(YEAR OF THE HEGIRA 1276.)

Many, and in sooth foolish, are they who writing books send them forth to the world with humiliating disparagement of their contents and servile appeals for mercy to those who may read them. Now a man who hath dates, or coffee, or rice to sell goeth not into the market-place crying out, “Lo! the merchandise which I offer for sale is poor and mouldy and unworthy stuff; yet of your charity, good people, I pray you to buy,” seeking yet to cajole his hearers with coarse flattery. As if any man were silly enough to buy damaged goods because, forsooth, the vendor praised the good judgment of the buyer!

I, who have made the pilgrimage and kissed the Kaaba which endowed with truth, am not as the Franks who trust to the beguilement of the Stone of Bel-Ârni. This volume, containing the surprising adventures of the good Kayenna and the marvellous wisdom of Shacabac, the Wayfarer, needeth no apology. If it excelleth all other works of history in lofty thought, in rich imagery, in polished style, and in perfect diction, it is only because I have made it to do so. Had it existed in the days of the good Caliph Omar, wisest of all censors, it would not have shared the fate of that mass of unworthy literature by him justly condemned to the flames. Rather would it have been commended to all the faithful as a work not to be hastily skimmed by the light and thoughtless who seek transitory knowledge in the public libraries, but to be bought and preserved for careful and frequent study by the discriminating reader.

While the work of no mortal is perfect, the only defect in this book is its brevity. Its merits are as many as its words. If any man fail to recognize them, let him wisely be silent, and, returning the book to him from whom he borrowed it, pray Allah for better judgment and mourn the hour in which he, unworthy, ever learned to read.

CONTENTS.

PAGE
FOREWARNING[v]

CHAPTER I.		[13]
He that repenteth too late may some time worry too soon.—The Kâtâmarana.

CHAPTER II.		[20]
A lie grows so fast that its own parents may not recognize it.—Deucalion.

CHAPTER III.		[29]
The hardest thing to find is an honest partner for a swindle.—Samith.

CHAPTER IV.		[34]
A grandfather is a man who has two chances to make a fool of himself, and seldom neglects them.—Ginglymus.

CHAPTER V.		[46]
An omen, said the Fakir, is a sign of the future. Blame not the omen, but the future, if the sign prove not true.—Shiraz, the Younger.

CHAPTER VI.		[55]
The man who can invent a good working substitute for honesty has yet to be invented himself.—Eastern Proverb.

CHAPTER VII.		[61]
Nevertheless, much depends on a man’s horoscope. One is born in the desert, and becomes a brigand; another is reared in the great city, and publishes books. It is Kismet.—Ben Haround.

CHAPTER VIII.		[72]
What is a cryptogram? asked the Pupil. It is a cipher, replied the Sage. What is a cipher? persisted the Pupil. It is naught, answered the Sage. Is there a cryptogram in this book? asked the Pupil. If there be, a Sage alone will find it. It should explain aught that may seem irrelevant.—The Wisdom of Shacabac.

CHAPTER IX.		[88]
There are times when it is inexpedient, if not actually immoral, to kill the bediamonded clerk of a caravansary.—Manco Capac.

CHAPTER X.		[95]
Surely, thou dost not expect strangers to pay for thy books. And, surely, thou wouldst not ask thy friends to buy them. Seek some other way of achieving wealth through letters. And let me know if thou findest it.—The Pauper Poet.

CHAPTER XI.		[106]
Some men borrow books; some men steal books; and others beg presentation copies from the author.—Ben Haround.

CHAPTER XII.		[122]
In time of war begin to prepare for it.—The Compleat Art of Logistics, by Yang Kee.

CHAPTER XIII.		[129]
Every nation has just the government for which its people are fitted; at least, that is what is said by the rulers who are piously engaged in misgoverning it.—Manco Capac.

CHAPTER XIV.		[136]
This Book is a Mirror wherein the Wise Man seeth Wisdom, but the Fool seeth Folly.—Shacabac.

CHAPTER XV. Lagniappe.		[142]

THE ILLUSTRATIONS.

Her Majesty the King[Frontispiece]
“‘In what way?’ asked his wife”Page [14]
Al Choppah[22]
Shacabac, the Sage[40]
Ben Zoin[62]
“‘I bring evil news!’”[104]
Badeg, the Soothsayer[108]
“‘Out of this, fortune-telling dog!’”[118]