King Khusrau[FN#117] of Persia loved fish; and one day, as he
sat in his saloon, he and Shirin[FN#118] his wife, there came a
fisherman, with a great fish, and presented it to the King, who
was pleased and ordered the man four thousand dirhems. When he
was gone, Shirin said to the King, 'Thou hast done ill.'
'Wherefore?' asked he; and she answered, 'Because if, after
this, thou give one of thy courtiers a like sum, he will
disdain it and say, "He hath but given me the like of what he
gave the fisherman." And if thou give him less, he will say,
"He makes light of me and gives me less than he gave the
fisherman."' 'Thou art right,' rejoined Khusrau; 'but the thing
is done and it ill becomes a king to go back on his gift.'
Quoth Shirin, 'An thou wilt, I will contrive thee a means to
get it back from him.' 'How so?' asked he; and she said, 'Call
back the fisherman and ask him if the fish be male or female.
If he say, "Male," say thou, "We want a female," and if he say,
"Female," say, "We want a male."'
So he sent for the fisherman, who was a man of wit and
discernment, and said to him, 'Is this fish male or female?'
The fisherman kissed the ground and answered, 'It is of the
neuter gender, neither male nor female.' The King laughed and
ordered him other four thousand dirhems. So the fisherman went
to the treasurer and taking his eight thousand dirhems, put
them in a bag he had with him. Then, throwing the bag over his
shoulder, he was going away, when he dropped a dirhem; so he
laid the bag off his back and stooped down to pick it up. Now
the King and Shirin were looking on, and the latter said, 'O
King, didst thou note the meanness and greediness of yon man,
in that he must needs stoop down, to pick up the one dirhem,
and could not bring himself to leave it for one of the King's
servants?' When the King heard this, he was wroth with the
fisherman and said, 'Thou art right, O Shirin!' So he called
the man back and said to him, 'Thou low-minded fellow! Thou art
no man! How couldst thou put the bag off thy shoulder and stoop
to pick up the one dirhem and grudge to leave it where it
fell?' The fisherman kissed the earth before him and answered,
'May God prolong the King's life! Indeed, I did not pick up the
dirhem, because of its value in my eyes; but because on one of
its faces is the likeness of the King and on the other his
name; and I feared lest any should unwittingly set his foot
upon it, thus dishonouring the name and presentment of the
King, and I be blamed for the offence.' The King wondered at
his wit and shrewdness and ordered him yet other four thousand
dirhems. Moreover, he let cry abroad in his kingdom, saying,
'It behoveth none to order himself by women's counsel; for
whoso followeth their advice, loseth, with his one dirhem,
other two.'
YEHYA BEN KHALID THE BARMECIDE AND THE
POOR MAN.
Yehya ben Khalid the Barmecide was returning home, one day,
from the Khalif's palace, when he saw a man at the gate of his
house, who rose at his approach and saluted him, saying, 'O
Yehya, I am in need of that which is in thy hand, and I make
God my intermediary with thee.' So Yehya caused set apart a
place for him in his house and bade his treasurer carry him a
thousand dirhems every day and that his food should be of the
choicest of his own meat. The man abode thus a whole month, at
the end of which time, having received in all thirty thousand
dirhems, he departed by stealth, fearing lest Yehya should take
the money from him, because of the greatness of the sum; and
when they told Yehya of this, he said, 'By Allah, though he had
tarried with me to the end of his days, yet had I not scanted
him of my largesse nor cut off from him the bounties of my
hospitality!' For, indeed, the excellences of the Barmecides
were past count nor can their virtues be told; especially those
of Yehya teen Khalid, for he abounded in noble qualities, even
as saith the poet of him:
I asked munificence, "Art free?" It answered, "No, perdie!
Yehya ben Khalid's slave am I; my lord and master he."
"A boughten slave?" asked I; but, "Nay, so heaven forfend!"
quoth it. "From ancestor to ancestor he did inherit me."