第16章 THE FOX AND THE CROW.(1)

A fox once dwelt in a cave of a certain mountain，and as often as a cub was born to him and grew stout，he would eat it，for，except he did so，he had died of hunger；and this was grievous to him. Now on the top of the same mountain a crow had made his nest，and the fox said to himself，I have a mind to strike up a friendship with this crow and make a comrade of him，that he may help me to my days meat，for he can do what I cannot.'So he made for the crows stead，and when he came within earshot，he saluted him，saying，O my neighbour，verily a true-believer hath two claims upon his true-believing neighbour，that of neighbourliness and that of community of faith；and know，O my friend，that thou art my neighbour and hast a claim upon me，which it behoves me to observe，the more that I have been long thy neighbour. Moreover，God hath set in my breast a store of love to thee，that bids me speak thee fair and solicit thy friendship. What sayst thou？Verily，'answered the crow，the best speech is that which is soothest，and most like thou speakest with thy tongue that which is not in thy heart. I fear lest thy friendship be but of the tongue，outward，and shine enmity of the heart，inward；for that thou art the Eater and I the Eaten，and to hold aloof one from the other were more apt to us than friendship and fellowship. What，then，maketh thee seek that thou mayst not come at and desire what may not be，seeing that thou art of the beast and I of the bird kind？Verily，this brotherhood [thou profferest] may not be，neither were it seemly.'He who knoweth the abiding-place of excellent things，

rejoined the fox，betters choice in what he chooses therefrom，so haply he may win to advantage his brethren；and indeed I should love to be near thee and I have chosen thy companionship，to the end that we may help one another to our several desires；

and success shall surely wait upon our loves. I have store of tales of the goodliness of friendship，which，an it like thee，I will relate to thee.'Thou hast my leave，'answered the crow；

let me hear thy story and weigh it and judge of thine intent thereby.'Hear then，O my friend，'rejoined the fox，that which is told of a mouse and a flea and which bears out what I have said to thee.'How so？asked the crow. It is said，'answered the fox，that The Mouse and the Flea.

A mouse once dwelt in the house of a rich and busy merchant. One night，a flea took shelter in the merchants bed and finding his body soft and being athirst，drank of his blood. The smart of the bite awoke the merchant，who sat up and called to his serving men and maids. So they hastened to him and tucking up their sleeves，fell to searching for the flea. As soon as the latter was ware of the search，he turned to flee and happening on the mouses hole，entered it. When the mouse saw him，she said to him，'What brings thee in to me，seeing that thou art not of my kind and canst not therefore be assured of safety from violence or ill-usage？'

'Verily，'answered the flea，'I took refuge in thy dwelling from slaughter and come to thee，seeking thy protection and not anywise coveting thy house，nor shall aught of mischief betide thee from me nor aught to make thee leave it. Nay，I hope to repay thy favours to me with all good，and thou shalt assuredly see and praise the issue of my words.'If the case be as thou sayest，'answered the mouse，'be at thine ease here；for nought shall betide thee，save what may pleasure thee；there shall fall on thee rain of peace alone nor shall aught befall thee，but what befalls me. I will give thee my love without stint and do not thou regret thy loss of the merchants blood nor lament for thy subsistence from him，but be content with what little of sufficient sustenance thou canst lightly come by；for indeed this is the safer for thee，and I have heard that one of the moral poets saith as follows：

I have trodden the road of content and retirement And lived out my life with whatever betided；

With a morsel of bread and a draught of cold water，Coarse salt and patched garments content I abided.

If God willed it，He made my life easy of living；Else，I was contented with what He provided.'

'O my sister，'rejoined the flea，'I hearken to thine injunction and submit myself to yield thee obedience，nor have I power to gainsay thee，till life be fulfilled，in this fair intent.'

'Purity of intent suffices to sincere affection，'replied the mouse. So love befell and was contracted between them and after this，the flea used （by night） to go to the merchants bed and not exceed moderation （in sucking his blood） and harbour with the mouse by day in the latters hole. One night，the merchant brought home great store of dinars and began to turn them over.

When the mouse heard the chink of the coin，she put her head out of her hole and gazed at it，till the merchant laid it under his pillow and went to sleep，when she said to the flea，'Seest thou not the favourable opportunity and the great good fortune！Hast thou any device to bring us to our desire of yonder dinars？'