HATIM'S BEAR WIFE

Hatimtai walked on, but he realized that he had lost his way. When he was thinking about which way to take, he saw the bears coming towards him.

They told him that the Bear king wanted to meet the great Hatimai. So Hatim went with the bears to meet the Bear daughter.

When Hatim refused to marry his daughter, the Bear king got very angry and offended. He ordered his bear soldiers to throw Hatim into a pit.

At night, Hatim saw a dream. In the dream, an old man with white hair told him to marry the Bear Princess as she would help him in his request.

So the next day, Hatim went to the Bear king and told him that he was ready to marry his daughter.

Amidst a lot of celebrations by the bears, Hatimai was married to the Bear princess.

A few days after his marriage, Hatim felt guilty about taking so long in finding the answer of the first puzzle.

He told his bear wife to tell her father to let him go, as he had to fulfill the promise he had given to his friend.

Hatim was then allowed to go by the Bear king. His wife gave him a big jewel which she said would save him from danger.

Hatim kept the jewel in this his turban and continued his journey. After walking for few days, he found himself in a desert.

It was very hot, and he found it difficult to walk in the scorching heat of the sun. He also felt very hungry and thirsty.

Suddenly an old man with a while beard appeared with food and water. Hatim ate the food and felt better.

Then the white haired man vanished. Hatim thanked God for helping him and moved on.

All of a sudden, a very big snake came in front of him. The snake drew a deep breath, and the next moment Hatim found himself inside the snake.

He looked for his sword to cut the skin of the snake to get out of it, but the sword was left outside.

It was dirty inside the body of the snake. Hatim realized that the jewel of his even in the snake's body.

Hatim started running inside the huge snake trying to find some way out, but he couldn't.

He ran and down for three days.

On the fourth day, the snake felt pain inside its stomach because of Hatim's out of its stomach. Hatim was dirty, but out of its stomach. Hatim was dirty, but alive. After washing his clothes and having a bath, he felt better.

He walked on and came to a beautiful part of from where he could see a mountain.

He started climbing the mountain. On the top of the mountain, he saw a house. He walked in and saw a bed there. 

HATIM'S BEAR WIFE 1

As he was very tired, he lay on the bed and went to sleep. When he got up, he saw a while haired men sitting near him.

Hatim told him his story and what he was looking for.

The old man warned him that whoever there never comes back.

However, Hatim boldly said, "I have to do this for a friend, no matter what the consequences is."

The old man said, "You are very brave and kind, so I will help you."

He told Hatim that he would met some beautiful girls. They would take him to a beautiful woman who would solve the puzzles for him.

Haiti asked for the blessings of the old man. The old man blessed him and gave him a piece of wood.

"What is this?" asked Hatim.

The old man said, "If you keep it in your mouth, you will become invisible. No one will be able to see you. This magical piece of wood will help you in your quest."

Hated thanked the old man for the gift and walked towards the direction told by him.

He soon reached a beautiful field. There he saw a lake of clear water.

As he roamed about, he saw some pretty girls. He then remembered what the old man had told him.

Hatim followed them and went into the pool of clear water. All of a sudden, he felt tyhat he was going inside the water but to his own surprise he could still breathe.

the babies of any animal.

When Hatim asked the lion couple to be considerate towards the babies of other animals, they said, "We are the king and the queen of the forest. We can kill anyone. Today we will eat you."

The lion and the lioness pounced on Hatim. But brave as he was, he soon overpowered them and took out their nails and teeth.

When they cried in pain, Hatim prayed to God to lessen their pain.

The lion said, "You have taken out our nails and teeth. How will we hunt now? We will have to remain hungry and die."

The jackal came there and said, "I will bring food for you every day. You will not remain hungry."

On being sure of the well being of both jackals and the lions, Hatim felt better and he resumed his journey.

HAVE SEEN IT ONCE AND WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT AGAIN

Hatim found himself in a very beautiful palace under the water woman. He enters its hall and saw a beautiful woman sitting on a golden throne.

He was so mesmerized by the beauty of the woman that he couldn't take his eyes off her. He had never seen such a beautiful woman in his life. A beauty that was unblemished and spotless!

He knew that he was in front of a fairy queen and all the others were also fairies.

Hatim walked up to the lovely fairy queen and held her hand.

Suddenly, everything disappeared. The palace was no longer there. There were neither any fairies nor any Fairy queen around.

