Once upon a time I entered a vineyard to eat of its grapes; and,
whilst so doing behold, I saw a falcon stoop upon a partridge and
seize him; but the partridge escaped from the seizer and,
entering his nest, hid himself there. The falcon followed apace
and called out to him, saying, "O imbecile, I saw thee
an-hungered in the wold and took pity on thee; so I picked up for
thee some grain and took hold of thee that thou mightest eat; but
thou fleddest from me; and I wot not the cause of thy flight,
except it were to put upon me a slight. Come out, then, and take
the grain I have brought thee to eat and much good may it do
thee, and with thy health agree." When the partridge heard these
words, he believed and came out to him, whereupon the falcon
struck his talons into him and seized him. Cried the partridge,
"Is this that which thou toldest me thou hadst brought me from
the wold, and whereof thou badest me eat, saying, 'Much good may
it do thee, and with thy health agree?' Thou hast lied to me, and
may Allah cause what thou eatest of my flesh to be a killing
poison in thy maw!" So when the falcon had eaten the partridge,
his feathers fell off and his strength failed and he died on the
spot. "Know, then, O wolf!" (pursued the fox), "that he who
diggeth for his brother a pit himself soon falleth into it, and
thou first deceivedst me in mode unfit." Quoth the wolf, "Spare
me this discourse nor saws and tales enforce, and remind me not
of my former ill course, for sufficeth me the sorry plight I
endure perforce, seeing that I am fallen into a place, in which
even my foe would pity me, much more a true friend. Rather find
some trick to deliver me and be thou thereby my saviour. If this
cause thee trouble, remember that a true friend will undertake
the sorest travail for his true friend's sake and will risk his
life to deliver him from evil; and indeed it hath been said, 'A
leal friend is better than a real brother.' So if thou stir
thyself to save me and I be saved, I will forsure gather thee
such store as shall be a provision for thee against want however
sore; and truly I will teach thee rare tricks whereby to open
whatso bounteous vineyards thou please and strip the fruit-laden
trees." Rejoined the fox, laughing, "How excellent is what the
learned say of him who aboundeth in ignorance like unto thee!"
Asked the wolf, "What do the wise men say?" And the fox answered,
"They have observed that the gross of body are gross of mind, far
from intelligence and nigh unto ignorance. As for thy saying, O
thou stupid, cunning idiot! that a true friend should undertake
sore travail for his true friend's sake, it is sooth as thou
sayest, but tell me, of thine ignorance and poverty of
intelligence, how can I be a true friend to thee, considering thy
treachery. Dost thou count me thy true friend? Nay, I am thy foe
who joyeth in thy woe; and couldst thou trow it, this word were
sorer to thee than slaughter by shot of shaft. As for thy promise
to provide me a store against want however sore and teach me
tricks, to plunder whatso bounteous vineyards I please, and spoil
fruit-laden trees, how cometh it, O guileful traitor, that thou
knowest not a wile to save thyself from destruction? How far art
thou from profiting thyself and how far am I from accepting thy
counsel! If thou have any tricks, make shift for thyself to save
thee from the risk, wherefrom I pray Allah to make thine escape
far distant! So look, O fool, if there be any trick with thee;
and therewith save thyself from death ere thou lavish instruction
upon thy neighbours. But thou art like a certain man attacked by
a disease, who went to another diseased with the same disease,
and said to him, 'Shall I heal thee of thy disease?' Replied the
sick man, 'Why dost thou not begin by healing thyself?' So he
left him and went his way. And thou, O ignorant wolf, art like
this; so stay where thou art and under what hath befallen thee be
of good heart!" When the wolf heard what the fox said, he knew
that from him he had no hope of favour; so he wept for himself,
saying, "Verily, I have been heedless of my weal; but if Allah
deliver me from this ill I will assuredly repent of my arrogance
towards those who are weaker than I, and will wear
woollens
[FN#157] and go upon the mountains, celebrating the
praises of Almighty Allah and fearing His punishment. And I will
withdraw from the company of other wild beasts and forsure will I
feed the poor fighters for the Faith." Then he wept and wailed,
till the heart of the fox softened when he heard his humble words
and his professions of penitence for his past insolence and
arrogance. So he took pity upon him and sprang up joyfully and,
going to the brink of the breach, squatted down on his hind
quarters and let his tail hang in the hole; whereupon the wolf
arose and putting out his paw, pulled the fox's tail, so that he
fell down in the pit with him. Then said the wolf, "O fox of
little mercy, why didst thou exult in my misery, thou that wast
my companion and under my dominion? Now thou art fallen into the
pit with me and retribution hath soon overtaken thee. Verily, the
sages have said, 'If one of you reproach his brother with sucking
the dugs of a bitch, he also shall suck her.' And how well quoth
the poet,
'When Fortune weighs heavy on some of us,
And makes camel kneel by some other one,[FN#158]
Say to those who rejoice in our ills: --Awake!
