The other lay down and addressed himself to sleep,
when, behold, there arose a great clamour in the harem. He
asked what was to do, and they said, 'A terrible thing hath
befallen the sheikh, and he is at the last gasp.' 'Take me up
to him,' said he. So they carried him to the schoolmaster, whom
he found lying insensible, with his blood streaming down. He
sprinkled water on his face and when he revived, he said to
him, 'What has betided thee? When thou leftest me, thou west in
all good cheer and sound of body.' 'O my brother,' answered the
schoolmaster, 'after I left thee, I sat meditating on the works
of God the Most High and said to myself, "In every thing God
hath created for man there is an use; for He (to whom be glory)
created the hands to seize, the feet to walk, the eyes to see,
the ears to hear and the yard to do the deed of kind; and so on
with all the members of the body, except these two cullions;
there is no use in them." So I took a razor I had by me and cut
them off; and there befell me what thou seest.' So the guest
left him and went away, saving, 'He was in the right who said,
"No schoolmaster who teaches children can have a perfect wit,
though he know all sciences.
Pages:
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398