So he said in
himself, 'Surely, the like of this palace will not lack of
victual,' and leaving the horse there, went in quest of
somewhat to eat. Presently, he came to a stair and descending
it, found himself in a court paved with white marble and
alabaster, that shone in the light of the moon. He marvelled at
the place and the goodliness of its fashion, but heard no sound
and saw no living soul and stood in perplexity, looking right
and left and knowing not whither he should go. Then said he to
himself, 'I cannot do better than return to where I left my
horse and pass the night by it; and as soon as it is day, I
will mount and depart.' However, as he stood talking to
himself, he espied a light within the palace, and making
towards it, found that it came from a candle that stood before
a door of the palace, at the head of an eunuch, as he were one
of the Afrits of Solomon or a tribesman of the Jinn, longer
than a plank and wider than a bench. He lay asleep before the
door, with the pommel of his sword gleaming in the flame of the
candle, and at his head was a budget of leather[FN#72] hanging
from a column of granite.
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