A peacock once abode with his mate on the sea-shore，in a place that abounded in trees and streams，but was infested with lions and all manner other wild beasts，and for fear of these latter，the two birds were wont to roost by night upon a tree，going forth by day in quest of food. They abode thus awhile，till，their fear increasing on them，they cast about for some other place wherein to dwell，and in the course of their search，they happened on an island abounding in trees and streams. So they alighted there and ate of its fruits and drank of its waters.
Whilst they were thus engaged，up came a duck，in a state of great affright，and stayed not till she reached the tree on which the two peacocks were perched，when she seemed reassured. The peacock doubted not but that she had some rare story；so he asked her of her case and the cause of her alarm，to which she replied，I am sick for sorrow and my fear of the son of Adam： beware，O beware of the sons of Adam！'Fear not，'rejoined the peacock，now that thou hast won to us.'Praised be God，'cried the duck，who hath done away my trouble and my concern with your neigbourhood！For indeed I come，desiring your friendship.
Thereupon the peahen came down to her and said，Welcome and fair welcome！No harm shall befall thee： how can the son of Adam come at us and we in this island midmost the sea？From the land he cannot win to us，neither can he come up to us out of the sea. So be of good cheer and tell us what hath betided thee from him.
Know then，O peahen，'answered the duck，that I have dwelt all my life in this island in peace and safety and have seen no disquieting thing，till one night，as I was asleep，I saw in a dream the semblance of a son of Adam，who talked with me and I with him. Then I heard one say to me，'O duck，beware of the son of Adam and be not beguiled by his words nor by that he may suggest to thee；for he aboundeth in wiles and deceit；so beware with all wariness of his perfidy，for he is crafty and guileful，even as saith of him the poet：
He giveth thee honeyed words with the tip of his tongue，galore.
But sure he will cozen thee，as the fox cloth，evermore.
For know that the son of Adam beguileth the fish and draweth them forth of the waters and shooteth the birds with a pellet of clay and entrappeth the elephant with his craft. None is safe from his mischief，and neither beast nor bird escapeth him. Thus have I told thee what I have heard concerning the son of Adam.'I awoke，fearful and trembling （continued the duck），and from that time to this my heart hath not known gladness，for fear of the son of Adam，lest he take me unawares by his craft or trap me in his snares. By the time the end of the day overtook me，I was grown weak and my strength and courage failed me；so，desiring to eat and drink，I went forth，troubled in spirit and with a heart ill at ease. I walked on，till I reached yonder mountain，where I saw a tawny lion-whelp at the door of a cave. When he saw me，he rejoiced greatly in me，for my colour pleased him and my elegant shape： so he cried out to me，saying'Draw nigh unto me.'So I went up to him and he said to me，'What is thy name and thy kind？'Quoth I，'My name is duck，'and I am of the bird-kind；
but thou，why tarriest thou in this place till now？'My father the lion，'answered he，'has bidden me many a day beware of the son of Adam，and it befell this night that I saw in my sleep the semblance of a son of Adam.'And he went on to tell me the like of that I have told you. When I heard this，I said to him，'O lion，I resort to thee，that thou mayst kill the son of Adam and steadfastly address thy thought to his slaughter；for I am greatly in fear for myself of him，and fear is added to my fear，for that thou also fearest the son of Adam，and thou the Sultan of the beasts. Then，O my sister，I ceased not to bid him beware of the son of Adam and urge him to slay him，till he rose of a sudden from his stead and went out，lashing his flanks with his tail. He fared on，and I after him，till we came to a place，where several roads met，and saw cloud of dust arise，which，presently clearing away，discovered a naked runaway ass，and now running and galloping and now rolling in the dust. When the lion saw the ass，he cried out to him，and he came up to him submissively. Then said the lion，'Harkye，crack-brain！What is thy kind and what brings thee hither？'O，son of the Sultan，'answered the ass，'I am by kind an ass，and the cause of my coming hither is that I am fleeing from the son of Adam.'Dost thou fear then that he will kill thee？'asked the lion-whelp.
'Not so，O son of the Sultan，'replied the ass；'but I fear lest he put a cheat on me；for he hath a thing called the pad，that he sets on my back，and a thing called the girth，that he binds about my belly，and a thing called the crupper，that he puts under my tail，and a thing called the bit，that he places in my mouth；and he fashions me a goad and goads me with it and makes me run more than my strength. If I stumble，he curses me，and if I bray，he reviles me；and when I grow old and can no longer run，he puts a wooden pannel on me and delivers me to the water-carriers，who load my back with water from the river，in skins and other vessels，such as jars，and I wear out my life in misery and abasement and fatigue till I die，when they cast me on the rubbish-heaps to the dogs. So what misery can surpass this，and what calamities can be greater than these？'When，O peahen，I heard the asss words，my skin shuddered at the son of Adam and I said to the lion-whelp，'Of a verity，O my lord，the ass hath excuse，and his words add terror to my terror.'Then said the lion to the ass，'Whither goest thou？'Before the rising of the sun'answered he，'I espied the son of Adam afar off and fled from him，and now I am minded to flee forth and run without ceasing，for the greatness of my fear of him，so haply I may find a place to shelter me from the perfidious son of Adam.'Whilst he was thus discoursing，seeking the while to take leave of us and go away，behold，another cloud of dust arose，at sight of which the ass brayed and cried out and let fly a great crack of wind.
