Caricatures and cartoons -- Great Britain; English wit and humor; English wit and humor, Pictorial
And I proceeded a little space, and I looked, and lo! a great palace
appeared before me, the doors of which were of the iron of China, and
the door-posts of brass, and the walls thereof were inlaid with jewels
and all kinds of precious stones, such as I had never before beheld. The
gates of the palace were open, so I descended from my mule and entered,
and lo! I found therein a spacious hall the like of which my eyes had
never before beheld; and within this great hall were many ghools, and
lo! they were busied about some great work; and I approached and beheld,
and lo! they were stamping with the signet of Sulezmán, the son of Dáood
(on both of whom be peace); and they were stamping the signets with
astounding quickness; and when I beheld them, I said within myself, "God
is great! What he willeth, that cometh to pass; and what he willeth not,
doth not happen."
After that I proceeded; and as I was walking from the palace, my foot
struck upon some hard substance, and I looked down, and lo! it was a
bottle of brass, filled with something, and having its mouth closed
with a stopper of lead, bearing the impression of the seal of Sulezmán,
the son of Dáood (on both of whom be peace); then said I to myself, "By
Allah, the great, the wonderful! I must open this and see what is in it."
So I took out a knife, and picked at the lead until I had extracted it
from the bottle of brass; and when I had so done, lo! a great quantity
of smoke came forth, and I heard a sound as if of a strong rushing wind;
and while I was looking, behold the smoke collected together, and shook,
and it became an Efreet, horrible in form. His head was like a dome, and
from it there rose a huge horn, like a great column; his hair was as
kohl; his eyes flashed forth fire, and from his mouth issued flames; and
when I beheld him the muscles of my sides quivered, my teeth were locked
together, my spittle dried up, and I saw not my way.
Then the Efreet, when he saw me, cried out and said to me, "Fear not, O
thou of the sons of Adam! for as thou hast released me from confinement,
there shall no harm befall thee; and lo! I will now convey thee where
thou mayest have all thy wants, and fulfil all thy desires; but keep thou
in thine hand the impression of the signet of Sulezmán, the son of Dáood
(on both of whom be peace), for thou wilt have need of it in thy way."
Then said I unto him, "Whither is it that thou wilt lead me, O! Márid?"
And he said, "I will lead thee to a place such as thou hast never before
beheld, and show unto thee sights such as thou hast never before looked
on. But fear not; for I swear to thee, by Allah, the good, the powerful!
that no harm shall befall thee."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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