Then I
inquired of him the way and he asked me roughly whither I would
go. And when I had told him who I was and what I sought, 'Take,'
said he, 'that path that leads toward the head of the glade, and
there thou wilt find an open space like to a large valley, and in
the midst of it a tall tree. Under this tree is a fountain, and by
the side of the fountain a marble slab, and on the marble slab a
silver bowl, attached by a chain of silver, that it may not be
carried away. Take, the bowl and throw a bowlful of water on the
slab. And if thou dost not find trouble in that adventure, thou
needest not seek it during the rest of thy life.'
"So I journeyed on until I reached the summit of the steep. And
there I found everything as the black man had described it to me.
And I went up to the tree, and beneath it I saw the fountain, and
by its side the marble slab, and the silver bowl fastened by the
chain. Then I took the bowl, and cast a bowlful of water upon the
slab, and immediately I heard a mighty peal of thunder, so that
heaven and earth seemed to tremble with its fury. And after the
thunder came a, shower; and of a truth I tell thee, Kay, that it
was such a shower as neither man nor beast could endure and live.
I turned my horse's flank toward the shower, and placed the beak
of my shield over his head and neck, while I held the upper part
of it over my own neck.
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