praised the hawk, but the hawk darted out of the cabin, and he followed it on deck, and, lo! the vessel was in flames, and the hawk in a circle of the flames; and the flames soared with it, and left it no outlet.  Now, as Shibli Bagarag watched the hawk, the flames stretched out towards him and took hold of his vestments.  So he delayed not to commend his soul to the All-merciful, and bore witness to his faith, and plunged into the sea headlong.  When he rose, the ship had vanished, and all was darkness where it had been; so he buffeted with the billows, thinking his last hour had come, and there was no help for him in this world; and the spray shaken from the billows blinded him, the great walls of water crumbled over him; strength failed him, and his memory ceased to picture images of the old time—­his heart to beat with ambition; and to keep the weight of his head above the surface was becoming a thing worth the ransom of kings.  As he was sinking and turning his eyes upward, he heard a flutter as of fledgling’s wings, and the two red ruby eyes of the hawk were visible above him, like steady fires in the gloom.  And the hawk perched on him, and buried itself among the wet hairs of his head, and presently taking the Identical in its beak, the hawk lifted him half out of water, and bore him a distance, and dropped him.  This the hawk did many times, and at the last, Shibli Bagarag felt land beneath him, and could wade through the surges to the shore.  He gave thanks to the Supreme Disposer, kneeling prostrate on the shore, and fell into a sleep deep in peacefulness as a fathomless well, unruffled by a breath.

Now, when it was dawn Shibli Bagarag awoke and looked inland, and saw plainly the minarets of a city shining in the first beams, and the front of yellow mountains, and people moving about the walls and on the towers and among the pastures round the city; so he made toward them, and inquired of them the name of their city.  And they stared at him, crying, ’What! know’st thou not the City of Oolb? the hawk on thy shoulder could tell thee that much.’  He looked and saw that the hawk was on his shoulder; and its left wing was scorched, the plumage blackened.  So he said to the hawk, ’Is it profitable, O preserving bird, to ask of thee questions?’

The hawk shook its wings and closed an eye.

So he said, ‘Do I well in entering this city?’

The hawk shook its wings again and closed an eye.

So he said, ’To what house shall I direct my steps in this strange city for the attainment of the purpose I have?’

The hawk flew, and soared, and alighted on the topmost of the towers of Oolb.  So when it returned he said, ’O bird! rare bird! my counsellor! it is an indication, this alighting on the highest tower, that thou advisest me to go straight to the palace of the King?’