rose to Hasib and seated him on a chair at the right hand of King
Karazdan; after which he called for food and the tables were laid. And
when they had eaten and drunken and washed their hands, Shamhur stood
up (while all present also stood to do him honour) and, approaching
Hasib said to him, "We are all thy servants and will give thee
whatsoever thou askest, even were it one half the kingdom, so thou wilt
but cure the King." Saying this, he led him by the hand to the royal
couch, and Hasib, uncovering the King's face, saw that he was at last
fatal stage of the disease; so he wondered at their hoping for a cure.
But the Wazir kissed his hand and repeated his offers and ended with
saying, "All we want of thee is to heal our King:" so he said to the
Wazir, "True that I am the son of Allah's prophet, Daniel, but I know
nothing of his art: for they put me thirty days in the school of
medicine and I learnt nothing of the craft. I would well I knew
somewhat thereof and might heal the King." Hearing this, the Grand
Wazir said, "Do not multiply words upon us; for though we should gather
together to us physicians from the East and from the West, none could
cure the King save thou." Answered Hasib, "How can I make him whole,
seeing I know neither his case nor its cure?" Quoth the Minister, "His
healing is in thy hands," and quoth Hasib, "If I knew the remedy of his
sickness, I would heal him." Thereupon the Wazir rejoined, "Thou
keenest a cure right well; the remedy of his sickness is the Queen of
the Serpents, and thou knowest her abiding-place and hast been with
her." When Hasib heard this, he knew that all this came of his entering
the Baths, and repented whenas repentance availed him naught; then said
he, "What is the Queen of the Serpents? I know her not nor ever in all
my life heard I of this name." Retorted the Wazir, "Deny not the
knowledge of her, for I have proof that thou knowest her and hast
passed two years with her." Repeated Hasib, "Verily, I never saw her
nor even heard of her till this moment;" upon which Shamhur opened a
book and, after making sundry calculations, raised his head and spake
as follows. "The Queen of the Serpents shall foregather with a man who
shall abide with her two years; then shall he return from her and come
forth to the surface of the earth, and when he entereth the Hammam bath
his belly will become black." Then said he, "Look at thy belly." So
Hasib looked at his own belly and behold, it was black: but he
persisted in his denial and said, "My belly was black from the day my
mother bare me." Said the Wazir, "I had stationed three Mamelukes at
the door of every Hammam, bidding them note all who entered and let me
know when they found one whose belly was black: so, when thou
enteredst, they looked at thy belly and, finding it black, sent and
told me, after we had well-nigh lost hope of coming upon thee. All we
want of thee is to show us the place whence thou camest out and after
go thy ways; for we have those with us who will take the Queen of the
Serpents and fetch her to us." Then all the other Wazirs and Emirs and
Grandees flocked about Hasib who sorely repented of his misdeed; and
they conjured him, till they were weary, to show them the abode of the
Queen; but he ceased not saying, "I never saw nor heard of the matter."
Then the Grand Wazir called the hangman and bade him strip Hasib and
beat him a sore beating; and so they did till he saw death face to
face, for excess of pain, and the Wazir said, "We have proof that thou
knowest the abiding-place of the Queen of the Serpents: why wilt thou
persist in denial? Show us the place whence thou camest out and go from
us; we have with us one who will take her, and no harm shall befall
thee." Then he raised him and bade give him a dress of honour of cloth
of red gold, embroidered with jewels, and spoke him fair till Hasib
yielded and said, "I will show you the place." At this the Wazir
rejoiced with great joy and took horse with all his many and rode,
guided by Hasib, and never drew rein till they came to the mountain
containing the cavern wherein he had found the cistern full of honey.
