Mohammed laughed. "Wet I am, to be sure, but the fire that burns in
my veins will soon dry the stuff. I will, however, gladly eat a
little and drink a glass of wine with you. It was a hard fight with
the sea-monsters, they seemed to roar in my ears, 'We will have you,
we will pull you down!' And yet it sounded sweetly! There is no
finer music than when, the sea-monsters come up from the deep and
sing their wild songs."

"You are a strange being," said Mr. Lion, regarding him lovingly. "I
rejoice in you, and, if it were not that people would say of me that
I wished to convert a Mussulman to my religion, I would gladly adopt
you as my son. Tell me, if I should leave this place, would you go
with me to the land of the Franks, accept my religion, and become
the heir of my fortune?"

"And you ask this? Say that it was a jest! For you surely could not
desire that the son of his father should become a renegade! No, Mr.
Lion, a Mussulman who could allow himself to be converted into a
Christian dog--pardon me for having uttered this word, it was not
intended for you, but--"

"But only for the Christian dog!" said Mr. Lion, smiling. "Let us
leave it as it is. You have offended me, and I you. Let us be
friends again, and empty a glass with each other."

Mohammed accompanied him to his house and ate with him and drank of
the fiery Cyprian wine. After having refreshed and strengthened
himself, he turned to Mr. Lion with a merry countenance: