t,' answered the Magician; 'but if you like you
may breakfast to-morrow.'

'You said I might have anything I asked for,' said Hassan, beginning to
feel rather miserable.

'So I did,' the Magician admitted; 'anything you see you may ask for,
you know, but I don't think you can see any breakfast, besides,' the
Magician added, 'you must wait until we are there, and we have a long
way to go yet.'

He told Hassan to get out of the carriage, which was at once driven
away. 'Come along,' said the Magician, with a smiling face, and Hassan
felt compelled to follow, although he would far sooner have gone home
again. He could see nothing but grass all around and the great trees
that shaded it from the burning sun. As he trudged after the Magician,
Hassan continued to grumble about his breakfast until it was
dinner-time, and it seemed useless to grumble about breakfast any more.
He began to wonder where the Magician was taking him, because, though he
had walked for many hours, he had seen nothing but trees.

One thing astonished Hassan very much indeed. Although it was still
quite early in the afternoon, the farther he walked the darker it grew,
and at first he thought the dimness was due to the trees. But he noticed
there were not nearly so many trees as there had been, and yet the light
became fainter and fainter.

'I should like to have some dinner!' cried Hassan, as he followed the
Magician. 'I'm hungry, and you promised I might have anything I asked
for.'

'When we get there,' answered the Magician; 'we are not there yet, you
see, but when we arrive I shall keep my word.'

Hassan wished he had never seen the Magician; he felt so sleepy that he
could scarcely prevent his eyes from closing, but still he walked on and
on; and still it grew darker and darker. There were no trees now, only a
few low bushes, and the sky looked a curious dark colour. There were no
stars, no moon; Hassan could scarcely see his way, and gradually
everything became invisible except the Magician, until presently he
disappeared too. It seemed darker than the middle of the night; when
Hassan looked upwards he saw nothing but blackness; when he looked down
he saw nothing but blackness; to the right and the left it was the same;
he could not see his own hands when he held them close to his nose, and
yet his eyes were quite widely open all the time.

'Are you here?' he cried, to make sure the Magician had not gone away
and left him alone.

'No,' wa