Hatim found himself in the middle of a wild land. He suddenly heard a loud voice, "Have seen it once and would like to see it again."

These were the very words of his again."

These were the very words of his first puzzle!

Hatim looked in the direction from where the voice was coming.

A man, with long hair and a long beard, was sitting on a nearby rock.

Hatim ran towards that man and asked him, 'why did you speak these words?"

The man asked, "Who are you?"

Then Hatim told him his story. He also told him about seeing the Fairy queen.

The man said, "So you have been sent here by the lovely Fairy queen. I too was sent here by her."

"But why?" asked Hatim. 

HAVE SEEN IT ONCE AND WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT AGAIN 1

The man said, "I saw her and as she was so beautiful, I had her hand. So she sent me here."

"she was so beautiful that even I couldn't help it. I have seen her once and want to see her again, "said the man.

Hatim thought of a solution and said, "Come with me. I will get you back to her, but this doesn't hold her hand. "

He took the man with him and tried to get back to the pool of water but could not do so.

Then he took out the piece of wood that the old man had given him. He put it in his mouth.

The man with him shouted, "Where are you, Hatim?  "But Hatim did not reply.

He realized that the piece of wood had worked its magic; he had become invisible.

Hatim quickly found a shortcut to the pool.Then he went back to the place where he had left the man. He took out the piece of wood from his mouth and become visible again. Then Hatim brought the man to the pool. He left him there and hid himself.

He saw the fairies come and take the man into the pool. Hatim reminded him again not to touch the Fairy queen and left the place.

He now felt that he should go back to Husn Bano and fell her that he had found the answer to the first puzzle.

DO GOOD AND CAST IT INTO THE RIVER

Husn Banon told Hatimai about the second puzzle, "You have to find out the man who has written this on the front wall of his house, 'Do good and cast it into the river."

Husn Bano was so happy after having the first puzzle solved that she gave hint to hatim.

She told him that this man lived towards the north of her city.

Hatim began his search for this man. He went through many difficulties, but he bravely moved on.

After a long time, he reached a big palace. On its front wall was written, 'Do good and cast it into river.'

Before walking inside the palaces, Hatim put the piece of wood in this mouth as there were many soldiers guarding the palace. Now nobody could see him.

In the court, he saw a very old man sitting on the throne.

Hatim took out the piece of wood and met the old man, who welcomed Hatim and offered him food.

After having some food, Hatim asked the old man to explain the meaning of the words on the front wall of his beautiful palace.

The old man said that these lines were related to his own life's story.

Hatim said, "I would like to hear it."

The old man then told him his story. He said, "Hatimai, you may not believe it, but when I was young, I was a thief."

"I was bad and cruel, but everything I did was not bad. The only good thing I did was not bad. The only good thing I did was to put two pieces of bread in the river every day, for the fishes to eat. Once I fell very ill and felt as if I was going die."

"Then a messenger of death came to take me to hell. On the gates of hell, two angles appeared and they told the messenger of death that I was to be sent back to earth to live for a hundred more years."

When I asked the angles why I was spared from going to hell, they told me that though I had done a lot of bad deeds, one  good dead that I did every day saved me from being damned."

"When I opened my eyes, I was that I was in my bed. The two bread pieces had become two angles that saved me from going to hell. Afterwards, I made it a habit to put pieces of bread in the river every day. I put them and then forget about it. I forget about it but God doesn't so as a reward, I get two hundred gold coins that come with the river water. With that money I help the poor people."

"I believe that we should be kind to everyone and then forget our good deeds.

We should not ask for anything in return."

"This is the reason why I have got it written on the front wall of my palace, 'Do good and cast it into the river.'

DO GOOD AND CAST IT INTO THE RIVER 2

Hatim thanked the old man and started his journey back to Husn Bano's city.

Had had solved the second puzzle too and wanted to her.

One his way, he saw that a big black snake was about to eat a golden snake. He could not bear to see this. He took out his sword and killed the cruel back snake.

Suddenly the golden snake disappeared. Hatim looked around to see whether it had slithered behind the bushes.

Then all of a sudden, a young man appeared in the place where he had previously seen the golden snake. He was standing next to the dead black snake.

The young man said, "I am the Prince of Jinns. You have saved me from my slave."

"Do you, mean that this black snake was your slave?" asked Hatim, pointing towards the dead snake in front of him.

