' So Noureddin landed, he and the damsel, and
giving the captain five dinars, walked on awhile, till chance
brought them among the gardens and they came to a place swept and
sprinkled, with long benches on either hand and hanging pots full
of water. Overhead was a trelliswork of canes shading the whole
length of the alley, and at the further end was the door of a
garden; but this was shut. 'By Allah,' said Noureddin to the
damsel, 'this is a pleasant place!' And she answered, 'O my lord,
let us sit down on these benches and rest awhile.' So they
mounted and sat down on the benches, after having washed their
faces and hands; and the air smote on them and they fell asleep,
glory be to Him who never sleeps! Now the garden in question was
called the Garden of Delight and therein stood a pavilion called
the Pavilion of Pictures, belonging to the Khalif Haroun er
Reshid, who used, when sad at heart, to repair thither and there
sit. In this pavilion were fourscore windows and fourscore
hanging lamps and in the midst a great chandelier of gold. When
the Khalif entered, he was wont to have all the windows opened
and to order his boon-companion Isaac ben Ibrahim and the
slave-girls to sing, till his care left him and his heart was
lightened. Now the keeper of the garden was an old man by name
Gaffer Ibrahim, and he had found, from time to time, on going out
on his occasions, idlers taking their case with courtezans in the
alley leading to the door of the garden, at which he was sore
enraged; so he complained to the Khalif, who said, 'Whomsoever
thou findest at the door of the garden, do with him as thou
wilt.
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