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 col umns 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 |