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 upon her guard, leaped
backward, got time to pull out one of her hairs, and, by
pronouncing three or four words, changed herself 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 was only 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 disappeared, the ground opened before us,
and out of it came forth a cat, black and white, with her hair
standing upright, and keeping up a fearful mewling; 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; but the
pomegranate swelled immediately, and became as big as a gourd,
which, mounting up to the top of the gallery, rolled there for
some space backward and forward, fell down again into the court,
and broke into several pieces.
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