There all dismounted and followed him as he entered, sighing and
weeping, and showed them the well whence he had issued; whereupon the
Wazir sat down thereby and, sprinkling perfumes upon a chafing-dish,
began to mutter charms and conjurations; for he was a crafty magician
and diviner and skilled in spiritual arts. He repeated three several
formulas of conjuration and between each threw fresh incense upon the
fire, crying out and saying, "Come forth, O Queen of the Serpents!;"
when behold, the water of the well sank down and a great door opened in
the side, from which came a mighty noise of crying like unto thunder,
so terrible that they thought the well had caved in and all present
fell down fainting; nay, some even died for fright. Presently, there
issued from the well a serpent as big as an elephant, casting out
sparks, like red hot coals, from its eyes and mouth and bearing on its
back a charger of red gold, set with pearls and jewels, in the midst
whereof lay a serpent from whose body issued such splendour that the
place was illumined thereby; and her face was fair and young and she
spoke with most eloquent tongue. The Serpent-queen turned right and
left, till her eyes fell upon Hasib, to whom said she "Where is the
covenant thou madest with me, and the oath thou swearest to me, that
thou wouldst never again enter the Hammam-bath? But there is no
fighting against Fate nor hath any ever fled from that which is written
on his forehead. Allah hath appointed the end of my life for thy hand
to hend, and it is His will that slain I be and King Karazdan be healed
of his malady." So saying, she wept with sore weeping and Hasib wept to
see her weep. As for the abominable Wazir Shamhur; he put out his hand
to lay hold of her; but she said to him, "Hold thy hand, O accursed, or
I will blow upon thee and reduce thee to a heap of black ashes." Then
she cried out to Hasib, saying, "Draw near me and take me in thine hand
and lay me in the dish that is with you: then set it on thy head, for
my death was fore-ordained, from Eternity without beginning,[FN#572] to
be at thy hand, and thou hast no power to avert it." So he took her and
laid her in the dish, and put it on his head, when the well returned to
its former state. Then they set out on their return to the city, Hasib
carrying the dish on his head, and when they were half-way behold, the
Queen of the Serpents said to him privily, "Hearken, O Hasib, to my
friendly counsel, for all thou hast broken faith with me and been false
to thine oath, and hast done this misdeed, but it was fore-ordained
from all eternity." He replied "To hear is to obey," and she continued,
"It is this: when thou comest to the Wazir's house, he will bid thee
behead me and cut me in three; but do thou refuse saying, 'I know not
how to slaughter[FN#473]' and leave him to do it with his own hand and
to work his wicked will. When he hath cut my throat and divided my body
into three pieces there will come a messenger, to bid him to the King,
so he will lay my flesh in a cauldron of brass and set it upon a
brasier before going to the presence and he will say to thee, 'Keep up
the fire under the cauldron till the scum rise; then skim it off and
pour it into a phial to cool. Wait till it cool and then drink it, so
shall naught of malady or pain be left in all thy body. When the second
scum riseth, skim it off and pour it into a phial against my return
from the King, that I may drink it for an ailment I have in my loins.'
Then will he give thee the phials and go to the King, and when he is
gone, do thou light the fire and wait till the first scum rise and set
it in a phial; keep it by thee but beware of drinking it, or no good
will befall thee. When the second scum riseth, skim it off and put it
in a second phial and drink it down as soon as it cools. When the Wazir
returneth and asketh thee for the second phial, give him the first and
note what shall befall him;"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Thirty-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Serpent-queen
charged Hasib not to drink of the first scum and carefully to keep the
second, saying, "When the Wazir returneth from the King and asketh for
the second phial, give him the first and note what shall befall him;
then drink the contents of the second phial and thy heart will become
the home of wisdom. After this take up the flesh and, laying it in a
brazen platter, carry it to the King and give him to eat thereof. When
he hath eaten it and it hath settled in his stomach, veil his face with
a kerchief and wait by him till noontide, when he will have digested
the meat. Then give him somewhat of wine to drink and, by the decree of
