Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 5 1887.djvu/129

Rh that her feather-dress is burned; and she is easily reconciled to her fate, and consents to become Hasan's wife.

After a while, Hasan remembers the distress of his mother, who was left behind when he was stolen by the Persian; and he and his wife return to Bassorah. To avoid trouble on account of his sudden wealth, Hasan and his family remove to Baghdad, where they dwell for three years, during which time two sons are born.

Hasan then remembers his foster-sister, and sets out to visit her; but during his absence his wife, who has overheard him telling his mother where the feather-dress is hidden, persuades the old lady to let her visit the bath. The report of the beauty of the princess spreads through the city, and comes to the ears of the Empress Zubeydah, who sends for her, and is induced to compel the mother-in-law to give up the feather-dress. The princess takes her children, wraps herself in the feather-dress, and, becoming a bird, returns home, leaving a message for her husband that he must seek her out in the islands of Wak-wak.

It may be observed that although this princess and her family are far less amiable than Shamssah and her connections, yet Shamssah had less cause for deserting Janshah. Shamssah was married with her own consent, and with the knowledge of her sisters, and she had no cause for jealousy; whereas Hasan's wife had been torn from her family without their having any news of her; and it is clear that she felt herself neglected by her husband, even if she was not actually jealous of his foster-sister, though it must not be forgotten that marriage with a foster-sister, according to Eastern ideas, would be equivalent to incest.

When Hasan returns home and discovers his loss, he travels back to the palace of the princesses, which he is able to reach in a very short time, having slain the Persian, and possessed himself of his magic drum, with which he can summon any number of camels whenever he needs them. The princesses and their uncle, Abd El Kuddoos, whom they summon to their counsels, in vain endeavour to persuade Hasan to return to Baghdad; and at length the Sheykh takes him to a cavern, where he gives him a black horse, which conveys him to the Sheykh Abu-r-Ruweysh, who mounts him on an Ifrit, who