The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade by Edgar Allan Poe
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their uses, however evil -- for, through_the torture they caused the beast by their nibbling and stingings, it_was goaded into that degree of wrath which_was requisite to_make it roar and commit ill, and so fulfil the vengeful and malicious designs of_the wicked genii .

" this account determined me to_take to my heels, and, without once even looking behind me, I ran at full speed up into_the hills, while the porter ran equally fast, although nearly in an opposite direction, so_that, by_these means, he finally made his escape with my bundles, of_which I_have no_doubt he_took excellent care -- although this_is a point I_cannot determine, as I_do_not remember that I ever beheld him again .

"' for_myself, i_was so hotly pursued by a swarm of_the men- vermin ( who had come to_the shore in boats) that i_was very_soon overtaken, bound hand and foot, and conveyed to_the beast, which immediately swam out again into_the middle of_the sea .

"'I now bitterly repented my folly in quitting a comfortable home to peril my life in_such adventures as_this; but regret being useless, I_made the best of_my condition, and exerted myself to secure the goodwill of_the man- animal that owned the trumpet, and who appeared to exercise authority over his fellows .I succeeded so_well in_this endeavor that, in_a_few_days, the creature bestowed upon me various tokens of_his favor, and in_the end even went to_the trouble of teaching me the rudiments of what it_was vain enough to denominate its language; so_that, at_length, i_was enabled to converse with it readily, and came to_make it comprehend the ardent desire I had of seeing the world .

"'Washish squashish squeak, Sinbad, hey-diddle diddle, grunt unt grumble, hiss, fiss, whiss,' said he to_me, one day after dinner- but I beg a thousand pardons, I had forgotten that your majesty is_not conversant with_the dialect of_the Cock-neighs ( so the man-animals were called; I presume because their language formed the connecting link between that of_the horse and_that of_the rooster) . with your permission, i_will translate .'Washish squashish,' and so forth: -- that_is_to_say, ' I_am happy to_find, my dear Sinbad, that you_are really a very excellent fellow; we_are now about doing a thing which_is called circumnavigating the globe; and since you_are so desirous of seeing the world, i_will strain a point and give_you a free passage upon back of_the beast .'"

when_the lady Scheherazade had proceeded thus far, relates the "Isitsoornot," the king turned over from_his left side to_his right, and said:

" it_is, in_fact, very surprising, my dear queen, that you omitted, hitherto, these latter adventures of Sinbad . do_you_know i_think them exceedingly entertaining and strange ? "

the king having thus expressed himself, we_are told, the fair Scheherazade resumed her history in_the following words:

"Sinbad went on in_this manner with_his narrative to_the caliph- 'I thanked the man- animal for its kindness, and soon found myself very_much at home on_the beast, which swam at a prodigious rate through_the ocean; although the surface of_the latter is, in_that part of_the world, by no means flat, but round like a pomegranate, so_that we went -- so to_say -- either up hill or down hill all the time .'

" that i_think, was very singular," interrupted the king .

" nevertheless, it_is quite true," replied Scheherazade .

" I_have my doubts," rejoined the king; " but, pray, be so good as to_go on with_the story ."

" i_will," said the queen ."' the beast,' continued Sinbad to_the caliph, 'swam, as I_have related, up hill and down hill until, at_length, we arrived at an island, many hundreds of miles in circumference, but which, nevertheless, had_been built in_the middle of_the sea by a colony of little things like caterpillars'" {*1}

" hum ! " said the king .

"' leaving this island,' said Sinbad -- ( for Scheherazade, it must_be understood, took no notice of her husband's ill- mannered ejaculation) ' leaving this island, we came to another where the forests were of solid stone, and so hard that_they shivered to pieces the finest- tempered axes with_which we endeavoured to cut them down ."' {*2}

" hum ! " said the king, again; but Scheherazade, paying him no attention, continued in_the language of Sinbad .