Allah Almighty, he will be healed of his unhealth and be made whole as
he was. And give thou ear to the charge wherewith I charge thee; and
keep it in thy memory with carefullest keeping." They ceased not faring
till they came to the Wazir's house, and he said to Hasib, "Come in
with me!" So he went in and the troops dispersed and fared each his own
way; whereupon Hasib set down the platter and the Wazir bade him slay
the Queen of the Serpents; but he said, "I know not how to slaughter
and never in my born days killed I aught. An thou wilt have her throat
cut, do it with thine own hand." So the Minister Shamhur took the Queen
from the platter and slew her, seeing which Hasib wept bitter tears and
the Wazir laughed at him, saying, "O weak of wits, how canst thou weep
for the killing of a worm?" Then he cut her in three and, laying the
pieces in a brass cauldron, set it on the fire and sat down to await
the cooking of the flesh. And whilst he was sitting, lo! there came a
slave from the King, who said to him, "The King calls for thee without
stay or delay," and he answered saying, "I hear and I obey." So he gave
Hasib two phials and bade him drink the first scum and keep the second
against his return,[FN#574] even as the Queen of the Serpents had
foretold; after which he went away with repeated charges and
injunctions; and Hasib tended the fire under the cauldron till the
first scum rose, when he skimmed it off and, setting it in one of the
phials, kept it by him. He then fed the fire till the second scum rose;
then he skimmed it off and, putting it in the other phial kept it for
himself. And when the meat was done, he took the cauldron off the fire
and sat awaiting the Wazir who asked him on return, "What hast thou
done?" and answered Hasib, "I did thy bidding to the last word." Quoth
the Wazir, "What hast thou done with the first phial?" "I drank its
contents but now," replied Hasib, and Shamhur asked, "Thy body feeleth
it no change?"; whereto Hasib answered, "Verily, I feel as I were on
fire from front to foot." The villain Wazir made no reply hiding the
truth but said, "Hand me the second phial, that I may drink what is
therein, so haply I may be made whole of this ailing in my loins." So
Hasib brought him the first phial and he drank it off, thinking it
contained the second scum; but hardly had he done drinking when the
phial fell from his hand and he swelled up and dropped down dead; and
thus was exemplified in him the saying; "Whoso for his brother diggeth
a pit, he shall be the first to fall into it." Now when Hasib saw this,
he wondered and feared to drink of the second phial; but he remembered
the Serpent-queen's injunction and bethought him that the Wazir would
not have reserved the second scum for himself, had there been aught of
hurt therein. So he said, "I put my trust in Allah,'[FN#575] and drank
off the contents of the phial. No sooner had he done so, than the Most
Highest made the waters of wisdom to well up in his heart and opened to
him the fountains of knowledge, and joy and gladness overcame him. Then
he took the serpent's flesh from the cauldron and, laying it on a
platter of brass, went forth from the Wazir's house. On his way to the
palace he raised his eyes and saw the seven Heavens and all that
therein is, even to the Lote-tree, beyond which there is no
passing,[FN#576] and the manner of the revolution of the spheres.
Moreover, Allah discovered to him the ordinance of the planets and the
scheme of their movements and the fixed stars; and he saw the contour
of the land and sea, whereby he became informed with geometry,
astrology and astronomy and mathematics and all that hangeth thereby;
and he understood the causes and consequences of eclipses of the sun
and moon. Then he looked at the earth and saw all minerals and
vegetables that are therein and thereon; and he learned their
properties, and their virtues, so that he became in an instant versed
in medicine and chemistry and natural magic and the art of making gold
and silver. And he ceased not carrying the flesh till he came to the
palace, when he went in to King Karazdan, and kissing the ground before
him, said, "May thy head survive thy Wazir Shamhur!" The King was
mightily angered at the news of the Grand Wazir's death and wept for
him, whilst his Emirs and his Grandees and officers also wept. Then
said Karazdan, "He was with me but now, in all health, and went away to
fetch me the flesh of the Queen of the Serpents, if it should be
cooked; what befell him that he is now dead, and what accident hath
betided him?" So Hasib told him the whole truth how the Minister had
drunk the contents of the phial and had forthwith swelled out and died.
