142 THE WONDER-BOOK OF HORSES 



lion upon the ground, and the horse still tramp- 

 ling upon him. He- was angry that Rakush, in- 

 stead of himself, had slain the beast, and instead 

 of praising the faithful animal he scolded him 

 unmercifully. 



" O rash and foolish steed ! " he cried, " who 

 told you to fight with lions? You should have 

 awakened me at the first, for had you been killed 

 in your folly, who would have carried me into 

 Mazinderan? " 



Then he lay down again to sleep ; but the horse 

 was much grieved by his unkind words. 



At the first peep of dawn Rustem was again 

 in the saddle. All day long he rode over the bar- 

 ren wastes where there was no green thing nor 

 anywhere a drop of water. The hot sun beat piti- 

 lessly down upon man and horse, and the sand 

 beneath them was like a burning oven. At length 

 Rustem was so overcome by the heat and with 

 thirst that he lost all hope, and alighting from his 

 steed lay down in the sand to die. But while he 

 was commending his soul to God and expecting 

 that every moment would be the last, he chanced 

 to see a fine sheep running at no great distance. 



" Surely," thought he, " there must be water 

 not far away, or this animal could not be here." 



