第17章 THE FOX AND THE CROW.(2)

'Verily，'answered the flea，'it is not good for one to strive for aught，but if he be able to compass his desire；for if he lack of ableness thereto，he falls into that of which he should be ware and attains not his wish for weakness，though he use all possible cunning，like the sparrow that picks up grain and falls into the net and is caught by the fowler. Thou hast no strength to take the dinars and carry them into thy hole，nor can I do this；on the contrary，I could not lift a single dinar；so what hast thou to do with them？'Quoth the mouse，'I have made me these seventy openings，whence I may go out，and set apart a place for things of price，strong and safe；and if thou canst contrive to get the merchant out of the house，I doubt not of success，so Fate aid me.'I will engage to get him out of the house for thee，'answered the flea and going to the merchants bed，gave him a terrible bite，such as he had never before felt，then fled to a place of safety. The merchant awoke and sought for the flea，but finding it not，lay down again on his other side.

Then came the flea and bit him again，more sharply than before.

So he lost patience and leaving his bed，went out and lay down on the bench before the door and slept there and awoke not till the morning. Meanwhile the mouse came out and fell to carrying the dinars into her hole，till not one was left；and when it was day，the merchant began to accuse the folk and imagine all manner of things. And know，O wise，clear-sighted and experienced crow （continued the fox），that I only tell thee this to the intent that thou mayst reap the recompense of thy goodness to me，even as the mouse reaped the reward of her kindness to the flea；for see how he repaid her and requited her with the goodliest of requitals.'Quoth the crow，It lies with the benefactor to show benevolence or not；nor is it incumbent on us to behave kindly to whoso seeks an impossible connection. If I show thee favour，who art by nature my enemy，I am the cause of my own destruction，and thou，O fox，art full of craft and cunning. Now those，whose characteristics these are，are not to be trusted upon oath，and he who is not to be trusted upon oath，there is no good faith in him. I heard but late of thy perfidious dealing with thy comrade the wolf and how thou leddest him into destruction by thy perfidy and guile，and this though he was of thine own kind and thou hadst long companied with him；yet didst thou not spare him；and if thou didst thus with thy fellow，that was of thine own kind，how can I have confidence in thy fidelity and what would be thy dealing with thine enemy of other than thy kind？Nor can I liken thee and me but to the Falcon and the Birds.'How so？asked the fox. They say，'answered the crow，that The Falcon and the Birds.

There was once a falcon who was a cruel tyrant in the days of his youth，so that the beasts of prey of the air and of the earth feared him and none was safe from his mischief；and many were the instances of his tyranny，for he did nothing but oppress and injure all the other birds. As the years passed over him，he grew weak and his strength failed，so that he was oppressed with hunger；but his cunning increased with the waning of his strength and he redoubled in his endeavour and determined to go to the general rendezvous of the birds，that he might eat their leavings，and in this manner he gained his living by cunning，whenas he could do so no longer by strength and violence. And thou，O fox，art like this： if thy strength fail thee，thy cunning fails not；and I doubt not that thy seeking my friendship is a device to get thy subsistence；but I am none of those who put themselves at thy mercy，for God hath given me strength in my wings and caution in my heart and sight in my eyes，and I know that he who apeth a stronger than he，wearieth himself and is often destroyed，wherefore I fear for thee lest，if thou ape a stronger than thou，there befall thee what befell the sparrow.'

What befell the sparrow？asked the fox. I conjure thee，by Allah，to tell me his story.'I have heard，'replied the crow，that The Sparrow and the Eagle.

A sparrow was once hovering over a sheep-fold，when he saw a great eagle swoop down upon a lamb and carry it off in his claws.

Thereupon the sparrow clapped his wings and said，'I will do even as the eagle hath done；'and he conceited himself and aped a greater than he. So he flew down forthright and lighted on the back of a fat ram，with a thick fleece that was become matted，by his lying in his dung and stale，till it was like felt. As soon as the sparrow lighted on the sheeps back，he clapped his wings and would have flown away，but his feet became tangled in the wool and he could not win free. All this while the shepherd was looking on，having seen as well what happened with the eagle as with the sparrow；so he came up to the latter in a rage and seized him. Then he plucked out his wing-feathers and tying his feet with a twine，carried him to his children and threw him to them.'What is this？'asked they and he answered，'This is one that aped a greater than himself and came to grief.'Now thou，O fox，'continued the crow，art like this and I would have thee beware of aping a greater than thou，lest thou perish. This is all I have to say to thee；so go from me in peace.'When the fox despaired of the crows friendship，he turned away，groaning and gnashing his teeth for sorrow and disappointment，which when the crow heard，he said to him，O fox，why dost thou gnash thy teeth？Because I find thee wilier than myself，'answered the fox and made off to his den.'

'O Shehrzad，'said the Sultan，'how excellent and delightful are these thy stories！Hast thou more of the like edifying tales？'

'It is said，'answered she，'that.