se he and bethought him of the
words of Noorna, and of the City of Oolb, and the phial of the waters of
Paravid in his vest; and he drew it forth, and dropped a drop of it on
the rock where he had reclined. A deep harmony seemed suddenly to awake
inside the rock, and to his interrogation as to the direction of Oolb, he
heard, 'The path of the shadows of the moon.'

Thereupon he advanced to a prominent part of the rocks above the meadows,
and beheld the shadows of the moon thrown forward into dimness across a
waste of sand. And he stepped downward to the level of sand, and went the
way of the shadows till it was dawn. Then dropped he a drop of the waters
of the phial on a spike of lavender, and there was a voice said to him in
reply to what he questioned, 'The path of the shadows of the sun.'

The shadows of the sun were thrown forward across the same waste of sand,
and he turned and pursued his way, resting at noon beneath a date-tree,
and refreshing himself at a clear spring beside it. Surely he was joyful
as he went, and elated with high prospects, singing:

Sun and moon with their bright fingers
Point the hero's path;

If in his great work he lingers,
Well may they be wroth.

Now, the extent of the duration of his travel was four days and an equal
number of nights; and it was on the fifth morn that he entered the gates
of a city by the sea, even at that hour when the inhabitants were rising
from sleep: fair was the sea beyond it, and the harbour was crowded with
vessels, ships stored with merchandise--silks, dates, diamonds, Damascus
steel, huge bales piled on the decks for the land of Roum and other
lands. Shibli Bagarag thought, 'There's scarce a doubt but that one of
those sails will set for Oolb shortly. Wullahy! if I knew which, I'd
board her and win a berth in her.' Presently he thought, 'I'll go to the
public fountain and question it with the speech-winning waters.'
Thereupon he passed down the streets of the city and came to an open
space, where stood the fountain, and sprinkled it with Paravid; and the
fountain spake, saying, 'Where men are, question not dumb things.'

Cried he, 'Faileth Paravid in its power? Have I done aught to baffle
myself?'

Then he thought, ''Twere nevertheless well to do as the fountain
directeth, and question men while I see them.' And he walked about among
the people, and came to the quays of the harbour where the ships lay
close in, many of them an eas