Page:The jade story book; stories from the Orient (IA jadestorybooksto00cous).pdf/247

Rh sat down on the brink of it, saying to the prince, "We must cross this water."

"How can we," asked Zeyn, "when we have no boat?"

"You will see one appear in a moment," replied Mobarec. "The enchanted boat of the Sultan of the Genii will come for us. But you must observe a profound silence. Do not speak to the boatman, and whatever extraordinary circumstance you observe, say nothing; for I tell you beforehand that if you utter one word when we are embarked, the boat will sink."

"I shall take care to be silent," said the prince. "You need only tell me what I am to do, and I will strictly comply."

Whilst they were talking, he spied a boat made of red sandalwood on the lake. It had a mast of fine amber and a blue satin flag. There was only one boatman in it, and he had the head of an elephant and the body of a tiger. When the boat was come to the prince and Mobarec, the monstrous boatman took them up one after the other with his trunk, put them into his boat, and carried them over the lake in a moment.