ve you.'

And the bird saw it was no use talking, and went down to the earth
again.

'Here you are at home, so let me go my way,' it begged once more; 'or at
least make a covenant with me.'

'What covenant?' said the boy.

'Save me from the sun,' replied the bird, 'and I will save you from
rain.'

'How can you do that, and how can I tell if I can trust you?'

'Pull a feather from my tail, and put it in the fire, and if you want me
I will come to you, wherever I am.'

And the boy answered, 'Well, I agree; go your way.'

'Farewell, my friend. When you call me, if it is from the depths of the
sea, I will come.'

The lad watched the bird out of sight; then he went straight to the date
tree. And when he saw the dates his heart was glad, and his body felt
stronger and his eyes brighter than before. And he laughed out loud with
joy, and said to himself, 'This is MY luck, mine, Sit-in-the-kitchen!
Farewell, date tree, I am going to lie down. What ate you will eat you
no more.'

The sun was high in the sky before the head-man, whose business it was,
came to look at the date tree, expecting to find it stripped of all
its fruit, but when he saw the dates so thick that they almost hid the
leaves he ran back to his house, and beat a big drum till everybody came
running, and even the little children wanted to know what had happened.

'What is it? What is it, head-man?' cried they.

'Ah, it is not a son that the master has, but a lion! This day
Sit-in-the-kitchen has uncovered his face before his father!'

'But how, head-man?'

'To day the people may eat the dates.'

'Is it true, head-man?'

'Oh yes, it is true, but let him sleep till each man has brought forth
a present. He who has fowls, let him take fowls; he who has a goat, let
him take a goat; he who has rice, let him take rice.' And the people did
as he had said.

Then they took the drum, and went to the tree where the boy lay
sleeping.

And they picked him up, and carried him away, with horns and clarionets
and drums, with clappings of hands and shrieks of joy, straight to his
father's house.

When his father heard the noise and saw the baskets made of green
leaves, brimming over with dates, and his son borne high on the necks of
slaves, his heart leaped, and he said to himself 'To-day at last I shall
eat dates.' And he called his wife to see what her son had done, and
ordered his soldiers to take the boy and bring him to his father.

'What news, my