There were once two Kings, a just and an unjust; and this one had a land abounding in trees and fruits and herbs; but he let no merchant pass without robbing him of his monies and his merchandise, and the traders endured this with patience, by reason of their profit from the fatness of the earth in the means of life and its pleasantness, more by token that it was renowned for its richness in precious stones and gems. Now the just King, who loved jewels, heard of this land and sent one of his subjects there, giving him much specie and bidding him pass with it into the other's realm and buy jewels from it. So he went there; and, it being told to the unjust King that a merchant was come to his kingdom with much money to buy jewels as well, he sent for him to the presence and said to him, "Who are you and from where come you and who brought you there and what is your errand?" the merchant "I am of such and such a region, and the King of that land gave me money and bade me buy therewith jewels from this country; so I obeyed his bidding and came." Cried the unjust King, "Out on you! Know you not my fashion of dealing with the people of my realm and how each day I take their monies? How then come you to my country? And behold, you have been a sojourner here since such a time!" Answered the trader, "The money is not mine, not a mite of it; nay, 'tis a trust in my hands, till I bring its equivalent to its owner." But the King said, "I will not let you take your livelihood of my land or go out from it, except you ransom yourself with this money all of it." —And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Tenth night

So the man said in himself, "I am fallen between two Kings, and I know that the oppression of this ruler embracs all who abide in his dominions: and if I satisfy him not, I shall lose both life and money (whereof is no doubt) and shall fail of my errand; whilst, on the other hand, if I give him all the gold, it will most assuredly prove my ruin with its owner, the other King: Why no device will serve me but that I give this one a trifling part of it and content him therewith and avert from myself and from the money perdition. Thus shall I get my livelihood of the fatness of this land, till I buy that which I desire of jewels; and, after satisfying the tyrant with gifts, I will take my portion of the profit and return to the owner of the money with his need, trusting in his justice and indulgence, and unfearing that he will punish me for that which this unjust King takes of the treasure, especially if it be but a little." Then the trader called down blessings on the tyrant and said to him, "O King, I will ransom myself and this specie with a small portion of it, from the time of my entering your country to that of my going forth from it."

The King agreed to this and left him at peace for a year, till he bought all manner jewels with the rest of the money and returned therewith to his master, to whom he made his excuses, confessing to having saved himself from the unjust King as before related. The just King accepted his excuse and praised him for his wise device and set him on his right hand in his divan and appointed him in his kingdom an abiding inheritance and a happy life tide. "Now the just King is the similitude of the future world and the unjust King that of the present world the jewels that be in the tyrant's dominions are good deeds and pious works. The merchant is man and the money he has

The Blind Man And The Cripple. 67 with him is the provision appointed him of Allah. When I consider this, I know that it behoves him who seeks his livelihood in this world to leave not a day without seeking the goods of the world to come, so shall he content this world with that which he gains of the fatness of the earth and satisfy the other world with that which he spends of his life in seeking after it." (¿) "Are the spirit and the body alike in reward and retribution, or is the body, as the luster of lusts and doer of sinful deeds, and especially affected with punishment?"—"The inclination to lusts and sins may be the cause of earning reward by the withholding of the soul from it and the repenting of it; but the command is in the hand of Him who does what He will, and things by their contraries are distinguished. Thus subsistence is necessary to the body, but there is no body without soul; and the purification of the spirit is in making clean the intention in this world and taking thought to that which shall profit in the world to come. Indeed, soul and body are like two horses racing for a wager or two foster brothers or two partners in business. By the intent are good deeds distinguished and thus the body and soul are partners in actions and in reward and retribution, and in this they are like the Blind man and the Cripple with the Overseer of the garden." Asked Shimas, "How so?"; and the Prince said, "Hear, O Wazir, the tale of