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THE SUNDAY OREGON I AN. PORTLAND, OCTOBER 17. 1915.
mz Strange Ad
I
VEnTUrE
King Beder Basim, son of a Icing of Persia and
Gulnari of the Sea, falls in love Kith Princess Giohara,
also a sea princess, from her description only. tVhen
he and his uncle go to demand her in marriage her
father refuses with scorn. There is a tattle. Giohara' s
father is killed, Giohara escapes, and Beder Basim ac
cidentally finds her on a desert island. He tells her
how he loves her, but she turns him into a beautiful
bird, and tells her slave to take him to the Island of '
Thirst. The-girl relents and he is caught alive by a
fowler, icho presents him to his ling. Tho king's tcife
says he is a man.
(Continued from last 'Sunday.')'
K I OW at the great cry he heard the king
was certain his wife was right and the
" ' bird a man enchanted. For the cry was
that of a human voice, and it had come from
the throat of the white bird. So he said to his
wife, " I have never had much faith in your
sorcery, but now show me what it is worth.
...Turn this bird into a man again."
The queen wrapped herself in her veil, pre
pared water, recited over it verses from the
Koran and magical words for many minutes,
and then, sprinkling some of the water over
the bird, cried : " If thou be man, take again
thy accustomed form." And immediately
Beder Basim, the handsomest man of his time,
stood there before them. He told them his
whole story, and the king, wondering at its
strangeness, was deeply interested and very
sympathetic.
" Had I a grown daughter," he said, " I
should demand, Beder Basim, that you stay
and marry her. But as I have only sons I will
instead send you back to your home, hoping
that some day you may find and win a woman
as beautiful as this princess of the sea, Gio
hara, and less cruel." So he bought a boat,
fitted it out, and wv.tched Beder Basim sail
away on his homeward path.
But there were more strange adventures in
store for the young king. A great storm arose,
the vessel was wrecked, and every one was
drowned but Beder Basim, who, by virtue of
being his mother's son, could not be hurt by
the water. But he was almost dead from hun
ger and thirst when at last he swam near an
island on which stood a beautiful city, all built
of pure white marble. The young king swam
L" l""""du came a Srea lavorite with all the Teenie Weenies. He told many funny stories, and sang
, Chinese songs m such a quaint way that the Teenie Weenies never grew tired of hearing him, and had him singing every
evening.
comrSonllannl? T .th.evGcnera1' feveral ,a.f,ter he ca to the Teenie Weenie house, "me got to get to work. Me
come to open laundry, do Teenie YV eenie wash, no be vaud'vil man, me gotta work now "
;;A1I right, Chuck," laughed the General, "I'll get the boys to help you build a laundry'right away."
elly much obliged, said Chuck. " 'Member, laundry mustbe near muchie water." -ies,
said the General, "that's right. You will need lots of water, won't you''
'Oh, yes muchie, muchie," cried Chuck.
r,vi ?VC C? giCt tHf Wrter ea.siIy" said the Doctor, who was standing near. "We'll just get an old tin can and sink it in the ground
right near the laundry for a cistern, run the water into it from the roofs of the Shoe Houte and the Lovers' Bungalow. As it is. that
water s all wasted.
"Good idea," said the General. "We'll do just that. Come along. Let's get busy right away."
the nt day the Teenie Weenies got the old tin can, and after a great deal of very hard work, rolled it up between the two
houses Aext they brought out their tiny picks and shovels, and dug a very deep hole in the ground. The can was set down in
this hole, and earth filled in around it, with only a few teenie weenie feet of the can left sticking out of the ground.
t ? Si?tS - J? wo teeme weenie houses were then connected with the can. Next a platform was built over the top
SS .TS a u mdlass' Wlth. a IPe .and bucket, was put in place to draw up the water, and a kettle, which, with many other fine
and useful things, had been sent the Teenie Weenies by one of their friends, was used by Chuck to carry the water to and fro.
That very night a ram fell and the next morning, to the delight of Chuck, the cistern was full and he began work immediately.
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eeon tog qra0(aci ckghts
toward the. shore, but what was his astonish
ment to see dozens of horses, donkeys, and
mules racing down the shore with the evident
intention of keeping him from landing! In
fact, they kicked and bit at him so viciously
that Beder Basim, weary as he was, swam
away, around to the back of the island, where
he landed at last and fell exhausted upon the
beach.
