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FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND

a robe of honour to be put on him; he gave him a gold dinâr for each fig, and then dismissed him with all honour.

When the old fellâh had left the Presence, the Caliph’s son El Mamûn, asked his father why such grace had been shown to an illiterate peasant. “My son,” replied Harûn, “Allah Himself had honoured him so I was bound to do the same.”

The old fellâh returned to his village in high glee, and there extolled the liberality and condescension of the Prince of Believers. Now next door to him lived a jealous and avaricious woman, who, envious of her old neighbour’s good fortune, resolved to outdo him, and therefore worried her husband till, for peace, he filled a large basket with figs and presented himself with them at the door of the Khalìfeh’s palace. When asked what he wanted, he answered that as the Commander of the Faithful was famed for his impartiality, and had so richly rewarded his neighbour for a few figs, he had also brought some and hoped to receive a similar reward. On hearing this reply the guards reported the case to Harûn, by whose orders the foolish man was pelted with his own fruit. Angry and hurt, he went home and divorced the wife whose folly had exposed him to such shame.[1]

A certain Sultan was one day struck with the

  1. ↑ Variants of this story are legion in Syria and Egypt, but the greater number could not fitly be ranged under the headline, “Moral Tales,” —Ed.
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