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 of 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 ! I told them my story , which at first they refused to believe , but in the end I succeeded in persuading them that I was speaking the truth . For two years more I lived with them , and was treated like their own son , till the day when they sent me to this city to seek my fortune . And now , my lords , here are the two letters which I found in my turban . Perhaps they may be another proof in favour of my story . ' Whilst Neangir was speaking , the blood from the Jew 's wound had gradually ceased to flow ; and at this moment there appeared in the doorway a lovely Jewess , about twenty-two years old , her hair and her dress all disordered , as if she had been flying from some great danger . In one hand she held two crutches of white wood , and was followed by two men . The first man Neangir knew to be the brother of the Jew he had struck with his sword , while in the second the young man thought he recognised the person who was standing by when he was changed into a pot . Both of these men had a wide linen band round their thighs and held stout sticks .
-LSB- Illustration : THERE APPEARED IN THE DOORWAY A LOVELY JEWESS -RSB- The Jewess approached the wounded man and laid the two crutches near him ; then , fixing her eyes on him , she burst XXXXX tears .
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