" Asked Khalifah, "And what dost thou for him?"
and the ape answered, "I give him good morrow at the first of the day,
and he gaineth five ducats; and again at the end of the day, I give
him good even, and he gaineth other five ducats." Whereupon Khalifah
turned to the first ape and said to him: "See, O unlucky, what fine
apes other folk have! As for thee, thou givest me good morrow with thy
one eye and thy lameness and thy ill-omened phiz, and I become poor
and bankrupt and hungry!" So saying, he took the cattle stick, and
flourishing it thrice in the air, was about to come down with it on
the first ape, when Abu al-Sa'adat's ape said to him: "Let him be, O
Khalifah. Hold thy hand and come hither to me, that I may tell thee
what to do."
So Khalifah threw down the stick, and walking up to him,'cried, 'And
what hast thou to say to me, O monarch of all monkeys?" Replied the
ape: "Leave me and the other two apes here, and take thy not and
cast it into the river; and whatever cometh up, bring it to me, and
I will tell thee what shall gladden thee." He replied, "I hear and
obey," and took the net and gathered it on his shoulder, reciting
these couplets:
"When straitened is my breast I will of my Creator pray,
Who may and can the heaviest weight lighten in easiest way,
For ere man's glance can turn or close his eye by God His grace
Waxeth the broken whole and yieldeth jail its prison prey.
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