"'Passing beyond this last island, we reached a country where there_was a cave that ran to_the distance of thirty or forty miles within_the bowels of_the earth, and_that contained a greater number of far more spacious and more magnificent palaces than are to_be found in all damascus and Bagdad . from_the roofs of_these palaces there hung myriads of gems, liked diamonds, but larger than men; and in among_the streets of towers and pyramids and temples, there flowed immense rivers as black as ebony, and swarming with fish that had no eyes .'" {*3}

" hum ! " said the king ."' we then swam into a region of_the sea where we_found a lofty mountain, down whose sides there streamed torrents of melted metal, some of_which were twelve miles wide and sixty miles long {*4}; while from an abyss on_the summit, issued so vast a quantity of ashes that_the sun was entirely blotted out from_the heavens, and it became darker than_the darkest midnight; so_that when we were even at_the distance of a hundred and fifty miles from_the mountain, it_was impossible to_see the whitest object, however close we held it to our eyes .'" {*5}

" hum ! " said the king .

"' after quitting this coast, the beast continued his voyage until we met with a land in_which_the nature of things seemed reversed -- for we here saw a great lake, at_the bottom of_which, more than a hundred feet beneath the surface of_the water, there flourished in full leaf a forest of tall and luxuriant trees .'" {*6}

"Hoo ! " said the king .

" some hundred miles farther on brought us to a climate where the atmosphere was so dense as_to sustain iron or steel, just as our own does feather .'" {*7)

" fiddle de dee," said the king .

"Proceeding still in_the same direction, we presently arrived at_the most magnificent region in_the whole world . through it there meandered a glorious river for several thousands of miles . this river was of unspeakable depth, and of a transparency richer than that of amber . it_was from three to six miles in width; and its banks which arose on either side to twelve hundred feet in perpendicular height, were crowned with ever-blossoming trees and perpetual sweet- scented flowers, that made the whole territory one gorgeous garden; but the name of_this luxuriant land was_the kingdom of horror, and to enter it_was inevitable death'" {*8}

"Humph ! " said the king .

"' we left this kingdom in great haste, and, after some days, came to another, where we were astonished to perceive myriads of monstrous animals with horns resembling scythes upon their heads . these hideous beasts dig for themselves vast caverns in_the soil, of a funnel shape, and line the sides of_them with, rocks, so disposed one upon_the other that_they fall instantly, when trodden upon by other animals, thus precipitating them into_the monster's dens, where their blood is immediately sucked, and their carcasses afterwards hurled contemptuously out to an immense distance from " the caverns of death ."'" {*9}

"Pooh ! " said the king .

"'Continuing our progress, we perceived a district with vegetables that grew not upon any soil but in_the air .{*10} there were others that sprang from_the substance of other vegetables; {*11} others that derived their substance from_the bodies of living animals; {*12} and then again, there were others that glowed all over with intense fire; {*13} others that moved from place to_place at pleasure, {*14} and what_was still more wonderful, we discovered flowers that lived and breathed and moved their limbs at will and had, moreover, the detestable passion of mankind for enslaving other creatures, and confining them in horrid and solitary prisons until the fulfillment of appointed tasks .'" {*15}

"Pshaw ! " said the king .

"'Quitting this land, we soon arrived at another in_which_the bees and_the birds are mathematicians of_such genius and erudition, that_they give daily instructions in_the science of geometry to_the wise men of_the empire . the king of_the place having offered a reward for_the solution of two very difficult problems, they were solved upon_the spot -- the one by_the bees, and_the other by_the birds; but the king keeping their solution a secret, it_was only after_the most profound researches and labor, and_the writing of an infinity of big books, during a long series of years, that_the men-mathematicians at_length arrived at_the identical solutions which had_been given upon_the spot by_the bees and by_the birds .'" {*16}

"Oh my ! " said the king .

"' we had scarcely lost sight of_this empire when we_found ourselves close upon another, from whose shores there flew over our heads a flock of fowls a mile in breadth, and two hundred and forty miles long; so_that, although they flew a mile during every_minute, it required no less_than four hours for_the whole flock to_pass over us -- in_which there were several millions of millions of fowl .'" {*17}

"Oh fy ! " said the king .

