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 look-out 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 ill-doings 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 guessed 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 neighbourship and who showeth no constancy in friendship." The
mouse replied, "Even so, O my friend, and I delight in thee and in thy
neighbourhood; 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 thy 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 upon 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
-----
Footnote 165:
Arab. Bint 'Arús = daughter of the bridegroom, the Hindustani Mungus
(vulg. Mongoose); a well-known weasel-like rodent often kept tame in
the house to clear it of vermin. It is supposed to know an antidote
against snake-poison, as the weasel eats rue before battle (Pliny x.
84; xx. 13). In Modern Egypt this viverra is called "Kitt (or Katt)
Far'aun" = Pharaoh's cat: so the Percnopter becomes Pharaoh's hen and
the unfortunate (?) King has named a host of things, alive and dead.
It was worshipped and mummified in parts of Ancient Egypt _e.g._
Heracleopolis, on account of its antipathy to serpents and because it
was supposed to destroy the crocodile, a feat which Ælian and others
have overloaded with fable. It has also a distinct antipathy to cats.
The ichneumon as a pet becomes too tame and will not leave its master:
when enraged it emits an offensive stench. I brought home for the
Zoological Gardens a Central African specimen prettily barred.
Burckhardt (Prov. 455) quotes a line:—
Rakas 'Ibn Irsin wa zamzama 'l-Nimsu,
(Danceth Ibn Irs whileas Nims doth sing)
and explains Nims by ichneumon and Ibn Irs as a "species of small
weasel, or ferret, very common in Egypt: it comes into the houses,
feeds upon meat, is of gentle disposition, although not domesticated
and full of gambols and frolic."
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 tree-top; 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 thy well-doing 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
-----
Footnote 166:
Arab. "Sinnaur" (also meaning a prince). The common name is Kitt which
is pronounced Katt or Gatt; and which Ibn Dorayd pronounces a foreign
word (Syriac?). Hence, despite Freitag, Catus (which Isidore derives
from catare, to look for) Κάττα or Τάτα, gatto, chat, cat, an animal
unknown to the Classics of Europe who used the _mustela_ or _putorius
vulgaris_ and different species of viverræ. The Egyptians, who kept
the cat to destroy vermin, especially snakes, called it Mau, Mai, Miao
(onomatopoetic): this descendant of the _Felis maniculata_ originated
in Nubia; and we know from the mummy pits and Herodotus that it was
the same in species as ours. The first portraits of the cat are on the
monuments of "Beni Hasan," B.C. 2500. I have ventured to derive the
familiar "Puss" from the Arab. "Biss" (fem. "Bissah"), which is a
congener of Pasht (Diana), the cat-faced goddess of Bubastis
(Pi-Pasht), now Zagázig. Lastly "tabby (brindled)-cat" is derived from
the Attábi (Prince Attab's) quarter at Baghdad where watered silks
were made. It is usually attributed to the Tibbie, Tibalt, Tybalt,
Thibert or Tybert (who is also executioner), various forms of Theobald
in the old Beast Epic; as opposed to Gilbert the gib-cat, either a
tom-cat or a gibbed (castrated) cat.
Footnote 167:
Arab. "Ikhwán al-Safá," a popular term for virtuous friends who
perfectly love each other in all purity: it has also a mystic meaning.
Some translate it "Brethren of Sincerity," and hold this brotherhood
to be Moslem Freemasons, a mere fancy (see the Mesnevi of Mr.
Redhouse, Trubner 1881). There is a well-known Hindustani book of this
name printed by Prof. Forbes in Persian character and translated by
Platts and Eastwick.
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 true-believer hath two
claims upon his true-believing neighbour, the right of neighbourliness
and the right of Al-Islam, 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. Also, there be
implanted in my breast a store of love to thee, which biddeth me speak
thee fair and obligeth me to solicit thy brothership. What sayest thou
in reply?" Answered the crow, "Verily, the truest speech is the best
speech; and haply thou speakest with thy tongue that which is not in thy
heart; so I fear lest thy brotherhood be only of the tongue, outward,
and thy enmity be in the heart, inward; for that thou art the Eater and
I the Eaten, and faring apart were apter to us than friendship and
fellowship. What, then, maketh thee seek that which thou mayst not gain
and desire what may not be done, seeing that I be of the bird-kind and
thou be of the beast-kind? Verily, this thy proffered brotherhood[168]
may not be made, neither were it seemly to make it." Rejoined the fox,
"Of a truth whoso knoweth the abiding-place of excellent things, maketh
better choice in what he chooseth therefrom, so perchance he may
advantage his brethren; and indeed I should love to wone near thee and I
have sued for thine intimacy, to the end that we may help each other to
our several objects; and success shall surely wait upon our amity. I
have a many tales of the goodliness of true friendship, which I will
relate to thee if thou wish the relating." Answered the crow, "Thou hast
my leave to let me hear thy communication; so tell thy tale, and relate
it to me that I may hearken to it and weigh it and judge of thine intent
thereby." Rejoined the fox, "Hear then, O my friend, that which is told
of a flea and a mouse and which beareth out what I have said to thee."
