" Then he turned towards the East. Three times the
storks bowed their long necks towards the sun, which just then was
rising over the mountains; cried MUTABOR, and in an instant they
were disenchanted, and the master and servant lay in each other's
arms, weeping for joy. But who could describe their astonishment,
when, on looking round, they saw a beautiful lady in magnificent
attire? "Do you not know your owl?" said she, smiling, as she gave
her hand to the caliph. It was she, and the caliph was so enraptured
with her beauty and grace, that he declared he had been most
fortunate in having been turned into a stork.
All three now returned to Bagdad, where the arrival of the caliph
excited great astonishment. All had supposed that he was dead, and
the people were highly delighted to recover their beloved ruler.
The caliph Chasid lived long and happily with his wife, the
princess; and sometimes, when the grand vizier came to see him of an
afternoon, when he was in particularly good humor, he would
condescend to imitate the appearance of the grand vizier in the
character of the stork; walking gravely about, with feet extended,
chattering, and waving with his arms; and showed how the grand
vizier bowed in vain towards the East, and cried Mu--Mu. But when he
kept this up too long, the vizier used to threaten that he would
tell the caliph's wife the discussion, outside of the door, about
the princess owl.
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