"Yes, today he would have killed me had you not come to save me. Thank you so much," said the grateful young man.

Hatim said, "Don't thank me, and thank the Lord that he sent me here at the right time to save you."

The young man said, "You must come with me to my kingdom."

He then took Hatim to his palace. There the king of Jinns thanked Hatim for saving his son. He gave him a lot of money and gifts, all of which Hatim gave to the poor.

The young Prince of Jinn said, "I know that you are brave, but if you ever need help just think of me. I will immediately come to help you."

The king of Jinns also gave a magic stick and a magic jewel to Hatim as a gift.

The magic stick would become a boat when thrown into water, and the magic jewel had the power to cure the bite of poisonous snakes.

Before Hatim went away, the king bade him farewell and said, 'I am glad to meet you. You are courageous and tender-hearted, a rare combination of qualities."

Hatim thanked the father and the son and moved on his way to the city of Husno Buno.

Hatim reached her palace and told her that he had solved the second puzzle too. She was glad to hear of it.

EVIL BEGETS EVIL

 Husn Bano then told Hatimai about the third puzzles, "In the forest, you will find a man saying that evil begets evil. You have to find the meaning of these words.'

Hatim immediately set off to solve the third puzzles. He walked for many days till he came near a mountain. A very weak young man was sitting there and was crying aloud, "Come back to me."

Hated went and asked the man, "Why are you crying like this?"

The man said, "I am a merchant. When I was going through this way, I saw a beautiful lady. An exquisite beauty indeed! I fell in love with her the moment saw her. I told her that I wanted to marry her, and she agreed to marry me."

"If she agreed to marry you then what is the problem?" asked Hatim.

"I was very happy when she agreed but then she said that she would like to meet her family before going with me. She went. I can't come back since then. I can't live without her, "said the young man sadly.

Hatim asked the man to come with him, and they would search for her together.

The man said, "I cannot come with you. I cannot leave this place because she said that if I go away, I will never see her again."

Hatim said, "How long can you wait here?"

"Forever. I have been waiting here for the last seven years," said the man.

"Where does she live?" asked Hatim.

"She is a fairy. She lives on that mountain," said the man, pointing towards a far away mountain.

Hatim decided to go and meet the fairy. He climbed up the mountain and saw a lovely palace where many fairies were singing songs.

EVIL BEGETS EVIL 1

He asked them where he could find that fairy. They took him near another mountain.

There he saw another young man crying. Hatim asked him why he was crying.

The man told him that he was a soldier. He loved the daughter of a magician, but the magician had put some conditions for him to marry her.

The first condition was to get a pair of pariru. The second was to get a red snake's jewel. The third was to jump into a tank of hot boiling oil and come out without getting burnt..

The soldier said, "I can't do all this, yet I love her a lot. So I am just crying what else can I do?"

hatim said, "Don't worry. I will help you."

Hatim had a generous soul. He couldn't see anyone in pain. So he set out to fulfill the three conditions that could get the soldier, the girl he dearly loved.

The first condition was to get a pair of Pariru. He knew that a pariru was a peacock with a human face.

He reached a mooted town. A moat is a ditch made around a city to prevent enemies from coming in.

All the people of the city were sitting together, as if discussing something. dejection and gloom was clearly evident on their faces.

Hatim asked one of them, "Why are you all so sad? What is the matter?"

The man said, "A demon troubles us every night. He comes and kills five or six of us every night"

Hatim decided to help them.

EVIL BEGETS EVIL 2

Hatim saw fear in the eyes of these people. Instead of happily playing in the open fields of the city, the children were locked up inside the houses for the fear of the demon.

Hatim wanted to stop the demon from brutally killing these innocent people. He made a plan to stop the demon from coming to that city.

H etold the people to fill th moat with logs and put it on fire when the demon comes at night.

All the people of the town worked according to Hatim's plan, hoping that this God sent man would save them from this demon.

In the evening when they were waiting for the demon to come, Hatim saw a huge figure with seven heads. Each head had one huge eye. This was the demon.

As soon as he came hear the moat, Hatim told the people to put the logs on fire.

Seeing the huge flames of fire, the demon moved backwards.

Just then Hatim hit an arrow at him which pierced his middle eye. Groaning with pain, the demon ran away into the forest in which he lived.

The people of the city heartily thanked Hatim. The king of that city gave him many gifts, all of which he gave to the needy.

