re," answered Jahir, "and
spare me these reproaches, for, by the faith of an Arab, I will not
return the colt, unless compelled by main force. I will declare war
against you first." At that moment the tribe was not prepared for a
quarrel; and several of them said to Jahir: "We are too much attached to
you to push things to such an extreme as that; we are your allies and
kinsmen. We will not fight with you, though an idol of gold were at
stake." Then Kerim, son of Wahrab (the latter being the owner of the
mare and colt, a man renowned among the Arabs for his generosity),
seeing the obstinacy of Jahir, said to him: "Cousin, the colt is
certainly yours, and belongs to you; as for the mare here, accept her as
a present from my hand, so that mother and colt will not be separated,
and no one will ever be able to accuse me of wronging a kinsman."

The tribe highly applauded this act, and Jahir was so humiliated by the
generosity with which he had been treated, that he returned mare and
colt to Kerim, adding to the gift a pair of male and a pair of female
camels.

Dahir soon became a horse of absolute perfection in every point, and
when his master Kerim undertook to race him with another horse, he rode
the animal himself, and was in the habit of saying to his antagonist,
"Even should you pass me like an arrow, I could catch you up, and
distance you," and in fact this always happened.

As soon as King Cais heard tell of this horse, he became beside himself
with longing and mortification, and his sleep left him. He sent to
Kerim, offering to buy the horse for as much gold or silver as the owner
demanded, and adding that the price would be forwarded without delay.
This message enraged Kerim. "Is not this Cais a fool, or a man of no
understanding?" he exclaimed. "Does he think I am a man of traffic--a
horse-dealer, who cannot mount the horses he owns? I swear by the faith
of an Arab that if he had asked for Dahir, as a present, I would have
sent the horse, and a troop of camels besides: but if he thinks of
obtaining him by bidding a price, he will never have him; even were I
bound to drink the cup of death."

The messenger returned to Cais, and gave him the answer of Kerim, at
which the latter was much annoyed. "Am I a king over the tribes of Abs,
of Adnan, of Fazarah, and of Dibyan," he exclaimed, "and yet a common
Arab dares to oppose me!" He summoned his people and his warriors.
Immediately there was the flash of armor, of c