not yet give up all hope. Come with me, faithful companion in
misfortune; we will make a pilgrimage to the grave of the Prophet;
perhaps the charm may be broken in sacred places."

So they raised themselves from the roof of the palace, and flew in
the direction of Medina.

Flying, however, did not suit the two storks very well, on account
of their want of practice. "Ah, Sir," groaned the vizier, after they
had been flying a couple of hours, "with your permission--I cannot
stand it any longer; you fly too fast! Besides, it is already
growing dark, and we should do well to be looking out for some place
to pass the night."

Chasid yielded to the request of his officer, and perceiving a
ruined building in the valley below, they flew down to it. The place
which they had pitched upon for their night-quarters, seemed to have
been a castle. Beautiful columns were still standing among the
ruins, and numerous chambers, which were in tolerable preservation,
testified to the former splendor of the house. Chasid and his
companion walked about the passages to find a dry spot; suddenly the
stork Mansor stood still. "Lord and Master," whispered he, softly,
"if it were not that it would be foolish for a grand vizier--and
still more so for a stork--to be afraid of ghosts! I do not feel
easy at all, for I heard some one sighing and moaning, quite
plainly." The caliph also stopped, and heard distinctly a noise as
of some one weeping, which sounded more like a human being than like
an animal. Full of expectation, he was about to advance towards the
place whence the sound proceeded; but the vizier seized him by the
wing with his bill, and begged him earnestly not to expose himself