down among the rushes by the banks of the canal which runs past the
Temple, lying at a distance of thirty stadia from Abouthis. And, still
mocking me, he asked me if I would come and help him slay this lion, or
would I go and sit among the old women and bid them comb my side lock?
This bitter word so angered me that I was near to falling on him; but
in place therefore, forgetting my father's saying, I answered that if he
would come alone, I would go with him and seek this lion, and he should
learn if I were indeed a coward. And at first he would not, for, as men
know, it is our custom to hunt the lion in companies; so it was my hour
to mock. Then he went and fetched his bow and arrows and a sharp knife.
And I brought forth my heavy spear, which had a shaft of thorn-wood, and
at its end a pomegranate in silver, to hold the hand from slipping; and,
in silence, we went, side by side, to where the lion lay. When we
came to the place, it was near sundown; and there, upon the mud of the
canal-bank, we found the lion's slot, which ran into a thick clump of
reeds.

"Now, thou boaster," I said, "wilt thou lead the way into yonder reeds,
or shall I?" And I made as though I would lead the way.

"Nay, nay," he answered, "be not so mad! The brute will spring upon
thee and rend thee. See! I will shoot among the reeds. Perchance, if he
sleeps, it will arouse him." And he drew his bow at a venture.

How it chanced I know not, but the arrow struck the sleeping lion, and,
like a flash of light from the belly of a cloud, he bounded from the
shelter of the reeds, and stood before us with bristling mane and yellow
eyes, the arrow quivering in his flank. He roared aloud in fury, and the
earth shook.