Page:Tales from the Arabic, Vol 1.djvu/214

190 When Er Reshid came to the throne, he invested Jaafer ben Yehya ben Khalid el Bermeki with the vizierate. Now Jaafer was eminently distinguished for generosity and munificence, and the stories of him to this effect are renowned and are written in the books. None of the viziers attained to the rank and favour which he enjoyed with Er Reshid, who was wont to call him brother and used to carry him with him into his house. The period of his vizierate was nineteen years, and Yehya one day said to his son Jaafer, “O my son, what time thy reed trembleth, water it with kindness.” Opinions differ concerning the reason of Jaafer’s slaughter, but the better is as follows.