Hatim bade adieu to his guides, and proceeded on his journey towards the mountain. In a month after he came to the place where the road branched into two, and as the shades of the night were falling, he there sat down, in order to rest till day. When a watch of the night had elapsed, his ear was struck with a voice of sorrow that issued from the surrounding desert. He raised his head from the lap of sleep, and as he listened to the mournful sounds, he thought within himself: “Oh, Hatim! thou hast devoted thyself to the service of thy Creator; and now, when the voice of distress pierces thy ear, why dost thou hesitate to administer relief? What will be thy answer hereafter in the presence of the great Judge?” With these reflections he speedily arose and proceeded to the left, in the direction of the voice. The whole night he continued to advance, but no one could he find; and when it was day, he sat down and rested till darkness again overspread the earth, when the same lamenting voice reached his ears. He started up, and continued his pursuit till at the dawn of day he arrived at a solitary spot, where he beheld a comely youth with his feet bare and his head uncovered, bitterly weeping and lamenting.

Hatim addressed the young man, saying, “My good friend, how came you to be alone in this wilderness, whose echoes resound to your cries; and who has sent you hither?” The youth in tears replied, “Generous Sir, I am by profes­sion a soldier, and lately quitted my home in quest of service. On my journey I happened to lose my way, and on coming to a certain city, I asked the inhabitants, ‘What is the name of this city, and who is its sovereign?’ One of them told me, ‘This is the capital of Musâhhir, the magician;’ on hearing which, I became terrified, and immedi­ately fled. After I had ridden the distance of a farasang from the city, I came to a garden, whose beauty charmed my heart; and dismounting from my steed, I entered this terrestrial paradise. I had not advanced more than three steps within the garden, when I beheld troops of damsels fair as Houris, and clothed in splendid apparel. I then discovered that I was in the garden of the zenana,* and reflecting that it was highly improper for me to enter such sacred precincts, which no man of real bravery would have done, I began to retrace my steps the way I came.

“When the women saw me, one of them ran and told her mistress that a young man was about to walk in the garden, but on discovering his mistake, had retired. On hearing this, the lady, who was none other than the daughter of Musâhhir the magician, instantly sent me a message requesting my attendance. I went, and the moment I beheld her fair countenance I became like one beside himself, and grew so faint that I had to lay hold of the garden gate for support. Her attendants seized me by the hands and conducted me to the midst of the garden, where I was seated upon a couch beside the magician’s daughter. This lady received me so kindly and smiled so sweetly, that she pierced my heart with the arrows of love. Bewildered, I contemplated her beautiful form as she sat by me.

“Meanwhile, who should arrive at the garden door but her father the magician; and when he saw my horse, he asked whose it was, and being informed of the whole affair by the attendants, he entered foaming with rage, when he beheld his daughter engaged in con­versation with me, he seized her by the neck, and was about to dash her against the ground, but the lady appealed to his sense of justice as she was not guilty of any impropriety and begged of him first to make the strictest inquiry, and then inflict punishment, if due. The father checked his anger and withdrew his hands, when in the meantime the nurse addressed him, saying, ‘Oh, king! your daughter is now of age, and amongst your subjects there is none worthy of being her husband. The stranger you see here is just arrived: he seems of noble rank, and an honourable man; it were better then that you give him your daughter in marriage, for you will thus secure a noble successor. If however you put to death these two, who are perfectly free from crime, you will, on the one hand, set a ruinous example to your people; and, on the other hand you will stain yourself with the blood of the innocent.’

“On hearing this, Musahhir the magician said, ‘Daughter what think you of this proposal?’ The damsel replied, ‘As yet I have not been seen by any stranger, and as this traveller has happened to see me unveiled, I am willing to accept him.’— ‘Be it so,’ said her father; ‘but I have three conditions, and that man alone who can comply with them shall receive my daughter.’ I then ventured to address the magician, saying. ‘In that case I am ready to do what­ever you command me.’ The magician then conducted to his capital, and admitted me into his hall of audience. He then summoned the grandees of his dominions, in whose presence he thus stated to me the three conditions on which I was to receive his daughter:

“‘The first condition is that you will procure me a pair of the animals called pariru.’

