' And the King said, 'An thou
speak sooth, I will bring thee to thy wish and thy desire.'
Then came forward the Persian sage and prostrating himself
before the King, presented him with a horse of ebony wood,
inlaid with gold and jewels, ready harnessed with saddle and
bridle and stirrups such as befit kings; which when Sabour saw,
he marvelled exceedingly and was confounded at the perfection
of its form and the ingenuity of its fashion. So he said, 'What
is the use of this horse of wood, and what is its virtue and
the secret of its movement?' 'O my lord,' answered the Persian,
'the virtue of this horse is that, if one mount him, it will
carry him whither he will and fare with its rider through the
air for the space of a year and a day.' The King marvelled and
was amazed at these three wonders, following thus hard upon
each other in one day, and turning to the sage, said to him,
'By the Great God and the Bountiful Lord, who created all
creatures and feedeth them with water and victual, an thy
speech be true and the virtue of thy handiwork appear, I will
give thee whatsoever thou seekest and will bring thee to thy
wish and thy desire!'
Then he entertained the three sages three days, that he might
make trial of their gifts, after which they brought them before
him and each took the creature he had wrought and showed him
the secret of its movement.
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