第58章

A mouse and an ichneumon once dwelt in the house of a peasant who was very poor；and when one of his friends sickened，the doctor prescribed him husked sesame.So the hind sought of one of his comrades sesame to be husked by way of healing the sick man；and，when a measure thereof was given to him，he carried it home to his wife and bade her dress it.So she steeped it and husked it and spread it out to dry.Now when the ichneumon saw the grain，she went up to it and fell to carrying it away to her hole，and she toiled all day，till she had borne off the most of it.

Presently，in came the peasant's wife and，seeing much of the grain gone，stood awhile wondering；after which she sat down to watch and find out who might be the intruder and make him account for her loss.After a while，out crept the ichneumon to carry off the grain as was her wont，but spying the woman seated there，knew that she was on the watch for her and said in her mind，'Verily，this affair is like to end blameably；and sore I fear me this woman is on the lookout for me，and Fortune is no friend to who attend not to issue and end：so there is no help for it but that I do a fair deed，whereby I may manifest my innocence and wash out all the illdoings I have done.' So saying，she began to take the sesame out of her hole and carry it forth and lay it back upon the rest.The woman stood by and，seeing the ichneumon do thus，said to herself，'Verily this is not the cause of our loss，for she bringeth it back from the hole of him who stole it and returneth it to its place；and of a truth she hath done us a kindness in restoring us the sesame，and the reward of those who do us good is that we do them the like good.It is clear that it is not she who stole the grain；but I will not cease my watching till he fall into my hands and I find out who is the thief.' The ichneumon guess what was in her mind，so she went to the mouse and said to her，'O my sister，there is no good in one who observeth not the claims of neighborship and who showeth no constancy in friendship.' The mouse replied，'Even so，O my friend，and I delight in thee and in they neighborhood；but what be the motive of this speech？' Quoth the ichneumon，'The house master hath brought home sesame and hath eaten his fill of it，he and his family，and hath left much；every living being hath eaten of it and，if thou take of it in they turn，thou art worthier thereof than any other.' This pleased the mouse and she squeaked for joy and danced and frisked her ears and tail，and greed for the grain deluded her；so she rose at once and issuing forth of her home，saw the sesame husked and dry，shining with whiteness，and the woman sitting at watch and ward.The mouse，taking no thought to the issue of the affair （for the woman had armed herself with a cudgel），and unable to contain herself，ran up to the sesame and began turning it over and eating of it；whereupon the woman smote her with that club and cleft her head：so the cause of her destruction were her greed and heedlessness of consequences.Then said the Sultan，'O Shahrazad，by Allah！ this be a goodly parable！ Say me，hast thou any story bearing on the beauty of true friendship and the observance of its duty in time of distress and rescuing from destruction？' Answered she：Yes，it hath reached me that they tell a tale of THE CAT[166] AND THE CROW.

Once upon a time，a crow and a cat lived in brotherhood；and one day as they were together under a tree，behold，they spied a leopard making towards them，and they were not aware of his approach till he was close upon them.The crow at once flew up to the treetop；but the cat abode confounded and said to the crow，'O my friend，hast thou no device to save me，even as all my hope is in thee？' Replied the crow，'Of very truth it behoveth brethren，in case of need，to cast about for a device when peril overtaketh them，and how well saith the poet，'A friend in need is he who，ever true，For they welldoing would himself undo：

One who when Fortune gars us parting rue Victimeth self reunion to renew.'

Now hard by that tree were shepherds with their dogs；so the crow flew towards them and smote the face of the earth with his wings，cawing and crying out.Furthermore he went up to one of the dogs and flapped his wings in his face and flew up a little way，whilst the dog ran after him thinking to catch him.Presently，one of the shepherds raised his head and saw the bird flying near the ground and lighting alternately；so he followed him，and the crow ceased not flying just high enough to save himself and to throw out the dogs；and yet tempting them to follow for the purpose of tearing him to pieces.But as soon as they came near him，he would fly up a little；and so at last he brought them to the tree，under which was the leopard.And when the dogs saw him they rushed upon him and he turned and fled.Now the leopard thought to eat the cat who was saved by the craft of his friend the crow.This story，O King，showeth that the friendship of the Brothers of Purity[167] delivereth and saveth from difficulties and from falling into mortal dangers.And they also tell a tale of THE FOX AND THE CROW.

A Fox once dwelt in a cave of a certain mountain and，as often as a cub was born to him and grew stout，he would eat the young one，for he had died of hunger，had he instead of so doing left the cub alive and bred it by his side and preserved and cherished his issue.Yet was this very grievous to him.Now on the crest of the same mountain a crow had made his nest，and the fox said to himself，'I have a mind to set up a friendship with this crow and make a comrade of him，that he may help me to my daily bread；for he can do in such matters what I cannot.' So he drew near the crow's home and，when he came within sound of speech，he saluted him and said，'O my neighbour，verily a truebeliever hath two claims upon his truebelieving neighbour，the right of neighbourliness and the right of AlIslam，our common faith；and know，O my friend，that thou art my neighbour and thou hast a claim upon me which it behoveth me to observe，the more that I have long been thy neighbour.