When it was the Eight Hundred and Twenty-second Night； She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that the ancient Lady of Calamities cried，'When Queen Nur al-Huda doeth such misdeed to her sister，what will she do to a stranger like myself，against whom she is incensed？'Then said she，'I conjure thee，O devil，by the Most Compassionate，the Bountiful-great；the High of Estate，of Dominion Elate who man and Jinn did create，and by the writing upon the seal of Solomon David-son （on both be the Peace！） speak to me and answer me；'Quoth Hasan，'I am no devil；I am Hasan，the afflicted，the distraught.'Then he raised the cap from his head and appeared to the old woman，who knew him and taking him apart，said to him，'What is come to thy reason，that thou returnest hither？ Go hide thee；for，if this wicked woman have tormented thy wife with such torments，and she her sister，what will she do，an she light on thee？'Then she told him all that had befallen his spouse and that wherein she was of travail and torment and tribulation，and straitly described all the pains she endured adding，'And indeed the Queen repenteth her of having let thee go and hath sent one after thee；promising him an hundred-weight of gold and my rank in her service；and she hath sworn that，if he bring thee back，she will do thee and thy wife and children dead.'And she shed tears and discovered to Hasan what the Queen had done with herself，whereat he wept and said，'O my lady，how shall I do to escape from this land and deliver myself and my wife and children from this tyrannical Queen and how devise to return with them in safety to my own country？'Replied the old woman，'Woe to thee！ Save thyself.'Quoth he，'There is no help but I deliver her and my children from the Queen perforce and in her despite；'and quoth Shawahi，'How canst thou forcibly rescue them from her？ Go and hide thyself，O my son，till Allah Almighty empower thee.'Then Hasan showed her the rod and the cap，whereat she rejoiced with joy exceeding and cried，'Glory be to Him who quickeneth the bones，though they be rotten！ By Allah，O my son，thou and thy wife were but of lost folk；now，however，thou art saved，thou and thy wife and children！ For I know the rod and I know its maker，who was my Shaykh in the science of Gramarye.He was a mighty magician and spent an hundred and thirty and five years working at this rod and cap，till he brought them to perfection；when Death the Inevitable overtook him.And I have heard him say to his two boys，'O my sons，these two things are not of your lot，for there will come a stranger from a far country，who will take them from you by force，and ye shall not know how he taketh them.'Said they，'O our father，tell us how he will avail to take them.'But he answered，'I wot not.'And O my son，'added she，'how availedst thou to take them？'So he told her how he had taken them from the two boys，whereat she rejoiced and said，'O
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