The caliph approved of the vizier's proposal, and went with him towards the pond. When they got there, they saw a stork, walking gravely back and forth, searching for frogs, and occasionally chattering something to himself. At the same time they saw another stork soaring high in the air, above the place. "I will wager my beard, most gracious Sir," said the grand vizier, "that these two long-legs are carrying on a fine conversation together. What say you to turning ourselves into storks?" "Well said!" answered the caliph. "But let us see; how is it that one is to become man again?" "O, yes! we are to bow three times towards the East, and say, Mutabor, and then I am caliph again, and you vizier. But for Heaven's sake don't laugh, or we are lost!" While the caliph was speaking, he saw the other stork come sailing down over their heads, and settle in a business manner on the ground. Quickly he drew the box from his girdle, took a good pinch of the powder, and handed it to the grand vizier, who also took a pinch, and then both cried out, "Mutabor!" Immediately their legs shrivelled up, and became thin and red; the beautiful yellow slippers of the caliph and his companion turned into clumsy stork-feet; their arms became wings; their necks stretched out from their shoulders, and were an ell long; their beards disappeared, and their bodies were covered with soft feathers, instead of clothes. "That's a pretty bill of yours, Mr. Grand Vizier," said the caliph, after a long pause of astonishment. "By the beard of the Prophet, I never saw any thing like that in my life." "Thank you kindly," answered the grand vizier, bowing; "but, if I may he allowed the observation, your highness looks almost handsomer as stork than as caliph. But come, if you please, let us listen to our comrades yonder, and try whether we really do understand Storkish." In the mean time the other stork had alighted on the ground. He arranged his feathers with his bill, put himself to rights, and walked up to the first stork. The two new storks made haste to approach them, and overheard, to their astonishment, the following conversation. "Good morning, Mrs. Longlegs; you are early on the meadow." "Thank you, dear blatterbeak! I have been getting a little breakfast. Will you take a bit of lizard, or a frog's leg?" "Much obliged, but I have no appetite this morning. I came on to the meadow for quite a different purpose. I am to dance before the guests at my father's to-day, and I thought I would exercise a little in private beforehand." At the same time the young storkess marched about the field making the oddest gesticulations. The caliph and Mansor looked on with wonder. But at last, when she put herself into a picturesque attitude on one foot, and gracefully waved her wings, they could stand it no longer; an inextinguishable laugh burst from their bills, from which they did not recover for some time. The caliph composed himself first. "What a capital joke!" cried he; "I never saw any thing better in my life; it is a pity that the stupid birds were frightened away by our laughter, else she would certainly have sung!" But it now occurred to the grand vizier that they had been forbidden to laugh during their transformation. He communicated his anxiety to the caliph. "By Mecca and Medina!" cried the caliph, "it would be a pretty piece of business if I had to remain a stork all my life! Try think of the stupid word; I can't remember it." "We must bow three times towards the East, and say, Mu--Mu--Mu--." They turned to the East, and bowed away till their beaks touched the ground. But, alas! The magic word had vanished, and with all the caliph's bowing, and his vizier's crying Mu--Mu--, all recollections of it had disappeared from their memories, and the poor Chasid and his vizier still remained storks as before. The caliph and the grand vizier walked in a melancholy mood through the fields, not knowing what to do in their sad plight. They could not get out of their stork-skins, and it would not do for them to go back to the town to tell any one of their condition. for who would believe a stork if he said that he was the caliph? And even if they had believed him, would the inhabitants of Bagdad be willing to have a stork for their caliph? So they sneaked about for several days, feeding upon wild fruits, which, however, they could not manage very well, on account of their long bills. For lizards and frogs, they had no appetite. Their only satisfaction in this sad predicament was that they could fly; and they often flew over on to the roofs in the city of Bagdad, to see what was going on. For the first few days they observed great uneasiness and mourning in the streets. But, on the fourth day of their enchantment, as they were sitting on the roof of the caliph's palace, they saw in the street below a splendid procession. The drums and fifes sounded, and a man in a scarlet robe, embroidered with gold, came riding along on a richly caparisoned horse, surrounded by servants in glittering garments. Half the town were at his heels, and