a golden-maned charger came flying through the air, and the moment the prince had put the bridle in its mouth, the charger said: "What dost thou command, little Sultan?" and before you could wink your eyes, the Empire of Chin-i-Machin stood before him. Then he dismounted from his horse, took off the bridle, and went into the town. There he entered into an old woman's hut and asked her whether she received guests. "Willingly," answered the old woman. Then she made ready a place for him, and while he was sipping his coffee he asked her all about the talk of the town. "Well," said the old woman, "a seven-headed dragon is very much in love with our Sultan's daughter. A war has been raging between them on that account these many years, and the monster presses us so hardly that not even a bird can fly into our realm."
"Then where is the Sultan's daughter?" asked the youth.—"In a little palace in the Padishah's garden," replied the old woman, "and the poor thing dare not put her foot outside it."
The next day the youth went to the Padishah's garden, and asked the gardener to take him as a servant, and he begged and prayed till the gardener had not the heart to refuse him. "Very well, I will take thee," said he, "and thou wilt have nought to do but water the flowers of the garden."
