to be as we before to-morrow's sun. So is
laughter taken in reverse.' And the King said aside to Shibli Bagarag,
'Say now, what may be thy price for yonder hawk?'

And the hawk bade him say, 'The loan of thy cockleshell.'

The King mused, and said, 'That is much to ask, for it is that which
beareth the Princess my daughter to the Lily of the Enchanted Sea, which
she nourisheth; and if 'tis harmed, she will be stricken with ugliness,
as was the daughter of the Vizier Feshnavat, who tended it before her.
Yet is this hawk a bird of price. What be its qualities, besides the gift
of speech?'

Shibli Bagarag answered, 'To counsel in extremity; to forewarn; to
counteract enchantments and foul magic.'

Upon that the King said, 'Follow me!'

And the King led the way from the hall, through many spacious chambers
fair with mirrors and silks and precious woods, and smooth marble floors,
down into a vault lit by a lamp that was shaped like an eye. Round the
vault were hung helm-pieces, and swords, and rich-studded housings; and
there were silken dresses, and costly shawls, and tall vases and jars of
China, tapestries, and gold services. And the King said, 'Take thy choice
of these in exchange for the hawk.'

But Shibli Bagarag said, 'Nought save a loan of the cockle-shell, King!'

Then the King threatened him, saying, 'There is a virtue in each of the
things thou seest: the China jar is brimmed with wine, and remaineth so
though a thousand drink of it; the dress of Samarcand rendereth the
wearer invisible; yet thou refusest to exchange them for thy hawk!'

And the King swore by the beard of his father he would seize perforce the
hawk and shut up Shibli Bagarag in the vault, if he fell not into his
bargain. Shibli Bagarag was advised by the hawk to accept the China jar
and the dress of Samarcand, and handed the hawk to the King in exchange
for these things. So the King took the hawk upon his wrist and departed
with it to the apartments of his daughter, and Shibli Bagarag went to the
chamber prepared for him in the palace.

Now, when it was night, Shibli Bagarag heard a noise at his lattice, and
he arose and peered through it, and lo! the hawk was fluttering without;
so he let it in, and caressed it, and the hawk bade him put on his silken
dress and carry forth his China jar, and go the round of the palace, and
offer drink to the sentinels and the slaves. So he did as the hawk
directed, and the sentinels and slaves were aware