[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Foreign](https://indike.org/pramana/inf) › [Islamic world](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl) › [Persian](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa) › [Story books adapted from India](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa) › [سندبادنامه](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama) › [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt) › 389 # سندبادنامه 389 English (machine translation) 389 - **Language:** English ### [389.1](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.389.1) In every state, thanksgiving is better for the servant, / for many an evil there is worse than evil. And the lion, out of fear that the rogue might return, was fleeing in haste; along the way, a monkey ### [389.4](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.389.4) 19 Story of the Thief, the Lion, and Ḥamdūna encountered him. When his eye fell upon the lion, he paid homage and performed the duty of servitude and obedience, and said: "Has some occurrence or event befallen the king? For the mark of alteration can be seen in your august form and complexion, and the sign of bewilderment and anxiety can be recognized upon your auspicious brow; and to this unfamiliar place and path and coming alone and solitary along an unfamiliar path—what is the reason for it? If there is any service that this servant is qualified to undertake, let him give the command, so that the requirements of compliance may be fulfilled." The lion said, "Last night I went to such-and-such a place in search of prey, and stood among the pack-animals waiting to find an opportunity and seize some quarry. An exceedingly reckless thief and a vagabond, extremely agile and nimble, came up, threw his legs over my back, and drove me up and down, through ravines and gullies; and out of fear of his knife and sword I kept going, until at last God the Exalted made him merciful toward me, and granted me escape and deliverance from his clutches. He climbed up a tree and abandoned me." The monkey said, "The king has erred in judgment by submitting to such a situation; for no creature among the beasts possessed the strength or ability to ### [389.19](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.389.19) \[...\] ### [389.20](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.389.20) contemplate such insolence toward the king, or to withstand the strength of his arm in combat. If the king will turn back and show me the tree, this servant will bring him before the king, so that the king may administer the recompense for audacity, presumption, transgression, and folly in his case." When the lion heard this speech, he was duped by the monkey's blather, and like a hyena caught by words, he walked into the sack; he turned back and made for the tree with the monkey. From afar, the vagabond saw the lion and the monkey and knew that they intended to attack him. Inside the tree there was a hollow; he went into the hollow and sat silently. As soon as the monkey ran up the tree and came out atop the hollow, the vagabond reached his hand out of the hollow, seized the monkey's testicles firmly, and squeezed with such force that the monkey fell senseless from the tree, and \[the vagabond\] dispatched his soul, in grief, to Mālik of Hell. When the lion witnessed this feat of prowess, he took to his heels, turned to flee, considered that flight a blessing, and said to himself, "Flight at the opportune moment is victory." ### [389.32](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.389.32) \[...\] ## Linked texts (1) - [سندبادنامه](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama.389.1) — Ẓahīrī Samarqandī, Persian --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.389](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.389) · Pramāṇa