And after thus reciting he wept till he wetted the hard dry ground; but anon without loss of time he rose and fared on again over waste and wold, till there came out upon him a lion, with a neck buried in tangled mane, a head the bigness of a dome, a mouth wider than the door thereof and teeth like elephants’ tusks. Now when Uns al-Wujud saw him, he gave himself up for lost and, turning[44] towards the Temple of Meccah, pronounced the professions of the faith and prepared for death. He had read in books that whoso will flatter the lion, beguileth him,[45] for that he is readily duped by smooth speech and gentled by being glorified; so he began and said, “O Lion of the forest! O Lord of the waste! O terrible Leo! O father of fighters! O Sultan of wild beasts! Behold, I am a lover in longing, whom passion and severance have been wronging; since I parted from my dear, I have lost my reasoning gear; wherefore, to my speech do thou give ear and have ruth on my passion and hope and fear.” When the lion heard this, he drew back from him and sitting down on his hind-quarters, raised his head to him and began to frisk tail and paws; which when Uns al-Wujud saw, he recited these couplets:—
Lion of the wold wilt thou murther me, ✿ Ere I meet her who doomed me to slavery? I am not game and I bear no fat; ✿ For the loss of my love makes me sickness dree; And estrangement from her hath so worn me down ✿ I am like a shape in a shroud we see. O thou sire of spoils,[46] O thou lion of war, ✿ Give not my pains to the blamer’s gree. I burn with love, I am drowned in tears ✿ For a parting from lover, sore misery! And my thoughts of her in the murk of night ✿ For love hath made my being unbe.
As he had finished his lines the lion rose——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Three Hundred and Seventy-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that as Uns al-Wujud ended his lines, the lion arose and stalked slowly up to him, with eyes tear-railing and licked him with his tongue, then walked on before him, signing to him as though saying, “Follow me.” So he followed him, and the beast ceased not leading him on for a while till he brought him up a mountain, and guided him to the farther side, where he came upon the track of a caravan over the desert, and knew it to be that of Rose-in-Hood and her company. Then he took the trail and, when the lion saw that he knew the track for that of the party which escorted her, he turned back and went his way; whilst Uns al-Wujud walked along the foot-marks day and night, till they brought him to a dashing sea, swollen with clashing surge. The trail led down to the sandy shore and there broke off; whereby he knew that they had taken ship and had continued their journey by water. So he lost hope of finding his lover and with hot tears he repeated these couplets:—