The rejoicer shall suffer as we have done!'
And death in company is the best of things;
[FN#159] wherefore I
will certainly and assuredly hasten to slay thee ere thou see me
slain." Said the fox to himself, "Ah! Ah! I am fallen into the
snare with this tyrant, and my case calleth for the use of craft
and cunning; for indeed it is said that a woman fashioneth her
jewellery for the day of display, and quoth the proverb, 'I have
not kept thee, O my tear, save for the time when distress draweth
near.' And unless I make haste to circumvent this prepotent beast
I am lost without recourse; and how well saith the poet,
'Make thy game by guile, for thou'rt born in a Time
Whose sons are lions in forest lain;
And turn on the leat[FN#160] of thy knavery
That the mill of subsistence may grind thy grain;
And pluck the fruits or, if out of reach,
Why, cram thy maw with the grass on plain.'"
Then said the fox to the wolf, "Hasten not to slay me, for that
is not the way to pay me and thou wouldst repent it, O thou
valiant wild beast, lord of force and exceeding prowess! An thou
accord delay and consider what I shall say, thou wilt ken what
purpose I proposed; but if thou hasten to kill me it will profit
thee naught and we shall both die in this very place." Answered
the wolf "O thou wily trickster, what garreth thee hope to work
my deliverance and thine own, that thou prayest me to grant thee
delay? Speak and propound to me thy purpose." Replied the fox,
"As for the purpose I proposed, it was one which deserveth that
thou guerdon me handsomely for it; for when I heard thy promises
and thy confessions of thy past misdeeds and regrets for not
having earlier repented and done good; and when I heard thee
vowing, shouldst thou escape from this strait, to leave harming
thy fellows and others; forswear the eating of grapes and of all
manner fruits; devote thyself to humility; cut thy claws and
break thy dog-teeth; don woollens and offer thyself as an
offering to Almighty Allah, then indeed I had pity upon thee, for
true words are the best words. And although before I had been
anxious for thy destruction, whenas I heard thy repenting and thy
vows of amending should Allah vouchsafe to save thee, I felt
bound to free thee from this thy present plight. So I let down my
tail, that thou mightest grasp it and be saved. Yet wouldest thou
not quit thy wonted violence and habit of brutality; nor
soughtest thou to save thyself by fair means, but thou gavest me
a tug which I thought would sever body from soul, so that thou
and I are fallen into the same place of distress and death. And
now there is but one thing can save us and, if thou accept it of
me, we shall both escape; and after it behoveth thee to fulfil
the vows thou hast made and I will be thy veritable friend."
Asked the wolf, "What is it thou proposest for mine acceptance?"
Answered the fox, "It is that thou stand up at full height till I
come nigh on a level with the surface of the earth. Then will I
give a spring and reach the ground; and, when out of the pit, I
will bring thee what thou mayst lay hold of, and thus shalt thou
make thine escape." Rejoined the wolf, "I have no faith in thy
word, for sages have said, 'Whoso practiseth trust in the place
of hate, erreth;' and, 'Whoso trusteth in the untrustworthy is a
dupe; he who re-trieth him who hath been tried shall reap
repentance and his days shall go waste; and he who cannot
distinguish between case and case, giving each its due, and
assigneth all the weight to one side, his luck shall be little
and his miseries shall be many.' How well saith the poet,
'Let thy thought be ill and none else but ill;
For suspicion is best of the worldling's skill:
Naught casteth a man into parlous place
But good opinion and (worse) good-will!'
And the saying of another,
'Be sure all are villains and so bide safe;
Who lives wide awake on few Ills shall light:
Meet thy foe with smiles and a smooth fair brow,
And in heart raise a host for the battle dight!'
And that of yet another,
[FN#161]
'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 Tale of The Mouse and the Ichneumon.
