I tried to raise my hands to my head , but they had become stiff and hard . In a word , I had been changed into a copper pot , and my arms formed the handle . What happened to my companion I know not , but I was conscious that some one had picked me up , and was carrying me quickly away . ` After some days , or so it seemed to me , I was placed on the ground near a thick hedge , and when I heard my captor snoring beside me I resolved to make my escape . So I pushed my way among the thorns as well as I could , and walked on steadily for about an hour . ` You can not imagine , my lord , how awkward it is to walk with three legs , especially when your knees are as stiff as mine were . At length after much difficulty I reached a market-garden , and hid myself deep down among the cabbages , where I passed a quiet night . ` The next morning , at sunrise , I felt some one stooping over me and examining me closely . `` What have you got there , Zinebi ? '' said the voice of a man a little way off . ' `` The most beautiful pot in the whole world , '' answered the woman beside me , `` and who would have dreamed of finding it among my cabbages ! '' ` Mohammed lifted me from the ground and looked at me with admiration . That pleased me , for every one likes to be admired , even if he is only a pot ! And I was taken into the house and filled with water , and put on the fire to boil . ` For three years I led a quiet and useful life , being scrubbed bright every day by Zinebi , then a young and beautiful woman . ` One morning Zinebi set me on the fire , with a fine fillet of beef inside me to cook , for dinner . Being afraid that some of the steam would escape through the lid , and that the taste of her stew would be spoilt , she looked about for something to put over the cover , but could see nothing handy but her husband 's turban . She tied it firmly round the lid , and then left the room . For the first time during three years I began to feel the fire burning the soles of my feet , and moved away a little -- doing this with a great deal more ease than I had felt when making my escape to Mohammed 's garden . I was somehow aware , too , that I was growing taller ; in fact in a few minutes I was a man again .
-LSB- Illustration : ZINEBI PUTS THE TURBAN ON THE POT -RSB- ` After the third hour XXXXX prayer Mohammed and Zinebi both returned , and you can guess their surprise at finding a young man in the kitchen instead of a copper pot !
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