第4章 STORY OF THE BIRDS AND BEASTS AND THE SON OF ADAM.

Whilst the camel was speaking，there arose a cloud of dust，which opened and showed a short thin old man，with a basket of carpenters tools on his shoulder and a branch of a tree and eight planks on his head. He had little children in his hand，and came on at a brisk pace，till he drew near us. When I saw him，O my sister，I fell down for excess of affright；but the young lion rose and went to meet the carpenter，who smiled in his face and said to him，with a glib tongue，'O illustrious king and lord of the long arm，may God prosper shine evening and shine endeavour and increase thy velour and strengthen thee！Protect me from that which hath betided me and smitten me with its mischief，for I have found no helper save only thee.'And he stood before him，weeping and groaning and lamenting. When the whelp heard his weeping and wailing，he said，'I will succour thee from that thou fearest. Who hath done thee wrong and what art thou，O wild beast，whose like I never saw in my life nor saw I ever one goodlier of form or more eloquent of tongue than thou？What is thy case？'O lord of the beasts，'answered the man，'I am a carpenter；he who hath wronged me is a son of Adam，and by break of dawn he will be with thee in this place.'When the lion heard this，the light in his face was changed to darkness and he roared and snorted and his eyes cast forth sparks. Then he said，'By Allah，I will watch this night till the dawn，nor will I return to my father till I have compassed my intent. But thou，'

continued he，addressing the carpenter，'I see thou art short of step，and I would not wound thy feelings，for that I am generous of heart；yet do I deem thee unable to keep pace with the wild beasts： tell me then whither thou goest.'Know，'answered the carpenter，'that I am on my way to thy fathers Vizier，the Lynx；

for when he heard that the son of Adam had set foot in this country，he feared greatly for himself and sent one of the beasts for me，to make him a house，wherein he should dwell，that it might shelter him and hold his enemy from him，so not one of the sons of Adam should come at him.'When the young lion heard this，he envied the lynx and said to the carpenter，'By my life，thou must make me a house with these planks，ere thou make one for the lynx！When thou hast done my work，go to the lynx and make him what he wishes.'O lord of the beasts，'answered the carpenter，'I cannot make thee aught，till I have made the lynx what he desires： then will I return to thy service and make thee a house，to ward thee from shine enemy.'By Allah，'exclaimed the whelp，'I will not let thee go hence，till thou make me a house of these planks！'So saying，he sprang upon the carpenter，thinking to jest with him，and gave him a cuff with his paw. The blow knocked the basket off the mans shoulder and he fell down in a swoon，whereupon the young lion laughed at him and said，'Out on thee，O carpenter！Of a truth thou art weak and hast no strength；so it is excusable in thee to fear the son of Adam.'Now the carpenter was exceeding wroth；but he dissembled his anger，for fear of the whelp，and sat up and smiled in his face，saying，'Well，I will make thee the house.'With this，he took the planks，and nailing them together，made a house in the form of a chest，after the measure of the young lion. In this he cut a large opening，to which he made a stout cover and bored many holes therein，leaving the door open. Then he took out some nails of wrought iron and a hammer and said to the young lion，'Enter this opening，that I may fit it to thy measure.'The whelp was glad and went up to the opening，but saw that it was strait；and the carpenter said to him，'Crouch down and so enter.'So the whelp crouched down and entered the chest，but his tail remained outside. Then he would have drawn back and come out；but the carpenter said to him，'Wait till I see if there be room for thy tail with thee.'So saying，he twisted up the young lions tail，and stuffing it into the chest，whipped the lid on to the opening and nailed it down；

whereat the whelp cried out and said，'O carpenter，what is this narrow house thou hast made me？Let me out.'But the carpenter laughed and answered，'God forbid！Repentance avails nothing for what is passed，and indeed thou shalt not come out of this place.