she arose and showed the gazelle rooms full of gold and precious
things, and other rooms full of slaves. 'They are all yours, goods and
slaves,' said she.

But the gazelle answered, 'You must keep them safe till I call my
master.'

For two days it lay and rested in the house, and fed on milk and rice,
and on the third day it bade the old woman farewell and started back to
its master.

And when he heard that the gazelle was at the door he felt like a man
who has found the time when all prayers are granted, and he rose and
kissed it, saying: 'My father, you have been a long time; you have left
sorrow with me. I cannot eat, I cannot drink, I cannot laugh; my heart
felt no smile at anything, because of thinking of you.'

And the gazelle answered: 'I am well, and where I come from it is well,
and I wish that after four days you would take your wife and go home.'

And he said: 'It is for you to speak. Where you go, I will follow.'

'Then I shall go to your father-in-law and tell him this news.'

'Go, my son.'

So the gazelle went to the father-in-law and said: 'I am sent by my
master to come and tell you that after four days he will go away with
his wife to his own home.'

'Must he really go so quickly? We have not yet sat much together, I
and Sultan Darai, nor have we yet talked much together, nor have we yet
ridden out together, nor have we eaten together; yet it is fourteen days
since he came.'

But the gazelle replied: 'My lord, you cannot help it, for he wishes to
go home, and nothing will stop him.'

'Very good,' said the sultan, and he called all the people who were in
the town, and commanded that the day his daughter left the palace ladies
and guards were to attend her on her way.

And at the end of four days a great company of ladies and slaves and
horses went forth to escort the wife of Sultan Darai to her new home.
They rode all day, and when the sun sank behind the hills they rested,
and ate of the food the gazelle gave them, and lay down to sleep. And
they journeyed on for many days, and they all, nobles and slaves, loved
the gazelle with a great love--more