Let him come to me empty-handed , I am content . ' When the sultan had ended , the gazelle rose , and said : ` Master , farewell ; I go back to our town , and in eight days , or it may be in eleven days , we shall arrive as your guests . ' And the sultan answered : ` So let it be . ' All this time the poor man far away had been mourning and weeping for his gazelle , which he thought had run away from him for ever . And when it came in at the door he rushed to embrace it with such joy that he would not allow it a chance to speak . ` Be still , master , and do n't cry , ' said the gazelle at last ; ` let us sleep now , and in the morning , when I go , follow me . ' With the first ray of dawn they got up and went into the forest , and on the fifth day , as they were resting near a stream , the gazelle gave its master a sound beating , and then bade him stay where he was till it returned . And the gazelle ran off , and about ten o'clock it came near the sultan 's palace , where the road was all lined with soldiers who were there to do honour to Sultan Darai . And directly they caught sight of the gazelle in the distance one of the soldiers ran on and said , ` Sultan Darai is coming : I have seen the gazelle . ' Then the sultan rose up , and called his whole court to follow him , and went out to meet the gazelle , who , bounding up to him , gave him greeting . The sultan answered politely , and inquired where it had left its master , whom it had promised to bring back . ` Alas ! ' replied the gazelle , ` he is lying in the forest , for on our way here we were met by robbers , who , after beating and robbing him , took away all his clothes . And he is now hiding under a bush , lest a passing stranger might see him . ' The sultan , on hearing what had happened to his future son-in-law , turned his horse and rode to the palace , and bade a groom to harness the best horse in the stable and order a woman slave to bring a bag of clothes , such as a man might want , out of the chest ; and he chose out a tunic and a turban and a sash for the waist , and fetched himself a gold-hilted sword , and a dagger and a pair of sandals , and a stick of sweet-smelling wood . ` Now , ' said he to the gazelle , ` take these things with the soldiers to the sultan , that he may be able to come . ' And the gazelle answered : ` Can I take those soldiers to go and put my master to shame as he lies there naked ? I am enough by myself , my lord . ' ` How will you be enough , ' asked the sultan , ` to manage this horse and all these clothes ? ' ` Oh , that is easily done , ' replied the gazelle .
` Fasten the horse to my neck and tie the clothes to the back of the horse , and be sure they are fixed firmly , XXXXX I shall go faster than he does . '
as at by in lest near that till to with