by his side, and the fairy-formed youth holding a fly-flap of peacock's
feathers in his hand, and standing by him in attendance. The king
congratulated him upon his portly appearance, and they entered together
upon a variety of topics, till his majesty concluded by observing, "In
this world I have an affection for these two orders of mankind, the
learned and the recluse." A philosophic vizir, and man of much worldly
experience, happened to be present. He said: "O sire! such is the canon
of affection that you should confer a benefit on each. Give money to the
learned man, that he may teach others; and give nothing to the hermit,
that he may remain an anchorite.--A zahid, or hermit, stands in need of
neither diram nor dinar; when an anchorite takes either, look out for
another.--Whoever is virtuously disposed, and holds a mystical
communication with God, is sufficient of a hermit without requiring the
bread of charity, or the crumbs of mendicity. The tapering finger of the
lovely, and her soul-deluding ear-lobe, are decoration enough without a
turquoise ring or ear-jewel. Tell that piously-disposed and
serene-minded dervish that he needs not the bread of consecration or
scraping of beggary; tell that handsome and fair-faced matron that she
does not require paint, coloring, or jewelry.--When I have of my own,
and covet what is another's, if they esteem me not a hermit they treat
me as I merit."


XXXIV

Conformably with the above apologue, a king had a business of importance
in hand. He said: "If this affair prosper to my wish I will distribute
among the recluses a certain sum in dirams." Now his object was
accomplished, and mind made easy, he thought it incumbent to fulfil the
condition of his eleemosynary vow, and gave a bag of dinars to a