roasted; for this is an abominable death!" Quoth one of us, "Hear
ye my words! let us cast about to kill him, and be at peace from
the grief of him and rid the Moslems of his barbarity and
tyranny." Then said I, "Hear me, O my brothers; if there is
nothing for it but to slay him, let us carry some of this
firewood and planks down to the sea-shore and make us a boat
wherein, if we succeed in slaughtering him, we may either embark
and let the waters carry us whither Allah willeth, or else abide
here till some ship pass, when we will take passage in it. If we
fail to kill him, we will embark in the boat and put out to sea;
and if we be drowned, we shall at least escape being roasted over
a kitchen fire with sliced weasands; whilst, if we escape, we
escape, and if we be drowned, we die martyrs." "By Allah," said
they all, "this rede is a right;" and we agreed upon this, and
set about carrying it out. So we haled down to the beach the
pieces of wood which lay about the bench; and, making a boat,
moored it to the strand, after which we stowed therein somewhat
of victual and returned to the castle. As soon as evening fell
the earth trembled under our feet and in came the blackamoor upon
us, snarling like a dog about to bite. He came up to us and
feeling us and turning us over one by one, took one of us and did
with him as he had done before and ate him, after which he lay
down on the bench and snored and snorted like thunder. As soon as
we were assured that he slept, we arose and taking two iron spits
of those standing there, heated them in the fiercest of the fire,
till they were red-hot, like burning coals, when we gripped fast
hold of them and going up to the giant, as he lay snoring on the
bench, thrust them into his eyes and pressed upon them, all of
us, with our united might, so that his eyeballs burst and he
became stone blind. Thereupon he cried with a great cry, whereat