When the man was beside him, the Sheikh took an onion and a date from his wallet and set them down upon the ground.
'Eat,' he said, 'and give thanks.'
The cripple thanked him and taking the food, began to eat the onion.
'You have taken the onion in your right hand and the date in your left,' said the Sheikh. 'And you are eating the onion first.'
'This is true,' answered the Egyptian. 'I see that my lord has indeed eyes in his fingers.'
'I have,' said the Sheikh. 'But that is not all, for this is an allegory. All men like to eat the onion first and the date afterwards, for though the onion be ever so sweet and tender, its taste is bitter when a man has eaten sugar-dates before it. But you have begun by giving us the mellow fruit of flattery, and when you give us the wholesome vegetable of truth it will be too sharp for our palates. Ponder this in your heart, chew it as the camel does her cud, and the well-digested food of wisdom shall nourish your understanding.'
The cripple listened in astonishment at the depth of the Sheikh's thought, and he would have spoken out his admiration, but it is not possible to eat an onion and to be eloquent at the same time. The blind man knew this and continued to give him instruction.
'The onion has saved you,' he said, 'for your mouth being full you could say nothing flattering, and now you will think before you speak. Consider how I have treated you. Have I at once rendered thanks to Allah for sending into our midst a young man whose gifts of eloquence are at least equal to those of the Kadi himself? I have said nothing so foolish. I have called you an ass of Egypt and otherwise rebuked you, for the good of your understanding, though I begin to think that you are indeed a very estimable young man, and it is possible that your wit may ripen in our society. But now I perceive by my hearing that you are eating the date. I pray you now, eat another onion after it.'
'I cannot,' answered the cripple, 'for my lips are puckered at the thought of it.'
'Neither is truth sweet after flattery,' said the Sheikh, who then began to eat the other onion himself.