rincess had lived
so long as an owl, and ordered him to be hung up there. But to the
son, who did not understand the wicked arts of his father, he offered
the choice of either to die or take snuff.

He chose the latter when the Grand Vizier offered the box. A good
pinch, and the magic word of the Caliph changed him into a stork. The
Caliph then directed that he should be put into a cage and placed in
his garden.

Long and happily the Caliph Chasid lived with his wife, the Princess.
His happiest hours were when the Grand Vizier visited him in the
afternoon. They never tired of talking about their storks' adventure,
and when the Caliph was more than usually merry he would imitate the
Grand Vizier, and show how he looked when he was a stork. He walked
gravely up and down the chamber with slow and solemn steps, made a
clacking noise, flapped his arms like wings, and showed how he, to no
purpose, bowed himself to the east and called out: "Mu--Mu--Mu." This
was always a great delight to the Princess and the children, which
were afterward born to her, until they also took delight in calling
out to one another: "Mu--Mu--Mu."

So for very many years happiness reigned in the palace, and not only
in the palace, but throughout the city of Bagdad, the capital of the
ancient Saracen Empire.

_The Five Queer Brothers_

An old woman had five grown-up sons that looked just alike. The eldest
could gulp up the ocean at a mouthful; the second was hard enough to
nick steel; the third had extensible legs; the fourth was unaffected
by fire; the fifth lived without breathing. They all concealed their
peculiar traits, and their neighbours did not even guess that they
were queer.

The eldest supported the family by fishing, going alone to the sea,
and bringing back loads of spoil. The neighbours often besought him to
teach their sons how to fish, and he at last let all their boys go
with him, one day, to learn his art. On reaching the shore, he sucked
the sea into his mouth, and directed the boys to the dry bottom, to
collect the fish. When he was tired of holding the water, he beckoned
to the boys to return, but they were playing amongst strange objects,
and paid no heed to him. When he could contain the sea no longer, he
had to let it flow back into its former basin, and all the boys were
drowned.

As he went homeward, he passed the doors of the parents, who inquired
how many fish their sons had caught, and how long they woul