“We must bow three times towards the east and say ‘Mu-Mu-Mu--’” No further could they get. They bowed and bowed until their beaks touched the ground, but try as they would they could _not_ remember the magic word, and the unfortunate Caliph and his vizier were doomed to remain two storks. CHAPTER III. The enchanted pair wandered sadly from field to field, wondering what they could do to end their misery. They could not rid themselves of their birds forms, and it was equally impossible to return to the town and declare themselves to be the Caliph and his vizier, for who would have believed a couple of storks, and was it to be supposed the inhabitants of Bagdad would consent to be ruled by a stork? And so they crept about for days, sustaining themselves meagrely on wild fruits, which they were scarcely able to eat on account of their long beaks, but as yet they had no appetite for lizards and frogs, and such-like delicacies. Their only relaxation was the pleasure they found in the use of their wings, for they were able to fly into Bagdad and watch, from the roofs of the houses, what went on in the city. At first they noticed great sorrow and unrest, but within four days all this was changed and, watching from the roof of the Caliph’s palace, they noticed a magnificent procession winding along in the street below--drums and fifes sounded, and a man clothed in a scarlet robe, embroidered with gold, was seated upon a finely-caparisoned horse, surrounded by a glittering escort. Half the inhabitants of Bagdad came out to watch the procession, and cried as it passed--“Hail! Mizra, ruler of Bagdad.” The two storks looked at each other and the Caliph said--“Can you not guess now why we have been thus bewitched? Mizra is the son of my deadly enemy, the powerful magician Kaschnur, who once in an evil moment swore revenge against me. But we will not despair; come, my faithful comrade, we will seek the grave of our great prophet, and perchance in that holy spot we shall be freed from the enchantment.” [Illustration: _They had no appetite for lizards and frogs._ (P. 16.)] So they left the palace roof and flew towards Medina. But they had had so little practice in flying that they soon grew weary. “Oh! sire!” groaned the vizier, after a couple of hours, “with your permission I must rest for awhile, you fly too quickly for me. It is already evening, and would it not be as well to seek shelter for the night?” Chasid agreed to his companion’s request, and as he saw a ruin in the valley beneath, which promised to afford a roof to cover them, they flew down to it. The place seemed to have been at one time a castle. Beautiful pillars raised themselves in the dilapidated apartments, which still retained evidences of their former splendour. Chasid and Mansor wandered through the corridors, seeking for a dry spot suitable for a resting place, when suddenly Mansor stood still.