Then Hatim resumed his search for a pair of Pariru. After crossing a river, with the help of the magic stick given by the king of Jinns, he saw many parirus. When he told them his story, two Parirus agreed to come with him. Hatim gave the Parirus to the soldier, who took them to the magician.

After this Hatim went in search of the red snake's jewel. He reached a desert where he got to a hot mountain. The mountain was so hot and Hatim so tired that he fainted.

EVIL BEGETS EVIL 3

Suddenly, he heard a voice say, "Now use the magic jewel."

When he opened his eyes, he saw a huge red snake coming towards him. Fire was coming out from the snakes' mouth. Hatim knew that this was the snake whose jewel had to be obtained.

So, he threw his magic jewel at the snake. The snake got scared and threw of a jewel. Hatim quickly picked it up and took it to the young soldier. The soldier went to the magician and gave the jewel to him.

The third thing had to be done now. The soldier had to jump into a tank full of hot boiling oil and come out of it without getting burnt.

Hatim gave the soldier the jewel given by his bear wife and told him that it would protect him when he jumps into the tank of hot boiling oil.

The soldier kept the jewel in his mouth and jumped into the tank of hot boiling oil.

He came out of it without getting burnt.

When the soldier came out of the tank, he hugged Hatim. His eyes were full of gratitude for him.

The happy magician organized a grand ceremony for the wedding of his daughter to the soldier.

Hatim blessed the soldier and his wife, and then went on his way.

Now he had to convince the fairy to marry the young man who had been waiting for her for seven long years.

He reached the mountain where he was told he would find the fairy. When he went inside the cave of the mountain, he saw a palace.

Many fairies came and stood around Hatim.

One asked, "Who are you?"

Hatim replied, "I am Hatimtai, I am the King of Yemen."

Another asked, "Why have you come here?"

Hatim said, "I am looking for the fairy who is the beloved of a young man who has been waiting for her for the past seven years.

He was taken to that fairy but she said, "I have nothing to do with that young man"

That night when he fell asleep, he saw the white haired man again.

He told Hatim, "Tell the young man to put the jewel given by your bear wife in his mouth. Then let him drink half a glass of milk. Give the rest of the milk to this fairy to drink. Once she drinks that milk, she will start loving to man."

When Hatim woke up, he requested the fairy to call the young man to her palace.

When the young man came, Hatim gave the jewel of his bear wife to him. He asked him to keep the jewel in his mouth and drink half a glass of milk. The young man did as he was told. Hatim gave the rest of the milk to the fairy.

The moment the fairy drank the milk, she fell in love with the young man.

She said, "I love you and I wish to marry you"

EVIL BEGETS EVIL 4

The fairy and the young man were married amidst a lot of celebrations.

Hatim moved on to solve the third puzzle of Husn Bano. He didn't know where he should go.

Then he thought, "The Prince of Jinns could help me with this."

He thought of the prince, and the young prince came and stood in front of him.

The prince happily greeted Hatamtai and asked him, "How can I help you, Hatim?"

Hatim told him about the third puzzle which asked him to find out the meaning of th words, 'Evil begets Evil.'

The prince then closed his eyes and meditated for sometimes. He opened eyes and said, "I think I can tell you where you should go."

The prince explained the way but then he said, "It is very far. It will take you months to reach that place. Take this magic carpet. With its help you will reach there soon.

Hatim took the magic carpet and thanked the prince for his help.

He unfolded the carpet and stood on it. Slowly, the magic carpet went flying in the air. He took the way that the Prince of Jinns had told him.

On reaching his destination, he saw a cage hanging on a tree. The cage had an old blind man in it.

He went towards the cage and asked the blind man, "Who has put you in this cage?"

"I am here because of my own mistake. No one else is responsible for my condition." said the blind old man gloomily.

"First let me get you out of this cage, and then tell me your story," said Hatim.

EVIL BEGETS EVIL 5

"No! One thing has to be done before I come out of this cage," said the blind old man.

"What is it?" asked Hatim.

"Here my story, and you will know what it is,' said the blind old man

He began, "I was a merchant, my father died and felt a lot of money for me, but I wasted all the money in having fun. When my father's money was finished, I needed more money."

"I had always known that my father had buried a lot of wealth under our house. I tried to find out someone who was good at finding hidden treasures by knowing where exactly to dig."

"I found such a man, I told him that I would give him a part of the buried wealth, if he found it."

