CONTENTS.
| PAGE | |
| FOREWARNING | [v] |
CHAPTER I. | [13] |
| He that repenteth too late may some time worry too soon.—The Kâtâmarana. | |
CHAPTER II. | [20] |
| A lie grows so fast that its own parents may not recognize it.—Deucalion. | |
CHAPTER III. | [29] |
| The hardest thing to find is an honest partner for a swindle.—Samith. | |
CHAPTER IV. | [34] |
| A grandfather is a man who has two chances to make a fool of himself, and seldom neglects them.—Ginglymus. | |
CHAPTER V. | [46] |
| An omen, said the Fakir, is a sign of the future. Blame not the omen, but the future, if the sign prove not true.—Shiraz, the Younger. | |
CHAPTER VI. | [55] |
| The man who can invent a good working substitute for honesty has yet to be invented himself.—Eastern Proverb. | |
CHAPTER VII. | [61] |
| Nevertheless, much depends on a man’s horoscope. One is born in the desert, and becomes a brigand; another is reared in the great city, and publishes books. It is Kismet.—Ben Haround. | |
CHAPTER VIII. | [72] |
| What is a cryptogram? asked the Pupil. It is a cipher, replied the Sage. What is a cipher? persisted the Pupil. It is naught, answered the Sage. Is there a cryptogram in this book? asked the Pupil. If there be, a Sage alone will find it. It should explain aught that may seem irrelevant.—The Wisdom of Shacabac. | |
CHAPTER IX. | [88] |
| There are times when it is inexpedient, if not actually immoral, to kill the bediamonded clerk of a caravansary.—Manco Capac. | |
CHAPTER X. | [95] |
| Surely, thou dost not expect strangers to pay for thy books. And, surely, thou wouldst not ask thy friends to buy them. Seek some other way of achieving wealth through letters. And let me know if thou findest it.—The Pauper Poet. | |
CHAPTER XI. | [106] |
| Some men borrow books; some men steal books; and others beg presentation copies from the author.—Ben Haround. | |
CHAPTER XII. | [122] |
| In time of war begin to prepare for it.—The Compleat Art of Logistics, by Yang Kee. | |
CHAPTER XIII. | [129] |
| Every nation has just the government for which its people are fitted; at least, that is what is said by the rulers who are piously engaged in misgoverning it.—Manco Capac. | |
CHAPTER XIV. | [136] |
| This Book is a Mirror wherein the Wise Man seeth Wisdom, but the Fool seeth Folly.—Shacabac. | |
CHAPTER XV. Lagniappe. | [142] |