At the end of the day the Man called the Horse and the Dog and the Ox together, and said,
‘You three, I’m very sorry for you; but that Camel in the Desert can’t work. So I want to leave him alone, and you must work double-time.’
That made the Horse and the Dog and the Ox very angry, and they discussed the situation with the Camel on the edge of the Desert. But the Camel chewed milkweed and laughed at them. Then he said ‘Humph!’ and went away again.
Presently the Djinn appeared. He was in charge of[10] all deserts. The Djinn rolled in a cloud of dust (Djinns always travel that way because it is magic), and he stopped to talk to the Three.
‘Djinn of All Deserts,’ said the Horse, ‘is it right for anyone to be idle’
‘Certainly not,’ said the Djinn.
‘Well,’ said the Horse, ‘there’s a Camel in the middle of your Howling Desert with a long neck and long legs, and he does not work at all. He doesn’t want to trot.’
‘Whew!’ said the Djinn and whistled, ‘that’s my Camel! What does he say about it?’
‘He says “Humph!”’ said the Dog; ‘and he doesn’t want to fetch and carry.’
‘Does he say anything else?’
‘Only “Humph!”; and he doesn’t want to plough,’ said the Ox.
‘Very good,’ said the Djinn. ‘I’ll humph him if you wait a minute.’
The Djinn rolled himself up in his dust-cloak, and flew away. He found the Camel most idle. The Camel looked at his own reflection in a pool of water.
‘My friend,’ said the Djinn, ‘they say you don’t work. Is it true?’
‘Humph!’ said the Camel.
The Djinn sat down, with his chin in his hand, and began to think. The Camel looked at his own reflection in the pool of water again.
‘I’ll give you three tasks on Monday morning,’ said the Djinn.
‘Humph!’ said the Camel.
‘Why do you say ‘Humph!’?’ asked the Djinn; ‘I want you to work.’
And the Camel said ‘Humph!’ again. But suddenly he saw his back and was afraid: his back puffed up into a great big humph.
‘Do you see that?’ said the Djinn. ‘That’s your own humph. You don’t work, and you have it! Now begin to work!’
‘How can I work,’ asked the Camel, ‘with this humph on my back?’
‘Today is Thursday. You will be able to work now for three days without any food’ said the Djinn, ‘because you missed three days – Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. You can live on your humph. Come out of the Desert and go to the Three. Begin to work! And behave yourself!’