The Magic Horse
"Any more Wonder?" asked the King of Persia. That was the day in a year when the king loved to witness all that was wonderful. Magicians and wizards gathered in dozens to demonstrate their tricks and feats. They returned with bagfuls of pure gold. "Last but not least, my lord, here is a wooden horse," said a fellow who looked like the cousin of a scarecrow. "You sport before the King of Persia who owns ten thousand horses, the best in the world, a wooden horse and call it wonderful!" demanded the king, his face red like an over-ripe orange.
"My lord, my wooden horse can drive your ten thousand real horses to hide in shame," claimed the fellow. Next, he hopped on to it and gave a gentle twist to its left ear, and lo and behold! the horse rose to the sky. Higher and higher went the horse and its rider, leaving the king and the crowd looks up agape. They descended ten minutes later, the scarecrow sporting a proud smile. "Price, please?" asked the king when he found his tongue. "The princess!" replied the fellow. Yes, he would agree to no other price than the princess to wife, not even the most charming chief maid of the princess. The prince who observed the feat and heard the negotiation with great interest suddenly jumped onto the horse and twisted its left ear. The next moment he was seen disappearing beyond the clouds "Haha!" laughed the king. "He loves his sister too well to allow you to marry her," said the king. "But how is the prince going to return? He never learned the trick! Ha, ha!" laughed the fellow. The king looked as gloomy as an overcast sky. "Dump this fellow in a dungeon!"" he ordered. The man pleaded that he was not to blame for the rashness of the prince. "You are to blame for your laugh," growled the king. High over the city and the hills flew the magic horse. It carried the prince through layers of cloud-of silver, gold, and diamond hue. By and by the moon grew big and bright, and a million and a billion stars twinkled in the sky which had never looked so splendidly blue and twinkled brighter. The prince now decided to return and realized that he knew not how to. But clever that he was, he gave a twist to the horse's right ear. The horse began to descend. But the prince now realized that he knew not how to lead the horse to a particular destination. The horse came down and down and stood on the roof of a huge castle. Everything was quiet. Leaving the horse in a corner of the roof, the daring prince descended through the stairs into a wide hall filled with armed men- all asleep. He crossed the hall and entered a smaller hall filled with armed women- all asleep.