"
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
to new unknown dangers; but in vain! The caliph, under whose stork-
wings there beat a valiant heart, tore himself away with the loss of
some feathers, and ran into a dark passage. He soon came to a door,
which appeared not to be fastened, and from which proceeded distinct
sighs and a slight hooting. He pushed the door open with his bill,
but remained standing in astonishment on the threshold.
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