Verily, the wise have
said, "If one of you reproach his brother with sucking the teats
of a bitch, he also shall suck her," and how well saith the poet:
When fortune's blows on some fall hard and heavily, With others
of our kind as friend encampeth she.
So say to those who joy in our distress, "Awake; For those who
mock our woes shall suffer even as we."
And death in company is the best of things; wherefore I will make
haste to kill thee, ere thou see me killed.' 'Alas! Alas!' said
the fox in himself. 'I am fallen in with this tyrant, and my case
calls for the use of craft and cunning; for indeed it is said
that a woman fashions her ornaments for the festival day, and
quoth the proverb, "I have kept thee, O my tear, against the time
of my distress!" Except I make shift to circumvent this
overbearing beast, I am lost without recourse; and how well says
the poet:
Provide thee by craft, for thou liv'st in a time Whose folk are
as lions that lurk in a wood,
And set thou the mill-stream of knavery abroach, That the mill of
subsistence may grind for thy food,
And pluck the fruits boldly; but if they escape From thy grasp,
then content thee with hay to thy food.'
Then said he to the wolf, 'Hasten not to slay me, for that is not
my desert and thou wouldst repent it, O valiant beast, lord of
might and exceeding prowess! If thou hold thy hand and consider
what I shall tell thee, thou wilt know that which I purpose; but
if thou hasten to kill me, it will profit thee nothing and we
shall both die here.
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