,' replied Jamila, 'I will give you things
that are not in kings' treasuries, and which will be of the greatest
use to you. First, there are the bow and arrows of his Reverence the
Prophet Salih. Secondly, there is the Scorpion of Solomon (on whom be
peace), which is a sword such as no king has; steel and stone are one
to it; if you bring it down on a rock it will not be injured, and it
will cleave whatever you strike. Thirdly, there is the dagger which
the sage Timus himself made; this is most useful, and the man who
wears it would not bend under seven camels' loads. What you have to do
first is to get to the home of the Simurgh[10], and to make friends
with him. If he favours you, he will take you to Waq of Qaf; if not,
you will never get there, for seven seas are on the way, and they are
such seas that if all the kings of the earth, and all their vazirs,
and all their wise men considered for a thousand years, they would
not be able to cross them.'

'O most delicious person! where is the Simurgh's home? How shall I get
there?'

'O new fruit of life! you must just do what I tell you, and you must
use your eyes and your brains, for if you don't you will find yourself
at the place of the negroes, who are a bloodthirsty set; and God
forbid they should lay hands on your precious person.'

Then she took the bow and quiver of arrows, the sword, and the dagger
out of a box, and the prince let fall a _Bismillah_, and girt them all
on. Then Jamila of the houri-face, produced two saddle-bags of
ruby-red silk, one filled with roasted fowl and little cakes, and the
other with stones of price. Next she gave him a horse as swift as the
breeze of the morning, and she said: 'Accept all these things from me;
ride till you come to a rising ground, at no great distance from here,
where there is a spring. It is called the Place of Gifts, and you must
stay there one night. There you will see many wild beasts--lions,
tigers, leopards, apes, and so on. Before you get there you must
capture some game. On the long road beyond there dwells a lion-king,
and if other beasts did not fear him they would ravage the whole
country and let no one pass. The lion is a red transgressor, so when
he comes rise and do him reverence; take a cloth and rub the dust and
earth from his face, then set the game you have taken before him, well
cleansed, and lay the hands of respect on your breast. When he wishes
to eat, take your knife and cut pieces of the meat