Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 17, 1906.djvu/208

 194 Collectanea.

There was another Syrian who lived in the town, and as he was walking he saw the other Syrian undergoing his punishment. " What is this ? " he cried ; " what have you been doing ? " " Eat- ing and drinking and riding {wdkil, shdrib, rdkib)" said the Syrian, "and nothing to pay!"

VII. I will now give one of the stories with a moral at the end which is so characteristic of Cairene folk-tales :

There was once an Imam who read every day from the Qoran in the mosque. One day he returned to his house and knocked at the door. "Who is there?" said his wife. He replied : "I, the Imam." "What do you bring?" "The Qoran," he answered. " Go away," she said. So he went back to the mosque. Then he came again to his house and knocked at the door. "Who is there?" "I, the Imam." "What do you bring?" "The box" (in which the Qoran is kept). "Go away," she said. So he went back to the mosque. He came again to his house and knocked. "Who is there?" "I, the Imam." " What do you bring ? " she asked. " What you please," he replied. " That is better," said she ; " come in ! " For man- ners are better than learning.

VIII. A man bought a pomegranate and brought it home for supper. But his wife said : " I cannot eat pomegranates without a little red pepper." So her husband went out again to get the pepper. On the way he met a friend, and he asked him to come in and eat supper with him. His friend said, " I will come," and the two together went back to the house and shared the pomegranate between them. So the woman got nothing. For greedy people lose everything.

IX. There were two men who sat down and ordered something to eat. The one ate dish after dish, and the other did the same. After a time the second said to the first : " What did your father leave you ? " He answered : " He left me land and cattle and sheep and buffaloes and palms and servants." They then continued eating, and the first said : "What did your father leave you?" And he answered: "Only one goat, and he is dead." But the goat could not pay for all the dishes the man had eaten,

X. There was once a lazy man who lay down to sleep under a