“King Solomon, to whom legend ascribes the knowledge of all languages, including those supposed to be spoken by animals, once gave an audience to a wealthy Jewish farmer, and received from him a costly present. To show his appreciation of the gift, the king offered to bestow upon the farmer any favour he might ask. But, to the king's surprise, the farmer asked the favour of being initiated by the king into the secret of understanding the language spoken by farm-yard animals. After some hesitation the king granted the farmer's request, impressing him, however, with the necessity of not divulging the secret to anybody else under penalty of immediate death.
“Now it so happened that the farmer had a shrew for a wife, and, wishing to live in peace with her, allowed himself to be ruled by her in all domestic affairs. One day, while occupied in the farm-yard, he overheard a conversation between an ox and an ass, which amused him so much that he burst out laughing. At that moment his wife appeared, and insisted on being told the joke. He begged her not to press him to disclose a secret, on the keeping of which his very life depended. But she remained obdurate. Seeing that there was no way out of the difficulty, he told her that he would fulfil her desire in a few days, but that he had in the meantime to settle his worldly affairs, before going to meet his inevitable and premature death. To this she agreed. Next day, while again standing in the farm-yard, he heard his dog rebuking the cock for crowing as loudly as ever, though he was aware of his master's approaching death. But the cock said that since their master was a coward and a fool, he did not deserve to be pitied by anybody. ‘Let him,’ said the cock, ‘take a lesson from me, and his life will certainly be saved. There are in the farm-yard a number of hens, who all obey me implicitly, as they know very well that any case of disobedience on their part would be attended with a well-deserved punishment. Now, our master has only one wife to deal with, and if he is idiotic enough to allow her to rule over him, he must bear the consequences.’
“When the farmer heard the cock's wise remarks he regained courage, and presently meeting his wife, he told her that he refused to let her know his secret, and that he was fully determined to be and to remain the ruler in his own house from that time forward. These words had the desired effect, and from that day forth he lived with his wife in harmony and undisturbed peace.”
The Prince and the Dervish is also exceedingly rich in pithy maxims, of which the following may serve as examples. On the question of paying visits to one's friends, he says[[124-1]]:—
Go not too frequently thy friends to see,
Lest they grow weary of the sight of thee;
When rain is scanty, then we pray for more,
But love not one continuous downpour.
Another maxim is reminiscent of the Biblical saying “For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Sam. xvi. 7). It runs thus:—
Let not his humble vesture make thee blind