Asked the crow, "How so?" and the fox answered:—They tell this tale of
_THE FLEA AND THE MOUSE_.
Once upon a time a mouse dwelt in the house of a merchant who owned much
merchandise and great store of monies. One night, a flea took shelter in
the merchant's carpet-bed and, finding his body soft, and being thirsty
drank of his blood. The merchant was awakened by the smart of the bite
and sitting up called to his slave-girls and serving men. So they
hastened to him and, tucking up their sleeves, fell to searching for the
flea; but as soon as the bloodsucker was aware of the search, he turned
to flee and coming on the mouse's home, entered it. When the mouse saw
him, she said to him, "What bringeth thee in to me, thou who art not of
my nature nor of my kind, and who canst not be assured of safety from
violence or of not being expelled with roughness and ill usage?"
Answered the flea, "Of a truth, I took refuge in thy dwelling to save me
from slaughter; and I have come to thee seeking thy protection and on
nowise coveting thy house; nor shall any mischief betide thee from me to
make thee leave thy home. Nay, I hope right soon to repay thy favours to
me with all good and then shalt thou see and praise the issue of my
words." And when the mouse heard the speech of the flea,——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Hundred and Fifty-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the mouse
heard the words of the flea, she said, "If the case be as thou dost
relate and describe, then be at thine ease here; for naught shall befal
thee save the rain of peace and safety; nor shall aught betide thee but
what shall joy thee and shall not annoy thee, nor shall it annoy me. I
will lavish on thee my affections without stint; and do not thou regret
having lost the merchant's blood nor lament for thy subsistence from
him, but be content with what sustenance thou canst obtain; for indeed
that is the safer for thee. And I have heard, O flea, that one of the
gnomic poets saith as follows in these couplets:—
I have fared content in my solitude ✿ With whate'er befel, and led life
of ease,
On a water-draught and a bite of bread, ✿ Coarse salt and a gown of
tattered frieze:
Allah might, an He pleased, give me easiest life, ✿ But with whatso
pleaseth Him self I please."
Now when the flea heard these words of the mouse, he rejoined, "I
hearken to thy charge and I submit myself to obey thee, nor have I power
to gainsay thee, till life be fulfilled in this righteous intention."
Replied the mouse, "Pure intention sufficeth to sincere affection." So
the tie of love arose and was knitted between them twain and, after
this, the flea used to visit the merchant's bed by night and not exceed
in his diet, and house him by day in the hole of the mouse. Now it came
to pass one night, the merchant brought home great store of dinars and
began to turn them over. When the mouse heard the chink of the coin, she
put her head out of her hole and fell to gazing at it, till the merchant
laid it under his pillow and went to sleep, when she said to the flea,
"Seest thou not the proffered occasion and the great good fortune? Hast
thou any device to bring us to our desire of yonder dinars?" Quoth the
flea, "Verily, it is not good that one strive for aught, unless he be
able to win his will; because, if he lack ability thereto, he falleth
into that which he should avoid and he attaineth not his wish by reason
of his weakness, albeit he use all power of cunning, like the sparrow
which picketh up grain and falleth into the net and is caught by the
fowler. Thou hast no strength to take the dinars and to transport them
out of this house, nor have I force sufficient to do this; on the
contrary, I could not carry a single ducat of them; so what hast thou to
do with them?" Quoth the mouse, "I have made me for my house these
seventy openings, whence I may go out at my desire, and I have set apart
a place strong and safe, for things of price; and, if thou can contrive
to get the merchant out of the house, I doubt not of success, an so be
that Fate aid me." Answered the flea, "I will engage to get him out of
the house for thee;" and, going to the merchant's bed, bit him a fearful
bite, such as he had never before felt, then fled to a place of safety,
where he had no fear of the man. So the merchant awoke and sought for
the flea, but finding him not, lay down again on his other side. Then
the flea bit him a second time more painfully than before. So he lost
patience and, leaving his bed, went out and lay down on the bench before
his 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 she
left not a single one; and when day dawned the merchant began to suspect
the folk and fancy all manner of fancies. And (continued the fox) know
thou, O wise and experienced crow with the clear-seeing eyes, that I
tell thee this only to the intent that thou mayst reap the recompense of
thy kindness 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. Said the crow, "It lies with the benefactor to
show benevolence or not to show it; nor is it incumbent on us to entreat
kindly one who seeketh a connection that entaileth separation from kith
and kin. If I show thee favour who art my foe by kind, I am the cause of
cutting myself off from the world; and thou, O fox, art full of wiles
and guiles. Now those whose characteristics are craft and cunning, must
not be trusted upon oath; and whoso is not to be trusted upon oath, in
him there is no good faith. The tidings lately reached me of thy
treacherous dealing with one of thy comrades, which was a wolf; and how
thou didst deceive him until thou leddest him into destruction by thy
perfidy and stratagems; and this thou diddest after he was of thine own
kind and thou hadst long consorted with him: yet didst thou not spare
him; and if thou couldst deal thus with thy fellow which was of thine
own kind, how can I have trust in thy truth and what would be thy
dealing with thy foe of other kind than thy kind? Nor can I compare thee
and me but with the saker and the birds." "How so?" asked the fox.
