The Tale of the Cheat and the Merchants.
There was once in olden time a certain Cheat, who could turn the ear inside out by his talk, and he was a model of cleverness and quick wit and skill and mischief. It was his wont to enter a town and make a show of being a trader and engage in intimacy with people of worth and sit in session with the merchants, for his name was noted as a man of virtue and piety. Then he would put a sleight on them and take of them what he might spend and fare forth to another stead; and he ceased not to do thus for a while of time. It chanced one day that he entered a certain city and sold somewhat that was with him of merchandise and made friends of the merchants of the place and took to sitting with them and entertaining them and inviting them to his quarters and his assembly, whilst they also invited him to their houses. He abode after such fashion a long time until he was minded to quit the city; and this was bruited among his intimates, who grieved for parting from him. Then he betook himself to one of them who was the richest in substance and the most conspicuous for generosity, and sat with him and borrowed his goods; and when rising to depart, he bade him return the deposit that he had left with him. Quoth the merchant, "And what is the deposit?" and quoth the Cheat, "'Tis such a purse, with the thousand dinars therein." The merchant asked, "And when didst thou give me that same?" and the Cheat answered, "Extolled be Allah of All Might! Was it not on such a day, by such a token which is thus and thus?" The man rejoined, "I know naught of this," and words were bandied about between them, whilst the folk who heard them disputed together concerning their sayings and doings, till their voices rose high and the neighbours had knowledge of that which passed between them.[481] Then said the Cheat, "O people, this is my friend and I deposited with him a deposit which he denieth having received: so in whom shall men put trust after this?" And they said, "This person is a man of worth and we have known in him naught but trustiness and good faith and the best of breeding, and he is endowed with sense and manliness.[482] Indeed, he affirmeth no false claim, for that we have consorted and associated with him and he with us and we know the sincerity of his religion." Then quoth one of them to the merchant, "Ho, Such-an-one! Bethink thee of the past and refresh thy memory. It cannot be that thou hast forgotten." But quoth he, "O people, I wot nothing of what he saith, for indeed he deposited naught with me:" and the matter was prolonged between them. Then said the Cheat to the merchant, "I am about to travel and I have, praised be Allah Almighty, much wealth, and this money shall not escape me; but do thou make oath to me." And the folk said, "Indeed, this man doth justice upon himself."[483] Whereupon the merchant fell into that which he disliked[484] and came nigh upon loss and ill fame. Now he had a friend, who pretended to sharpness and intelligence; so he came up to him secretly and said to him, "Let me do so I may cheat this Cheat, for I know him to be a liar and thou art near upon having to weigh out the gold; but I will parry off suspicion from thee and say to him, The deposit is with me and thou erredst in suspecting that it was with other than myself; and so I will divert him from thee." The other replied, "Do so, and rid the people of such pretended debts." Accordingly the friend turned to the Cheat and said to him, "O my lord, I am Such-an-one, and thou goest under a delusion. The purse is with me, for it was with me that thou depositedst it, and this Shaykh is innocent of it." But the Cheat answered him with impatience and impetuosity, saying, "Extolled be Allah! As for the purse that is with thee, O noble and faithful man, I know 'tis under Allah's charge and my heart is easy anent it, because 'tis with thee as it were with me; but I began by demanding the purse which I deposited with this man, of my knowledge that he coveteth the goods of folk." At this the friend was confounded and put to silence and returned not a reply; and the only result of his meddling was that each of them- -merchant and friend—had to pay a thousand gold pieces. So the Cheat took the two thousand dinars and made off; and when he was gone, the merchant said to his friend, the man of pretended sharpness and intelligence, "Ho, Such-an-one! Thou and I are like the Falcon and the Locust." The friend asked, "What was their case?" and the merchant answered with
The Story of the Falcon and the Locust.[485]
There was once, of old time, a Falcon who made himself a nest hard by the home of a Locust, and his neighbour gloried in such neighbourhood and betaking herself to him, saluted him with the salam and said, "O my lord and lord of all the birds, indeed the nearness to thee delighteth me and thou honourest me with thy vicinity and my soul is fortified with thee." The Falcon thanked her for this and friendship between them followed. One day, the Locust said to the bird, "O prince of the flying race, how is it that I see thee alone, solitary, having with thee no friend of thy kind, the volatiles, on whom thou mayst repose in time of gladness and of whom thou mayst seek aid in tide of sadness? Indeed, 'tis said, 'Man goeth about seeking ease of body and ward of strength,' and there is naught in this more necessary to him than a true friend who shall be the crown of his comfort and the column of his career and on whom shall be his dependence in his distress and in his delight. Now I, although ardently desiring thy weal in that which befitteth thy rank and degree, yet am weak in that which the soul craveth; but, an thou deign give me leave, I will seek out for thee one of the birds who shall fellow thee in body and strength." And the Falcon said, "I commit this to thee and rely upon thee herein." Thereupon, O my brother (quoth the merchant), the Locust began going round the company of the birds, but saw naught resembling the Falcon in bulk and body save the Kite and thought well of her. So she brought the twain together and counselled the Falcon to foregather with the Kite. Presently it fortuned that the Falcon fell sick and the Kite tarried with and tended him a long while till he recovered and became sound and strong, wherefore he thanked her and she fared from him. But after some days the Falcon's sickness returned to him and he needed succour of the Kite; so the Locust went out from him and was absent from him a day; after which she returned to him with another locust,[486] saying, "I have brought thee this one." When the Falcon saw her, he said, "God requite thee with good! Indeed, thou hast done well in the quest and thou hast shown subtlety and discrimination in the choice." All this befel because the Locust had no knowledge of the essence which lurketh in the outer semblance of bodies. "As for thee, O my brother (Allah requite thee with weal!), thou wast subtle in device and usedst precaution; but forethought availeth not against Fate, and Fortune foreordained baffleth force of fence. How excellent is the saying of the poet when he spake these couplets:—[487]
'It chances whiles that the blind man escapes a pit, * Whilst he
who is clear of sight falls into it.
The ignorant man may speak with impunity * A word that is death
to the wise and the ripe of wit.
The true believer is pinched for his daily bread, * Whilst
infidel rogues enjoy all benefit.
Where is a man's resource and what can he do? * It is the
Almighty's will: we must submit.'"
"Nor" (continued the Wazir) "is this, O king of the age, rarer or stranger than the story of the King and his Chamberlain's wife; nay, this is more wondrous than that and more delectable." When the king heard this story, he was strengthened in his resolve to spare the Minister and to eschew haste in an affair whereof he was not certified; so he comforted him and bade him hie to his home.