The King mourned for his loss with mourning sore and said to Hasib,
"What shall I do without Shamhur?" and Hasib answered "Grieve not, O
King of the age; for I will cure thee within three days and leave no
whit of disease in thy body." At this the King's breast waxed broad and
he said, "I wish to be made whole of this affliction, though after a
long term of years." So Hasib set the platter before the King and made
him eat a slice of the flesh of the Serpent-queen. Then he covered him
up and, spreading a kerchief over his face, bade him sleep and sat down
by his side. He slept from noonday till sundown, while his stomach
digested the piece of flesh, and presently he awoke. Hasib gave him
somewhat of wine to drink and bade him sleep again; so he slept till
the morning and when dawn appeared, Hasib repeated the treatment making
him eat another piece of the flesh; and thus he did with him three days
following, till he had eaten the whole, when his skin began to shrink
and scale off and he perspired, so that the sweat ran down from his
head to his heels. Therewith he became whole and there abode in him no
trace of the disease, which when Hasib saw, he said, "There is no help
for it but thou go to the Hammam." So he carried him to the bath and
washed his body; and when he came forth, it was like a wand of silver
and he was restored to health, nay, sounder than he was before he fell
ill. Thereupon he donned his richest robes and, seating himself on his
throne, deigned make Hasib sit beside him. Then he bade the tables be
spread and they ate and washed their hands; after which he called for
the service of wine and both drank their fill. Upon this all his Wazirs
and Emirs and Captains and the Grandees of his realm and the notables
of the lieges came in to him and gave him joy of his recovery; and they
beat the drums and adorned the city in token of rejoicing. Then said
the King to the assembly, "O Wazirs and Emirs and Grandees, this is
Hasim Karim al-Din, who hath healed me of my sickness, and know all
here present that I make him my Chief Wazir in the stead of the Wazir
Shamhur."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Five Hundred and Thirty-sixth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth King
Karazdan to his Ministers and high lords, "He who healed me of my
sickness is none other than Hasib Karim al-Din here present. Therefore
I make him my Chief Wazir in the stead of the Wazir Shamhur; and whoso
loveth him loveth me, and whoso honoureth him honoureth me, and he who
obeyeth him obeyeth me." "Hearkening and obedience," answered they and
all rising flocked to kiss Hasib's hand and salute him and give him joy
of the Wazirate. Then the King bestowed on him a splendid dress of gold
brocade, set with pearls and gems, the least of which was worth five
thousand gold pieces. Moreover, he presented to him three hundred male
white slaves and the like number of concubines, in loveliness like
moons, and three hundred Abyssinian[FN#577] slave-girls, beside five
hundred mules laden with treasure and sheep and oxen and buffaloes and
bulls and other cattle beyond count; and he commanded all his Wazirs
and Emirs and Grandees and Notables and Mamelukes and his subjects in
general to bring him gifts. Presently Hasib took horse and rode,
followed by the Wazirs and Emirs and lords and all the troops, to the
house which the King had set apart for him, where he sat down on a
chair; and the Wazirs and Emirs came up to him and kissed hands and
gave him joy of his Ministership, vying with one another in suit and
service. When his mother and his household knew what had happened, they
rejoiced with exceeding joy and congratulated him on his good fortune;
and his quondam comrades the woodcutters also came and gave him joy.
Then he mounted again and, riding to the house of the late Wazir
Shamhur, laid hands on all that was therein and transported it to his
own abode. On this wise did Hasib, from a dunsical know-nothing,
unskilled to read writing, become, by the decree of Allah Almighty, an
adept in every science and versed in all manner of knowledge, so that
the fame of his learning was blazed abroad over the land and he became
renowned as an ocean of lore and skill in medicine and astronomy and
geometry and astrology and alchemy and natural magic and the Cabbala
and Spiritualism and all other arts and sciences. One day, he said to
his mother, "My father Daniel was exceeding wise and learned; tell me
what he left by way of books or what not!" So his mother brought him
the chest and, taking out the five leaves which had been saved when the
library was lost, gave them to him saying, "These five scrolls are all
thy father left thee." So he read them and said to her, "O my mother,
these leaves are part of a book: where is the rest?" Quoth she, "Thy
father made a voyage taking with him all his library and, when he was
shipwrecked, every book was lost save only these five leaves. And when
he was returned to me by Almighty Allah he found me with child and said
to me: 'Haply thou wilt bear a boy; so take these scrolls and keep them
by thee and whenas thy son shall grow up and ask what his father left
him, give these leaves to him and say, 'Thy father left these as thine
only heritance. And lo! here they are.' " And Hasib, now the most
learned of his age, abode in all pleasure and solace, and delight of
life, till there came to him the Destroyer of delights and the Severer
of societies.[FN#578] And yet, O King, is not this tale of Bulukiya and
Janshah more wondrous than the adventures of
End of Volume V.
Arabian Nights, Volume 5
Footnotes
[FN#1] This tale (one of those translated by Galland) is best and
fullest in the Bresl. Edit. iii. 329.
[FN#2] Europe has degraded this autumnal festival, the Sun-fκte Mihrgαn
(which balanced the vernal Nau-roz) into Michaelmas and its
goose-massacre. It was so called because it began on the 16th of Mihr,
the seventh month; and lasted six days, with feasts, festivities and
great rejoicings in honour of the Sun, who now begins his
southing-course to gladden the other half of the world.
