m to carry it to the
Sultan. Going out of the house he met the bad one, who wanted to carry the
letter himself. The good man gave it to him. The Sultan read the letter,
and had the bad one's head cut off. The good man returned to the King.

"What did he say?" asked the King.

"Ah, Sidi, I met a man who wanted to carry the letter. I intrusted it to
him and he took it to the Sultan, who condemned him to death in the city."

* * * * *

THE CROW AND THE CHILD

A man had two wives. He was a rich merchant. One of them had a son whose
forehead was curved with a forelock. Her husband said to her:

"Don't work any more, but only take care of the child. The other wife will
do all the work."

One day he went to market. The childless wife said to the other, "Go, get
some water."

"No," she answered, "our husband does not want me to work."

"Go, get some water, I tell you." And the woman went to the fountain. On
the way she met a crow half dead with fatigue. A merchant who was passing
took it up and carried it away. He arrived before the house of the woman
who had gone to the fountain, and there found the second woman.

"Give something to this crow," demanded the merchant.

"Give it to me," she answered, "and I will make you rich."

"What will you give me?" asked the merchant.

"A child," replied the woman.

The merchant refused, and said to her, "Where did you steal it?"

"From whom did I steal it?" she cried. "It is my own son."

"Bring him."

She brought the child to him, and the merchant left her the crow and took
the boy to his home and soon became very, rich. The mother came back from
the fountain. The other woman said:

"Where is your son? Listen, he is crying, that son of yours."

"He is not crying," she answered.

"You don't know how to amuse him. I'll go and take him."

"Leave him alone," said the mother. "He is asleep."

They ground some wheat, and the child did not appear to wake up.

At this the husband returned from the market and said to the mother, "Why
don't you busy yourself looking after your son?" Then she arose to take
him, and found a crow in the cradle. The other woman cried:

"This is the mother of a crow! Take it into the other house; sprinkle it
with hot water." She went to the other house and poured hot water on the
crow.

Meanwhile, the child called the merchant his father and the merchant's wife
his mother. One day the merchant set off on