Quoth he, "Haply, thou hast some business with us,
which we may have the pleasure of transacting?" "Yes," answered
I; "I have business with thee." "And what is it?" asked he. Quoth
I, "I come to thee as a suitor for thy daughter's hand." And he
said, "Thou hast neither money nor condition nor family;"
whereupon I pulled out a thousand diners of red gold and said to
him, "This is my rank and family; and he whom God bless and keep
hath said, 'The best of ranks is wealth.' And how well saith the
poet:
Whoso hath money, though it be but dirhems twain, his lips Have
learnt all manner speech and he can speak and fear no
slight.
His brethren and his mates draw near and hearken to his word And
'mongst the folk thou seest him walk, a glad and prideful
wight.
But for the money, in the which he glorieth on this wise,
Thou'dst find him, midst his fellow-men, in passing sorry
plight.
Yea, whensoe'er the rich man speaks, though in his speech he err,
'Thou hast not spoken a vain thing,' they say; 'indeed,
thou'rt right.'
But, for the poor man, an he speak, albeit he say sooth, They
say, 'Thou liest,' and make void his speech and hold it
light
For money, verily, in all the lands beneath the sun, With
goodliness and dignity cloth its possessors dight.
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