Then I smote her a second time, and she turned and fled,
whereupon he came up to me and said, "Since my deliverance from yonder
serpent hath been at thy hands I will never leave thee, and thou shalt
be my comrade on this mountain." "And welcome," answered I. So we
fared on along the mountain till we fell in with a company of folk,
and I looked and saw amongst them the very man who had carried me
and cast me down there. I went up to him and spake him fair,
excusing to him and saying, "O my comrade, it is not thus that
friend should deal with friend." Quoth he, "It was thou who
well-nigh destroyed us by thy tasbih and thy glorifying God on my
back." Quoth I, "Pardon me, for I had no knowledge of this matter, but
if thou wilt take me with thee, I swear not to say a word."
So he relented and consented to carry me with him, but he made an
express condition that so long as I abode on his back, I should
abstain from pronouncing the tasbih or otherwise glorifying God.
Then I gave the wand of gold to him whom I had delivered from the
serpent and bade him farewell, and my friend took me on his back and
flew with me as before, till he brought me to the city and set me down
in my own house.
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