" So
the Minister went forth and fetched her, and when she went in to the
Sultan's presence she saluted him and prayed for his glory and
permanence of prosperity. Hereat the King asked her if she needed
aught, and she answered: "O King of the Age, the three months' term
thou assignedst to me is finished, and this is thy time to my son
Aladdin with thy daughter, the Lady Badr al-Budur."
The Sultan was distraught at this demand, especially when he saw the
old woman's pauper condition, one of the meanest of her kind, and
yet the offering she had brought to him was of the most magnificent,
far beyond his power to pay the price. Accordingly he turned to the
Grand Wazir and said: "What device is there with thee? In very sooth I
did pass my word, yet meseemeth that they be pauper folk, and not
persons of high condition." The Grand Wazir, who was dying of envy and
who was especially saddened by what had befallen his son, said to
himself, "How shall one like this wed the King's daughter and my son
lose this highmost honor?" Accordingly he answered his sovereign,
speaking privily: "O my lord, 'tis an easy matter to keep off a poor
devil such as this, for he is not worthy that thy Highness give his
daughter to a fellow whom none knoweth what he may be.
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