"The young man found the buried wealth. But I, due to my greed, refused to give him anything."

"Instead, I beat him up and threw him out of my house. I was blind with greed!"

"After a few days, I met the young man again. Surprisingly, he was still friendly towards me. He proposed to teach me, how to find buried treasures.

He said that he would put a magic lotion on my eyes which would enable me to see hidden treasures. But when he applied that lotion, I became blind."

"The man had taken his revenge."

after that he put me in this cage and hung me here. So I always say that  "Evil begets Evil"

"I am waiting for my eyesight to come back."

Hatim asked, "How can you get your eyesight back?"

The old man said, "There is a special grass that shines in the dark. If I touch that grass to my eyes, I will be able to see again.

Hatim was told where he could find the shining grass. It was in the middle of the place which was the abode of poisonous snakes.

He took the flying carpet and reached that place he bent while sitting on the flyig carpet and picked up a few blades of the shining grass.

He came back and climbed the tree to open the cage.

Then he touched the shining grass to the eyes of the blind old man.

After that the old man could see.

Hatim helped him to climb down the tree. The old man was greatful to Hatim for what he had done.

Husn Bano jumped with joy when Hatim told her that he had successfully solved th third puzzle.

PLEASURE LIES IN SPEAKING THE TRUTH

Hatimtai did not want to waste any time. So he asked Husn Bano to tell him about the next puzzle. HUSN Bano said, "The fourth puzzle is to find out the mystery behind the words, 'Pleasure lied in speaking the truth.'

Husan Bano was so happy with Hatim that she even told him the city where he would find the answer to this puzzle.

Hatim started on his journey again. Since he knew his destination, he hoped that he would soon solve the puzzle.

It was not an easy journey. After facing a lot of hardships, he managed to reach the city that Husan Bano had told him about.

There he walked around the city looking for the house where the mystery of the puzzle could be solved.

After a long time, Hatim reached a big house on whose wall sit was written, Pleasure lies in speaking the truth.

Hatim asked the servant outside about the owner of the house.

He was told that the old man was eight hundred years old and so was the city in which he lived.

He asked the servant to inform the owner that he, Hatimtai, wanted to meet him.

When he was taken inside, Hatim asked the old man why the words, 'Pleasure lies in speaking the truth,' were written on the wall of his house.

In reply, the old man told him his story.

PLEASURE LIES IN SPEAKING THE TRUTH 1

This man had been a gambler and had lost all his money in gambling. One day when he needed money, he stole the king's necklace while the king was fast asleep in his palace. When he was running away, he met two thieves who stopped him, intending to rob him.

The thieves tried to snatch the necklace from the gambler. They started beating him when he resisted.

Then suddenly a strange looking man came to help the gambler. He used his magical powers to rescue him from the thieves.

The thieves got scared and ran away, leaving the necklace.

The gambler thanked the strange looking man for saving him.

The man told the gambler that he had come to help him because of some good deeds he had done in his life.

He said, "You can keep the necklace with you. If you promise that you will never gamble again, you will live for nine hundred years as the king of a city." Saying this, the strange man suddenly disappeared.

After this incident, the gambler stopped gambling and started leading a truthful life.

He made a huge house for himself and lived there. The people who were jealous of him went to the king and asked his to inquire into the source of his wealth.

The king called the man and asked him about his wealth. The man told the truth to the king.

The king was so impressed that instead of punishing him for stealing the necklace, he rewarded him and made him the king of the city he was living in.

This was the reason why the man had got it written on the wall of his house that "Pleasure lies in speaking the truth"

In this way, Hatim solved the fourth puzzle.

He went back to Husn Bano to tell her about it. She was overjoyed at Hatim's success and admired his courage and intelligence.

THE ECHOING MOUNTAIN

Husn Bano then told Hatim about the next puzzle. She said, "You have to go and get information about a mountain that echoes. Find out what the echo of the mountain signifies."

Hatim reached a town and met the head of the town.

The head knew in which kingdom he could find the mountain that echoed. He gave Hatim the direction to that kingdom

When Hatim reached there, he asked some guards to take him to the king.

On meeting the king, Hatim said, "I am Hatimtai, the king of Yemen. I want to know about the echoing mountain"

The king asked him to stay in his kingdom for a few days to know about the echoing mountain.

