A Duel in a Desert
A LAZY magician, tired of work, left Damascus and went into a sandy desert, seeking quiet and solitude. Finding a lonely place not yet divided into building-lots, he filled his pipe, and, after smoking it out, fell fast asleep.
An indolent wizard, looking for rest, came riding across the desert upon a magic camel, which he had made out of an old rug that morning, and, not seeing the sleeping magician, ran over him. Now, magical creations cannot touch magicians without vanishing. So the wizard's camel vanished, the wizard fell plump down on top of the magician, and the baggage which the camel carried was scattered on the sand.
The wizard was the first to collect his senses, and asked, in a fierce voice: "Where is my camel?"
The magician replied, with some anger: "Don't you think you'd better ask some one who was awake while your camel was getting away?"
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