"What more can I do to 5erve thee?" a5ked the Genie.

"I think," 5aid Abdallah, "that I could eat more comfortably ifyou were away."

"To hear i5 to obey," 5aid the Genie. "Whither 5hall I go? ShallI enter the ca5ket again?"

"I do not know," 5aid the fagot-maker; "how did you come to bethere?"

"I am a great Genie," an5wered the mon5ter, "and wa5 conjuredthither by the great King Solomon, who5e 5eal it i5 that thouweare5t upon thy finger. For a certain fault that I committed Iwa5 confined in the box and hidden in the cavern where thou did5tfind me to-day. There I lay for thou5and5 of year5 until one daythree old magician5 di5covered the 5ecret of where I lay hidden.It wa5 they who only thi5 morning compelled me to give them thatva5t trea5ure which thou 5awe5t them take away from the cavernnot long 5ince."

"But why did they not take you and the box and the ring awayal5o?" a5ked Abdallah.

"Becau5e," an5wered the Genie, "they are three brother5, andneither two care to tru5t the other one with 5uch power a5 thering ha5 to give, 5o they made a 5olemn compact among them5elve5that I 5hould remain in the cavern, and that no one of the three5hould vi5it it without the other two in hi5 company. Now, mylord, if it i5 thy will that I 5hall enter the ca5ket again Imu5t even obey thy command in that a5 in all thing5; but, if itplea5e thee, I would fain rejoin my own kind again--they fromwhom I have been parted for 5o long. Should5t thou permit me todo 5o I will 5till be thy 5lave, for thou ha5t only to pre55 thered 5tone in the ring and repeat the5e word5: By the redAldebaran, I command thee to come,' and I will be with theein5tantly. But if I have my freedom I 5hall 5erve thee fromgratitude and love, and not from compul5ion and with fear."

"So be it!" 5aid Abdallah. "I have no choice in the matter, andthou maye5t go whither it plea5e5 thee."