like a lion clad in coat of mail.  He carried his naked sword, and his eyes flashed like blazing coals.  As soon as he had reached the middle of the crowd, he cried out with a loud voice, that struck terror to all hearts:  “Hearken, noble Arabian chieftains and men of renown assembled here—­all of you know that I was supported and favored by King Zoheir, father of King Cais, that I am a slave bound to him, by his goodness and munificence; that it is he who caused my parents to acknowledge me, and gave me my rank, making me to be numbered among Arab chiefs.  Although he is no longer living, I wish to show my gratitude to him, and bring the kings of the land into subjection to him, even after his death.  He has left a son, whom his brothers have acknowledged, and have set on the throne of his father.  This son is Cais, whom they have thus distinguished, because of his wisdom, rectitude, and noble heart.  I am the slave of Cais, and am his property; I intend to be the supporter of him whom I love, and the enemy of whosoever resists him.  It shall never be said, as long as I live, that I have suffered an enemy to affront him.  As to the conditions of this wager, it is our duty to see them observed.  The best thing, accordingly, to do is to let the horses race unobstructed, for victory comes from the creator of day and night.  I make an oath, therefore, by the holy house at Mecca, by the temple, by the eternal God, who never forgets his servants and never sleeps, that if Hadifah commits any act of violence, I will make him drink the cup of vengeance and of death; and will make the whole tribe of Fazarah the byword of all the world.  And you, Arab chieftains, if you sincerely desire the race to take place, conduct yourselves with justice and impartiality; otherwise, by the eyes of my dear Ibla, I will make the horses run the race in blood.”  “Antar is right,” the horsemen shouted on all sides.

Hadifah chose, as the rider of Ghabra, a groom of the tribe of Dibyan.  This man had passed all his days and many of his nights in rearing and tending horses.  Cais, on the other hand, chose as rider of Dahir a groom of the tribe of Abs, much better trained and experienced in his profession than was the Dibyanian.  When the two contestants had mounted their horses King Cais gave this parting instruction to his groom:  “Do not let the reins hang too loosely in managing Dahir; if you see him flag, stand up in your stirrups, and press his flanks gently with your legs.  Do not urge him too much, or you will break his spirit.”  Hadifah heard this advice and repeated it, word for word, to his rider.

Antar began to laugh.  “By the faith of an Arab,” he said to Hadifah, “you will be beaten.  Are words so scarce that you are obliged to use exactly those of Cais?  But as a matter of fact Cais is a king, the son of a king; he ought always to be imitated by others, and since you have followed, word by word, his speech, it is a proof that your horse will follow his in the desert.”