第5章 STORY OF THE BIRDS AND BEASTS AND THE SON OF ADAM.
Verily thou art fallen into the trap and there is no escape for thee from duresse，O vilest of wild beasts！'O my brother，'rejoined the whelp，'what manner of words are these？'Know，O dog of the desert，'answered the man，'that thou hast fallen into that which thou fearedst；Fate hath overthrown thee，nor did thought-taking profit thee.'When the whelp heard these words，he knew that this was indeed the very son of Adam，against whom he had been warned by his father on wake and by the mysterious voice in sleep；and I also，O my sister，was certified that this was indeed he without doubt；wherefore there took me great fear of him for myself and I withdrew a little apart and waited to see what he would do with the young lion. Then I saw the son of Adam dig a pit hard by the chest and throwing the latter therein，heap brushwood upon it and burn the young lion with fire. At this sight，my fear of the son of Adam redoubled，and in my affright I have been these two days fleeing from him.'
When the peahen heard the ducks story，she wondered exceedingly and said to her，O my sister，thou art safe here from the son of Adam，for we are in one of the islands of the sea，whither there is no way for him；so do thou take up shine abode with us，till God make easy shine and our affair.'Quoth the duck，I fear lest some calamity come upon me by night，for no runaway can rid him of fate.'Abide with us，'rejoined the peahen，and be even as we；and ceased not to persuade her，till she yielded，saying，O my sister，thou knowest how little is my fortitude： had I not seen thee here，I had not remained.'That which is written on our foreheads，'said the peahen，we must indeed fulfil，and when our appointed day draws near，who shall deliver us？But not a soul passes away except it have accomplished its predestined term and fortune.'As they talked，a cloud of dust appeared，at sight of which the duck shrieked aloud and ran down into the sea，crying out，Beware，beware，albeit there is no fleeing from Fate and Fortune！'After awhile，the dust subsided and discovered an antelope；whereat the duck and the peahen were reassured and the latter said to her companion，O my sister，this thou seest and wouldst have me beware of is an antelope，and he is making for us. He will do us no hurt，for the antelope feeds upon the herbs of the earth，and even as thou art of the bird-kind，so is he of the beast-kind. So be of good cheer and leave care-taking；for care-taking wasteth the body.'Hardly had the peahen done speaking，when the antelope came up to them，thinking to shelter under the shade of the tree，and seeing the two birds，saluted them and said，I came to this island to-day，and I have seen none richer in herbage nor more pleasant of habitance.'Then he besought them of company and amity，and they，seeing his friendly behaviour to them，welcomed him and gladly accepted his offer. So they swore friendship one to another and abode in the island in peace and safety，eating and drinking and sleeping in common，till one day there came thither a ship，that had strayed from its course in the sea. It cast anchor near them，and the crew landing，dispersed about the island. They soon caught sight of the three animals and made for them，whereupon the peahen flew up into the tree and the antelope fled into the desert，but the duck abode paralysed （by fear）. So they chased her，till they caught her and carried her with them to the ship，whilst she cried out and said，Caution availed me nothing against Fate and destiny！'
When the peahen saw what had betided the duck，she came down from the tree，saying，I see that misfortunes lie in wait for all.
But for yonder ship，parting had not befallen between me and this duck，for she was one of the best of friends. Then she flew off and rejoined the antelope，who saluted her and gave her joy of her safety and enquired for the duck，to which she replied，The enemy hath taken her，and I loathe the sojourn of this island after her.'Then she wept for the loss of the duck and repeated the following verses：
The day of severance broke my heart in tway. God do the like unto the severance-day！
And also these：
I pray that we may yet foregather once again. That I may tell her all that parting wrought of pain.
The antelope was greatly moved at hearing of their comrades fate，but dissuaded the peahen from her resolve to leave the island. So they abode there together，eating and drinking in peace and safety，save that they ceased not to mourn for the loss of the duck，and the antelope said to the peahen，Thou seest，O my sister，how the folk who came forth of the ship were the means of our severance from the duck and of her destruction；so do thou beware of them and guard thyself from them and from the craft of the son of Adam and his perfidy.'But the peahen replied，I am assured that nought caused her death but her neglect to celebrate the praises of God，and indeed I said to her，'Verily I fear for thee，because thou art not careful to praise God；for all things that He hath made do glorify Him，and if any neglect to do so，it leadeth to their destruction.'When the antelope heard the peahens words，he exclaimed，May God make fair thy face！'and betook himself to the celebration of the praises of the Almighty，never after slackening therefrom. And it is said that his form of adoration was as follows： Glory be to the Requiter of good and evil，the Lord of glory and dominion！'