第3章 STORY OF THE BIRDS AND BEASTS AND THE SON OF ADAM.

Presently，the dust lifted and discovered a handsome black horse of elegant shape，with white feet and fine legs and a brow-star like a dirhem，which made towards us，neighing，and stayed not till he stood before the whelp，the son of the lion，who，when he saw him，marvelled at his beauty and said to him，'What is thy kind，O noble wild beast，and wherefore fleest thou into this vast and wide desert？'O lord of the beasts，'answered he，'I am of the horse-kind，and I am fleeing from the son of Adam.'The whelp wondered at the horses words and said to him，'Say not thus；for it is shame for thee，seeing that thou art tall and stout. How comes it that thou fearest the son of Adam，thou，with thy bulk of body and thy swiftness of running，when I，for all my littleness of body，am resolved to find out the son of Adam，and rushing on him，eat his flesh，that I may allay the affright of this poor duck and make her to dwell in peace in her own place.

But now thou hast wrung my heart with thy talk and turned me back from what I had resolved to do，in that，for all thy bulk，the son of Adam hath mastered thee and feared neither thy height nor thy breadth，though，wert thou to kick him with thy foot，thou wouldst kill him，nor could he prevail against thee，but thou wouldst make him drink the cup of death.'The horse laughed，when he heard the whelps words，and replied，'Far，far is it from my power to overcome him，O kings son！Let not my length and my breadth nor yet my bulk delude thee，with respect to the son of Adam；for he，of the excess of his guile and his cunning，fashions for me a thing called a hobble and hobbles my four legs with ropes of palm-fibres，bound with felt，and makes me fast by the head to a high picket，so that I remain standing and can neither sit nor lie down，being tied up. When he hath a mind to ride me，he binds on his feet a thing of iron called a stirrup and lays on my back another thing called a saddle，which he fastens by two girths，passed under my armpits. Then he sets in my mouth a thing of iron he calls a bit，to which he ties a thing of leather called a rein；and when he mounts on the saddle on my back，he takes the rein in his hand and guides me with it，goading my flanks the while with the stirrups[1]，till he makes them bleed： so do not ask，O kings son，what I endure from the son of Adam. When I grow old and lean and can no longer run swiftly，he sells me to the miller，who makes me turn in the mill，and I cease not from turning night and day，till I grow decrepit. Then he in turn sells me to the knacker，who slaughters me and flays off my hide，after which he plucks out my tail，which he sells to the sieve-makers，and melts down my fat for tallow.'At this，the young lions anger and vexation redoubled，and he said to the horse，'When didst thou leave the son of Adam？'At mid-day，'replied the horse；'and he is now on my track.'Whilst the whelp was thus conversing with the horse，there arose a cloud of dust and presently subsiding，discovered a furious camel，which made toward us，braying and pawing the earth with his feet. When the whelp saw how great and lusty he was，he took him to be the son of Adam and was about to spring at him，when I said to him，'O kings son，this is not the son of Adam，but a camel，and me seems he is fleeing from the son of Adam.'

As I spoke，O my sister，the camel came up and saluted the lion-whelp，who returned his greeting and said to him，'What brings thee hither？'Quoth he，'I am fleeing from the son of Adam.'And thou，'said the whelp，'with thy huge frame and length and breadth，how comes it that thou fearest the son of Adam，seeing that one kick of thy foot would kill him？'O son of the Sultan，'answered the camel，'know that the son of Adam has wiles，which none can withstand，nor can any but Death prevail against him；for he puts in my nostrils a twine of goats-hair he calls a nose-ring and over my head a thing he calls a halter；

then he delivers me to the least of his children，and the youngling draws me along by the nose-ring，for all my size and strength. Then they load me with the heaviest of burdens and go long journeys with me and put me to hard labours all hours of the day and night. When I grow old and feeble，my master keeps me not with him，but sells me to the knacker，who slaughters me and sells my hide to the tanners and my flesh to the cooks： so do not ask what I suffer from the son of Adam.'When didst thou leave the son of Adam？'asked the young lion.'At sundown，'replied the camel；'and I doubt not but that，having missed me，he is now in search of me： wherefore，O son of the Sultan，let me go，that I may flee into the deserts and the wilds.'Wait awhile，O camel，'said the whelp，'till thou see how I will rend him in pieces and give thee to eat of his flesh，whilst I crunch his bones and drink his blood.'O kings son，'rejoined the camel，'I fear for thee from the son of Adam，for he is wily and perfidious.'And he repeated the following verse：

Whenas on any land the oppressor cloth alight，Theres nothing left for those，that dwell therein，but flight.