have had a narrow escape.'

Dschemila stood up and answered, ‘Bravo, my friend. You persuaded
me to fly with you, and then left me helplessly to my fate.'

‘Shall I tell you the truth?' asked he.

‘Tell it.'

‘I thought you were a witch, and I was afraid of you.'

‘Did you not see me before my transformation? and did you not
watch it happen under your very eyes, when the ogre bewitched
me?'

‘What shall I do?' said Dschemil. ‘If I take you into the town,
everyone will laugh, and say, "Is that a new kind of toy you have
got? It has hands like a woman, feet like a woman, the body of a
woman; but its head is the head of an ass, and its hair is fur."
‘

‘Well, what do you mean to do with me?' asked Dschemila. ‘Better
take me home to my mother by night, and tell no one anything
about it.'

‘So I will,' said he.

They waited where they were till it was nearly dark, then
Dschemil brought his cousin home.