Answered the crow:—They relate this tale of
_THE SAKER[169] AND THE BIRDS._
There was once a saker who was a cruel tyrant——And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Hundred and Fifty-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the crow pursued,
"They relate that there was once a saker who was a cruel tyrant in the
days of his youth, so that the raveners of the air and the scavengers of
the earth feared him, none being safe from his mischief; and many were
the haps and mishaps of his tyranny and his violence, for this saker was
ever in the habit of oppressing and injuring all the other birds. As the
years passed over him, he grew feeble and his force failed him, so that
he was often famished; but his cunning waxed stronger with the waning of
his strength and he redoubled in his endeavour and determined to be
present at the general assembly of the birds, that he might eat of their
orts and leavings; so in this manner he fed by fraud instead of feeding
by fierceness and force. And thou, O fox, art like this: if thy might
fail thee, thy sleight faileth thee not; and I doubt not that thy
seeking my society is a fraud to get thy food; but I am none of those
who fall to thee and put fist into thy fist;[170] for that Allah hath
vouchsafed force to my wings and caution to my mind and sharp sight to
my eyes; and I know that whoso apeth a stronger than he, wearieth
himself and haply cometh to ruin. Wherefore I fear for thee lest, if
thou ape a stronger than thyself, there befal thee what befel the
sparrow." Asked the fox, "What befel the sparrow? Allah upon thee, tell
me his tale." And the crow began to relate the story of
_THE SPARROW AND THE EAGLE._
I have heard that a sparrow was once flitting over a sheep-fold, when he
looked at it carefully and behold, he saw a great eagle swoop down upon
a newly yeaned lamb and carry it off in his claws and fly away.
Thereupon the sparrow clapped his wings and said, "I will do even as
this one did;" and he waxed proud in his own conceit and mimicked 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 woollen felt. As soon as the sparrow
pounced upon the sheep's back he flapped his wings to fly away, but his
feet became tangled in the wool and, however hard he tried, he could not
set himself free. While all this was doing the shepherd was looking on,
having seen what happened first with the eagle and afterwards with the
sparrow; so he came up to the wee birdie 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, one of them; and he answered, "This is he that aped a greater
than himself and came to grief." Now thou, O fox, 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 fare from me in peace! When the
fox despaired of the crow's friendship, he turned away, groaning for
sorrow and gnashing teeth upon teeth in his disappointment; and the
crow, hearing the sound of weeping and seeing his grief and profound
melancholy, said to him, "O fox, what dole and dolour make thee gnash
thy canines?" Answered the fox, "I gnash my canines because I find thee
a greater rascal than myself;" and so saying he made off to his house
and ceased not to fare till he reached his home. Quoth the Sultan, "O
Shahrazad, how excellent are these thy stories, and how delightsome!
Hast thou more of such edifying tales?" Answered she:—They tell this
legend concerning
-----
Footnote 168:
Among Eastern men there are especial forms for "making brotherhood."
The "Munh-bolá-bhái" (mouth-named brother) of India is well-known. The
intense "associativeness" of these races renders isolation terrible to
them, and being defenceless in a wild state of society has special
horrors. Hence the origin of Caste for which see Pilgrimage (i. 52).
Moslems, however, cannot practise the African rite of drinking a few
drops of each other's blood. This, by the by, was also affected in
Europe, as we see in the Gesta Romanorum, Tale lxvii., of the wise and
foolish knights who "drew blood (to drink) from the right arm."
Footnote 169:
The F. Sacer in India is called "Laghar" and her tiercel "Jaghar." Mr.