"' no sooner had we got rid of_these birds, which occasioned us great annoyance, than we were terrified by_the appearance of a fowl of another kind, and infinitely larger than even the rocs which I met in my former voyages; for it_was bigger than_the biggest of_the domes on_your seraglio, oh, most munificent of Caliphs . this terrible fowl had no head that we_could perceive, but was fashioned entirely of belly, which_was of a prodigious fatness and roundness, of a soft- looking substance, smooth, shining and striped with various colors . in its talons, the monster was bearing away to_his eyrie in_the heavens, a house from_which it had knocked off the roof, and in_the interior of_which we distinctly saw human beings, who, beyond doubt, were in a state of frightful despair at_the horrible fate which awaited them . we shouted with all our might, in_the hope of frightening the bird into letting go of_its prey, but it merely gave a snort or puff, as_if of rage and then let fall upon our heads a heavy sack which proved to_be filled with sand ! '"

" stuff ! " said the king .

"' it_was just after_this adventure that we encountered a continent of immense extent and prodigious solidity, but which, nevertheless, was supported entirely upon_the back of a sky- blue cow that had no fewer than four hundred horns .'" {*18}

" that, now, I believe," said the king, " because I_have read something of_the kind before, in a book ."

"' we passed immediately beneath this continent, (swimming in between_the legs of_the cow, and, after some hours, found ourselves in a wonderful country indeed, which, i_was informed by_the man- animal, was his own native land, inhabited by things of_his own species . this elevated the man- animal very_much in my esteem, and in_fact, I now began to_feel ashamed of_the contemptuous familiarity with_which I had treated him; for I_found that_the man-animals in general were a nation of_the most powerful magicians, who lived with worms in their brain, {*19} which, no_doubt, served to stimulate them by their painful writhings and wrigglings to_the most miraculous efforts of imagination ! '"

" nonsense ! " said the king .

"' among_the magicians, were domesticated several animals of very singular kinds; for example, there_was a huge horse whose bones were iron and whose blood was boiling water . in place of corn, he had black stones for_his usual food; and yet, in_spite of so hard a diet, he_was so strong and swift that he_would drag a load more weighty than_the grandest temple in_this city, at a rate surpassing that of_the flight of most birds .'" {*20}

"Twattle ! " said the king .

"' I_saw, also, among_these people ahen without feathers, but bigger than a camel; instead of flesh and bone she had iron and brick; her blood, like that of_the horse, ( to_whom, in_fact, she was nearly related,) was boiling water; and like him she ate nothing but wood or black stones . this hen brought forth very frequently, a hundred chickens in_the day; and, after birth, they took up their residence for several weeks within_the stomach of_their mother .'" {*21}

"Fa ! lal ! " said the king .

"' one of_this nation of mighty conjurors created a man out of brass and wood, and leather, and endowed him with_such ingenuity that he_would_have beaten at chess, all the race of mankind with_the exception of_the great caliph, Haroun Alraschid .{*22} another of_these Magi constructed ( of like material) a creature that put to shame even the genius of him who_made it; for so great were its reasoning powers that, in a second, it performed calculations of so vast an extent that they_would_have required the united labor of fifty thousand fleshy men for a year .(*23} but a still more wonderful conjuror fashioned for himself a mighty thing that was neither man nor beast, but which had brains of lead, intermixed with a black matter like pitch, and fingers that_it employed with_such incredible speed and dexterity that_it would_have had no trouble in writing out twenty thousand copies of_the Koran in an hour, and this with so exquisite a precision, that in all the copies there should_not_be found one to vary from another by_the breadth of_the finest hair . this thing was of prodigious strength, so_that it erected or overthrew the mightiest empires at a breath; but its powers were exercised equally for evil and for good .'"

" ridiculous ! " said the king .

"' among this nation of necromancers there_was also one who had in_his veins the blood of_the salamanders; for he_made no scruple of sitting down to smoke his chibouc in a red- hot oven until his dinner was thoroughly roasted upon its floor .{*24} another had the faculty of converting the common metals into gold, without even looking at them during the process .{*25} another had such a delicacy of touch that he_made a wire so fine as to_be invisible .{*26} another had such quickness of perception that he counted all the separate motions of an elastic body, while it_was springing backward and forward at_the rate of nine hundred millions of times in a second .'" {*27}

" absurd ! " said the king .

"' another of_these magicians, by_means of a fluid that nobody ever yet saw, could make_the corpses of_his friends brandish their arms, kick out their legs, fight, or even get up and dance at his will .{*28} another had cultivated his voice to so great an

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