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XXIV

A weak fisherman got a strong fish into his net, but not having the power of mastering it, the fish got the better of him, and, dragging the net from his hand, escaped:—­A bondsman went that he might take water from the brook; the brook came to rise and carried off the bondsman.  On most occasions the net would bring out the fish; on this occasion the fish escaped, and took away the net.  The other fishermen expressed their vexation, and reproached him, saying, “Such a fish came into your net, and you were not able to master it.”  He replied:  “Alas! my brethren, what could be done?  It was not my day of fortune, and the fish had in this way another day left it.  And they have said:  ’Unless it be his lot, the fisherman cannot catch a fish in the Tigris; and, except it be its fate, the fish will not die on the dry shore.’”

XXV

A person without hands or feet killed a milleped.  A good and holy man passed by him at the time, and said:  “Glory be to God! notwithstanding the thousand feet he had when his destiny overtook him, he was unable to escape from one destitute of hand or foot.”—­When the life-plundering foe comes up behind, fate arrests the speed of the swift-going warrior.  At the moment when the enemy might approach step by step it were useless to bend the kayani, or Parthian bow.

XXVI

I met a fat blockhead decked in rich apparel, and mounted on an Arab horse, with a turban of fine Egyptian linen on his head.  A person said:  “O Sa’di, how comes it that you see these garments of the learned on this ignorant beast?” I replied:  “It is a vile epistle which has been written in golden letters:—­’Verily this ass, with the resemblance of a man, has the carcase of a calf, and the voice or bleating of a calf.’—­Thou canst not say that this brute appears like a man, unless in his garments, turban, and outward form.  Examine into all the ways and means of his existence, and thou shalt find nothing lawful but the shedding of his blood:—­though a man of noble birth be reduced to poverty, imagine not that his lofty dignity can be lowered; and though he may secure his silver threshold with a hasp of gold, conclude not that a Jew can be thereby ennobled.”

XXVII

A thief said to a mendicant:  “Are you not ashamed when you hold forth your hand to every mean fellow for a barleycorn of silver?” He replied:  “It is better to hold forth the hand for one grain of silver than to have it cut off for one and a half dang.”

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XXIX

I saw a dervish who had withdrawn into a cave, shut the door of communication between the world and himself, and with his lofty and independent eye viewed emperors and kings without awe or reverence:—­Whoever opens to himself the door of mendicity, must continue a beggar till the day of his death.  Put covetousness aside, and be independent as a prince; the neck of contentment can raise its head erect.