Asked the wolf，'What do the wise men say？'And the fox answered，'They have observed that the gross of body are gross of mind，far from intelligence and nigh unto ignorance. As for thy saying，O thou stupid，cunning idiot！ that a true friend should undertake sore travail for his true friend's sake，it is sooth as thou sayest，but tell me，of thine ignorance and poverty of intelligence，how can I be a true friend to thee，considering thy treachery. Dost thou count me thy true friend？ Nay，I am thy foe who joyeth in thy woe；and couldst thou trow it，this word were sorer to thee than slaughter by shot of shaft. As for thy promise to provide me a store against want however sore and teach me tricks，to plunder whatso bounteous vineyards I please，and spoil fruitladen trees，how cometh it，O guileful traitor，that thou knowest not a wile to save thyself from destruction？ How far art thou from profiting thyself and how far am I from accepting thy counsel！ If thou have any tricks，make shift for thyself to save thee from the risk，wherefrom I pray Allah to make thine escape far distant！ So look，O fool，if there be any trick with thee；and therewith save thyself from death ere thou lavish instruction upon thy neighbours. But thou art like a certain man attacked by a disease，who went to another diseased with the same disease，and said to him，'Shall I heal thee of thy disease？' Replied the sick man，'Why dost thou not begin by healing thyself？' So he left him and went his way. And thou，O ignorant wolf，art like this；so stay where thou art and under what hath befallen thee be of good heart！'When the wolf heard what the fox said，he knew that from him he had no hope of favour；so he wept for himself，saying，'Verily，I have been heedless of my weal；but if Allah deliver me from this ill I will assuredly repent of my arrogance towards those who are weaker than I，and will wear woollens[157] and go upon the mountains，celebrating the praises of Almighty Allah and fearing His punishment. And I will withdraw from the company of other wild beasts and forsure will I feed the poor fighters for the Faith.'Then he wept and wailed，till the heart of the fox softened when he heard his humble words and his professions of penitence for his past insolence and arrogance. So he took pity upon him and sprang up joyfully and，going to the brink of the breach，squatted down on his hind quarters and let his tail hang in the hole；whereupon the wolf arose and putting out his paw，pulled the fox's tail，so that he fell down in the pit with him. Then said the wolf，'O fox of little mercy，why didst thou exult in my misery，thou that wast my companion and under my dominion？ Now thou art fallen into the pit with me and retribution hath soon overtaken thee. Verily，the sages have said，'If one of you reproach his brother with sucking the dugs of a bitch，he also shall suck her.' And how well quoth the poet，'When Fortune weighs heavy on some of us，And makes camel kneel by some other one，[158]Say to those who rejoice in our ills：Awake！
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