Fortune nor murmured at the ordinances

TALE XIX

I never complained of the vicissitudes of Fortune nor murmured at the ordinances of Heaven, excepting once, when my feet were bare and I had not the means of procuring myself shoes. I entered the great mosque at Cufah with a heavy heart, when I beheld a man who had no feet. I offered up praise and thanksgiving to God for his bounty, and bore with patience the want of shoes. A broiled fowl in the eyes of one who has satisfied his appetite, is of less estimation than a leaf of greens on a dish; but to him who hath not the means of procuring food, a boiled turnip is equal to a broiled fowl.

TALE XX

A certain King attended by some of his principal nobility, on a hunting party, in the winter, was benighted at a long distance from any town. Having discovered the cottage of a peasant, the King said, “Let us go there for the night, that we may not suffer inconvenience from the cold.” One of the courtiers replied, “It is beneath the dignity of a monarch to take shelter in the cottage of a mean peasant; we will pitch a tent on this spot and

light a fire.” The peasant being apprised of the circumstance, prepared such food as he could provide, which he brought and presented to the King, and, kissing the earth, said, “The Sultan’s high dignity will not suffer any degradation by this condescension; but these gentlemen are not willing that the peasant’s humble state should be exalted.” The King approved of his speech, and passed the night in the cottage. In the morning he bestowed on the peasant a dress and money. I heard that he accompanied the King’s stirrup a few paces, and said, “The King’s dignity and splendour have not suffered any diminution by his condescension, in suffering himself to be entertained under the peasant’s roof; but the corner of the rustic’s cap has been exalted to the sun, by such a monarch having overshadowed his head.”

TALE XXI

They tell a story of a horrible mendicant, who was possessed of considerable wealth. A certain King said to him, “It appears that you are exceedingly rich, and as I have a pressing demand, if you will assist me with a small sum out of your wealth, by way of loan, when the public finances are in a flourishing state I will repay you.” He replied, “It does not suit tlie high dignity of the lord of the world to soil the hand of ambition with money belonging to such a beggar as myself, who has collected it grain by grain.”

He replied, “Don’t distress yourself on that account, as I shall pay it away to the Tartars. Filthy things are tit for those who are impure. They say that dung does not make clean plaster, and we answer that we want it to stop dirty holes Gregorian calendar. If the water of a well belonging to a Christian is impure, what signifies this, if we use it to wash the corpse of a Jew? I heard that he slighted the King’s command, began to dispute, and to behave with insolence; whereupon the King ordered that the subject of disputation should be taken from him with violence and reproach.

When an affair cannot be accomplished by kind treatment, it becomes neoessary to effect it by harshness. When a person is not ready to contribute of himself, it is proper that some one should force him.

TALE XXII

I saw a merchant, who possessed one hundred and fifty camels laden with merchandize, and fifty slaves and servants. One night, in the island of Kish, he entertained me in his own apartment, and during the whole night did not cease talking foolishly, saying, “I have such and such property in Turkistan, and such goods in Hindoostan;• these are the title-deeds of a piece of ground; and for this matter, such an one is security.” Sometimes he would say, “I have an inclination to go to Alexandria, the air of which is very pleasant; ” then again, “No, I will not go, because the Mediterranean Sea is boisterous. 0 Sady, I have another journey in contemplation, and after I have performed that, I will pass the remainder of my life in retirement and leave off trading.”

I asked, What journey it was? He replied, “I want to carry Persian brimstone to China, where I have heard it bears a very high price; from thence I will transport China-ware to Greece, and take the brocades of Greece to India, and Indian steel to Aleppo: the glass-ware of Aleppo I will convey to Yemen, and from thence go with striped clothes to Persia; after which I will leave off trade and sit down in my shop.” He spoke so much of this foolishness, that at length, being quite exhausted, he said, “0 SMy, relate also something of what you have seen and heard.” I replied, “Have you hot heard, that once upon a time a chief, as he was travelling in the desert of Ghoor, fell from his camel? ” He said, “That the covetous eye of the worldly man is either satisfied through contentment, or will be filled with the earth of the grave.”