第46章

up came to them a duck in a state of extreme terror，and stayed not faring forwards till she reached the tree whereon were perched the two peafowl，when she seemed re assured in mind. The peacock doubted not but that she had some rare story；so he asked her of her case and the cause of her concern，whereto she answered，'I am sick for sorrow，and my horror of the son of Adam：[131] so beware，and again I say beware of the sons of Adam！'Rejoined the peacock，'Fear not now that thou hast won our protection.'Cried the duck，'Alhamdolillah！ glory to God，who hath done away my cark and care by means of you being near！ For indeed I come of friendship fain with you twain.'And when she had ended her speech the peacock's wife came down to her and said，'Well come and welcome and fair cheer！ No harm shall hurt thee： how can son of Adam come to us and we in this isle which lieth amiddlemost of the sea？ From the land he cannot reach us neither can he come against us from the water. So be of good cheer and tell us what hath betided thee from the child of Adam.'

Answered the duck，'Know，then，O thou peahen，that of a truth I have dwelt all my life in this island safely and peacefully，nor have I seen any disquieting thing，till one night，as I was asleep，I sighted in my dream the semblance of a son of Adam，who talked with me and I with him. Then I heard a voice say to me，'O thou duck，beware of the son of Adam and be not imposed on by his words nor by that he may suggest to thee；for he aboundeth in wiles and guiles；so beware with all wariness of his perfidy，for again I say，he is crafty and right cunning even as singeth of him the poet，He'll offer sweetmeats with his edged tongue，And fox thee with the foxy guile of fox.

And know thou that the son of Adam circumventeth the fishes and draweth them forth of the seas；and he shooteth the birds with a pellet of clay[132] and trappeth the elephant with his craft.

None is safe from his mischief and neither bird nor beast escapeth him；and on this wise have I told thee what I have heard concerning the son of Adam.' So I awoke，fearful and trembling and from that hour to this my heart hath not known gladness，for dread of the son of Adam，lest he surprise me unawares by his wile or trap me in his snares. By the time the end of the day overtook me，my strength was grown weak and my spunk failed me；so，desiring to eat and drink，I went forth walking，troubled in spirit and with a heart ill at ease. Now when I reached yonder mountain I saw a tawny lion whelp at the door of a cave，and sighting me he joyed in me with great joy，for my colour pleased him and my gracious shape；so he cried out to me saying，'Draw nigh unto me.' I went up to him and he asked me，'What is thy name，and what is thy nature？' Answered I，'My name is Duck，and I am of the bird kind；' and I added，'But thou，why tarriest thou in this place till this time？' Answered the whelp，'My father the lion hath for many a day warned me against the son of Adam，and it came to pass this night that I saw in my sleep the semblance of a son of Adam.' And he went on to tell me the like of that I have told you. When I heard these words，I said to him，'O lion，I take asylum with thee，that thou mayest kill the son of Adam and be steadfast in resolve to his slaughter；verily I fear him for myself with extreme fear and to my fright affright is added for that thou also dreadest the son of Adam，albeit thou art Sultan of savage beasts.' Then I ceased not，O my sister，to bid the young lion beware of the son of Adam and urge him to slay him，till he rose of a sudden and at once from his stead and went out and he fared on，and I after him and I noted him lashing flanks with tail. We advanced in the same order till we came to a place where the roads forked and saw a cloud of dust arise which，presently clearing away，discovered below it a runaway naked ass，now galloping and running at speed and now rolling in the dust.

When the lion saw the ass，he cried out to him，and he came up to him in all humility. Then said the lion，'Harkye，crack brain brute！ What is thy kind and what be the cause of thy coming hither？' He replied，'O son of the Sultan！ I am by kind an ass