’Thiscannotbe；itisstilladream！thoughtEsarhaddon，andmadealastefforttoawake。’SurelyIamnotLailie，northeass，butEsarhaddon！’
Hecriedout，andatthesameinstantliftedhisheadoutofthefont……Theoldmanwasstandingbyhim，pouringoverhisheadthelastdropsfromthepitcher。
’Oh，howterriblyIhavesuffered！Andforhowlong！’saidEsarhaddon。
’Long？’repliedtheoldman，’youhaveonlydippedyourheadunderwaterandlifteditagain；see，thewaterisnotyetalloutofthepitcher。Doyounowunderstand？’
Esarhaddondidnotreply，butonlylookedattheoldmanwithterror。