I
will eat you the next time we meet.'
'Oh, I will obey you punctually,' cried the Jew.
After thirty days the Jew entered the gate of the town, and sat down in
the first street he came to, hungry, thirsty, and very tired.
Quite by chance, Dschemil happened to pass by, and seeing a man sitting
there, full in the glare of the sun, he stopped, and said, 'Get up at
once, Jew; you will have a sunstroke if you sit in such a place.'
'Ah, good sir,' replied the Jew, 'for a whole month I have been
travelling, and I am too tired to move.'
'Which way did you come?' asked Dschemil.
'From out there,' answered the Jew pointing behind him.
'And you have been travelling for a month, you say? Well, did you see
anything remarkable?'
'Yes, good sir; I saw a castle, and lay down to rest under its shadow.
And an ogre woke me, and told me to come to this town, where I should
find a young man called Dschemil, and a girl called Dschemila.'
'My name is Dschemil. What does the ogre want with me?'
'He gave me some presents for Dschemila. How can I see her?'
'Come with me, and you shall give them into her own hands.'
So the two went together to the house of Dschemil's uncle, and Dschemil
led the Jew into his aunt's room.
'Aunt!' he cried, 'this Jew who is with me has come from the ogre, and
has brought with him, as presents, a mirror and a comb which the ogre
has sent her.'
'But it may be only some wicked trick on the part of the ogre,' said
she.
'Oh, I don't think so,' answered the young man, 'give her the things.'
Then the maiden was called, and she came out of her hiding place, and
went up to the Jew, saying, 'Where have you come from, Jew?'
'From your father the ogre.'
'And what errand did he send you on?'
'He told me I was to give you this mirror and this comb, and to say
"Look in this mirror, and comb your hair with this comb, and both will
become as they were formerly."'
And Dschemila took the mirror and looked into it, and combed her hair
with the comb, and she had no longer an ass's head, but the face of a
beautiful maiden.
Great was the joy of both mother and cousin at this wonderful sight,
and the news that Dschemila had returned soon spread, and the neighbours
came flocking in with greetings.
'When did you come back?'
'My cousin brought me.'
'Why, he told us he could not find you!'
'Oh, I did that on purpose,' answered Dschemil. 'I did not want everyone
to know.'
Then he turn
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