all were shouting, "Hail to Mizra! Caliph of Bagdad!" The two storks looked at each other as they sat on the roof, and the Caliph Chasid said, "Do not you begin to understand how I come to be enchanted, Grand Vizier? This Mizra is the son of my mortal enemy, the powerful enchanter, Kaschnur, who in an evil hour vowed vengeance against me. But I do not yet give up all hope. Come with me, faithful companion in misfortune; we will make a pilgrimage to the grave of the Prophet; perhaps the charm may be broken in sacred places." So they raised themselves from the roof of the palace, and flew in the direction of Medina. Flying, however, did not suit the two storks very well, on account of their want of practice. "Ah, Sir," groaned the vizier, after they had been flying a couple of hours, "with your permission--I cannot stand it any longer; you fly too fast! Besides, it is already growing dark, and we should do well to be looking out for some place to pass the night." Chasid yielded to the request of his officer, and perceiving a ruined building in the valley below, they flew down to it. The place which they had pitched upon for their night-quarters, seemed to have been a castle. Beautiful columns were still standing among the ruins, and numerous chambers, which were in tolerable preservation, testified to the former splendor of the house. Chasid and his companion walked about the passages to find a dry spot; suddenly the stork Mansor stood still. "Lord and Master," whispered he, softly, "if it were not that it would be foolish for a grand vizier--and still more so for a stork--to be afraid of ghosts! I do not feel easy at all, for I heard some one sighing and moaning, quite plainly." The caliph also stopped, and heard distinctly a noise as of some one weeping, which sounded more like a human being than like an animal. Full of expectation, he was about to advance towards the place whence the sound proceeded; but the vizier seized him by the wing with his bill, and begged him earnestly not to expose himself to new unknown dangers; but in vain! The caliph, under whose stork- wings there beat a valiant heart, tore himself away with the loss of some feathers, and ran into a dark passage. He soon came to a door, which appeared not to be fastened, and from which proceeded distinct sighs and a slight hooting. He pushed the door open with his bill, but remained standing in astonishment on the threshold. In the ruinous chamber, which was lighted scantily by a small grated window, he saw a large owl sitting on the floor. Large tears were rolling from her great round eyes, and with a hoarse voice she uttered complaints from her crooked beak. But when she beheld the caliph and his vizier, who had crept after him in the mean time, she raised a loud cry of joy. Then she gracefully wiped the tears from her eyes with her brown-spotted wing, and, to the great astonishment of both, she cried out, in good human Arabic, "Welcome, ye storks; ye are a good omen of my deliverance, for it has been prophesied to me that a great good fortune would come to me through the means of some storks!" When the caliph had recovered from his astonishment, he made a bow with his long neck, placed his thin feet in a graceful position, and said, "Owl! thy words would lead me to conclude that thou art a partaker of our misfortune. But alas! thy hope of being delivered by us is in vain. Thou wilt perceive our helplessness when thou hast heard our story." The owl begged him to relate it, and the caliph began, and told her what we already know. When the caliph had finished telling their story to the owl, she thanked him, and said, "Hear, alas! my history, and you will see that I am not less unhappy than you. My father is the King of India, and I, his only daughter, am named Susa. The enchanter, Kaschnur, who enchanted you, brought me also into misery. He came one day to my father, and desired me for wife for his son Mizra. But my father, who is a quick-tempered person, had him kicked down stairs. The scoundrel contrived to come into my presence again under another form; and once, when I wished to take some refreshments in the garden, he brought to me, in the disguise of a slave, a potion which transformed me into this horrible shape. As I was powerless from fright, he brought me hither, and cried with a terrible voice into my ear,--" "Here shalt thou remain, ugly and despised even by the beasts, until thy death; or until some one of his own accord shall desire to marry thee, even in this vile shape. Thus I revenge myself on thee and thy proud father." "Since then, many months have elapsed. Solitary and sad, I live as a hermit in these walls, despised by the whole world, disgusting even to the beasts; the beauties of nature are shut from me, since I am blind by day, and, only when the moon pours her pale light over these walls, does the veil of darkness fall from my eyes." She ended, and wiped her tears again with her wing, for the narration of her sorrows had caused her to weep. The caliph pondered deeply on the story of