eady at once; but his heart failed him as the demon
preceded him to the under-world,[55] leading him by paths that no living
man had ever trodden before, and through an utterly unknown country,
where the sun and moon never shone, and where the only light came from
the torches that flared on both sides of their way. When they reached
the palace of the demon, his sons came to the door, and invited the
guest to take his place at the table, which was loaded with gold and
silver plate, and eat and drink. But the boy could touch nothing from
terror, for sparks of fire flew from the dishes and viands, and blue
flames played over the beakers.

Then the water-demons began to titter, and to whisper to each other in
their own language, which sounded just like Lettish,[56] and which their
guest could not understand. The boy began to reproach his avaricious
friend in his thoughts for having thus sent him to Porgu without
thinking of what might happen to him; but presently the younger demons
seized upon him, and began to toss him from one to another like a ball,
sometimes from one side of the room to the other, and sometimes up to
the ceiling.

The boy begged them to let him rest a little, and presently they allowed
him to do so. Then he drew a cord from his pocket, and pretended to
measure the length and breadth of the room. Presently he came to the
door, and seized the opportunity to bolt, and was fortunate enough to
make his way back to daylight, where the demon had no more power to
interfere with him.

As he passed the gates, the guards whispered to him to turn to the right
to avoid the many snares in his path. He did not escape without a good
fright; for only strong men can go where they please, like the birds,
while the weak man is exposed to a thousand terrors. On the boy's way he
met a small bitch[57] accompanied by two puppies; and this was the
mother of the demons, just returning from the bath-house. The boy now
remembered the warning he had received, and turned aside to the right,
and the three ran past without noticing him.

When the boy reached the place where he had left the Alevide, he found
that both his friend and the money had disappeared. Presently the
water-demon came up, and asked him jestingly whether he had burnt
himself, or whether he had been stung by a gadfly, that he ran away like
that, instead of helping him to carry the heavy money-bags. He then
proposed that they should look for a good place where th