“Would that I beheld at the present moment in this well a wolf,
Who hath long afflicted my heart, and made me drink bitterness perforce!
Would that my life might be spared, and that the wolf might meet his death!
Then the vineyard would be free from his presence, and I should find in it my spoil.”
Having finished his song, he hurried away until he came to the wolf, when he said to him, “Verily God hath smoothed for thee the way to the vineyard without fatigue. This hath happened through thy good fortune. Mayest thou enjoy, therefore, that to which God hath granted thee access, in smoothing thy way to that plunder and that abundant sustenance without any difficulty!” So the wolf said to the fox, “What is the proof of that which thou hast declared?” The fox answered, “I went to the vineyard, and found that its owner had died; and I entered the garden, and beheld the fruits shining upon the trees.”
So the wolf doubted not the words of the fox, and in his eagerness he arose and went to the breach. His cupidity had deceived him with vain hopes, and the fox stopped and fell down behind him as one dead, applying this verse as a proverb suited to the case—
“Dost thou covet an interview with Leyla? It is covetousness that causeth the loss of men’s heads.”
When the wolf came to the breach, the fox said to him, “Enter the vineyard; for thou art spared the trouble of breaking down the wall of the garden, and it remaineth for God to complete the benefit.” So the wolf walked forward, desiring to enter the vineyard, and when he came to the middle of the covering of the hole, he fell into it; whereupon the fox was violently excited by happiness and joy, his anxiety and grief ceased, and in merry tones he sang these verses—
“Fortune hath compassionated my case, and felt pity for the length of my torment,
And granted me what I desired, and removed that which I dreaded.
I will, therefore, forgive its offences committed in former times;
Even the injustice it hath shown in the turning of my hair grey.
There is no escape for the wolf from utter annihilation;
And the vineyard is for me alone, and I have no stupid partner.”
He then looked into the pit, and beheld the wolf weeping in his repentance and sorrow for himself, and the fox wept with him. So the wolf raised his head towards him, and said, “Is it from thy compassion for me that thou hast wept, O Abu-l-Hoseyn?” “No,” answered the fox, “by him who cast thee into this pit; but I weep for the length of thy past life, and in my regret at thy not having fallen into this pit before the present day. Hadst thou fallen into it before I met with thee, I had experienced refreshment and ease. But thou hast been spared to the expiration of thy decreed term and known period.” The wolf, however, said to him, “Go, O evildoer, to my mother, and acquaint her with that which hath happened to me; perhaps she will contrive some means for my deliverance.” But the fox replied, “The excess of thy covetousness and eager desire has entrapped thee into destruction, since thou hast fallen into a pit from which thou wilt never be saved. Knowest thou not, O ignorant wolf, that the author of the proverb saith, ‘He who thinks not of results will not be secure from perils?’” “O Abu-l-Hoseyn!” rejoined the wolf, “thou wast wont to manifest an affection for me, and to desire my friendship, and fear the greatness of my power. Be not, then, rancorous towards me for that which I have done unto thee; for he who hath one in his power, and yet forgiveth, will receive a recompense from God, and the poet hath said—
“‘Sow good, even on an unworthy soil; for it will not be fruitless wherever it is sown.
Verily, good, though it remained long buried, none will reap but him who sowed it.’”
“O most ignorant of the beasts of prey!” said the fox, “and most stupid of the wild beasts of the regions of the earth, hast thou forgotten thy haughtiness, and insolence, and pride, and thy disregarding the rights of companionship, and thy refusing to be advised by the saying of the poet?—
“‘Tyrannise not, if thou hast the power to do so; for the tyrannical is in danger of revenge,
Thine eye will sleep while the oppressed, wakeful, will call down curses on thee, and God’s eye sleepeth not.’”