the dragon. Overcome with terror,
Naznai lost his hold, fell from the tree and came down plump on the
dragon's back. The dragon thought that God in His wrath had struck him
with lightning: his heart burst and he gave up the ghost. Naznai
started to run, but, looking over his shoulder, he saw that the dragon
did not move. Then he knew that it was dead, and going back he cut off
its head and went with it to the king. "Then that is what you call a
dragon, is it?" he demanded: "in our Daghestan we have cats like that.
Why didn't you send some of your children after him, and not give me so
much trouble?" The king could think of nothing to say, and so was left
with his mouth open.

After a little time the king sent for Naznai again, and said to him, "My
dear son-in-law, Hero Naznai, three _narts_ [giants] have invaded my
kingdom and are harassing my people with their raids: to-morrow you must
go out against them." Again Naznai's heart sank within him, and he ran
home. At midnight he fled a second time from the city, took refuge in
the same forest as before, and, climbing up the very same tree, went to
sleep. When it began to grow light he looked down, and there were the
three narts, who, having hoppled their horses and turned them out to
graze, were themselves resting under the tree. Naznai's soul went down
into his very toes: he almost fell from the tree in a swoon. Suddenly
one of the narts said to another, "Now that the king has in his service
the hero Naznai, who kills five hundred at a blow, we must be more
careful than we have been, and not turn our horses out in this way to
graze."--"We have never been afraid of any living thing yet," rejoined
the other: "are we going to let him scare us?" This led to a dispute
which ended in a quarrel, and the three narts all killed one another.
Then Naznai climbed down out of the tree, cut off their heads, stripped
them of their clothes and weapons, which he loaded upon two of their
horses, and, mounting the third, rode back to the city. Throwing down
the heads before the king, he said, "Then those are your narts? We
should have called them orphan children in our Daghestan. What was the
use of sending a man after them? Women would have done as well." The
king was surprised, so were all the people.

A little while afterward the king summoned Naznai for the third time.
"My dear son-in-law," he said, "an infidel king has declared war against
me. Tomorrow at the head of my army you mus