ount for the generosity
of one who was celebrated for his meanness, in presenting him with
such an elaborately embroidered robe.

Next morning, just as he had put on his new robe, a distant relation
arrived, bringing a magnificently caparisoned horse.

"Dear cousin," he said--formerly he had not even noticed him--"your
appearance grieves me. I feared you were giving way too much to grief
at the loss of your father, and it would give me great pleasure to
cheer you a little. I have ventured to bring you this horse, which is
overcrowding my stable; do me the favour to accept this little gift!"

Abdul Kassim would have refused, but the cousin had hurried away.
There he stood, holding the beautiful animal by the bridle. He could
not resist the temptation to mount him. He swung himself into the
saddle and rode into the town. Every one bowed to him, and many stood
still, saying: "There, I told you so! Abdul Kassim was always the
favorite son, and he has inherited the casket!"

Next morning, as the barber sharpened his razor and began to shave the
Caliph, the latter asked him: "Well, Harmos, what are my subjects
talking about just now?"

The barber bowed to the ground and said: "What should they speak of, O
King of the Faithful, if not of your goodness and wisdom?"

"Of your idiocy, very likely," shouted the Caliph, bored by the
eternal flatteries of the barber. "Tell me, what are the people
talking about?"

"They talk," began Harmos hesitatingly; "they talk of the luck of your
servant, Abdul Kassim, whom they call the wisest and richest of your
subjects."

"Abdul Kassim? I don't even know his name," said the Caliph.

"He is the son and heir of Kalif," continued the barber, more
courageously; "the same Kalif whom the Shah once rewarded with a magic
casket."

He related at length all about the magic stones. The Caliph listened
attentively, dismissed the barber, and sent a message to the Grand
Vizier to come at once. The Vizier came and confirmed the barber's
tale. "Abdul Kassim," he said, "knows everything that goes on in the
world, and whenever he has a wish, all he has to do to fulfil it is to
rub the diamond and say what he wants."

The Caliph grew serious, "Do you think, Vizier, that this man could
usurp my throne? How would it be if I gave him a palace and raised him
to be the husband of my daughter?"

The Grand Vizier agreed to the proposal of his ruler, and undertook
himself to convey to the astounded Abdu