The Syrian Priest and the Young Man
A Syrian Priest, good and wise, and an Armenian were engaged in a dispute. The Young Man, at last enraged, said to the Priest:
“I will drive this stone down your throat, in order that your thirty-two teeth may choke you.”
The Priest returned hastily to his house, lost in astonishment, and said to his wife:
“In the name of God, wife, light a candle, and count how many teeth I have.”
She counted them and said:
“They are just thirty-two in number.”
The Priest at once returned to the Young Man and said:
“How did you learn the number of my teeth? And who told you?”
“Sir,” replied the other, “I learned the number of your teeth from the number of my own.”
This fable shows that from my own bad qualities I am able to guess yours, for all faults are common.