Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night - Volume 4.djvu/119

 to give the damsels but they had no money; so he presented to each girl ten golden piled arrows from his quiver. Whereupon quoth one of them to her friend, "Well-a-day! These fashions pertain to none but Ma'an bin Zaidah! so let each one of us say somewhat of verse in his praise." Then quoth the first,

"He heads his arrows with piles of gold, * And while shooting his     foes is his bounty doled: Affording the wounded a means of cure, * And a sheet for the     bider beneath the mould!"

And quoth the second,

"A warrior showing such open hand, * His boons all friends and     all foes enfold: The piles of his arrows of or are made, * So that battle his     bounty may not withhold!"

And quoth the third,

"From that liberal-hand on his foes he rains * Shafts aureate-    headed and manifold: Wherewith the hurt shall chirurgeon pay, * And for slain the     shrouds round their corpses roll'd."

And there is also told a tale of

MA'AN SON OF ZAIDAH AND THE BADAWI.
Now Ma'an bin Záidah went forth one day to the chase with his company, and they came upon a herd of gazelles; so they separated in pursuit and Ma'an was left alone to chase one of them. When he had made prize of it he alighted and slaughtered it; and as he was thus engaged, he espied a person coming forth out of the desert on an ass. So he remounted and riding up to the new- comer, saluted him and asked him, "Whence comest