"There he was found by a good natured gro
cer, who took him home, fed him, clothed him,
and, when he was well again, explained to him
the story of the animals who had fought him
away from the shore.
" This island," said the grocer, " is ruled
over, unfortunately, by a beautiful, clever, but
wicked sorceress named Queen Labe, which
named signifies 'sin.' And sinful she is indeed.
She falls in love with every young man who
comes here, tells him she will make him the
king of the island, and then, tiring of him,
changes him into a horse, a donkey, or a mule.
That is why you were sent away from the
shore. These poor unfortunates try to save
from their fate every young stranger who ap
proaches, and that was why they beat you off,
thinking you would prefer death to a fate like
theirs. But now you need not fear our wicked
queen. I stand high in favor at her court, and
when I say that you are related to me, as I "
shall, she will leave you alone."
Beder Basim thanked the kindly merchant
and lived in his house happily for many weeks,
trying to find a way to start once more upon
his homeward way. In these endeavors he, of
course, went out more or less and saw a great
many people, and news of his arrival in the
city spread. At last it must have reached the
castle of Labe, the queen. For one morning
i r . .
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a 1 -rzrj r ,rrrv '
when the young king was sitting in front of
the home of his friend the good grocer he
heard music, and, looking up, beheld a band
of handsome musicians, followed by a hundred
beautiful slave girls, approaching.
" O, dear, O, dear, it is the queen," cried the
grocer. " Get out of sight, Beder Basim, and
let me alone meet her."
So Beder Basim went hurriedly inside and
the grocer remained, bowing deeply as the
glittering litter, draped with the heaviest of
embroidered silk curtains, came to a rest be
fore the shop.
The queen, beautiful as the dawn, parted the
curtains and looked out. "My friend," she
said, " I hear that you have as vour euest a
handsome young stranger."
"Yes," said the grocer, bowing low, "the
son of my brother has come to pay me a visit,
and, though I love him as my own child, he
says he must soon go on, so I shall lose him
again presently."
" We will try to fix things so you will not
lose him," said the queen. "Send for him,
that I may see what he looks like."
So the grocer, trembling now, sent for Beder
Basim, who came out hanging his head, twist
ing up his face, and trying to look sour and
unhappy and ugly. But it was no use. His
beauty shone out unmistakably, and the queen
smiled as she saw him.
" Come and visit me at the castle I insist
upon it" she said. And then and there made
Beder Basim climb into the gorgeous litter
beside her and ride with her back to the palace.
Once there she feasted him and dressed him
in sumptuous clothes and smiled at him till
poor, foolish Beder Basim thought that the
grocer must have misunderstood her sadly,
and made up his mind that she was not only
the loveliest woman on earth, more beautiful
even than his once longed for Giohara, but
also the best and the sweetest. So he stayed
with her in the castle many days, till, one
"The Queen.
beautiful as the '
dawn, parted the
curtains and looked out."
morning he saw her ero into the trarden and
change herself into a white bird. Presently a
big black bird flew up, the two seemed to talk
together, and then flew away. The white bird
was gone for hours, and the longer Beder
Basim waited the more jealous of that black
bird, whom he took to be a man, did he be
come. At last the queen returned, became a woman
again, and came into the room where Beder
Basim was sitting. But he would not speak to
her at all, and presently, seeing that she was
becoming angry with him, he rose and went
down into the city to visit the grocer.
To him he told the whole story, 'and the gro
cer, when he had finished, sat a while in deep
thought. Then he rose and said : " My dear
friend, the queen means to do evil to you, as
she has to others. Watch her closely, but
remember she cannot harm you. She and all
1 "mmm w -m
the other enchanters in this most wicked clfy'
are fire worshipers, but I am a true Mohamme
dan and I know as much magic as they, using
my power only for good, as they use theirs for
evil. Consequently they all are afraid of me,
and there is not one of them whose plans I
cannot frustrate if I but have a little time. Go
back now to the 'palace. Have no fear, but
watch closely."
So Beder Basim returned to the palace and
found the queen awaiting him. And she
seemed all sweetness and love, but he knew
she had evil thoughts in her heart. After din
ner soft music played and she sang to Beder
Basim, telling him . she would sing him to
sleep. So he pretended to fall into a deep
sleep, but really he was wide awake, and from
between his eyelids he watched the strange,
weird doings of the beautiful enchantress who
was seeking to destroy him.
(To be continued next Sunday.)'
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