[FN#3] "Hindν" is an Indian Moslem as opposed to "Hindϊ," a pagan, or
Gentoo.
[FN#4] The orig. Persian word is "Shαh-pϊr"=King's son: the Greeks (who
had no sh) (preferred ); the Romans turned it into Sapor and the Arabs
(who lack the p) into Sαbϊr. See p. x. Hamzζ ispahanensis Annalium
Libri x.: Gottwaldt, Lipsiζ mdcccxlviii.
[FN#5] The magic horse may have originated with the Hindu tale of a
wooden Garuda (the bird of Vishnu) built by a youth for the purpose of
a vehicle. It came with the "Moors" to Spain and appears in "Le Cheval
de Fust," a French poem of the thirteenth Century. Thence it passed
over to England as shown by Chaucer's "Half-told tale of Cambuscan
(Janghνz Khan?) bold," as
"The wondrous steed of brass
On which the Tartar King did ride;"
And Leland (Itinerary) derives "Rutlandshire" from "a man named Rutter
who rode round it on a wooden horse constructed by art magic." Lane
(ii. 548) quotes the parallel story of Cleomades and Claremond which
Mr. Keightley (Tales and Popular Fictions, chapt. ii) dates from our
thirteenth century. See Vol. i., p. 160.
[FN#6] All Moslems, except those of the Mαliki school, hold that the
maker of an image representing anything of life will be commanded on
the Judgment Day to animate it, and failing will be duly sent to the
Fire. This severity arose apparently from the necessity of putting down
idol-worship and, perhaps, for the same reason the Greek Church admits
pictures but not statues. Of course the command has been honoured with
extensive breaching: for instance all the Sultans of Stambul have had
their portraits drawn and painted.
[FN#7] This description of ugly old age is written with true
Arab verve.
[FN#8] Arab. "Badinjαn": Hind. Bengan: Pers. Bαdingαn or Badiljαn; the
Mala insana (Solanum pomiferum or S. Melongena) of the Romans, well
known in Southern Europe. It is of two kinds, the red (Solanum
lycopersicum) and the black (S. Melongena). The Spaniards know it as
"berengeria" and when Sancho Panza (Part ii. chapt. 2) says, "The Moors
are fond of egg-plants" he means more than appears. The vegetable is
held to be exceedingly heating and thereby to breed melancholia and
madness; hence one says to a man that has done something eccentric,
"Thou hast been eating brinjalls."
[FN#9] Again to be understood Hibernice "kilt."
[FN#10] i.e. for fear of the evil eye injuring the palace and, haply,
himself.
[FN#11] The "Sufrah" before explained acting provision-bag and
table-cloth.
[FN#12] Eastern women in hot weather, lie mother-nude under a sheet
here represented by the hair. The Greeks and Romans also slept stripped
and in mediζval England the most modest women saw nothing indelicate in
sleeping naked by their naked husbands. The "night-cap" and the
"night-gown" are comparatively modern inventions.
[FN#13] Hindu fable turns this simile into better poetry, "She was like
a second and a more wondrous moon made by the Creator."
[FN#14] "Sun of the Day."
[FN#15] Arab. "Shirk"=worshipping more than one God. A theological term
here most appropriately used.
[FN#16] The Bul. Edit. as usual abridges (vol. i. 534). The Prince
lands on the palace-roof where he leaves his horse, and finding no one
in the building goes back to the terrace. Suddenly he sees a beautiful
girl approaching him with a party of her women, suggesting to him these
couplets,
"She came without tryst in the darkest hour, *
Like full moon lighting horizon's night:
Slim-formed, there is not in the world her like *
For grace of form or for gifts of sprite:
'Praise him who made her from semen-drop,' *
I cried, when her beauty first struck my sight:
I guard her from eyes, seeking refuge with *
The Lord of mankind and of morning-light."
The two then made acquaintance and "follows what follows."
[FN#17] Arab. "Akαsirah," explained (vol. i., 75) as the plur. of
Kisrα.
