And he went up to the tree, put forth his hand to take some of the fruit, when lo, the tree grew so rapidly he could not reach the fruit. He became frenzied with the desire for it and he put forth such strength to reach the lowest shining globe his arm was lengthened thereby to a length almost sufficient to reach it, but not quite. So he persevered until his arm had grown so long he had not strength in his body to keep it longer in an upright position and it fell to the ground, from whence he could not raise it, nor did it resume its former length, but remained as it was. He gazed aloft at the golden fruit, tears streaming down his face. Then he started off in great haste in search of a ladder, as the tree seemed to have stopped its remarkable growth, and he was forced to drag his arm and hand after him trailing on the ground. When he had gone a great distance he was suddenly stopped by the king, who was out riding, for the king had not ever seen a man with such an arm. In answer to the king’s question as to how he came by it, he told his story. The king immediately ordered one of his attendants to dismount, and had my forefather put on the horse and directed him to lead the way to this wonder, which they very soon reached. Thereupon the king commanded one of his attendants (who happened to be one of the ancestors of Sin Bad) to climb the tree and throw down the fruit. [Illustration] When the man began to climb, the tree began to grow above him; he climbed and climbed and climbed until he was worn out with exhaustion and slid down with such force he lay stunned for several hours. In the meantime the king ordered his hewer to cut down the tree, which he proceeded to do with a great show of confidence. But, strange though it may seem it is nevertheless in strict accord with veracity, before the chopper could make a second stroke the cut he had made had risen above his reach by reason of the swift growth of the tree; and he was fain to desist after a long and hard struggle to strike the blows quickly enough to get two cuts in the same place. He was at once beheaded by the order of the king, who was frantic with rage at his defeat. He then ordered his bridgemaker to tie a chain around the tree, hitch twenty oxen to the chain, and thus pull the tree up by the roots. Now, this driver of oxen was a vainglorious man and earnestly sought emulation in the sight of his majesty, and it was with exceeding readiness he set about obeying the command. He dextrously switched his oxen into line, and they were lusty ones, and with much adroitness took a lockstitch around the trunk of the tree. Then he reached for his whip, and observed the oxen all dangling in the air above his head, bellowing with fear and liked all to have their necks broken by the phenomenal growth of the tree. Had the chain not broken by the efforts of the oxen to free themselves, they had all surely been done to death by the tree.