Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 1.djvu/31

13 perish through thy lack of sense, so do thou oft quiet and cast not thyself into perdition; indeed I give thee good counsel and am affectionately solicitous for thee.” “O my father,” answered she, “nothing will serve me but I must go up to this king and become his wife.” Quoth he, “An thou hold not thy peace and bide still, I will do with thee even as the merchant did with his wife.” “And what was that?” asked she. “Know,” answered he, “that the merchant and his wife and children came out on the terrace, it being a moonlit night and the moon at its full. Now the terrace overlooked the byre; and presently, as he sat, with his children playing before him, the merchant heard the ass say to the ox, ‘Tell me, O Father Stupid, what dost thou mean to do to-morrow?’ ‘What but that thou advisest me?’ answered the ox. ‘Thine advice was as good as could be and has gotten me complete rest, and I will not depart from it in the least; so when they bring me my fodder, I will refuse it and feign sickness and swell out my belly.’ The ass shook his head and said, ‘Beware of doing that!’ ‘Why?’ asked the ox, and the ass answered, ‘Know that I heard our master say to the labourer, “If the ox do not rise and eat his fodder to-day, send for the butcher to slaughter him, and give his flesh to the poor and make a rug of his skin.” And I fear for thee on account of this. So take my advice, ere ill-hap betide thee, and when they bring thee the fodder, eat it and arise and bellow and paw the ground with thy feet, or our master will assuredly slaughter thee.’ Whereupon the ox arose and bellowed and thanked the ass, and said, ‘To-morrow, I will go with them readily.’ Then he ate up all his fodder, even to licking the manger with his tongue.

When the merchant heard this, he was amused at the ass’s trick, and laughed, till he fell backward. ‘Why dost thou laugh?’ asked his wife; and he said, ‘I laughed at something that I saw and heard, but it is a secret and I