Tariel Tells of the Killing of the Lion and the Tiger
904	"WITH my tongue will I relate to thee in detail all that hath befallen me; then indeed with wise heart judge the truth. I expected thee, awaiting thee was irksome to me, I could no longer endure the cave, I wished to ride in the plain.
905	"I CAME up that hill, I had traversed these reeds; a lion and a tiger met, they came together; they seemed to me to be enamoured, it rejoiced me to see them; but what they did to each other surprised me, horrified me.
906	"I CAME up the hill, the lion and tiger came walking together; they were to me like a picture of lovers, my burning fires were quenched. They came together and began to fight, embittered they struggled; the lion pursues, the tiger flees. They were not commended by me.
907	"FIRST they sported gaily, then they quarrelled flercehy; each struck the other with its paw, they had no fear of death; the tiger lost heart, even as women do: the lion fiercely pursued, none could have calmed him.
908	"THE behaviour of the lion displeased me. I said: 'Thou art out of thy wits. Why annoy'st thou thy beloved? Fie on such bravery!"' I rushed on him with my bared sword, I gave him to be pierced by the spear, I struck his head, I killed him, I freed him from this world's woe.
909	"I THREW away my sword, I leaped down, I caught the tiger with my hands, I wished to kiss it for the sake of her for whom hot fires burn me. It roared at me, and worried me with its blood-shedding paws. I could bear no more; with enraged heart I killed it too.
910	"HOWEVER much I soothed it, the tiger became not calm. I grew angry, I brandished it, dashed it on the ground, shattered it. I remembered how I had striven with my beloved. Yet my soul tore not itself altogether out of me. Why, then, art thou astonished that I shed tears!
911	"BEHOLD, brother! I have told the woes that grieved me. Life itself befits me not. Why didst thou wonder that I am thus fordone ? I am sundered from life, death is become shy of me." So the knight ended his story, sighed, and wept aloud.