several countries, I resolved to come to Bagdad and request an audience
of the Commander of the Faithful.

And that, madam, is my story.

The Story of the Third Calendar, Son of a King

My story, said the Third Calender, is quite different from those of my
two friends.  It was fate that deprived them of the sight of their
right eyes, but mine was lost by my own folly.

My name is Agib, and I am the son of a king called Cassib, who reigned
over a large kingdom, which had for its capital one of the finest
seaport towns in the world.

When I succeeded to my father's throne my first care was to visit the
provinces on the mainland, and then to sail to the numerous islands
which lay off the shore, in order to gain the hearts of my subjects.
These voyages gave me such a taste for sailing that I soon determined
to explore more distant seas, and commanded a fleet of large ships to
be got ready without delay.  When they were properly fitted out I
embarked on my expedition.

For forty days wind and weather were all in our favour, but the next
night a terrific storm arose, which blew us hither and thither for ten
days, till the pilot confessed that he had quite lost his bearings.
Accordingly a sailor was sent up to the masthead to try to catch a
sight of land, and reported that nothing was to be seen but the sea and
sky, except a huge mass of blackness that lay astern.

On hearing this the pilot grew white, and, beating his breast, he
cried, "Oh, sir, we are lost, lost!" till the ship's crew trembled at
they knew not what.  When he had recovered himself a little, and was
able to explain the cause of his terror, he replied, in answer to my
question, that we had drifted far out of our course, and that the
following day about noon we should come near that mass of darkness,
which, said he, is nothing but the famous Black Mountain.  This
mountain is composed of adamant, which attracts to itself all the iron
and nails in your ship; and as we are helplessly drawn nearer, the
force of attraction will become so great that the iron and nails will

 Prev. P 54/248 next