aring: the young lions from the cave answered her with
hideous cries, which would have filled the most warlike soul with
terror. In the meantime the conqueror secured his victory by piercing
the animal in the vital parts, till at length she sank under the
vigour of his arm. He ran immediately to kill the whelps, and drew
them out of the cave. After this feat of valour, he looked in the
plain for a tree, the fruit of which might afford him nourishment, and
a stream in which he might quench his thirst; and still aided by
Providence, everything seemed subject to his desires and offered
itself to his hand.

Having at length recruited his strength, exhausted by so much fatigue,
he re-entered the cave whose inhabitants he had destroyed, made
himself master of the treasures it contained, shut up its entrance
with the branches of a tree, and, armed to as much advantage as
possible, and furnished with gold and silver to satisfy his wants, he
took the road to his native country. He arrived there at the end of
some days, and gave an account of his history to his relations. Camels
and slaves were dispatched to bring away the precious effects which
were left in the lions' den. Possessed of so much riches, the
beneficent slave shared them with the indigent. Not far from his
habitation he built an asylum for caravans, pilgrims, and travellers
who might be obliged to take that road; and from the spoils of a
lions' den he erected a temple of charity.

* * * * *

"Sire," added Aladin, after having finished his relation, "you see how
this slave, condemned to perish upon the scaffold, on the false
evidence of his enemies, and in danger of being devoured by lions, was
miraculously delivered from these dangers; while his accusers and
enemies, eager to feast their eyes with the sight of his tortures,
were massacred and punished. The King of Haram, deprived of part of
his subjects, suffered the punishment of his negligence in not
examining the proceedings himself, and not listening sufficiently to
complaints which, although they moved his pity, had not armed his
justice."

Bohetzad felt an unusual struggle betwixt his own power, the relations
and reflections of Aladin, and the solicitations of his ministers. A
voice within him pleaded powerfully against the judgment he had
pronounced; yet the orders which he had given publicly, the scaffold
already prepared without the walls of the city, the crowd of people