` Come , ' exclaimed the lion , whose mouth watered , ` show me the birds ! I should like to see if they are fat enough for my master . ' ' I would do it with pleasure , ' answered the idiot , ` but if I once open the bag they will all fly away . ' ` Well , open it wide enough for me to look in , ' said the lion , drawing a little nearer . Now this was just what Peronnik had been hoping for , so he held the bag while the lion opened it carefully and put his head right inside , so that he might get a good mouthful of larks . But the mass of feathers and glue stuck to him , and before he could pull his head out again Peronnik had drawn tight the cord , and tied it in a knot that no man could untie . Then , quickly gathering the flower that laughs , he rode off as fast as the colt could take him . The path soon led to the lake of the dragons , which he had to swim across . The colt , who was accustomed to it , plunged into the water without hesitation ; but as soon as the dragons caught sight of Peronnik they approached from all parts of the lake in order to devour him . This time Peronnik did not trouble to take off his cap , but he threw the beads he carried with him into the water , as you throw black corn to a duck , and with each bead that he swallowed a dragon turned on his back and died , so that the idiot reached the other side without further trouble . The valley guarded by the black man now lay before him , and from afar Peronnik beheld him , chained by one foot to a rock at the entrance , and holding the iron ball which never missed its mark and always returned to its master 's hand . In his head the black man had six eyes that were never all shut at once , but kept watch one after the other . At this moment they were all open , and Peronnik knew well that if the black man caught a glimpse of him he would cast his ball . So , hiding the colt behind a thicket of bushes , he crawled along a ditch and crouched close to the very rock to which the black man was chained . The day was hot , and after a while the man began to grow sleepy . Two of his eyes closed , and Peronnik sang gently . In a moment a third eye shut , and Peronnik sang on . The lid of a fourth eye dropped heavily , and then those of the fifth and the sixth . The black man was asleep altogether . Then , on tiptoe , the idiot crept back to the colt which he led over soft moss past the black man into the vale of pleasure , a delicious garden full of fruits that dangled before your mouth , fountains running with wine , and flowers chanting in soft little voices .
Further on , tables were spread XXXXX food , and girls dancing on the grass called to him to join them .
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