594 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Sept. 



plead for you with the Almighty on the day of resurrection ? who will save you 

 from the fire, and give you admission into heaven by his mediation ? Do you 

 abandon the pilgrimage to the shrine of the Prophet Mahomed, (on whom be 

 peace and blessing of God) through love of the world ? To this he of the land 

 replied, " No ; I swear that I should prefer the pilgrimage to all things ; I only 

 require your permission to perform it this very year." " I have granted you per- 

 mission," rejoined he of the sea ; " but when you arrive at the shrine, submit my 

 salutation. I have an offering to present. Enter with me into the ocean, so that 

 I may take you to my city and admit you to my house — that I may entertain you 

 and entrust to you my offering, in order that you may present it at the shrine of 

 the holy Prophet, saying, This is an offering from Abdallah of the sea, who 

 conveys his salutation, and intreats your intercession to save him from hell 

 fire." 



The story proceeds to state that the fears of Abdallah of the land hav- 

 ing been removed by the assurances of his companion, and his body having 1 

 been rubbed over with a certain ointment which gave him the power of 

 living in the water, he entered the ocean with his marine friend. Then 

 follows a long description of the wonders of the deep ; Abdallah having 

 seen " wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl, inestimable stones, 

 unrivalled jewels — all scattered in the bottom of the sea" — and many 

 other things undreamt of even by Clarence. The story concludes thus : — 

 Having taken leave of the king of the ocean loaded with jewels, Abdallah of 

 the sea took his companion back towards his city. On the road he put into his 

 hand a packet, saying, Take this, and present it as my offering at the shrine of the 

 holy prophet. Abdallah of the land took charge of the packet without knowing 

 what it contained. Abdallah of the sea then proceeded to convey him to the 

 shore, but on the road there appeared an assembly of persons rejoicing and 

 siDging, and eating and making merry. Upon witnessing this, Abdallah of the 

 land said to his companion, " For what are these people rejoicing ? Is there a 

 marriage among them ?" His companion answered, " No — but some one among 

 them has died." " What," said he of the land, " do you eat, driuk, and make 

 merry on the occasion of a death ?" " To be sure we do." said the inhabitant of 

 the sea : " do not you do the same on land ?" " Not we indeed," said his com- 

 panion ; " on such occasions we cry and weep, and the women beat their faces and 

 tear their clothes, and make all sorts of lamentation." On hearing these words, 

 Abdallah of the sea exclaimed, " Deliver up my offering." This he did with fear, 

 and having got upon dry land, Abdallah of the sea said, " I have parted with 

 your friendship — you shall never see me again, nor shall I ever again behold you." 

 " On what account is this ?" asked his companion. " It seems then," replied 

 Abdallah of the sea, " that you dwellers upon earth, whose life is a mere deposit 

 by your Creator, cannot endure its being taken back, but you must weep thereat. 

 What then would be the case with my deposit for the Prophet ? When a child is 

 born you rejoice that God Almighty has endued it with life as a deposit, but 

 when that is taken away again you feel it as a grievance, and you cry, grieve, and 

 lament. I have no occasion for such company." Saying this he vanished. 



Abdallah of the land having put on his clothes and taken his jewels, proceeded 

 to the king, who received him with much joy and gladness, and asked hiin how 

 he was and what had befallen him. Abdallah then recounted his adventures, 

 and mentioned all the wonders of the deep which he had seen. The king was 

 astonished, but upon hearing what Abdallah of the land had said to him of the 

 sea, the king observed that the former had erred in making the communication 

 which he had done. For a long time afterwards Abdallah continued in the 

 habit of going to the sea shore and calling upon his former companion, but he 

 never re-appeared. 



The king and his friend lived happily until the destroyer of delights — the 

 spoiler of all things came, and they both died. Then praise be to God who 

 never dies, who is the living God, Lord of kings and angels, and who has power 

 over all things 1 



At the conclusion of the tale which immediately precedes the above, 

 and which is styled " Histoire D'Aboukir et D'Aboussir," M. Trebutien's 



