When the circle and the writing were finished she stood in the middle of it and repeated some verses from the Koran.  Slowly the air grew dark, and we felt as if the earth was about to crumble away, and our fright was by no means diminished at seeing the genius, son of the daughter of Eblis, suddenly appear under the form of a colossal lion.

“Dog,” cried the princess when she first caught sight of him, “you think to strike terror into me by daring to present yourself before me in this hideous shape.”

“And you,” retorted the lion, “have not feared to break our treaty that engaged solemnly we should never interfere with each other.”

“Accursed genius!” exclaimed the princess, “it is you by whom that treaty was first broken.”

“I will teach you how to give me so much trouble,” said the lion, and opening his huge mouth he advanced to swallow her.  But the princess expected something of the sort and was on her guard.  She bounded on one side, and seizing one of the hairs of his mane repeated two or three words over it.  In an instant it became a sword, and with a sharp blow she cut the lion’s body into two pieces.  These pieces vanished no one knew where, and only the lion’s head remained, which was at once changed into a scorpion.  Quick as thought the princess assumed the form of a serpent and gave battle to the scorpion, who, finding he was getting the worst of it, turned himself into an eagle and took flight.  But in a moment the serpent had become an eagle more powerful still, who soared up in the air and after him, and then we lost sight of them both.

We all remained where we were quaking with anxiety, when the ground opened in front of us and a black and white cat leapt out, its hair standing on end, and miauing frightfully.  At its heels was a wolf, who had almost seized it, when the cat changed itself into a worm, and, piercing the skin of a pomegranate which had tumbled from a tree, hid itself in the fruit.  The pomegranate swelled till it grew as large as a pumpkin, and raised itself on to the roof of the gallery, from which it fell into the court and was broken into bits.  While this was taking place the wolf, who had transformed himself into a cock, began to swallow the seed of the pomegranate as fast as he could.  When all were gone he flew towards us, flapping his wings as if to ask if we saw any more, when suddenly his eye fell on one which lay on the bank of the little canal that flowed through the court; he hastened towards it, but before he could touch it the seed rolled into the canal and became a fish.  The cock flung himself in after the fish and took the shape of a pike, and for two hours they chased each other up and down under the water, uttering horrible cries, but we could see nothing.  At length they rose from the water in their proper forms, but darting such flames of fire from their mouths that we dreaded lest the palace should catch fire.  Soon, however, we had much greater cause