T. E. Jordan (catalogue of Indian Birds, 1839) says it is rare; but I
found it the contrary. According to Mr. R. Thompson it is flown at
kites and antelope; in Sind it is used upon night-heron (_nyctardea
nycticorax_), floriken or Hobara (_Otis aurita_), quail, partridge,
curlew and sometimes hare: it gives excellent sport with crows but
requires to be defended. Indian sportsmen, like ourselves, divide
hawks into two orders: the "Siyáh-chasm," or black-eyed birds,
long-winged and noble; the "Gulábi-chasm" or yellow-eyed (like the
goshawk) round-winged and ignoble.
Footnote 170:
_i.e._ put themselves at thy mercy.
THE HEDGEHOG AND THE WOOD-PIGEONS.
A hedgehog once took up his abode by the side of a date-palm, whereon
roosted a wood-pigeon and his wife that had built their nest there and
lived a life of ease and enjoyment. So he said to himself, "This
pigeon-pair eateth of the fruit of the date-tree and I have no means of
getting at it; but needs must I find some fashion of tricking them."
Upon this he dug a hole at the foot of the palm-tree and took up his
lodging there, he and his wife; moreover, he built an oratory beside the
hole and went into retreat there and made a show of devotion and
edification and renunciation of the world. The male pigeon saw him
praying and worshipping, and his heart was softened towards him for his
excess of devoutness; so he said to him, "How many years hast thou been
thus?" Replied the hedgehog, "During the last thirty years." "What is
thy food?" "That which falleth from the palm-tree." "And what is thy
clothing?" "Prickles! and I profit by their roughness." "And why hast
thou chosen this for place rather than another?" "I chose it and
preferred it to all others that I might guide the erring into the right
way and teach the ignorant!" "I had fancied thy case," quoth the
wood-pigeon, "other than this, but now I yearn for that which is with
thee." Quoth the hedgehog,"I fear lest thy deed contradict thy word and
thou be even as the husbandman who, when the seed-season came, neglected
to sow, saying, Verily I dread lest the days bring me not to my desire,
and by making haste to sow I shall only waste my substance! When
harvest-time came and he saw the folk earing their crops, he repented
him of what he had lost by his tardiness and he died of chagrin and
vexation." Asked the wood-pigeon, "What then shall I do that I may be
freed from the bonds of the world and cut myself loose from all things
save the service of my Lord?" Answered the hedgehog, "Betake thee to
preparing for the next world and content thyself with a pittance of
provision." Quoth the pigeon, "How can I do this, I that am a bird and
unable to go beyond the date-tree whereon is my daily bread? And even
could I do so, I know of no other place wherein I may wone." Quoth the
hedgehog, "Thou canst shake down of the fruit of the date-tree what
shall suffice thee and thy wife for a year's provaunt; then do ye take
up your abode in a nest under the trunk, that ye may prayerfully seek to
be guided in the right way, and then turn thou to what thou hast shaken
down and transport it all to thy home and store it up against what time
the dates fail; and when the fruits are spent and the delay is longsome
upon you, address thyself to total abstinence." Exclaimed the pigeon,
"Allah requite thee with good for the righteous intention wherewith thou
hast reminded me of the world to come and hast directed me into the
right way!" Then he and his wife worked hard at knocking down the dates,
till nothing was left on the palm-tree, whilst the hedgehog, finding
whereof to eat, rejoiced and filled his den with the fruit, storing it
up for his subsistence and saying in his mind, "When the pigeon and his
wife have need of their provision, they will seek it of me and covet
what I have, relying upon my devoutness and abstinence; and, from what
they have heard of my counsels and admonitions, they will draw near unto
me. Then will I make them my prey and eat them, after which I shall have
the place and all that drops from the date-tree to suffice me."
Presently, having shaken down the fruits, the pigeon and his wife
descended from the tree-top and finding that the hedgehog had removed
all the dates to his own place, said to him, "O hedgehog! thou pious
preacher and of good counsel, we can find no sign of the dates and know
not on what else we shall feed." Replied the hedgehog, "Probably the
winds have carried them away; but the turning from the provisions to the
Provider is of the essence of salvation, and He who the mouth-corners
cleft, the mouth without victual hath never left." And he gave not over
improving the occasion to them on this wise, and making a show of piety
and cozening them with fine words and false till they put faith in him
and accepted him and entered his den and had no suspicion of his deceit.
Thereupon he sprang to the door and gnashed his teeth, and the
wood-pigeon, seeing his perfidy manifested, said to him, "What hath
to-night to do with yesternight? Knowest thou not that there is a Helper
for the oppressed? Beware of craft and treachery, lest that mishap befal
thee which befel the sharpers who plotted against the merchant." "What
was that?" asked the hedgehog. Answered the pigeon:—I have heard tell
this tale of