'There was a friend of my grandfather, who came frequently to our
house, who was in the habit of making this money. One day he took
me with him to buy white silk; and when they had shown him some, he
took the silk in his hand, and pressed it to his mouth, and then I
saw that the silk, which was before white, had become green, even
as grass. The master of the shop said, "Pay me for my silk." "Of
what colour was your silk?" he demanded. "White," said the man;
whereupon, turning round, he cried, "Good people, behold, the white
silk is green"; and so he got a pound of silk for nothing; and he
also was of the Char Seharra.
'They are very evil people indeed, and the emperor himself is
afraid of them. The poor wretch who falls into their hands has
cause to rue; they always go badly dressed, and exhibit every
appearance of misery, though they are far from being miserable.
Such is the life they lead.'
There is, of course, some exaggeration in the above account of the
Dar-bushi-fal; yet there is little reason to doubt that there is a
foundation of truth in all the facts stated. The belief that they
are enabled, by sorcery, to change a white into a black man had its
origin in the great skill which they possess in altering the
appearance of a horse or a mule, and giving it another colour.
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