[FN#18] The dearest ambition of a slave is not liberty but to have a
slave of his own. This was systematised by the servile rulers known in
history as the Mameluke Beys and to the Egyptians as the Ghuzz. Each
had his household of servile pages and squires, who looked forward to
filling the master's place as knight or baron.
[FN#19] The well-known capital of Al-Yaman, a true Arabia Felix, a
Paradise inhabited by demons in the shape of Turkish soldiery and Arab
caterans. According to Moslem writers Sana'a was founded by Shem son of
Noah who, wandering southward with his posterity after his father's
death, and finding the site delightful, dug a well and founded the
citadel, Ghamdαn, which afterwards contained a Mason Carrιe rivalling
(or attempting to rival) the Meccan Ka'abah. The builder was Surahbνl
who, says M.C. de Perceval coloured its four faces red, white, golden
and green; the central quadrangle had seven stories (the planets) each
forty cubits high, and the lowest was a marble hall ceiling'd with a
single slab. At the four corners stood hollow lions through whose
mouths the winds roared. This palatial citadel-temple was destroyed by
order of Caliph Omar. The city's ancient name was Azal or Uzal whom
some identify with one of the thirteen sons of Joktan (Genesis xi. 27):
it took its present name from the Ethiopian conquerors (they say) who,
seeing it for the first time, cried "Hazα Sana'ah!" meaning in their
tongue, this is commodious, etc. I may note that the word is Kisawahili
(Zanzibarian) e.g. "Yαmbo sαnα—is the state good?" Sana'a was the
capital of the Tabαbi'ah or Tobba Kings who judaized; and the
Abyssinians with their Negush made it Christian while the Persians
under Anushirwαn converted it to Guebrism. It is now easily visited but
to little purpose; excursions in the neighborhood being deadly
dangerous. Moreover the Turkish garrison would probably murder a
stranger who sympathised with the Arabs, and the Arabs kill one who
took part with their hated and hateful conquerors. The late Mr. Shapira
of Jerusalem declared that he had visited it and Jews have great
advantages in such travel. But his friends doubted him.
[FN#20] The Bresl. Edit. (iii. 347) prints three vile errors in four
lines.
[FN#21] Alcove is a corruption of the Arab. Al-Kubbah (the dome)
through Span. and Port.
[FN#22] Easterns as a rule sleep with head and body covered by a sheet
or in cold weather a blanket. The practice is doubtless hygienic,
defending the body from draughts when the pores are open; but Europeans
find it hard to adopt; it seems to stop their breathing. Another
excellent practice in the East, and indeed amongst barbarians and
savages generally, is training children to sleep with mouths shut: in
after life they never snore and in malarious lands they do not require
Outram's "fever-guard," a swathe of muslin over the mouth. Mr. Catlin
thought so highly of the "shut mouth" that he made it the subject of a
book.
[FN#23] Arab. "Hanzal"=coloquintida, an article often mentioned by
Arabs in verse and prose; the bright coloured little gourd attracts
every eye by its golden glance when travelling through the brown-yellow
waste of sand and clay. A favourite purgative (enough for a horse) is
made by filling the inside with sour milk which is drunks after a
night's soaking: it is as active as the croton-nut of the Gold Coast.
[FN#24] The Bresl. Edit. iii. 354 sends him to the "land of Sνn"
(China).
[FN#25] Arab. "Yα Kisrawi!"=O subject of the Kisrα or Chosroλ; the
latter explained in vol.i.,75.[Volume 1, Footnote # 128] "Fars" is the
origin of "Persia"; and there is a hit at the prodigious lying of the
modern race, whose forefathers were so famous as truth-tellers. "I am a
Persian, but I am not lying now," is a phrase familiar to every
traveller.
[FN#26] There is no such name: perhaps it is a clerical error
for "Har jαh"=(a man of) any place. I know an Englishman who in
Persian called himself "Mirza Abdullah-i-Hνchmakαni"=Master
Abdullah of Nowhere.
[FN#27] The Bresl. Edit. (loc. cit.) gives a comical description of the
Prince assuming the dress of an astrologer-doctor, clapping an old book
under his arm, fumbling a rosary of beads, enlarging his turband,
lengthening his sleeves and blackening his eyelids with antimony. Here,
however, it would be out of place. Very comical also is the way in
which he pretends to cure the maniac by "muttering unknown words,
blowing in her face, biting her ear," etc.