Page:Arabian Nights Entertainments (1728)-Vol. 2.djvu/108
FOR the Love of Heaven, Siſter, cried Dinarzade before it was Day, it you be not aſleep, tell us how the two black Bitches were brought to their former Shape, and what became of the three Callenders. I will ſatisfy your Curioſity, ſaid Scheherazade: Then addreſſing her Diſcourſe to Schahriar, ſhe purſued it thus:
Sir, the Caliph having ſatisfied his Curioſity, thought himſelf oblig’d to give ſome Marks of Grandeur and Generoſity to the Callender-Princes, and alſo to give the three Ladies ſome Proofs of his Bounty. He himſelf, without making uſe of his Miniſter, the Grand Viſier, ſpoke to Zobeide, Madam, this Fairy, that ſhewed her ſelf to you in the Shape of a Serpent, and impos’d ſuch a rigorous Command upon you, Did ſhe not tell you where her Place of Abode was? or rather, did ſhe not promiſe to come again to ſee you, and reſtore thoſe Bitches to their natural Shape?
Commander of the Faithful, anſwer’d Zobeide, I forgot to tell your Majeſty, that the Fairy left with me a Bundle of Hair, ſaying withal, that her Preſence would one Day ſtand me in ſtead, and then, if I only burnt two Tufts of this Hair, ſhe would be with me in a Moment, though ſhe were beyond Mount Caucaſus. Madam, ſays the Calif, where is the Bundle of Hair? She anſwer’d, ever ſince that Time, I have had ſuch a particular Care of it, that I always carry it about me: Upon which ſhe pull’d it out, open’d the Cafe a little where it was, and ſhew’d it him. Well then, ſaid the Califf, let us make the Fairy come hither, you could not call her in a better time, for I long to ſee her.
Zobeide having conſented to it, Fire was brought in, and ſhe threw the whole Bundle of Hair into it: The Palace begun to ſhake at that very inſtant, and the Fairy appear’d before the Califf in the Shape of a Lady very richly dreſs’d.
Commander of the Faithful, ſaid ſhe, to the Prince, you fee I am ready to come and receive your Commands. The Lady who gave me this Call, by your Order did me a particular piece of Service; to wake my Gratitude appear, I reveng’d her of her Siſters Inhumanity, by changing them into Bitches: But if your Majeſty commands it, I will restore them to their natural Shape.