" Since then I have never failed, O
Commander of the Faithful, to beat them with that number of blows till
their blood flows with my tears, I pitying them the while, and well
they wot that their being scourged is no fault of mine and they accept
my excuses. And this is my tale and my history!
THE TALE OF THE THREE APPLES
THEY relate, O King of the Age and Lord of the Time and of these
days, that the Caliph Harun al-Rashid summoned his Wazir Ja'afar one
night and said to him: "I desire to go down into the city and question
the common folk concerning the conduct of those charged with its
governance, and those of whom they complain we will depose from office
and those whom they commend we will promote." Quoth Ja'afar,
"Hearkening and obedience!"
So the Caliph went down with Ja'afar and the eunuch Masrur to the
town and walked about the streets and markets, and as they were
threading a narrow alley, they came upon a very old man with a fishing
net and crate to carry small fish on his head, and in his hands a
staff, and as he walked at a leisurely pace, he repeated these lines:
"They say me: 'Thou shinest a light to mankind
With thy lore as the night which the Moon doth uplight!'
I answer, 'A truce to your jests and your gibes.
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