Evening star., 1927-12-07
WORLD FAMOUS STORIES
From THE ARABIAN NIGHTS"
ING OF THE BLACK ISLES

Zone Of the most famous collections Of Of
as the arabian Nights, or more formally
as the & &~Th6usand and One Nishts s.r being ,n1E
throughout that number of nights. The
iairy;tale quality Of these stories is the the
especial delight of children, but they are also
highly interesting to adults. as was clearly
evidenced by the motion picture, The Thief
OF Bagdadl
The sultan was puzzled by some
curious fish that had been brought
to him; of four colors they were, and
they could not be cooked. SO he had
the fishermen direct him and his
court to the lake where they had been
caught, and he was surprised to learn
that it was within three hours of his
palace, although no one seemed to
have heard of it before.
That night the sultan set out alone
to seek the cause of this mystery
taking with him his scimitar. he
went over the hills easily found the
descent less difficult, and. on the plain,
walked on till the sun rose, when he
saw before him, far off, a great build
ing. Nearing it, he saw that 1T was
a magnificent palace, or castle, of fine
black polished marble, and covered
with fine steel, smooth as a looking
glass.
The sultan knocked at the gate. but
received no answer. He knocked
again, and called aloud. but still no
one answered him. Finally he en-
tered, and just inside called again, but
still no answer. He passed through
the court into the great halls hung
with silk tapestry and filled with rich
things. On three sides the castle was
surrounded by a garden. The sultan
Avrf -
and saw many fine things. Getting
tired, he sat down to rest, and was
surprised to hear cries of misery. In
vestigating, the sultan came to an
other great hall.
There was handsome young man,
richly dressed, seated on throne.
He was the picture of melancholy.
The youth excused himself for not
standing to receive the Sultan's sa-
Lutte. The sultan asked him the
meaning of the pond and the strange
fish of four colors, and the empty
castle. Suddenly the young man
lifted up his gown and showed the
sultan that he was man from head
to waist, and that the other half of
his body was black marble. Then he
told his story:
when I succeeded my father as
king of this country, known as the
kingdom of the Black Isles, from the
four neighboring mountains, which
were formerly islands, l soon mar
ried my cousin. For five years we
were very happy. Then l had cause
to suspect her of infidelity; / learned
that she had been drugging me to lull
my suspicious. Once | followed her,
and saw her enter little wood, where
Thair IN n
taught me that my wife, the queen,
was a sorceress. AS they passed, |
struck at the man with my scimita",
fatally wounding him, although she
kept him alive with a magic spell.
Still, he never revived, although he
breathed.
THE queen went into mourning, but
told me it was for relatives of whose
death she had just learned. She spent
a year in great grief, then, with my
permission, she built a tomb called
the Palace of Tears, where she caused
the wounded william to be brought for
whose condition she was mourning.
Her entertainments could not cure the
wretch, but she kept him alive. l once
overheard her plead with him 20
speak. Finally l lost patience, and
faced her with the information that !
had struck the man down. For that
she used her spells upon me and
made me as you see me now.
Then the sorceress destroyed my
kingdom, reducing it to the pond you
saw, where the fishes are my people,
the four colors representing the four
classes of society. Not satisfied with
this, she comes every day, strips my
shoulders, and whips me with an OK
goad for a hundred blows"
The sultan was much amazed, and
wished to help the young man. He
asked to be directed to the Palace of
Tears, so that he might find the man
who hung between living and dying
by virtue of the false queens en-
chantments Going there, the sultan
found the wretch and quickly killed
him, taking his place on the couch.
When the sorceress arrived, she
begged, as usual, for the man to
speak one word to her.
The sultan, to the woman's aston
ishment, spoke. Unhappy woman" ;"
said he, "why should you expect an
answer? The cries and groans Of thy
husband hinder me from sleeping
night and day. 1 should have been
cured long ago, had you been merci-
full. Restore your husband II you
would have me well"
So the sorceress, believing him, went
and released the handsome youth
from the spell, making him whole
again. She ordered him away. and
he controlled himself to await the
success of the sultan's plan which had
been so we'll begun.
Dearest, have done what you or
dered," said the sorceress, to the man
she supposed was on the couch.
THAT is only part of the cure"
said the sultan, always using the lam
guage of India, which the womans
lover spoke. You must now re-
store your husbands kingdom, for the