Hearing these words the Shaykh smiled in his face and replied，'O my son，meseemeth thou art a stranger？'As'ad rejoined，'Yes，I am a stranger.'And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Twentyseventh Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that the Shaykh who met As'ad smiled in his face and said to him，'O my son，meseemeth thou art a stranger？'and As'ad replied，'Yes，I am a stranger.'Then rejoined the old man，'Verily，thou gladdenest our country with thy presence，O my son，and thou desolatest shine own land by reason of shine absence. What wantest thou of the market？'Quoth As'ad，'O uncle，I have a brother，with whom I have come from a far land and with whom I have journeyed these three months；and，when we sighted this city，I left him，who is my elder brother，upon the mountain and came hither，purposing to buy victual and what else，and return therewith to him，that we might feed thereon.'Said the old man，'Rejoice in all good，O my son，and know thou that today I give a marriagefeast，to which I have bidden many guests，and I have made ready plenty of meats，the best and most delicious that heart can desire. So if thou wilt come with me to my place，I will give thee freely all thou lackest without asking thee a price or aught else. Moreover I will teach thee the ways of this city；and，praised be Allah，O my son，that I，and none other have happened upon thee.'