the King’s Son — | ats 207

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dark,.as if it had been night and the whole world about to be

dissolved ; we found ourselves struck with a panic, and this fear

increased the more when we saw’ the genie, the son of the

daughter of Eblis, appear on a sudden in the shape of ’a lion of a
_ frightful size.

As soon as the princess perceived this monster, ‘You dog,
said she, ‘instead of creeping before me, dare you present yourself
in this shape, thinking to frighten me Pee

‘And thou, replied the lion, ‘art thou not -afraid to break the
treaty which was solemnly made and confirmed between us by
oath, not to wrong or to do one another any hurt?’

«Oh! thou cursed creature!’ replied the princess, ‘I can justly
reproach thee with doing so.’

The lion answered fiercely, ‘Thou shalt quickly have thy reward
for the trouble thou hast given me to return.’ With that he opened
his terrible throat, and tan at her to devour her, but she, being on
her guard, leaped backward, got time to. pull out one of her hairs
and, by pronouncing three or four words, changed it into a sharp

_ sword, wherewith she cut the lion through the middle in two pieces.

The two parts of the lion vanished, and the head only was left,
which changed itself into a large scorpion. Immediately the prin-
cess turned herself into a serpent, and fought the scorpion, who.
finding himself worsted, took the shape of an eagle, and flew away ;° ,
but the serpent at the same time took also the shape of an eagle
that was black and much stronger, and pursued him, so that we
lost sight of them both. :

Some time after they had disappeared, the ‘ground opened before
us, and out of it came forth a cat, black and white, with her hair
standing upright, and mewing in a frightful manner; a black wolf
followed her close, and gave her no time to rest. The cat, being
thus hard beset, changed herself into a worm, and beirig nigh to.
a pomegranate that had ‘accidentally fallen from a tree that grew