The talk turned on religious beliefs. I began by asking about the Noṣairiyyeh, but the Ḳāḍi pursed his lips and answered:
THE ḲĀMU'A HURMUL
"They are not pleasant people. Some of them pretend to worship 'Ali and some worship the sun. They believe that when they die their souls pass into the bodies of other men or even animals, as it is in the faiths of India and of China."
I said: "I have heard a story that they tell of a man who owned a vineyard, and the man died and left it to his son. Now the young man worked in the vineyard until the time of the harvest, and when the grapes were ripe a wolf entered in, and every evening he ate the fruit. And the young man tried to hunt him forth, and every evening he returned. And one night the wolf cried aloud: 'Shall I not eat of the grapes who planted the vines?' And the young man was astounded and he said: 'Who art thou?' The wolf replied: 'I am thy father.' The young man answered: 'If thou art indeed my father, where did'st hide the pruning knife, for I have not found it since thy soul left thy body!' Then the wolf took him to the place where the pruning knife lay concealed, and he believed and knew it was his father."
AN EASTERN HOLIDAY