Page 301 of 1116

He went straight to the tomb in the midst of the sepulchre and,

breaking it open with the adze set the stones on one side; then

he fell to digging into the earth of the tomb till he came upon a

large iron plate, the size of a wicket door; and on raising it

there appeared below it a staircase vaulted and winding. Then he

turned to the lady and said to her, "Come now and take thy final

choice!" She at once went down by the staircase and disappeared;

then quoth he to me, "O son of my uncle, by way of completing thy

kindness, when I shall have descended into this place, restore

the trap door to where it was, and heap back the earth upon it as

it lay before; and then of thy great goodness mix this unslaked

lime which is in the bag with this water which is in the bowl

and, after building up the stones, plaster the outside so that

none looking upon it shall say:-This is a new opening in an old

tomb.