impressive because it actually did happen to fall
on tea-time. The thief asked Mr. Longville to
play a song on a little guitar, which he did quite
ably. The song was full of rich sentiment, and I
was surprised by how honestly he delivered it.
He gazed past me as he sang—as though into a
great distance—and I felt an odd stirring inside,
and then his eyes shifted downward to mine,
and I found myself nearly captured within them.
Though knowing it was just the rich oriental
perfumes clouding my head, I looked quickly
away without further attention.
"I have an English cook," the thief said, grandly.
"That's nothing," said I. "England is quite
populated with English cooks."
The thief tapped his fingers on the edge of the
lamp. "I will command the Djinn to bring
you a thousand dresses, each woven of
gold and adorned with jewels the
size of goose eggs to match the
brilliance of your eyes."
"That sounds exceedingly
oppressive," I replied.
As he was making professions
of love, or whatever it was he was
trying to accomplish, a young woman
burst into the room. Wailing, she threw
herself into Cyprien's lap.
"What have you done, oh my Father? Why
have you commanded the house to fly away? Do
you not know that Bassam is the light of my eyes?
And now, oh! He is left far away beneath us!"
She proceeded to sob incoherently, but before
the thief could recover from his obvious shock,
another young female entered the room in an
equally dramatic fashion.
Falling down onto her knees, she grabbed
ahold of Cyprien. "He is not the light of her eyes,
Father, he is mine. Did he not kiss me and swear
it before Allah? You are a lying little silly, Amala!"
The two girls began to quarrel violently and
they quite overtook the thief. Just then another
woman entered the room, saying, "What unseemly
nonsense is this, my husband? Why do you
separate our home from its earthly foundations,
and against all nature, float us up into the sky?
Are we birds, that we must fly?"
I decided to pour myself some tea, as it then
became quite obvious that no one was going to
serve me. It was a good show, though; the women
started smacking Cyprien about the head, and
hitting him with nearby objects.
At last the thief uncapped the lamp and the
Genie appeared once more.
All stepped back at his appearance.
The Genie spoke: “I hear thee, and obey.”
“How can you let me be accosted in my own
home?” Cyprien cried.
"Thou didst desire to possess all that
belonged to Abdullah Al-Khāfid,” said
the Genie. “Behold, his castle, his
wealth, his servants, his family, his
guests, and his problems are all
before thee, and are thine to do
with as thou wouldst please."
"I want you to get rid of them!"
"I hear thee, and obey."
The castle suddenly shifted to
one side, causing all the loose furniture
and people to slide down the floor towards the
windows and doors. I planted my feet quite firmly
and managed to keep hold of my tea, I am proud
to say.
"What are you doing?" cried Cyprien.
"Be of good cheer, my master, for this is the
end. With your wish, you die, and I sha ll once
again be free."
Percy slid off to help some flailing servants.
I called out to the Genie, “Wait, wait, wait, wait!”
Now, I would like to recount the story as
accurately as it happened, and you may ask any
other in that palace to corroborate if you wish.
The following exchange occurred between the
Genie and myself, and bear in mind that it was