"Ah! ha!" said she, "I will go thither to them; these fish are past doubt
of a species that, by a small operation, I can render oracular; they may
tell me where this little Gulchenrouz is, whom I am bent upon
sacrificing." Having thus spoken, she immediately set out with her
swarthy retinue.
It being but seldom that time is lost in the accomplishment of a wicked
enterprise, Carathis and her negresses soon arrived at the lake, where,
after burning the magical drugs with which they were always provided,
they, stripping themselves naked, waded to their chins, Nerkes and Cafour
waving torches around them, and Carathis pronouncing her barbarous
incantations. The fishes with one accord thrust forth their heads from
the water, which was violently rippled by the flutter of their fins, and,
at length finding themselves constrained by the potency of the charm,
they opened their piteous mouths, and said: "From gills to tail we are
yours; what seek ye to know?"
"Fishes," answered she, "I conjure you, by your glittering scales, tell
me where now is Gulchenrouz?"
"Beyond the rock," replied the shoal in full chorus; "will this content
you? for we do not delight in expanding our mouths.
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