When Harisarman performed the apparent miracle of recovering the horse of the bridegroom, the king was overjoyed, and began to treat Harisarman like one of the nobles of the court. For a time he received gifts of fine robes and delicious dishes from the royal table, and Harisarman was able to boast to his wife that he had finally learned how to be clever. But then fate took a sudden turn.

It was discovered that things were being stolen from the palace. Gold and precious jewels had melted away like snow, and the king was furious. He summoned Harisarman and demanded that he reveal by his magic arts where the stolen objects were.

Harisarman gaped in dismay and stammered, “Majesty, it…will take time! I must study the matter.”

“Very well,” said the king. “You may have until tomorrow morning. But you will stay here in the palace tonight. The guards will make sure that you do not leave.” Then the king added, “And if you are unable to reveal where the gold and jewels are … you know the price you will pay.”

Then Harisarman, trembling with fear, was left alone in a room. Seeing that his attempted cleverness had brought such a disaster, he began to bitterly accuse himself. “O Tongue,” he said to himself, “you thought you were clever, but what how foolish you are! Tongue, what wickedness you have done! Tongue, you fool, you could not contain yourself! You were greedy, Tongue, and now you will pay with your life!”

But while Harisarman was thus berating himself, a serving maid was listening outside his door. It was she who had stolen the items and buried them in the garden, and she was afraid that Harisarman was about to reveal her crime. What is more, when she heard him accusing ‘Tongue’ of wickedness, her blood ran cold and she nearly fainted – for her name was Jihva, which means ‘tongue.’

Quaking with dread, the serving maid burst into the room and threw herself at the feet of Harisarman. “Master,” she begged tearfully, “do not betray me. I will tell you where the gold and jewels are buried. Only do not deliver me to the king, he will have me executed!”

Astonished, Harisarman looked at the girl and then, pulling himself together, said severely, “I knew this, of course. I know all things. Very well, I will protect you, but you must bring me here any gold that is not buried. And I will know if you keep even a single coin!”

Jihva did as she was told, and that night, Harisarman pondered for a long time about the strange hand of fate that could, it seemed, accomplish the impossible, and make a foolish man clever.

In the morning, after a sufficiently impressive show of magical art, Harisarman led the king to his gold and jewels, and the king was overjoyed. Again he began to shower Harisarman with gifts. But this generosity made a certain vizier in the court very jealous, and soon the vizier began to look for a way to destroy Harisarman – as we will see in the next part of the story.

To be continued…