One day, when the king was having lunch with Hatim, they heard a strange voice calling, "Come quickly, come quickly"

They looked out of the window and saw a man running towards the direction from where the voice was coming. His face was red and was getting redder.

Other people were trying to stop him but the man shook them off and ran ahead.

The king told Hatim that this voice was the echo of the mountain.

Hatim ran after the man.

Just when Hatim came near the mountain, the mountain and the man both disappeared. Hatim returned from the mountain sadly.

During the next few days, he saw many people running towards the mountain and disappearing.

THE ECHOING MOUNTAIN 1

Hatim befriended a nice young man in the town. Both of them liked each other a lot. They spent much time with each other.

He told Hatim that once the voice of the mountain summons a person, he or she has to follow its order. He also told him that whoever follows its echo never returns.

One day when Hatim and his friend were sitting together, the mountain echoed. Hatim's friend started running towards the mountain.

Hatim ran after him and caught his friend's hand. Both of them ran together.

They climbed the mountain. On the top of the mountain was a fort.

As they came near the fort, Hatim stepped on the grass but his friend put his foot on the stone floor.

The man fell down and died. Hatim understood that the echo of the mountain was the call of death.

This was the way that the people of this city died when their time came.

Hatim thought that now he could go to Husn Bano and tell her the mystery of the echoing mountain.

Hatim tried to find his way back, but he got lost. Then he put the magic piece of wood in his mouth and climbed down the mountain.

On his way back, he saw a river. There was a boat in the river. Hatim sat in the it and started rowing.

He got down on the other side and walked on. After sometime, he saw a river that had red water. The water was blood red, but Hatim was able to cross the river safely.

Then he saw another river which had silver water. He put his hand in it, and it became silver.

Then he came to a river that had clear water in it. He put his silver hand in the water of this river, and this hand turned normal again.

Then he saw a river of fire. Huge flames of fire were coming out of this river.

He kept the jewel, given by his bear wife, in his mouth and safely crossed the river of fire.

Finally, he reached the palace of Hasn Bano and told her how he had solved the fifth puzzle.

THE QUEST FOR THE PEARL

Hatimtai told Hasn Bano, "Now please tell me the sixth puzzle that I have to solve. My friend must be waiting for me."

Hasn Bano said, "This time you have to get the pearl which is of the same size as a duck's egg. I have one like that with me."

Hasn Bano showed the pearl to Hatim. He said, "Please make a copy of this in silver, so that I bring the right sized pearl."

Hasn Bano gave a silver replica of the pearl to Hatim, and he began his journey to solve the sixth puzzle.

He could not think of any place to start looking for the pearl. So he sat down and wondered what to do. He thought of the magical things he had.

Then an idea struck him. He thought he would put the magic piece of wood between his teeth and see if it helped him.

He put the magic piece of wood between his teeth and suddenly he started hearing many voices around him.

He could hear many things at a time. Trees were talking to each other, and animals were calling each other.

Then he heard a voice above him. He saw two birds, with white and red feathers, sitting on the branch of the tree above him.

He heard a sweet bird asking, "Who is this man?"

The male bird told the female bird, "This man is Hatimtai. He is the brave and strong King of Yemen. He has left his kingdom and is solving the seven puzzles set by Hasn Bano for his friend, Muneer Shah. He has already solved five puzzles."

"Which puzzles is he to solve this time?" asked the female bird.

The male bird told her, "Husn Bano had asked him to get a pearl of the size of a duck's egg. But those peals are not found now."

"If those pearls are not found now, how will this poor man find it?" asked the female bird.

"There are only two such pearls to be found now. One is with Husn Bano. She found it when her servants were digging the earth to build her city, "told the male bird.

"If one of the two pearls is with Husn Bano, where is the other pearl?" asked the female bird.

The male bird said, "There was a queen who found his white she was sitting near a river. That queen had lost her husband in a war and was going to have baby soon. A merchant took her home and took care of the queen like his own daughter. She gave birth to a son who later became a king. Now his family has the pearl. The king has decided that he would give the pearl and marry his daughter to the man who would tell him, where the huge pearl came from."

"But how will this man reach that kingdom? I have heard that there are many demons and giants over there," said the female bird.

The male bird said, "If he takes our red feathers, dips them in water and sprays the water on himself, he can change his form."

"But how will he remain safe?" asked the female bird.

