‘My lord,' replied the stranger, ‘as I was wandering, hot and
tired, through the desert, I saw near me a great castle, and I
said aloud, "I will rest a little in its shadow." And a maiden
looked out of a window and said, "Are you a ghost or a man? "And
I answered, "I am a man, and a better one, too, than your father
or your grandfather." And I was thirsty and asked for water, but
she had none to give me, and I felt like to die. Then she told me
that the ogre, in whose castle she dwelt, brought in water always
from the same side, and that if I too went that way most likely I
should come to it. But before I started she begged me to go to
her native town, and if I met a man called Dschemil I was to say
to him, "Dschemila greets you, from the castle which lies far
away, and is rocked by the wind. In my grave lies only a goat. So
take heart."'

Then Dschemil turned to his family and said: ‘Is this true? and
is Dschemila not dead at all, but simply stolen from her home?'

‘No, no,' replied they, ‘his story is a pack of lies. Dschemila
is really dead. Everybody knows it.'

‘That I shall see for myself,' said Dschemil, and, snatching up a
spade, hastened off to the grave where the goat's head lay
buried.

And they answered, ‘Then hear what really happened. When you were
away, she went with the other maidens to the forest to gather
wood. And there she found an iron mortar, which she wished to
bring home; but she could not carry it, neither would she leave
it. So the maidens returned without her, and as night was come,