“Come, good lady, with me,” he cries, “and save my people, the wise men of Israel and their families, who are in mortal danger. Come and be Queen in our land and save the soul of our lord the King.”
The Princess had listened very attentively to all the strange story told by Chaninah, and in reply she said,—
“Well do I remember drying my hair one day [[34]]last month in the garden of our palace, and whilst doing so a strange bird flew over my head three times and then plucked out one of my hairs. He flew away with the hair and I can now believe that this is the very bird which brought my hair to the King of your land. I will accede to your wish and consent to become the Queen of your land if you fulfil two tasks which I will set you. The first I will mention at once. Here I have two empty flasks. You must bring them back to me full of water. I do not mean the water of the brook or well, but the one flask must contain water from Paradise and the other must be filled with water from Hell. When you have done this task I will tell you all about the second one.”
With a kind word of farewell the Princess dismissed Chaninah. He left the palace with a sad heart and prayed to God to help him in his difficulty. Was he not trying to save the lives of his brethren in the Holy Land?
After a little while he hears the croak of a raven speaking as follows:—
“Dear friend! do you no longer remember me? Did you not give me bread when you met me? I was so hungry then, for I had not tasted any food for three days. Now just tell me, How can I be of service? I will gladly do my best to please you.” [[35]]
Chaninah told the raven all about the task which the Princess had set him to do.
“Here are the flasks,” he said; “one must be filled with water from Paradise and the other must be filled with water from Hell.”
The raven told him to tie a flask to each wing and at sunset to be at the spot where they were conversing. The raven flew to the netherworld and singed his wings in passing through the flames of Hell. At last he reached the black boiling waters in the centre of Hell and filled one flask. He then flew to the gates of Paradise and found the spring which flows from its midst and bathed in its cool water to heal his wings. He then filled the other flask and flew to the spot where he had arranged to meet his friend. He gave the flasks filled with the desired water to Chaninah, who returned to the palace and told the Princess that the task was done.
The Princess was in doubt whether the water of each flask was genuine. She proposed to test the contents there and then. Opening the flask containing the water from Hell, she poured a few drops upon the palm of her hand. The water burnt her skin and she quickly put some of the water of the other flask upon the burnt spot and healed it at once. She told Chaninah that she was quite satisfied with this performance. [[36]]