her guest, and out
of the window, like a shot, he went, and Mahallah took his place. Then
Akbeck stepped up, and said, "My lord the dwarf, I am also the king of a
far country, and I bring you some of the confections of my dominions."
So saying, he took from under his cloak of gold cloth, a great basket of
silver filagree work, in which were cream-chocolates, and burnt almonds,
and sponge-cake, and lady's fingers, and mixtures, and gingernuts, and
hoar-hound candy, and gum-drops, and fruit-cake, and cream candy, and
mintstick, and pound-cake, and rock candy, and butter taffy, and many
other confections, amounting in all to about two hundred and twenty
pounds. He placed the basket before the dwarf, who tasted some of these
good things, and found them so delicious, that he lay on his back and
kicked up his heels in delight, shouting to his slaves to make room for
this great king. As the next guest was a big, fat man, too heavy to
throw far, he was seized by four slaves, who walked him Spanish right
out of the door, and Akbeck took his place. Then Zamcar stepped forward
and said, "My lord the dwarf, I also am king of a far country, and I
bring you some of the fruit of my dominions." And so saying, he took
from beneath his gold and purple cloak, a great basket filled with
currants as big as grapes, and grapes as big as plums, and plums as big
as peaches, and peaches as big as cantaloupes, and cantaloupes as big as
water-melons, and water-melons as big as barrels. There were about
nineteen bushels of them altogether, and he put them before the dwarf,
who, having tasted some of them, clapped his hands, and shouted to his
slaves to make room for this mighty king; but as the next guest had very
sensibly got up and gone out, Zamcar took his seat without any delay.
Then Ting-a-ling, who was very much excited by all these wonderful
performances, slipped down out of Zamcar's turban, and, running up
towards the dwarf, cried out, "My lord the dwarf, I am also the king of
a far country, and I bring you"--and he lifted up his little cloak; but
as there was nothing there, he said no more, but clambered up into
Zamcar's turban again. As nobody noticed or heard him, so great was the
bustle and noise of the festivity, his speech made no difference one way
or the other. After everybody had eaten and drunk until they could eat
and drink no more, the dwarf jumped up and called to the chief butler,
to know how many beds were prepared for the gues