يَمْشِي مَشْيَ الْمَرِحِ الْـمُخْتَالِ، وَيَتَصَفَّحُ ذَنَبَهُ وَجَنَاحَهُ، فَيُقَهْقِهُ ضَاحِكاً لِجَمَالِ سِرْبَالِهِ، وَأَصَابِيغِ وِشَاحِهِ؛ فَإذَا رَمَى بِبَصَرِهِ إِلَى قَوَائِمِهِ زَقَا مُعْوِلاً بِصَوْت يَكَادُ يُبِينُ عَنِ اسْتِغَاثَتِهِ، وَيَشْهَدُ بِصَادِقِ تَوَجُّعِهِ، لاِنَّ قَوَائِمَهُ حُمْشٌ كَقَوَائِمِ الدِّيَكَةِ الْخِلاَسِيَّةِ. وَقَدْ نَجَمَتْ مِنْ ظُنْبُوبِ سَاقِهِ صِيصِيَةٌ خَفِيَّةٌ، وَلَهُ فِي مَوْضِعِ الْعُرْفِ قُنْزُعَةٌ خَضْرَاءُ مُوَشَّاةٌ، وَمَخْرَجُ عَنُقِهِ كالاْبْرِيقِ، وَمَغَرزُهَا إلَى حَيْثُ بَطْنُهُ كَصِبْغِ الْوَسِمَةِ الْـيَـمَانِيَّةِ، أَوْ كَحَرِيرَة مُلْبَسَة مِرْآةً ذَاتَ صِقَال، وَكَأَنَّهُ مُتَلَفِّعٌ بِمِعْجَر أَسْحَمَ؛ إلاَّ أنَّهُ يُخَيَّلُ لِكَثْرَةِ مَائِهِ، وَشِدَّةِ بَرِيقِهِ، أَنَّ الْخُضْرَةَ النَّاضِرَةَ مُمْتَزِجَةٌ بِهِ، وَمَعَ فَتْقِ سَمْعِهِ خَطٌّ كَمُسْتَدَقِّ الْقَلَمِ فِي لَوْنِ الاْقْحُوَانِ، أَبْيَضُ يَقَقٌ، فَهُوَ بِبَيَاضِهِ فِي سَوَادِ مَا هُنَالِكَ يَأْتَلِقُ.
The peacock walks with vanity and pride, and throws open its tail and wings and laughs admiring the handsomeness of its dress and the hues of its necklace of gems. But when it casts its glance at its legs it cries loudly with a voice which indicates its call for help and displays its true grief, because its legs are thin like the legs of Indo-Persian cross-bred cocks. At the end of its shin there is a thin thorn and on the crown of its head there is a bunch of green variegated feathers. Its neck begins in the shape of a goblet and its stretch upto its belly is like the hair-dye of Yemen in colour or like silk cloth put on a polished mirror which looks as if it has been covered with a black veil, except that on account of its excessive lustre and extreme brightness it appears that a lush green colour has been mixed with it. Along the openings of its ears there is a line of shining bright daisy colour like the thin end of a pen. Whiteness shines on the black background.