me greatly, and having honoured and dignified me, he made me sit down [near himself], and said, “I will behave to thee such as no one has as yet done to any one; the kingdom of thy father awaits thee, besides which thou art in the place of a son to me.”  He was talking to me in this gracious manner, when the beautiful woman appeared before him, and suddenly at the smell of that ointment, his brain became confused, and his mind distracted; he could not endure that smell; having got up, he went out and called Mubarak and me; he addressed himself to Mubarak, and said, “Well, sir, you have truly performed the injunctions [I gave].

“I had warned you, that if you deceived me, you would incur my displeasure; what smell is this? now see how I will treat you.”  He was very angry; Mubarak, from fear, opened his trowsers, and showed his condition, [398] and said, “Mighty king, when I undertook this business, according to your commands, I then cut off my privities, and put them in a box, sealed it, and delivered it over in charge to your treasurer, and putting some ointment of Solomon on the mutilated parts, I set out on the errand.”  On hearing this reply from Mubarak, the king of the jinns looked sternly at me, and said, “Then, this is thy doing;” and getting into a rage, he began to abuse me.  I immediately perceived from his words that he would put me to death.  When I felt convinced of this from his looks, despairing of life, I became desperate, and snatching the dagger from Mubarak’s waist, I plunged it into the king’s belly; on receiving the stab, he bent down and staggered; I wondered, for I thought he must assuredly have perished; I then perceived that the wound was not so effective as I imagined, and could not account for it; I was staring [with surprise] when he rolled on the ground, and assuming the appearance of a tennis ball, he flew up to the sky.  He ascended so high, that at last he disappeared; a moment after, flashing like lightning, and vociferating some meaningless words in his rage, he descended, and gave me such a kick, that I swooned away, and fell flat on my back, and became as one lifeless.  God knows how long I remained ere I came to my senses; but when I opened my eyes I saw that I was lying in such a wilderness, where, except thorns and briars, nothing else was to be seen; at that moment my understanding was of no avail to fix on what I should do, or where I should go.  In this state of despondence, I gave a sigh, and followed the first path that offered; if I met any one any where, I inquired after the name of Maliki Sadik; he, thinking me mad, answered that he had not even heard his name.