"Lang, Andrew - Arabian Nights" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lang Andrew)

merchant and the genius. The second old man had not sooner heard
the story than he, too, decided to stay there to see what would happen.
He sat down by the others, and was talking, when a third old
man arrived. He asked why the merchant who was with them looked
so sad. They told him the story, and he also resolved to see what
would pass between the genius and the merchant, so waited with the rest.

They soon saw in the distance a thick smoke, like a cloud of dust.
This smoke came nearer and nearer, and then, all at once,
it vanished, and they saw the genius, who, without speaking to them,
approached the merchant, sword in hand, and, taking him by the arm,
said, "Get up and let me kill you as you killed my son."

The merchant and the three old men began to weep and groan.

Then the old man leading the hind threw himself at the monster's
feet and said, "O Prince of the Genii, I beg of you to stay
your fury and to listen to me. I am going to tell you my story
and that of the hind I have with me, and if you find it more
marvellous than that of the merchant whom you are about to kill,
I hope that you will do away with a third part of his punishment?"

The genius considered some time, and then he said, "Very well,
I agree to this."



The Story of the First Old Man and of the Hind


I am now going to begin my story (said the old man), so please attend.

This hind that you see with me is my wife. We have no children
of our own, therefore I adopted the son of a favorite slave,
and determined to make him my heir.

My wife, however, took a great dislike to both mother and child,
which she concealed from me till too late. When my adopted
son was about ten years old I was obliged to go on a journey.
Before I went I entrusted to my wife's keeping both the mother
and child, and begged her to take care of them during my absence,
which lasted a whole year. During this time she studied magic
in order to carry out her wicked scheme. When she had learnt enough
she took my son into a distant place and changed him into a calf.
Then she gave him to my steward, and told him to look after a calf she
had bought. She also changed the slave into a cow, which she sent
to my steward.

When I returned I inquired after my slave and the child.
"Your slave is dead," she said, "and as for your son, I have