rand 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