He went and lodged at a khan appointed for foreign merchants ; and , having learned that there were four principal divisions where merchants of all sorts sold their commodities , and kept shops , and in the midst of which stood the castle , or rather the King 's palace , he went to one of these divisions the next day . Prince Houssain could not view this division without admiration . It was large , and divided into several streets , all vaulted and shaded from the sun , and yet very light too . The shops were all of a size , and all that dealt in the same sort of goods lived in one street ; as also the handicrafts-men , who kept their shops in the smaller streets . The multitude of shops , stocked with all sorts of merchandise , as the finest linens from several parts of India , some painted in the most lively colors , and representing beasts , trees , and flowers ; silks and brocades from Persia , China , and other places , porcelain both from Japan and China , and tapestries , surprised him so much that he knew not how to believe his own eyes ; but when he came to the goldsmiths and jewelers he was in a kind of ecstacy to behold such prodigious quantities of wrought gold and silver , and was dazzled by the lustre of the pearls , diamonds , rubies , emeralds , and other jewels exposed to sale . Another thing Prince Houssain particularly admired was the great number of rose-sellers who crowded the streets ; for the Indians are so great lovers of that flower that no one will stir without a nosegay in his hand or a garland on his head ; and the merchants keep them in pots in their shops , that the air is perfectly perfumed . After Prince Houssain had run through that division , street by street , his thoughts fully employed on the riches he had seen , he was very much tired , which a merchant perceiving , civilly invited him to sit down in his shop , and he accepted ; but had not been sat down long before he saw a crier pass by with a piece of tapestry on his arm , about six feet square , and cried at thirty purses . The Prince called to the crier , and asked to see the tapestry , which seemed to him to be valued at an exorbitant price , not only for the size of it , but the meanness of the stuff ; when he had examined it well , he told the crier that he could not comprehend how so small a piece of tapestry , and of so indifferent appearance , could be set at so high a price . The crier , who took him for a merchant , replied : `` If this price seems so extravagant to you , your amazement will be greater when I tell you I have orders to raise it to forty purses , and not to part with it under . '' `` Certainly , '' answered Prince Houssain , `` it must have something very extraordinary in it , which I know nothing of . '' `` You have guessed it , sir , '' replied the crier , `` and will own it when you come to know that whoever sits on this piece of tapestry may be transported in an instant wherever he desires to be , without being stopped by any obstacle . '' At this discourse of the crier the Prince of the Indies , considering that the principal motive of his travel was to carry the Sultan , his father , home some singular rarity , thought that he could not meet with any which could give him more satisfaction . `` If the tapestry , '' said he to the crier , `` has the virtue you assign it , I shall not think forty purses too much , but shall make you a present besides . '' `` Sir , '' replied the crier , `` I have told you the truth ; and it is an easy matter to convince you of it , as soon as you have made the bargain for forty purses , on condition I show you the experiment . But , as I suppose you have not so much about you , and to receive them I must go with you to your khan , where you lodge , with the leave of the master of the shop , we will go into the back shop , and I will spread the tapestry ; and when we have both sat down , and you have formed the wish to be transported into your apartment of the khan , if we are not transported thither it shall be no bargain , and you shall be at your liberty . As to your present , though I am paid for my trouble by the seller , I shall receive it as a favor , and be very much obliged to you , and thankful . '' On the credit of the crier , the Prince accepted the conditions , and concluded the bargain ; and , having got the master 's leave , they went into his back shop ; they both sat down on it , and as soon as the Prince formed his wish to be transported into his apartment at the khan he presently found himself and the crier there ; and , as he wanted not a more sufficient proof of the virtue of the tapestry , he counted the crier out forty pieces of gold , and gave him twenty pieces for himself . In this manner Prince Houssain became the possessor of the tapestry , and was overjoyed that at his arrival at Bisnagar he had found so rare a piece , which he never disputed would gain him the hand of Nouronnihar . In short , he looked upon it as an impossible thing for the Princes his younger brothers to meet with anything to be compared with it . It was in his power , by sitting on his tapestry , to be at the place of meeting that very day ; but , as he was obliged to stay there for his brothers , as they had agreed , and as he was curious to see the King of Bisnagar and his Court , and to inform himself of the strength , laws , customs , and religion of the kingdom , he chose to make a longer abode there , and to spend some months in satisfying his curiosity .
Prince Houssain might have made a longer abode in the kingdom and Court of Bisnagar , but he was so eager XXXXX be nearer the Princess that , spreading the tapestry , he and the officer he had brought with him sat down , and as soon as he had formed his wish were transported to the inn at which he and his brothers were to meet , and where he passed for a merchant till they came .
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