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Now I have a daughter, who befitteth thee alone, and he sought her of me; so I required of him the head of the Ghul of the Mountain, wherefore he went to him and, after engaging him in singular combat, made the master his man and took the Castle of Sasa bin Shays bin Shaddad bin Ad, wherein are the treasures of the ancients and the hoards of the moderns.
Thereupon the Ghul arose and stopping up the mouth of the cavern came to me and felt my ribs, but found me lean and with no flesh on my bones: so he tried another and finding him fat, rejoiced. Then he slaughtered three sheep and skinned them and fetching iron spits, spitted the flesh thereon and set them over the fire to roast.
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Gharib became a Moslem and told the Shaykh his past, from first to last, till he came to the mention of the Mountain-Ghul whom he sought, the old man asked him, "O Gharib, art thou mad that thou goest forth against the Ghul of the Mountain single handed?"; and he answered, "O my lord, I have with me two hundred horse."
After an hour or so in came the accursed Ghul with bowls of milk, whereof he gave to each of us, saying, 'Ye come from the desert and are athirst: so take this milk and drink it, whilst I roast you the flesh. I took the cup and carried it to my mouth but emptied it into the hole; then I cried out, 'Alas! my sight is gone and I am blind! and clapping my hand to my eyes, fell a-weeping and a-wailing, whilst the accursed laughed and said, 'Fear not, thou art now become like mine other guests. But, as for my two comrades, they drank the milk and became blind.
The Dev is a malignant spirit, one of the class called jinn by the Arabs, vide Lane's "Arabian Nights," vol. i. p. 30. The jinn or genii, however, occasionally behave very handsomely towards the human race, more especially towards those of the Muhammadan faith. The Ghul is a foul and intensely wicked spirit, of an order inferior to the jinn.
Then dashed out to him a champion of the Infidels, and the Ghul slew him and casting him to the earth, cried out to his sons and slaves, saying, "Light the fire and roast me this dead one."
Now when the King heard these words, his wrath cooled and he raised the curtain little by little and looking in, saw sitting at talk with his daughter a Prince of the goodliest with a face like the full moon for sheen. At this sight he could not contain himself, of his jealousy for his daughter's honour; and, putting aside the curtain, rushed in upon them drawn sword in hand like a furious Ghul.
Then dashed out the Ghul of the Mountain, with a club on his shoulder, two hundred pounds in weight, and wheeled and careered, saying, "Ho, worshippers of idols, come ye out and renown it this day, for 'tis a day of onslaught! Whoso knoweth me hath enough of my mischief and whoso knoweth me not, I will make myself known to him. I am Sa'adan, servant of King Gharib. Who is for jousting?
Replied Sa'adan, "O my lord, in the sorriest of plights for abasement and mortification; my sons and I, we are bound with ropes like camels." Then said Gharib, "Harkye, Sa'adan!"; and he replied, "At thy service, O my lord!" Quoth Gharib, "What are these captives?" "O my lord," quoth the Ghul, "these are my game from the land of the Persians and are not the only ones."
When they reached the city, they went in to King Gharib and told him what had passed, whereat he rejoiced and gave them joy and, turning to the Ghul of the Mountain, said, "Take horse with twenty-thousand and follow Jamrkan." So Sa'adan and his sons mounted and set out, amid twenty-thousand horse for Oman.
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