of her pregnancy, gave birth to this dear little daughter; in whom I rejoiced, for that she was beautiful exceedingly, and she hath inherited her mother’s sound sense and the comeliness of her sire.  Indeed, many of the notables of the people have sought her of me in wedlock, but I would not wed her to any, because I saw in a dream, one night, that same balance set up and men and women being therein weighed, one against other, and meseemed I saw thee and her and the voice said to me, ’This is such a man, the portion of such a woman.’[FN#354] Wherefore I knew that Almighty Allah had allotted her unto none other than thyself, and I choose rather to marry thee to her in my lifetime than that thou shouldst marry her after my death.”  When the poor man heard the merchant’s story, he became desirous of wedding his daughter:  so he took her to wife and was blessed of her with exceeding love.  “Nor” (continued the Wazir), “is this story on any wise stranger or this tale rarer than that of the Sage and his three Sons.”  When the king heard his Minister’s story, he was assured that he would not slay him and said, “I will have patience with him, so I may get of him the story of the Sage and his three Sons.”  And he bade him depart to his own house.

The Fifth Night of the Month.

When the evening evened, the king sat private in his chamber and summoning the Wazir, required of him the promised story.  So Al-Rahwan said, “Hear, O king,

The Tale of the Sage and his Three Sons.[FN#355]

There was once a Sage of the sages, who had three sons and sons’ sons, and when they waxed many and their, seed multiplied, there befel dissension between them.  So he assembled them and said to them, “Be ye single-handed against all others and despise not one another lest the folk despise you, and know that your case is the case of the man and the rope which he cut easily, when it was single; then he doubled it and could not cut it:  on this wise is division and union.[FN#356] And beware lest ye seek help of others against your own selves or ye will fall into perdition, for by what means soever ye win your wish at his hand, his word will rank higher than your word.  Now I have money which I will presently bury in a certain place, that it may be a store for you against the time of your need.”  Then they left him and dispersed and one of the sons fell to spying upon his sire, so that he saw him hide the hoard outside the city.  When he had made an end of burying it, the Sage returned to his house; and as soon as the morning morrowed, his son repaired to the place where he had seen his father bury the treasure and dug and took all the wealth he found and fared forth.  When the old man felt that his death[FN#357] drew nigh, he called his sons to him and acquainted them with the place where he had hidden his hoard.  As soon as he was dead, they went and dug up the treasure and came upon much wealth, for that the money, which the first son had taken singly