第55章

Once upon a time I entered a vineyard to eat of its grapes；and，whilst so doing behold，I saw a falcon stoop upon a partridge and seize him；but the partridge escaped from the seizer and，entering his nest，hid himself there. The falcon followed apace and called out to him，saying，'O imbecile，I saw thee anhungered in the wold and took pity on thee；so I picked up for thee some grain and took hold of thee that thou mightest eat；but thou fleddest from me；and I wot not the cause of thy flight，except it were to put upon me a slight. Come out，then，and take the grain I have brought thee to eat and much good may it do thee，and with thy health agree.'When the partridge heard these words，he believed and came out to him，whereupon the falcon struck his talons into him and seized him. Cried the partridge，'Is this that which thou toldest me thou hadst brought me from the wold，and whereof thou badest me eat，saying，'Much good may it do thee，and with thy health agree？' Thou hast lied to me，and may Allah cause what thou eatest of my flesh to be a killing poison in thy maw！'So when the falcon had eaten the partridge，his feathers fell off and his strength failed and he died on the spot. 'Know，then，O wolf！'（pursued the fox），'that he who diggeth for his brother a pit himself soon falleth into it，and thou first deceivedst me in mode unfit.'Quoth the wolf，'Spare me this discourse nor saws and tales enforce，and remind me not of my former ill course，for sufficeth me the sorry plight I endure perforce，seeing that I am fallen into a place，in which even my foe would pity me，much more a true friend. Rather find some trick to deliver me and be thou thereby my saviour. If this cause thee trouble，remember that a true friend will undertake the sorest travail for his true friend's sake and will risk his life to deliver him from evil；and indeed it hath been said，'A leal friend is better than a real brother.' So if thou stir thyself to save me and I be saved，I will forsure gather thee such store as shall be a provision for thee against want however sore；and truly I will teach thee rare tricks whereby to open whatso bounteous vineyards thou please and strip the fruitladen trees.'Rejoined the fox，laughing，'How excellent is what the learned say of him who aboundeth in ignorance like unto thee！'

Asked the wolf，'What do the wise men say？'And the fox answered，'They have observed that the gross of body are gross of mind，far from intelligence and nigh unto ignorance. As for thy saying，O thou stupid，cunning idiot！ that a true friend should undertake sore travail for his true friend's sake，it is sooth as thou sayest，but tell me，of thine ignorance and poverty of intelligence，how can I be a true friend to thee，considering thy treachery. Dost thou count me thy true friend？ Nay，I am thy foe who joyeth in thy woe；and couldst thou trow it，this word were sorer to thee than slaughter by shot of shaft. As for thy promise to provide me a store against want however sore and teach me tricks，to plunder whatso bounteous vineyards I please，and spoil fruitladen trees，how cometh it，O guileful traitor，that thou knowest not a wile to save thyself from destruction？ How far art thou from profiting thyself and how far am I from accepting thy counsel！ If thou have any tricks，make shift for thyself to save thee from the risk，wherefrom I pray Allah to make thine escape far distant！ So look，O fool，if there be any trick with thee；and therewith save thyself from death ere thou lavish instruction upon thy neighbours. But thou art like a certain man attacked by a disease，who went to another diseased with the same disease，and said to him，'Shall I heal thee of thy disease？' Replied the sick man，'Why dost thou not begin by healing thyself？' So he left him and went his way. And thou，O ignorant wolf，art like this；so stay where thou art and under what hath befallen thee be of good heart！'When the wolf heard what the fox said，he knew that from him he had no hope of favour；so he wept for himself，saying，'Verily，I have been heedless of my weal；but if Allah deliver me from this ill I will assuredly repent of my arrogance towards those who are weaker than I，and will wear woollens[157] and go upon the mountains，celebrating the praises of Almighty Allah and fearing His punishment. And I will withdraw from the company of other wild beasts and forsure will I feed the poor fighters for the Faith.'Then he wept and wailed，till the heart of the fox softened when he heard his humble words and his professions of penitence for his past insolence and arrogance. So he took pity upon him and sprang up joyfully and，going to the brink of the breach，squatted down on his hind quarters and let his tail hang in the hole；whereupon the wolf arose and putting out his paw，pulled the fox's tail，so that he fell down in the pit with him. Then said the wolf，'O fox of little mercy，why didst thou exult in my misery，thou that wast my companion and under my dominion？ Now thou art fallen into the pit with me and retribution hath soon overtaken thee. Verily，the sages have said，'If one of you reproach his brother with sucking the dugs of a bitch，he also shall suck her.' And how well quoth the poet，'When Fortune weighs heavy on some of us，And makes camel kneel by some other one，[158]Say to those who rejoice in our ills：Awake！

The rejoicer shall suffer as we have done！'

And death in company is the best of things；[159] wherefore I will certainly and assuredly hasten to slay thee ere thou see me slain.'Said the fox to himself，'Ah！ Ah！ I am fallen into the snare with this tyrant，and my case calleth for the use of craft and cunning；for indeed it is said that a woman fashioneth her jewellery for the day of display，and quoth the proverb，'I have not kept thee，O my tear，save for the time when distress draweth near.' And unless I make haste to circumvent this prepotent beast I am lost without recourse；and how well saith the poet，'Make thy game by guile，for thou'rt born in a Time Whose sons are lions in forest lain；And turn on the leat[160] of thy knavery That the mill of subsistence may grind thy grain；