第10章 THE WOLF AND THE FOX.(2)

Then said he to the wolf，Enter the vineyard： thou art spared the trouble of climbing，for the wall is broken down，and with God be the rest of the benefit.'So the wolf went on，thinking to enter the vineyard；but when he came to the middle of the covering （of the pit），he fell in；whereupon the fox shook for delight and gladness；his care and concern left him and he sang out for joy and recited the following verses：

Fortune hath taken ruth on my case；Yea，she hath pitied the length of my pain，Doing away from me that which I feared And granting me that whereto I was fain.

So I will pardon her all the sins She sinned against me once and again；

Since for the wolf there is no escape From certain ruin and bitter bane，And now the vineyard is all my own And no fool sharer in my domain.

Then he looked into the pit，and seeing the wolf weeping for sorrow and repentance over himself，wept with him；whereupon the wolf raised his head to him and said，Is it of pity for me thou weepest，O Aboulhussein？[4] Not so，'answered the fox，by Him who cast thee into the pit！I weep for the length of thy past life and for regret that thou didst not sooner fall into the pit；

for hadst thou done so before I met with thee，I had been at peace： but thou wast spared till the fulfilment of thine allotted term.'The wolf thought he was jesting and said，O sinner，go to my mother and tell her what has befallen me，so haply she may make shift for my release.'Verily，'answered the fox，the excess of thy gluttony and thy much greed have brought thee to destruction，since thou art fallen into a pit whence thou wilt never escape. O witless wolf，knowest thou not the proverb，'He who taketh no thought to results，Fate is no friend to him，nor shall he be safe from perils？'O Aboulhussein，'said the wolf，thou wast wont to show me affection and covet my friendship and fear the greatness of my strength. Bear me not malice for that I did with thee，for he who hath power and forgiveth，his reward is with God；even as saith the poet：

Sow benefits aye，though in other than fitting soil. A benefits never lost，wherever it may be sown；

And though time tarry full long to bring it to harvest-tide，Yet no man reapeth its fruit，save he who sowed it alone.'

O most witless of beasts of prey and stupidest of the wildings of the earth，'rejoined the fox，hast thou forgotten thine arrogance and pride and tyranny and how thou disregardedst the due of comradeship and wouldst not take counsel by what the poet says：

Do no oppression，whilst the power thereto is in thine hand，For still in danger of revenge the sad oppressor goes.

Thine eyes will sleep anon，what while the opprest，on wake，call down Curses upon thee，and Gods eye shuts never in repose.'

O Aboulhussein，'replied the wolf，reproach me not for past offences；for forgiveness is expected of the noble，and the practice of kindness is the best of treasures. How well says the poet：

Hasten to do good works，whenever thou hast the power，For thou art not able thereto at every season and hour.'

And he went on to humble himself to the fox and say to him，Haply，thou canst do somewhat to deliver me from destruction.'

O witless，deluded，perfidious，crafty wolf，'answered the fox，hope not for deliverance，for this is but the just reward of thy foul dealing.'Then he laughed from ear to ear and repeated the following verses：

A truce to thy strife to beguile me！For nothing of me shalt thou gain. Thy prayers are but idle；thou sowedst Vexation；so reap it amain.

O gentlest of beasts of prey，'said the wolf，I deem thee too faithful to leave me in this pit.'Then he wept and sighed and recited the following verses，whilst the tears streamed from his eyes：

O thou，whose kindnesses to me are more than one，I trow，Whose bounties unto me vouchsafed are countless as the sand，No shift of fortune in my time has ever falln on me，But I have found thee ready still to take me by the hand.

O stupid enemy，'said the fox，how art thou reduced to humility and obsequiousness and abjection and submission，after disdain and pride and tyranny and arrogance！Verily，I companied with thee and cajoled thee but for fear of thy violence and not in hope of fair treatment from thee： but now trembling is come upon thee and vengeance hath overtaken thee.'And he repeated the following verses：

O thou that for aye on beguiling art bent，Thourt falln in the snare of thine evil intent.

So taste of the anguish that knows no relent And be with the rest of the wolven forspent！

O clement one，'replied the wolf，speak not with the tongue of despite nor look with its eyes；but fulfil the covenant of fellowship with me，ere the time for action pass away. Rise，make shift to get me a rope and tie one end of it to a tree；then let the other end down to me，that I may lay hold of it，so haply I may escape from this my strait，and I will give thee all my hand possesseth of treasures.'Quoth the fox，Thou persistest in talk of that wherein thy deliverance is not. Hope not for this，for thou shalt not get of me wherewithal to save thyself；but call to mind thy past ill deeds and the craft and perfidy thou didst imagine against me and bethink thee how near thou art to being stoned to death. For know that thy soul is about to leave the world and cease and depart from it；so shalt thou come to destruction and evil is the abiding-place to which thou goest！'

O Aboulhussein，'rejoined the wolf，hasten to return to friendliness and persist not in this rancour. Know that he，who saves a soul from perdition，is as if he had restored it to life，and he，who saves a soul alive，is as if he had saved all mankind. Do not ensue wickedness，for the wise forbid it： and it were indeed the most manifest wickedness to leave me in this pit to drink the agony of death and look upon destruction，whenas it lies in thy power to deliver me from my strait. Wherefore go thou about to release me and deal benevolently with me.'O thou barbarous wretch，'answered the fox，I liken thee，because of the fairness of thy professions and the foulness of thine intent and thy practice，to the hawk with the partridge.'How so ？