Asinus Caballusand the cause of my coming to this place is that I am fleeing from the son of Adam.' Asked the lion whelp，'Dost thou fear then that he will kill thee？' Answered the ass，'Not so，O son of the Sultan，but I dread lest he put a cheat on me and mount upon me；for he hath a thing called Pack saddle，which he setteth on my back；also a thing called Girths which he bindeth about my belly；and a thing called Crupper which he putteth under my tail，and a thing called Bit which he placeth in my mouth： and he fashioneth me a goad[133] and goadeth me with it and maketh me run more than my strength. If I stumble he curseth me，and if I bray，he revileth me；[134] and at last when I grow old and can no longer run，he putteth on me a panel[135] of wood and delivereth me to the water carriers，who load my back with water from the river in skins and other vessels，such as jars，and I cease not to wone in misery and abasement and fatigue till I die，when they cast me on the rubbishheaps to the dogs. So what grief can surpass this grief and what calamities can be greater than these calamities？' Now when I heard，O peahen，the ass's words，my skin shuddered，and became as gooseflesh at the son of Adam；and I said to the lion whelp，'O my lord，the ass of a verity hath excuse and his words add terror to my terror.' Then quoth the young lion to the ass，'Whither goest thou？' Quoth he，'Before sunrise I espied the son of Adam afar off，and fled from him；and now I am minded to flee forth and run without ceasing for the greatness of my fear of him，so haply I may find me a place of shelter from the perfidious son of Adam.' Whilst the ass was thus discoursing with the lion whelp，seeking the while to take leave of us and go away，behold，appeared to us another cloud of dust，whereat the ass brayed and cried out and looked hard and let fly a loud fart[136]. After a while the dust lifted and discovered a black steed finely dight with a blaze on the forehead like a dirham round and bright；[137] handsomely marked about the hoof with white and with firm strong legs pleasing to sight and he neighed with affright. This horse ceased not running till he stood before the whelp，the son of the lion who，when he saw him，marvelled and made much of him and said，'What is thy kind，O majestic wild beast and wherefore freest thou into this desert wide and vast？' He replied，O lord of wild beasts，I am a steed of the horse kind，and the cause of my running is that I am fleeing from the son of Adam.' The lion whelp wondered at the horse's speech and cried to him 'Speak not such words for it is shame to thee，seeing that thou art tall and stout. And how cometh 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 stature am resolved to encounter the son of Adam and，rushing on him，eat his flesh，that I may allay the affright of this poor duck and make her dwell in peace in her own place？
But now thou hast come here and thou hast wrung my heart with thy talk and turned me back from what I had resolved to do，seeing that，for all thy bulk，the son of Adam hath mastered thee and hath feared neither thy height nor thy breadth，albeit，wert thou to kick him with one hoof 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 Prince.
Let not my length and my breadth nor yet my bulk delude thee with respect to the son of Adam；for that he，of the excess of his guile and his wiles，fashioneth me a thing called Hobble and applieth to my four legs a pair of ropes made of palm fibres bound with felt，and gibbeteth me by the head to a high peg，so that I being tied up remain standing and can neither sit nor lie down. And when he is minded to ride me，he bindeth on his feet a thing of iron called Stirrup[138] and layeth on my back another thing called Saddle，which he fasteneth by two Girths passed under my armpits. Then he setteth in my mouth a thing of iron he calleth Bit，to which he tieth a thing of leather called Rein；and，when he sitteth in the saddle on my back，he taketh the rein in his hand and guideth me with it，goading my flanks the while with the shovel stirrups till he maketh them bleed. So do not ask，O son of our Sultan，the hardships I endure from the son of Adam. And when I grow old and lean and can no longer run swiftly，he selleth me to the miller who maketh me turn in the mill，and I cease not from turning night and day till I grow decrepit. Then he in turn vendeth me to the knacker who cutteth my throat and flayeth off my hide and plucketh out my tail，which he selleth to the sieve maker；and he melteth down my fat for tallow candles.' When the young lion heard the horse's words，his rage and vexation redoubled and he said，'When didst thou leave the son of Adam？ Replied the horse，'At midday and he is upon my track.' Whilst the whelp was thus conversing with the horse lo！
there rose a cloud of dust and，presently opening out，discovered below it a furious camel gurgling and pawing the earth with his feet and never ceasing so to do till he came up with us. Now when the lion whelp saw how big and buxom he was，he took him to be the son of Adam and was about to spring upon him when I said to him，'O Prince，of a truth this is not the son of Adam，this be a camel，and he seemeth to fleeing from the son of Adam.' As I was thus conversing，O my sister，with the lion whelp，the camel came up and saluted him；whereupon he returned the greeting and said，'What bringeth thee hither？' Replied he，'I came here fleeing from the son of Adam.' Quoth the whelp，'And thou，with thy huge frame and length and breadth，how cometh it that thou fearest the son of Adam，seeing that with one kick of thy foot thou wouldst kill him？' Quoth the camel，'O son of the Sultan，know that the son of Adam hath subtleties and wiles，which none can withstand nor can any prevail against him，save only Death；for he putteth into my nostrils a twine of goat's hair he calleth Nose ring，[139] and over my head a thing he calleth Halter；then he delivereth me to the least of his little children，and the youngling draweth me along by the nose ring，my size and strength notwithstanding.
