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On the Excellence of Contentment The son replied: "O father! Thou wilt certainly not obtain a treasure except by trouble, will not overcome thy foe unless thou hazardest thy life, and wilt not gather a harvest unless thou scatterest seed. Perceivest thou not how much comfort I gained at the cost of the small amount of trouble I underwent, and what a quantity of honey I have brought in return for the sting I have suffered? Although not more can be acquired than fate has decreed, negligence in striving to acquire is not commendable. If a diver fears the crocodile's throat he will never catch the pearl of great price. The nether millstone is immovable, and therefore must bear a heavy load. What will a fierce lion devour at the bottom of his den? What food does a fallen hawk obtain? If thou desirest to catch game at home thou must have hands and feet like a spider."

The father said to his son: "On this occasion heaven has been propitious to thee and good luck helpful, so that a royal person has met thee, has been bountiful to thee, and has thereby healed thy broken condition. Such coincidences occur seldom, and rare events cannot be reckoned upon. The hunter does not catch every time a jackal. It may happen that some day a tiger devours him."

Thus it happened that one of the Kings of Pares, who possessed a ring with a costly bezel, once went out by way of diversion with some intimate courtiers to the Masalla of Shirâz, and ordered his ring to be placed on the dome of Asad, promising to bestow the seal-ring upon any person who could make an arrow pass through it. It happened that every one of the four hundred archers in his service missed the ring, except a little boy who was shooting arrows in sport [at random]