Presently the tailor came in to me and said,
"O my son, there is without an old man, a foreigner, who seeks
thee. He has thine axe and sandals and came to the woodcutters
and said to them, 'I went out at the hour of the call to morning
prayer and happened on these and know not whose they are: direct
me to their owner.' They knew thine axe and sent him to thee; and
he is now sitting in my shop. So do thou go out to him and thank
him and take thy gear." When I heard this, my colour changed and
I was sick for terror but before I could think, the floor clove
asunder and up came the stranger, and lo, it was the Afrit! Now
he had tortured the lady in the most barbarous manner, without
being able to make her confess: so he took the axe and sandals,
saying, "As sure as I am Jerjis of the lineage of Iblis, I will
bring back the owner of this axe and these sandals!" So he went
to the woodcutters with the tale aforesaid, and they directed him
to me. He snatched me up without parley and flew high into the
air, but presently descended and plunged into the ground with me,
and I the while unconscious. Then he came up with me in the
underground palace, where I saw the lady stretched out naked,
with the blood running from her sides. At this sight, my eyes ran
over with tears; but the Afrit unbound her and veiling her, said
to her, "O wanton, is not this thy lover?" She looked at me and
said, "I know not this man, nor have I ever seen him till now.
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