Page:Tales from the Arabic, Vol 1.djvu/150

130 that be around thee and of these jewels and gold and silver.silver.’ [sic] But he put not forth his hand unto aught, and when she saw that he paid no heed to anything, she was angry and said, ‘They have sent me a messenger, blind, dumb and deaf.’

Then she sent to acquaint her father with this; whereupon the king called Abou Temam to him and said to him, ‘Thou camest not but to see my daughter. Why, then, hast thou not looked upon her?’ Quoth Abou Temam, ‘I saw everything.’ And the king said, ‘Why didst thou not take somewhat of that which thou sawest of jewels and the like? For they were set for thee.’ But he answered, ‘It behoveth me not to put out my hand to aught that is not mine.’ When the king heard his speech, he gave him a sumptuous dress of honour and loved him exceedingly and said to him, ‘Come, look at this pit.’ So Abou Temam went up [to the mouth of the pit] and looked, and behold, it was full of heads of men; and the king said to him, ‘These are the heads of ambassadors, whom I slew, for that I saw them without loyalty to their masters, and I was used, whenas I saw an ambassador without breeding, to say, “He who sent him is less of breeding than he, for that the messenger is the tongue of him who sendeth him and his breeding is of his master’s breeding; and whoso is on this wise, it befitteth not that he be akin to me.” So, because of this, I used to put the messengers to death; but, as for thee, thou hast overcome us and won my daughter, of the excellence of thy breeding; so be of good heart, for she