Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 3.djvu/36

20 of weight and stress.’ And he dealt the fox a buffet that laid him senseless; but, when he revived, he smiled in the wolf’s face and excused himself for his unseemly speech, repeating the following verses:

The wolf accepted his excuse and held his hand from him, saying, ‘Speak not of that which concerns thee not, or thou shalt hear what will not please thee.’ ‘I hear and obey,’ answered the fox; ‘henceforth I will abstain from what pleaseth thee not; for the sage says, “Speak thou not of that whereof thou art not asked; answer not, when thou art not called upon; leave that which concerns thee not for that which does concern thee and lavish not good counsel on the wicked, for they will repay thee therefor with evil.”’ And he smiled in the wolf’s face, but in his heart he meditated treachery against him and said in himself, ‘Needs must I compass the destruction of this wolf.’ So he bore with his ill usage, saying in himself, ‘Verily arrogance and falsehood lead to perdition and cast into confusion, and it is said, “He who is arrogant suffers and he who is ignorant repents and he who fears is safe: fair dealing is a characteristic of the noble, and gentle manners are the noblest of gains.” It behoves me to dissemble with this tyrant, and needs must he be cast down.’ Then said he to the wolf, ‘Verily, the Lord pardons his erring servant and relents towards him, if he confess his sins; and I am a weak slave and have sinned in presuming to counsel thee. If thou knewest the pain that befell me by thy buffet, thou wouldst see that an elephant could not stand against it nor endure it: but I complain not of the pain of the blow, because of the contentment that hath betided me through it; for though