the princess. "If I am not entirely in error," said he, "there is a secret connection between our misfortunes; but where shall I find the key to this riddle?" The owl answered, "Sir, I have also the same feeling; for it was prophesied to me, in my earliest youth, by a wise woman, that a stork would bring me great good luck; and perhaps I can tell in what manner we may deliver ourselves." The caliph was much amazed, and asked in what manner she meant. "The enchanter," said she, "who has rendered us both unhappy, comes once every month to these ruins. Not far from this chamber, there is a hall in which he is accustomed to revel with many comrades; I have often watched them there. They relate to each other their villanous deeds, and perhaps he may pronounce the magic word which you have forgotten." "O dearest Princess," exclaimed the caliph, "tell me when will he come, and where is the hall?" The owl was silent for a moment, and then said,-- "Do not take it ill, but I can fulfil your wish only on one condition." "What is it? what is it?" cried Chasid; "whatever you please; I will agree to any thing." "Why, I should like to obtain my own liberty also; but this is possible only on condition that one of you shall marry me." The storks seemed somewhat embarrassed by this proposal, and the caliph motioned to his officer to go out with him a moment. "Grand Vizier," said the caliph, when they got outside of the door, "this is a stupid business, but I should think you might marry her." "Indeed!" answered he; "do you wish to have my eyes scratched out by my wife as soon as I get home? Besides, I am an old man, and you are young and unmarried; it would be more reasonable for you to give your hand to a beautiful young princess." "Ay, but there's the rub," sighed the caliph, drooping his wings composedly; "who told you that she was young and beautiful? That is what I call buying a pig in a poke!" So they talked a long while about it, till, at last, as the caliph saw that his vizier preferred remaining a stork to marrying the owl, he made up his mind to fulfil the condition himself. The owl was highly delighted. She informed them that they could not have come at a better time, for probably the enchanters would assemble that night. She left the chamber with the storks, to conduct them to the hall; they walked for a long time through a dark passage; at last, a bright light streamed towards them from a ruined wall. Having reached this, the owl advised them to remain perfectly still. From the cleft at which they stood, they could see over the whole hall. It was surrounded by columns, and splendidly ornamented. Numerous colored lamps supplied the want of daylight. In the midst of the hall, stood a round table covered with various delicacies. Round the table, was placed a sofa on which sat eight men. In one of these men the storks recognized the merchant who had sold them the magic powder. The one who sat next to him asked him to relate his newest exploits. He told, among others, the story of the caliph and his vizier. "And what word did you give them?" asked another of the magicians. "A very hard Latin one; it is called MUTABOR." When the storks heard this at their chink in the wall, they were almost out of their senses with joy. They ran so swiftly to the door of the ruin, with their long feet, that the owl could scarcely keep up with them. When they had got out, the caliph said with emotion to the owl, "Deliverer of my life, and of the life of my friend, accept me for your husband, as an eternal mark of gratitude for what you have done for us." Then he turned towards the East. Three times the storks bowed their long necks towards the sun, which just then was rising over the mountains; cried MUTABOR, and in an instant they were disenchanted, and the master and servant lay in each other's arms, weeping for joy. But who could describe their astonishment, when, on looking round, they saw a beautiful lady in magnificent attire? "Do you not know your owl?" said she, smiling, as she gave her hand to the caliph. It was she, and the caliph was so enraptured with her beauty and grace, that he declared he had been most fortunate in having been turned into a stork. All three now returned to Bagdad, where the arrival of the caliph excited great astonishment. All had supposed that he was dead, and the people were highly delighted to recover their beloved ruler. The caliph Chasid lived long and happily with his wife, the princess; and sometimes, when the grand vizier came to see him of an afternoon, when he was in particularly good humor, he would condescend to imitate the appearance of the grand vizier in the character of the stork; walking gravely about, with feet extended, chattering, and waving with his arms; and showed how the grand vizier bowed in vain towards the East, and cried Mu--Mu. But when he kept this up too long, the vizier used to threaten that he would tell the caliph's wife the discussion, outside of the door, about the princess owl.Prev All
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