of the morning star, and God had given him
a brightness well nigh equal to that of the
sun, and permitted his star to be seen of
men, even till the third hour of the day; but
Eblis wished that his light might be greater,
and that his star might be seen of men all
the day long; wherefore God banished him
from the morning star, and shut him up here
with forsaken creatures; and as for us, we
are even as he is." And the Bull Face and
the Hook Noses howled for grief, and I was
sorry that I had questioned them, for I
thought, they have a sore burden to bear,
and I have reminded them of it. And now
they flew down to the land, whereon the
palace of Eblis stands; and, verily, it is a land
of ice, for there are neither trees nor plants
in it, nor any living herb, nor any running
water, but only great rocks and columns of ice;
even pillars like those of Tadmor, which
Solomon built in the desert. And in these
columns I saw what will scarce be believed;
for I saw all manner of animals, entire and
perfect, even elephants bigger than any that
I ever saw in the land of the Mogul, and
great deer, and crocodiles, such as live by the
Nile. These were all shut up in the ice, as
flies and straws are enclosed in the amber of
the merchants; and the expression of their
countenances was that of animals which have
died in pain. And I said to them who were
with me, "Oh Jân! how came these creatures
here?" And one of them said, "Of a truth,
this was once a land with rivers of water, and
with trees and plants, both great and small,
and these creatures lived therein; but when
God sent Eblis hither, he caused the Sun to
shine on other parts of the world and not on
this, so that these creatures were all frozen
up here, and the breath went out of them."

Then thought I, "Lo! now this is what the
Frank said to Demski and to others. Surely
God has cursed these Franks, for they speak
like the Jâns." But though there was no sun
in this land, there was a light, such as I never
saw before or since; for it proceeded from no
visible cause, but resembled the reflection of a
lamp upon a wall; and verily the ice was
luminous, and I saw pale flames on the top of
every rock and pillar of ice, and they resembled
the mist which surrounds the moon
when rain is about to be sent. And the
flames were everywhere, even in the ground
whereon I walked, and in the air which I
breathed; but there was no heat in the flame.
And, lo! we came into the hall where Eblis
sat, and it was all of luminous ice, and the
inhabitants thereof were of ice also; and as I
looked at the Jân who had brought me,
behold! they were all of ice, and pale flames were
around all their heads, and at the ends of all
their fingers, and their bodies were luminous,
so that I could see their hearts beat. And
Eblis sat on a frozen throne, and his body
looked like a pure opal without flaw, and his
face was like unto a milk-white cornelian.
And there was no light in the palace, or in
all that land, but that which came from the
ice, and from the inhabitants thereof.

And they set me in the midst. And Eblis
said, "What present has my servant Hamet
brought to his lord?" And I answered, "Nay,
my Sultan; I was taken in the night, and
have brought nothing, and, moreover, I am
not the servant of my Sultan; but if he will
send me back to Berezow, to the house of
Demski, I will give him, as a present, fur caps
of Thibet, and woollen garments of Cashmere,
inasmuch as he needeth them sorely." And
thereat the men of ice laughed, until their
joints cracked horribly. And Eblis said,
"Yea! but thou hast served me often; even
at the fair of Novogorod, when thou didst sell
fur caps for two roubles, that were not worth
one; and again, no later than last night, when
thou didst drink brandy and eat stewed
pears." And I said, "Of a truth, the fur
caps were not good, and the stewed pears are
an accursed food; but I am a poor man, and
my Sultan will take a small present from
me." And he answered, "Yea! I will take
even what thou hast with thee;" and turning
to a blue Jin, who stood near him, he said,
"Take from him the girdle of roubles which
is about his waist." And when I heard this,
I thought, "It were better for me to die than
to let these accursed ones have my roubles; a
man can only die once, but poverty is an
abiding affliction." So I took courage, and
cried, "Oh! Frozen Ones, accursed are your
mothers and your sisters; but my roubles ye
shall not have." And I held up my garments,
and ran; and the men of ice ran too, and slid
round about me on the ice, and caught at me
with their slippery hands, and chilled me
with their icy breath. And the rocks, and the
pillars, and the frozen ground, shot out pale
flames at me as I passed; and the creatures
in the pillars, the expression of whose countenances
was that of creatures which had died
in pain, writhed themselves in the ice, and
grinned at me horribly. And all the men of
ice shouted, "Hamet! Stop, Hamet! Thy
roubles, Hamet! Thy roubles!" And their
words struck against the rocks, and ran along
the frozen ground, and along the surface of
the sea, until all that desolate place repeated
"Hamet! Stop, Hamet! Thy roubles, Hamet!
Thy roubles!" and my foot slipped. And as I
strove to save myself from falling, behold! I
was on my back on the stove in the house of
Demski, and he and his wife and their son
were shouting to me. And they said that I
had slept long: but how I escaped from those
frozen ones, I know not; but I suppose the
bit of cloth, with which I had touched the
Holy Stone, redeemed me from them, even
from the power of the Jân; by which one
may see that it is good to go to Mecca, and
that Mohammed is the Prophet of God.

And when the spring came I departed from
Demski and his wife, and returned to Khiva,
both I and my roubles, whereof those evil ones
had wished to rob me.