The queen conceived an esteem for Assad as soon as she saw him,
and was extremely glad to hear that he was a slave, resolving to
buy him on any terms. She asked Assad what was his name.
Great queen, replied Assad, with tears in his eyes, does your
majesty ask what my name was formerly, or what it is now? The
queen answered, have you two names then? It is but too true, said
Assad: I was once called Assad, The Most Happy; and now my name
is Motar, Devoted to be Sacrificed.
As his condition of a slave obliged him to use mysterious
answers, Margiana did not understand his meaning; she perceived,
however, that he had a great deal of wit. Since you are clerk to
the captain, said she, no doubt you can write well; let me see
your writing.
Behram had furnished Assad with pen, ink, and paper, as a token
of his office, that the queen might take him for what he designed
she should.
The prince stepped a little aside, and wrote as follows, suitable
to his miserable circumstances.
The blind man avoids the ditch into which the clear-sighted
falls. Fools advance themselves to honours by discourses which
signify nothing; while men of sense and eloquence live in poverty
and contempt. The Mussulman, with all his riches, is miserable.
The infidel triumphs, and we cannot hope things will be
otherwise; the Almighty has decreed it should be so, and his will
is not to be altered.
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