One day, when the dervish, who had now become Sultan, was making a
royal progress with his court, he perceived the envious man standing in
the crowd. He made a sign to one of his vizirs, and whispered in his
ear, "Fetch me that man who is standing out there, but take great care
not to frighten him." The vizir obeyed, and when the envious man was
brought before the Sultan, the monarch said to him, "My friend, I am
delighted to see you again." Then turning to an officer, he added,
"Give him a thousand pieces of gold out of my treasury, and twenty
waggon-loads of merchandise out of my private stores, and let an escort
of soldiers accompany him home." He then took leave of the envious
man, and went on his way.
Now when I had ended my story, I proceeded to show the genius how to
apply it to himself. "O genius," I said, "you see that this Sultan was
not content with merely forgiving the envious man for the attempt on
his life; he heaped rewards and riches upon him."
But the genius had made up his mind, and could not be softened. "Do
not imagine that you are going to escape so easily," he said. "All I
can do is to give you bare life; you will have to learn what happens to
people who interfere with me."
As he spoke he seized me violently by the arm; the roof of the palace
opened to make way for us, and we mounted up so high into the air that
the earth looked like a little cloud. Then, as before, he came down
with the swiftness of lightning, and we touched the ground on a
mountain top.