ou have divided the contents."

Ali Hassuf hesitated at first, but finally agreed to Kassim's wish.

The three brothers left the empty house, and went each to seek his
fortune in his own way.

Ali Haitam bought a piece of muslin, folded it into a turban, sewed
the lapis lazuli inside, and fixed it firmly on his head. Then he went
to the bazaar and waited for an influx of wisdom, And see! The power
of the stone set to work and his mind was filled with knowledge! He
knew the origin of all things, and his eyes could see through walls
five feet thick! He passed the Caliph's palace, and he could see that
in the recesses of the cellars were hidden 9,000 sacks of gold, and
that Fatma, the daughter of the Caliph, was the most lovely maiden in
the East; and an idea occurred to him that dazzled him. "How would it
be," he thought, "if I placed my wisdom at the Caliph's disposal,
became his first adviser, and finally married the lovely Fatma?" But
together with this dream came the longing to display to an admiring
crowd some proofs of his wisdom.

He hurried back to the bazaar, mounted the highest steps at the gates,
and cried: "You people of Bagdad, who believe that the sun moves round
the earth, you are ignorant fools and sons of fools! Hear now what I
preach to you. The sun stands still, but the earth moves!"

He intended to continue, but the cries of the bystanders interrupted
him.

"Ali Haitam has gone mad," they cried; "listen to the nonsense he is
talking. Come, let us hold him head first under the lion's mouth at
the spring; that will restore him to reason!"

And one, a fruit dealer, took an orange, and crying, "Ali Haitam is
right, the sun moves just as little as this orange!" flung the orange
at the philosopher on the steps. The juicy fruit knocked the turban
from Ali's head. He stooped to regain it, but in vain. The fruit
dealer's throw was the signal for a general onslaught, so that he was
obliged to take to his heels and fly for home. Dusty and panting he
reached his hut, deeply grieved at the loss of his precious stone, and
furious at the stupidity of the people, who showed so little
understanding of the first principles of science.

The second brother started more cautiously. Since he had but seldom
been farther than the end of the narrow street by the Golden Bridge,
he was not in a position to think of anything very precious to wish
for; he therefore first visited the bazaar and asked the price of
everythi