So the witch's power left her immediately, and
when she came home, she had to take to her bed. Having learned from
her how to escape from his prison to the upper air, Ambrose killed
the shining beetle, and the old hag's spirit left her at once. In a
Kalmuck tale we read how a certain khan challenged a wise man to
show his skill by stealing a precious stone on which the khan's life
depended. The sage contrived to purloin the talisman while the khan
and his guards slept; but not content with this he gave a further
proof of his dexterity by bonneting the slumbering potentate with a
bladder. This was too much for the khan. Next morning he informed
the sage that he could overlook everything else, but that the
indignity of being bonneted with a bladder was more than he could
bear; and he ordered his facetious friend to instant execution.
Pained at this exhibition of royal ingratitude, the sage dashed to
the ground the talisman which he still held in his hand; and at the
same instant blood flowed from the nostrils of the khan, and he gave
up the ghost.
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