; in the inner rooms
were many large and small cages of smooth ebony with thick gold bars,
behind which moved a confused multitude of animals.

"My desire was now directed to the snow-white bird, about which I made
inquiry. He showed it me high up in a box, and as I could not see it
distinctly, he took it out and put it on my hand. 'It is quite
singular,' said he, 'when the bird is here, it can only remain a few
days alive, but I have found the corn of life, which I give it each
week, and it is then refreshed for nine days.' We asked for the corn
of life, of which we had never heard, and he opened a little box and
took out three grains. He gave me one to give the bird, the other I
was to try, and the third Prince Mundian Oppu. When I offered the
grain to the bird, it refused to peck it; and when I pressed my hand
closer, the bird drew back, lost its balance, and fell down with
outspread wings. I hastened to it, picked it up perhaps somewhat
roughly, and as it tried to escape, I held some of its tail-feathers
fast, so that it lay fluttering in my hand. I was very much
frightened, and the merchant seemed so also. He soon laughed with
malicious joy, and said that I should swallow the corn, because it
would prevent the flight of the frightened prisoner. He said the same
to the Prince, and we swallowed the grains in the same moment. I felt
a wonderful transformation pass over me, and found that I was changed
into a snow-white bird; and when I looked towards the Prince, in his
stead I saw a black bird. Now the stranger, who was no other than the
enchanter, seized me, and shut me up in the golden cage which you have
trodden to pieces. The apes began to ply the oars, and the ship moved
with unusual swiftness over the sea. I still saw my father sitting on
the terrace, and the wonder of the servants as they saw the ship
depart: I believed that I heard their voices calling us back. But what
could I do in my cage? The black bird flew to the promontory; and from
that moment I have neither heard nor seen anything of Prince Mundian
Oppu.

"When my home was far in the distance, and even the summit of the
mountain could no longer be distinguished, the enchanter rose with my
cage high in the air, leaving his ship behind, and bore me into the
hall of the tower. How he brought the other white bird, I don't know:
I only know that he took it out of his pocket and put it into the
cage. 'Now you have a companion,' said he. As I took him for