'
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 ran 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
princess 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 being nigh to a
pomegranate that had accidentally fallen from a tree that grew on
the side of a canal which was deep but not broad, the worm pierced
the pomegranate in an instant, and hid itself.
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