The Half-Pint Jinni and Other Stories

The happenings in these highly entertaining and humorous stories took place in the years of enchantment, when Haroun-al-Raschid was Caliph of Baghdad and Baghdad was one of the wonders of the world. The reader who likes imaginative tales spiced with wit and originality will thoroughly enjoy them. The Half-Pint Jinni tells of a fisherboy named Ali who had the good fortune to fish from the sea a jinni -- a miraculous spirit in the shape of a human -- who obeyed his every command and granted his every wish . . . and of what happened when Ali's wicked uncle, Achmed, unaware that the jinni had a certain peculiarity, stole him from Ali. True-Bill and False-Beak is about a remarkable bird whose gift for speaking nothing but the truth was matched only by another, equally remarkable bird, whose every utterance was deceitful . . . and what transpired when the Caliph allowed himself to be guided by the second. Moon Quest relates the story of the Princess who wanted the moon, and of how her three most ardent suitors set about getting if for her. The Fable of the Sensitive Prince reveals what can happen in a land of completely contented people. Very Like a Camel describes the rather puzzling and unusual events that followed the transformation of the Prince of Aziz into a camel, and his camel into the Prince. No Marvel Too Great tells of Ramiz the sandalmaker, whose dreams suddenly came true . . . and how, thoughtlessly, he threw away all his wealth and power. Meeting of the Powers is an incident in the life of Captain Jett Powers of "Completely Incredible Comics," wherein the Captain meets someone who is more than a match for him. Before Its Time describes a certain Thing, very familiar to those living in the twentieth century, which caused untold commotion when it suddenly appeared in the courtyard of a famous sorcerer back in the twelfth century.