Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 3.djvu/22

6 them bleed: so do not ask, O king’s 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 lion’s 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 king’s son, this is not the son of Adam, but a camel, and meseems 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 goat’s-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