'He thou trusted most is thy worst unfriend; *
'Ware all and take heed with whom thou wend:
Fair opinion of Fortune is feeble sign; *
So believe her ill and her Ills perpend!'"
Quoth the fox, "Verily mistrust and ill opinion of others are not to be
commended in every case; nay trust and confidence are the
characteristics of a noble nature and the issue thereof is freedom from
stress of fear. Now it behoveth thee, O thou wolf, to devise some
device for thy deliverance from this thou art in, and our escape will
be better to us both than our death: so quit thy distrust and rancour;
for if thou trust in me one of two things will happen; either I shall
bring thee something whereof to lay hold and escape from this case, or
I shall abandon thee to thy doom. But this thing may not be, for I am
not safe from falling into some such strait as this thou art in, which,
indeed, would be fitting punishment of perfidy. Of a truth the adage
saith, 'Faith is fair and faithlessness is foul.'[FN#162] So it
behoveth thee to trust in me, for I am not ignorant of the haps and
mishaps of the world; and delay not to contrive some device for our
deliverance, as the case is too close to allow further talk." Replied
the wolf, "For all my want of confidence in thy fidelity, verily I knew
what was in thy mind and that thou wast moved to deliver me whenas thou
heardest my repentance, and I said to myself, 'If what he asserteth be
true, he will have repaired the ill he did; and if false, it resteth
with the Lord to requite him.' So, look'ee, I have accepted thy
proposal and, if thou betray me, may thy traitorous deed be the cause
of thy destruction!" Then the wolf stood bolt upright in the pit and,
taking the fox upon his shoulders, raised him to the level of the
ground, whereupon Reynard gave a spring from his back and lighted on
the surface of the earth. When he found himself safely out of the cleft
he fell down senseless and the wolf said to him, "O my friend! neglect
not my case and delay not to deliver me." The fox laughed with a loud
haw-haw and replied, "O dupe, naught threw me into thy hands save my
laughing at thee and making mock of thee; for in good sooth when I
heard thee profess repentance, mirth and gladness seized me and I
frisked about and made merry and danced, so that my tail hung low into
the pit and thou caughtest hold of it and draggedst me down with thee.
And the end was that Allah Almighty delivered me from thy power. Then
why should I be other than a helper in thy destruction, seeing that
thou art of Satan's host? I dreamt yesterday that I danced at thy
wedding and I told my dream to an interpreter who said to me, 'Verily
thou shalt fall into imminent deadly danger and thou shalt escape
therefrom.' So now I know that my falling into thy hand and my escape
are the fulfillment of my dream, and thou, O imbecile, knowest me for
thy foe; so how couldest thou, of thine ignorance and unintelligence,
nurse desire of deliverance at my hands, after all thou hast heard of
harsh words from me; and wherefore should I attempt thy salvation
whenas the sages have said, 'In the death of the wicked is rest for
mankind and a purge for the earth'? But, were it not that I fear to
bear more affliction by keeping faith with thee than the sufferings
which follow perfidy, I had done mine endeavour to save thee." When the
wolf heard this, he bit his forehand for repentance. —And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the One Hundred and Fiftieth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the wolf
heard the fox's words he bit his forehand for repentance. Then he gave
the fox fair words, but this availed naught and he was at his wits' end
for what to do; so he said to him in soft, low accents, "Verily, you
tribe of foxes are the most pleasant people in point of tongue and the
subtlest in jest, and this is but a joke of thine; but all times are
not good for funning and jesting." The fox replied, "O ignoramus, in
good sooth jesting hath a limit which the jester must not overpass; and
deem not that Allah will again give thee possession of me after having
once delivered me from thy hand." Quoth the wolf, "It behoveth thee to
compass my release, by reason of our brotherhood and good fellowship;
and, if thou release me, I will assuredly make fair thy recompense."
Quoth the fox, "Wise men say, 'Take not to brother the wicked fool, for
he will disgrace thee in lieu of gracing thee; nor take to brother the
liar for, if thou do good, he will conceal it; and if thou do ill he
will reveal it.' And again, the sages have said, 'There is help for
everything but death: all may be warded off, except Fate.' As for the
reward thou declarest to be my due from thee, I compare thee herein
with the serpent which fled from the charmer.[FN#163] A man saw her
affrighted and said to her, 'What aileth thee, O thou serpent?' Replied
she, 'I am fleeing from the snake-charmer, for he seeketh to trap me
and, if thou wilt save me and hide me with thee, I will make fair thy
reward and do thee all manner of kindness.' So he took her, incited
thereto by lust for the recompense and eager to find favour with
Heaven, and set her in his breastpocket. Now when the charmer had
passed and had wended his way and the serpent had no longer any cause
to fear, he said to her, 'Where is the reward thou didst promise me?
Behold, I have saved thee from that thou fearedest and soughtest to
fly.' Replied she, 'Tell me in what limb or in what place shall I
strike thee with my fangs, for thou knowest we exceed not that
recompense.' So saying, she gave him a bite whereof he died. And I
liken thee, O dullard, to the serpent in her dealings with that man.
Hast thou not heard what the poet saith?
'Trust not to man when thou hast raised his spleen *
And wrath, nor that 'twill cool do thou misween:
Smooth feels the viper to the touch and glides *
With grace, yet hides she deadliest venene.'"
Quoth the wolf, "O thou glib of gab and fair of face, ignore not my
case and men's fear of me; and well thou weetest how I assault the
strongly walled place and uproot the vines from base. Wherefore, do as
I bid thee, and stand before me even as the thrall standeth before his
lord." Quoth the fox, "O stupid dullard who seekest a vain thing, I
marvel at thy folly and thy front of brass in that thou biddest me
serve thee and stand up before thee as I were a slave bought with thy
silver; but soon shalt thou see what is in store for thee, in the way
of cracking thy sconce with stones and knocking out thy traitorous
dog-teeth." So saying the fox clomb a hill overlooking the vineyard and
standing there, shouted out to the vintagers; nor did he give over
shouting till he woke them and they, seeing him, all came up to him in
haste. He stood his ground till they drew near him and close to the pit
wherein was the wolf; and then he turned and fled. So the folk looked
into the cleft and, spying the wolf, set to pelting him with heavy
stones, and they stinted not smiting him with stones and sticks, and
stabbing him with spears, till they killed him and went away. Thereupon
the fox returned to that cleft and, standing over the spot where his
foe had been slain, saw the wolf dead: so he wagged his head for very
joyance and began to recite these couplets,
"Fate the Wolf's soul snatched up from wordly stead; *
Far be from bliss his soul that perished!
Abu Sirhan![FN#164] how sore thou sought'st my death; *
Thou, burnt this day in fire of sorrow dread:
Thou'rt fallen into pit, where all who fall *
Are blown by Death-blast down among the dead."
Thenceforward the aforesaid fox abode alone in the vineyard unto the
hour of his death secure and fearing no hurt. And such are the
adventures of the wolf and the fox. But men also tell a