“‘The second is, that you will bring me the muhra (or pearl) which is in the mouth of the red dragon.’

“‘And the third is, that you will cast yourself into a large cauldron full of boiling oil, and if you come out unhurt you shall have my daughter.’

“To each of these I agreed, and immediately quitting the city, I wandered hither, were I am now exhausted with hunger and thirst, and pierced through the heart with the darts of the glances of a Houri. I am not able to return to my own country, and no friend has yet visited me by whose aid I might fulfil the conditions of the magician, and thus become entitled to the hand of his daughter, in this desert then, I have constantly strayed, weeping and lamenting since the time I left the city, which is now a period of two years.”

On hearing this statement, Hatim said to the young man, in condoling language, “Be of good cheer, for God willing, I will perform these three conditions for you, and will put you in possession of your mistress.” He then remembered the circumstance of jackals that had procured him the head of the pariru from the desert of Mazanderan and resolved to set out thither immediately. In short, Hatim took leave of the youth, and set out on his journey to Mazanderan. In the course of a few days he came to a certain city, around which along the walls and ditches the inhabitants had laid piles of dried wood, which they kept burning.

Hatim surprised, asked them, what was the cause of this conflagration “If,” said one of them, “we do not keep this fire constantly burning all around our outward walls, a monstrous demon will enter our city and devour us,”— “Pray” said Hatim, “what like is this evil being that so annoys you?”— “He is a large animal,” replied they, “frightful beyond description, and when he comes he devours three or four people at a time,” Hatim, on hearing this, began to consider how it would be practicable to free them from this calamity, and in the meantime he went to take some repose in the caravanserai,

He then caused a pit to be dug outside the city in the open plain, which he fenced round with bushes of thorn and piles of wood, and furnishing himself with a bow and quiver full of arrows he took up his post in that ambush about sunset. When about a watch of the night had passed, the approach of the monster was indicated with a noise like that of a tempest. When this formidable beast came nearer, he saw that it had eight feet and seven heads, of which six were like those of lions, and the remaining head resembling that of an elephant. The elephant head was situated in the middle, and had three eyes.

When Hatim was leaving the city, the inhabitants had given him a description of the monster, which he now found to be quite correct. They further told him that this terrific beast was vulnerable only on the middle eye of the elephant head, and if it were possible to hit that eye with an arrow, it would be the means of removing this calamity for then the monster would run off, and never approach a human abode. Meanwhile the inhabitants hearing him advance, kindled their fires all round the city, which become completely covered with a thick cloud of smoke. The monster moved round the walls, and continued to roar with all his mouths so fearfully loud that the city shook to its foundation. At length he approached the spot where Hatim lay concealed, and when the latter observed him, he placed his trust in Providence, and seizing his bow he took a deliberate aim at the central eye on the elephant-head, and pierced it with an arrow.

The monster reeled and fell with a crash upon the earth, and raised such a terrific roar that the city and the desert shook far and wide. He shortly after started up, and fled so swiftly towards the wilderness that he never looked behind him. Hatim spent the whole night without the walls, and when the dawn of morning appeared he re-entered the gates. The people crowded round him, and asked whether he had seen the demon, that he thus remained alive. He answered, “I have for ever expelled him from your territories.”— “How,” said they, “can we be certain of that?”— “You may soon satisfy yourselves on that score,” replied Hatim; “this night you can watch on the walls and battlements of the city, and if you here his sound, then shall you consider me as a teller of falsehood; and if, on the other hand, the sound shall not be heard, you will be convinced of my veracity.” To this they all agreed and acted accordingly, and when the night was over and all well, they quickly returned to Hatim and prostrated them­selves at his feet, and conveyed him in triumph to the resi­dence of their governor, who received him with the utmost courtesy and respect, seating him by his side, and treating him with boundless hospitality. The people of the city, and particularly the governor, speedily brought all their wealth in cash and valuable effects, and offered it to Hatim, who said to them, “I am a poor traveller, and I am not the least desirous of such wealth as you offer me.” They all requested him to accept of their bounty, and do with it what he thought proper.”