‘Your master commands you to build the most magnificent palace that ever was seen,’ replied she; ‘and you are to place it on the borders of the new garden.’
‘He shall be obeyed,’ answered Hassan. And when the sultan woke he saw, in the distance, a palace built of soft blue marble, resting on slender pillars of pure gold.
‘That old woman’s son is certainly all-powerful,’ cried he; ‘what shall I bid him do now?’ And after thinking [!-- illustration - THE PRINCESS SEES THE MAGIC HEAD --] [!-- blank page --] some time he sent for the old woman, who was expecting the summons.
‘The garden is wonderful, and the palace the finest in the world,’ said he, ‘so fine, that my servants would cut but a sorry figure in it. Let your son fill it with forty slaves whose beauty shall be unequalled, all exactly like each other, and of the same height.’
This time the king thought he had invented something totally impossible, and was quite pleased with himself for his cleverness.
Thirty-nine days passed, and at midnight on the night of the last the old woman was standing on the bridge.
‘Bekir! Bekir! Bekir!’ cried she. And a negro appeared, and inquired what she wanted.
‘The head, your master, bids you find forty slaves of unequalled beauty, and of the same height, and place them in the sultan’s palace on the other side of the garden.’