"
"Son," said the aged Vizier, "I will plead thy cause; meet me here on
the morrow, and in the mean time consider thy request as granted."
"Father, I take my leave; and may the Guardian of the Good shower down
a thousand blessings on thy head!"
Abad made a profound obeisance to the Vizier, and they separated: the
latter to conduct the affairs of the state, and the former to toil
through the more menial labours of the day.
Morning came; Abad was at the appointed spot before sunrise, and waited
with impatience for the expected hour when the Vizier was to arrive.
The Vizier was punctual; and with him, in a plain habit, was the Caliph
himself, who underwent the operation of having blood drawn from him by
the hand of Abad.
At midnight, Abad, as he had been directed by the Genius of the Dale,
went to the cave of the Spirit of the Mountain. He was alone! It was
pitchy dark; the winds howled through the thick foliage of the forest;
the owls shrieked, and the wolves bayed; the loneliness of the place was
calculated to inspire terror! and the idea of meeting such a personage,
at such an hour, did not contribute to the removal of that terror! He
trembled most violently. At length, summoning up courage he entered the
mystic cell, and commenced challenging the assistance of the Spirit of
the Mountain in the following words:
"In the name of the Genius of the Dale I conjure you! by our holy
Prophet I command you! by the darkness of this murky night I entreat
you! and by the blood of a Caliph, shed by this weak arm, I allure you,
most potent Muloch, to appear! Muloch rise! help! appear!"
At this instant the monster appeared, in the form of a human being of
gigantic stature and proportions, having a fierce aspect, large, dark,
rolling eyes, bushy eyebrows, and a thick black beard--attired in the
habit of a blacksmith! He bore a huge hammer in his right hand, and in
his left he carried a pair of pincers, in which was grasped a piece of
shapeless metal.
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