A smooth-talking rascal stopped a good-hearted man one day
and poured out his problem.
'I'm so deeply stuck in the mire,' he said, 'that I'll never get out.
I owe ten dirams to a man so mean and troublesome that even the
smallest coin in that sum is a heavy burden on my heart. I can't get
to sleep at night for worrying about it. Every morning without fail ,
he knocks at my door, and for the rest of the day he follow me about
like a shadow, wounding with the most distressing insults. It's as if
he had no other money in the world.I'm sure that the only chapter in
the Book of Religion that he's read in the one that says: Don't spend.
I'm at my wit's end. If only some kind people would help me out with
a coin or two.'
The kind man listened to this tale with obvious sympathy and gave him two
gold coins. The fellow went on his way with a face shining like the sun.
An astonished friend said to the kind-hearted man. 'Surely you have come
across this character before? He's well known in these parts. If he died
tomorrow not a soul would mourn him. He's such a crafty and deceitful
beggar that he could saddle a tiger!'
'Enough!' the generous ma replied. 'The way I look at it is this:Either he was
telling the truth, in which case I saved his honour or he was lying, in which case
I was protected mine. Even a blameless man's honour needs protecting from
a man as devious and talkative as that.'
SA'ADI
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