This is a story about a woman and man who were of like wisdom, and so
were suited to each other.
[Illustration: The Wali and Shani walking together]
Now the beginning of this history is what I will now write. A certain
stranger said to his parents, "I am going to journey forth to look for a
woman of like wit to myself. If I find her I will marry her, but if I do
not find her I will return."
So that man set out, and when he got outside the town he met another man
walking. Now this man was the Wali of the town to which he was going,
but he did not know that. The Wali called to him, "Wait for me; as we
are going the same way let us walk together." That stranger agreed, and
both walked together. After they had gone about twenty paces he said to
the Wali, "Will you carry me, or shall I carry you?" The Wali did not
answer him, for he thought, "For what reason should he carry me or I
carry him, when each one has his own legs?"
They walked on some way, till they arrived at some cultivation. Then the
stranger asked, "That millet there, has it been harvested yet or not?"
Now that millet was standing in the stalk with the ears there on them.
The Wali thought, "Surely this man is a fool or blind. How can he ask if
this millet has been harvested, and there it is standing?" So he did not
reply.
As they came near the town to which they were going they met a funeral
coming forth, on its way to the cemetery.
The stranger asked, "Is that man in the bier dead, or is he still
alive?"
The Wali thought, "Surely his foolishness is increasing." So he did not
reply.
So they entered the town, and the Wali went to his house, whilst the
other went to the mosque, for he was a stranger, and knew no one in that
town with whom he might stay.
The Wali, after he had arrived at his house, rested awhile, and then
said to his wife, "I met a stranger coming here, and I walked with him
as far as the town, but that man was a fool, he had no wit; his folly
increased at every stage of the journey." Then he told her the words of
that man.
The Wali's daughter, who was present, said to him, "My father, you made
a mistake leaving that man, you should have brought him here, for he is
a man of great understanding."
The father said, "For what reason, my daughter, when his words were as
of a madman or a fool?"
His daughter said, "Listen to me and I will explain to you the meaning
of his words from first to last.
"The first words which he said to you, were they not, 'Will you carry
me, or must I carry you?'
"His meaning was as if he said to you, 'You, will you tell me a story,
or shall I tell you one, that we may be beguiled in the way, and that we
may not perceive the length of the journey?' That was what he meant by
'Shall I carry you, or will you carry me?'
"His next words were, 'Has this millet been harvested or not yet
harvested?' His meaning was, 'Has the owner of that millet planted or
cultivated his field without having to borrow money to do so? If he has
had to borrow the wherewithal with which to cultivate, surely he has
already harvested his field, for he has to pay away his profit.'
"Lastly, when he saw the bier and asked, 'Is that man dead or alive?' he
meant, 'Has that man any children? If he has left a child he is alive
although he is dead, for his name is still there. If he has no child he
himself is dead, and his name also is dead.'
"Those were the meanings of his words, so, father, you did wrong to let
him go away by himself to the mosque."
But her father, the Wali, would not believe that, and said, "No, he is
only a fool, and his words have no meaning."
Then his daughter said to him, "Wait, I will show you that my words are
true, and that this is a man of great wisdom."
Then she took a large round loaf, and she prepared a fowl, and put all
over it chopped eggs, and poured out a jug brimful of sweetened milk.
She gave these to a slave girl and said to her, "Take these, and bear
them to the stranger in the mosque, and say to him, 'My mistress greets
you, and sends you word that the moon is full, the tides are spring
tides, and that there are many stars in the heavens.'"
So the slave came to the mosque, and the stranger ate, and when he had
finished he gave back the plates and said to her, "Give your mistress my
greetings, and tell her that the day is the thirteenth of the lunar
month, and that the tides are neap tides, and that the stars are only
one by one in the heavens."
The slave returned and gave her mistress the stranger's message.
Then the girl said to her father, "This slave girl has thieved, she has
broken off a piece of the bread, taken some of the eggs, and drunk some
of the milk."
Next day she sent another slave girl with food, as before, and gave her
the same message. The stranger answered as at first.
Then the girl said to her father, "This slave has also stolen some of
the food like the first one did."
On the third day she sent some food, as before, and the same message
with another slave girl.
This time the stranger sent back the message, "To-day the moon is full,
the tides are spring tides, and there are many stars in the heavens."