THE QUEST FOR THE PEARL 2

The male bird said, "If he sprays water on his face with our white feathers, he will be safe. Afterwards, he can come back to his normal form by taking a bath."

When the birds flew off some of their feathers dropped on the ground near Hatim. Hatim quickly picked up the feathers and died as the birds had said.

Then he began his journey. On his way, he saw a snake entering the nearby bushes, But instead of a snake, a young man cane out of the bushes.

The young man happily and excitedly walked towards Hatim and introduced himself.

He said, "I am a prince. I was cursed by a witch to become a snake."

"How did you become a prince again?" asked Hatim.

The young man said, "I regained my original form only because of you. I was told that if an honest man comes near me, I would become a prince again. Many men have been near me, but only yours presence could free me from the curse."

"I am glad I could help you," said Hatim.

"I want to help you too. What can I do for you?" asked the prince.

"Just tell me the way I should take to reach the place where there's a pearl of the size of a duck's egg," asked Hatim.

The prince said, "I will take you there in a flying machine. Sitting in it, you can go wherever you want in a short span of time."

The young man took Hatim to the flying machine and asked him to sit in it.

While going in the flying machine, Hatim saw a young man sadly wandering in the forest below.

THE QUEST FOR THE PEARL 3

Hatim asked the prince to stop the flying machine. They got down from the machine and went to the young man.

The compassionate Hatim asked the young man, "What is the matter? Why are you sadly wandering in this dangerous forest?"

"I am a prince, and I did not know where the pearl of the size of a duck's egg came from. So the king did not let me marry the princess. I can't even forget her because I really love her," said the young man.

Hatim assured him that he would get the woman he loved. He said, "Don't be sad, brother. I'll certainly help you in getting the woman you love."

He took the prince on the flying machine, and they reached the island.

When they walked into the palace, the king, on seeing the prince, angrily shouted, "Why have you come back?"

The prince said, "I have come with Hatimtai."

The king welcomed Hatim, who took out the silver replica of the pearl.

Hatim said to the king, "I wish to take the pearl you have."

The king said, "First you will have to tell me the story of the pearl. From where did this pearl come to me? If you tell me the story, you can get the pearl and even marry my daughter."

Hatim repeated all that he had heard from the birds.

The king was surprised to know that Hatim knew all the details about the pearl. The king then gave the pearl to Hatim.

The king's daughter was married to the prince who loved her a lot.

Hatim wished the prince and the princess a happy married life and began his journey back towards the city of Husn Bano.

He reached her city and went to meet her at her palace.

Husn Bano was delighted when Hatim gave her the pearl.

HAMMAM BAADGARD

Hatimtai then asked about the seventh puzzle.

Husn Bano said, "You have to find out the mystery behind the water in the Hamman Baadgard."

"What do you want me to find out?" asked Hatim.

Husn Bano said, "Find out why the people who go there never come back alive? I'll give you a hint. Go to the south-west of my city.

On his way, he met an old man. When Hatim told him about his quest and that it was related to Hammam Baadgard, the old man said, "Son, it won't be easy to solve this puzzle."

The old man helped him by telling him how ot reach t place.

Hatim journeyed for many weeks and reached a city. There he saw that some young girls were getting ready as brides. But the people were not happy there.

When Hatim asked them why they were all sad, he was told that a serpent was going to choose a bride for himself among these young girls.

The king said, "The serpent is a dangerously wicked jinn. We do not know how to save our daughters from him."

Hatim thought of a plan to save them

When the serpent came, the king said, "Before you take any girl you must take permission from the true master of my city who has just arrived."
WHEN THE SERPENT MET Hatim, he gave him some water to drink. In the water, Hatim had dipped the jewel given by his bear wife. The serpent drank it and died.

Everyone was happy and relieved because now they would not have to fear the wicked jinn, and now their daughters would be safe.

The king gave gold coins to Hatim as a reward, but he gave it to the poor and the needy people of the city.

Then Hatim resumed his journey. After travelling through many dangerous forests and encountering several wild creatures, he finally reached a mountain.

On climbing the mountain, Hatim found huge lizards and scorpions all ground. as a result, all the lizards and scorpions began fighting amongst each other and eventually ate each other up. In this way, all of them died.

When Hatim reached the next city, the people were surprised to see him. He was the first traveler who had come to their city alive. He then told them how all the huge lizards and scorpions had died.

The king thanked Hatim because now no one would be afraid to cross the mountain to travel to other lands.