Page:Princess Badoura, a tale from the Arabian nights.djvu/46

32 would there be then of this fine Princess of yours; you would have but to look at him once and you would go crazy with jealousy.'

Dahnash replied humbly, 'O Mistress of language and of facts, far be it from me to deny beauty that you yourself have verified; but neither can I deny that which I, in turn, have beheld and think to be incomparable. All I can ask, therefore, is that you should accompany me to the bed-chamber of this adorable Princess, where she now lies sleeping, and judge for yourself.'

'Not so,' answered Meymooneh, 'wherefore should I travel to the far ends of China merely to prove thy folly and thy falsehood? Here close at hand is the tower wherein my beloved lies prisoner; come, then, and see for yourself the face of him whose loveliness even in sleep puts all other beauty to scorn.'

So they descended, and passing through the roof and floors of the tower came to the dungeon