Know then, O Commander of the Faithful, that I am a very Arab
of the Arabs, the noblest of those that are beneath the skies.
I grew up in the dwellings of the desert, till evil and hostile
times fell upon my tribe, when I came to the utterward of this
town, with my children and good and household. As I went along
one of the paths between the gardens, with my she-camels, high
in esteem with me and precious to me, and midst them a stallion
of noble race and goodly shape, a plenteous getter, by whom the
females bore abundantly and who walked among them, as he were a
crowned king,--behold, one of the she-camels broke away and
running to the garden of these young men's father, began to
crop the branches that showed above the wall. I ran to her, to
drive her away, when there appeared, at a breach of the wall,
an old man, whose eyes sparkled with anger, holding a stone in
his right hand and swaying to and fro, like a lion preparing
for a spring. He cast the stone at my stallion, and it struck
him in a vital part and killed him. When I saw the stallion
drop dead beside me, live coals of anger were kindled in my
heart; so I took up the stone and throwing it at the old man,
it was the cause of his end: thus his own wrongful act returned
against him and the man was slain of that wherewith he slew.
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