" Said the King, "Do as thou wilt, and spare not
their lives, for they will not spare thine." Then the Prince
mounted, whilst the troops ranged themselves in ranks before him,
and one said to another, "When the youth cometh between the ranks,
we will take him on the points of our pikes and the sharps of our
sabers." Quoth another: "By Allah, this is a mere misfortune. How
shall we slay a youth so comely of face and shapely of form?" And a
third continued: "Ye will have hard work to get the better of him, for
the youth had not done this but for what he knew of his own prowess
and pre-eminence of valor."
Meanwhile, having settled himself in his saddle, the Prince turned
the pin of ascent whilst an eyes were strained to see what he would
do, whereupon the horse began to heave and rock and sway to and fro
and make the strangest of movements steed ever made, till its belly
was filled with air and it took flight with its rider and soared
high into the sky. When the King saw this, he cried out to his men,
saying: "Woe to you! Catch him, catch him, ere he 'scape you!" But his
Wazirs and viceroys said to him: "O King, can a man overtake the
flying bird? This is surely none but some mighty magician or Marid
of the, Jinn, or devil, and Allah save thee from him! So praise thou
the Almighty for deliverance of thee and of all thy host from his
hand.
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