re alike; in death, the king is no more than the
beggar. I will run away from this palace and seek refuge in the northern
provinces, where, if the climate be colder, they say the hearts of the
people are warmer."

That very night did Mobarec--for that was the name of the slave--leave
the palace of his lady-love, the beautiful banks of the Guadalquivir,
and his favourite orange-groves. During the daytime he hid in the caves
on the mountain-sides, and as soon as night set in he would continue his
journey.

When he had been travelling like this for some weeks, and as he was
making his way through a dark forest, he saw a brilliant light in the
distance; and as he was very hungry, he hoped that it might be from some
house where he might get food and rest. As he walked on he discovered
that the light was not from a house, but that it was caused by a large
bonfire, around which some men and women were seated.

Fearing that he might be in the neighbourhood of robbers, he took the
precaution of approaching by hiding behind the trees; and when he got
near enough to the group to see them plainly, he observed that close to
the fire there was a very old woman standing with her arms over the
fire, and holding a child which screamed as if it were being burned.

Mobarec thought that the child was going to be roasted, and did not know
that what he saw was simply the act of disenchantment, which was being
carried out by the wise woman of the village on a child born with the
evil eye.

Approaching still nearer, he heard the crone mutter some words, which
Mobarec imagined to be used in order to stifle the piteous cries of the
child.

The crone suddenly commenced shrieking and jumping over the fire, while
the men and women who surrounded her beat the air with big sticks, which
is done when the evil one is supposed to be leaving the body of the
child.

Just at this moment Mobarec happened to show himself from behind the
tree, when he was immediately observed by the wise woman, who directed
all eyes to him; and their horror can be easily imagined when it is said
that Mobarec was the first nigger who had ever visited the northern
parts of Spain.

Mobarec, on perceiving that he was seen, thought he would smile, in
order to show them that he was a friend; but this made him look all the
more terrible by the glare of the fire, and, thinking that he was the
evil one that had just left the body of the child, they first of all
crossed them