Page:Folk-lore of the Holy Land.djvu/174

150 FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND and how he had spent the whole of his property in striving to achieve success and attain a high position. “My son,” said the benevolent ruler, when the poet had stopped speaking, “be content with what I now give you. For you to receive more at present would only be a cause of trouble to you, for it would be sure to excite the attention, and rouse the envy and hatred, of your neighbours. I will, however, add to it something of greater worth than all the talents and learning which you already possess. I will tell you what is the secret of success in life. It is expressed in the one Arabic word “Heylim.”^[1] “Make ‘Heylim’ your rule of life and you will be sure to attain eminence.” With these words the scholar was dismissed. Walking home, he pondered on his Sovereign’s strange advice. Suddenly a bright idea struck him. Meeting a well-dressed Greek priest in the lonely road, he accosted him. “O Nazarene, son of a dog, change clothes with me.” The priest objected at first, but finally yielded to the Moslem’s threats, and was glad to be allowed to go his way unharmed, as a Mohammedan ’âlim or savant, whilst the poet, as a Greek priest, returned to Istanbil took a room in a quiet khan, and remained in retirement till his hair was grown so long as to enable him to pass for a priest of the Orthodox Church.

Having attained this object he called on the Sheykh el Islâm and desired a private interview which was granted. “Three nights ago,” said the impostor, “I had a dream which greatly troubled