第51章

Wherefore do thou recede from thy resolve and thou shalt praise the issue of thy case.'Rejoined the shepherd，'All thou sayest I deny and abhor，and all thou offerest I reject：for thou art cunning and perfidious and there is no honesty in thee nor is there honour. How much of foulness hidest thou under thy beauty，and how many a pious man hast thou seduced from his duty and made his end penitence and perdition？ Avaunt from me，O thou who devotest thyself to corrupt others！'Thereupon，he threw his goat's hair cloak over his head that he might not see her face，and betook himself to calling upon the name of his Lord. And when the angel saw the excellence of his submission to the Divine Will，he went out from him and ascended to heaven. Now hard by the hermit's hill was a village wherein dwelt a pious man，who knew not the other's station，till one night he heard in a dream a Voice saying to him，'In such a place near to thee is a devout man：go thou to him and be at his command！'So when morning dawned he set out to wend thither，and what time the heat was grievous upon him，he came to a tree which grew beside a spring of running water. So he sat down to rest in the shadow of that tree and behold，he saw beasts and birds coming to that fount to drink，but when they caught sight of the devotee sitting there，they took fright and fled from before his face. Then said he，'There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah！ I rest not here but to the hurt of these beasts and fowls.'So he arose，blaming him self and saying，'Verily my tarrying here this day hath wronged these animals，and what excuse have I towards my Creator and the Creator of these birds and beasts for that I was the cause of their flight from their drink and their daily food and their place of pasturage？ Alas for my shame before my Lord on the day when He shall avenge the hornless sheep on the sheep with horns！''[147] And he wept and began repeating these couplets，'Now an，by Allah，unto man were fully known Why he is made，in careless sleep he ne'er would wone：

First Death，then cometh Wake and dreadful Day of Doom，

Reproof with threats sore terror，frightful malison.

Bid we or else forbid we，all of us are like

The Cave companions[148] when at length their sleep was done.'

Then he again wept for that he had driven the birds and beasts from the spring by sitting down under the tree，and he fared on till he came to the shepherd's dwelling and going in，saluted him. The shepherd returned his salutation and embraced him，weeping and saying，'What hath brought thee to this place where no man hath ever yet come to me.'Quoth the other devotee，'I saw in my sleep one who described to me this thy stead and bade me repair to thee and salute thee：so I came，in obedience to the commandment.'The shepherd welcomed him，rejoicing in his company and the twain abode upon that mountain，worshipping Allah with the best of worship；and they ceased not serving their Lord in the cavern and living upon the flesh and milk of their sheep，having clean put away from them riches and children and what not，till the Certain，the Inevitable became their lot. And this is the end of their story. Then said King Shahyrar，'O Shahrazad，thou wouldst cause me to renounce my kingdom and thou makest me repent of having slain so many women and maidens. Hast thou any bird stories？''Yes，'replied she，and began to tell the TALE OF THE WATER FOWL AND THE TORTOISE.

It is related by truthful men，O King，that a certain bird flew high up firmament wards and presently lit on a rock in the midst of water which was running. And as he sat there，behold，the current carried to him the carcass of a man，and lodged it against the rock，for being swollen it floated. The bird，which was a water fowl，drew near and examining it，found that it was the dead body of a son of Adam and saw in it sign of spear and stroke of sword. So he said to himself，'I presume that this man who hath been slain was some evil doer，and that a company banded themselves together against him and put him to death and were at peace from him and his evil doing.'And as he continued marvelling at this，suddenly the vultures and kites came down upon the carcass from all sides and get round it；which when the water fowl saw，he feared with sore affright and said，'I cannot abide here any longer.'So he flew away in quest of a place where he might wone，till that carcass should come to an end and the birds of prey leave it；and he stayed not in his flight，till he found a river with a tree in its midst. So he alighted on the tree，troubled and distraught and sore grieved for departing from his birth place，and said to himself，'Verily sorrows cease not to follow me：I was at my ease when I saw that carcass，and rejoiced therein with much joy，saying，'This is a gift of daily bread which Allah hath dealt to me：' but my joy became annoy and my gladness turned to sadness，for the ravenous birds，which are like lions，seized upon it and tare it to pieces and came between me and my prize So how can I hope to be secure from misfortune in this world，or put any trust therein？ Indeed，the proverb saith，'The world is the dwelling of him who hath no dwelling'：he who hath no wits is cozened by it and entrusteth it with his wealth and his child and his family and his folk；and whoso is cozened ceaseth not to rely upon it，pacing proudly upon earth until he is laid under earth and the dust is cast over his corpse by him who of all men was dearest to him and nearest. But naught is better for generous youth than patience under its cares and miseries. I have left my native place and it is abhorrent to me to quit my brethren and friends and loved ones.'Now whilst he was thus musing lo！ a male tortoise descended into the river and，approaching the water fowl，saluted him，saying，'O my lord，what hath exiled thee and driven thee so far from thy place？'Replied the water fowl，'The descent of enemies thereon；for the wise brooketh not the neighbourhood of his foe；and how well saith the poet，Whenas on any land the oppressor doth alight，There's nothing left for those，that dwell therein，but flight.'[149]