Page:Tales from the Gulistan (1928).pdf/45

Story VIII

, being asked what fault the viziers of his father hat committed that he imprisoned them, replied; "I discovered no fault; I saw that boundless awe of me had taken root in their hearts, but that they had no full confidence in my promises, wherefore I apprehended that they, fearing calamities would befall them, might attempt my life, and I acted according to the maxim of sages, who have said: 'Dread him who dreads thee, O sage! although thou couldst cope with a hundred like him. Seest thou not when the cat becomes desperate how he plucks out with his claws the eyes of a tiger? The viper stings the shepherd's foot because it fears he will strike his head with a stone.'"