asked the wolf；and the fox said，I entered a vineyard one day and saw a hawk stoop upon a partridge and seize it： but the partridge escaped from him and entering its nest，hid itself there. The hawk followed and called out to it，saying，'O wittol，I saw thee in the desert，hungry，and took pity on thee；so I gathered grain for thee and took hold of thee that thou mightest eat；but thou fledst，wherefore I know not，except it were to slight me. So come out and take the grain I have brought thee to eat，and much good may it do thee！'The partridge believed what he said and came out，whereupon the hawk stuck his talons into him and seized him.'Is this that which thou saidst thou hadst brought me from the desert，'cried the partridge，'and of which thou badest me eat，saying，Much good may it do thee？Thou hast lied to me and may God make what thou eatest of my flesh to be a deadly poison in thy maw！'So when the hawk had eaten the partridge，his feathers fell off and his strength failed and he died on the spot. Know，then，O wolf，that he，who digs a pit for his brother，soon falls into it himself，and thou first dealtest perfidiously with me.'Spare me this talk and these moral instances，'said the wolf，and remind me not of my former ill deeds，for the sorry plight I am in suffices me，seeing that I am fallen into a place，in which even my enemy would pity me，to say nothing of my friend. So make thou some shift to deliver me and be thou thereby my saviour. If this cause thee aught of hardship，think that a true friend will endure the sorest travail for his friends sake and risk his life to deliver him from perdition；and indeed it hath been said，'A tender friend is better than an own brother.'So if thou bestir thyself and help me and deliver me，I will gather thee such store of gear，as shall be a provision for thee against the time of want，and teach thee rare tricks to gain access to fruitful vineyards and strip the fruit-laden trees.'How excellent，'rejoined the fox，laughing，is what the learned say of those who are past measure ignorant，like unto thee！'What do they say？asked the wolf；and the fox answered，They say that the gross of body are gross of nature，far from understanding and nigh unto ignorance.
As for thy saying，O perfidious，stupid self-deceiver，that a friend should suffer hardship to succour his friend，it is true，as thou sayest： but tell me，of thine ignorance and poverty of wit，how can I be a true friend to thee，considering thy treachery？Dost thou count me thy friend？Behold，I am thine enemy，that exulteth in thy misfortune；and couldst thou understand it，this word were sorer to thee than slaughter and arrow-shot. As for thy promise to provide me a store against the time of want and teach me tricks to enter vineyards and spoil fruit-trees，how comes it，O crafty traitor，that thou knowest not a trick to save thyself from destruction？How far art thou from profiting thyself and how far am I from lending ear to thy speech！If thou have any tricks，make shift for thyself to save thee from this peril，wherefrom I pray God to make thine escape distant！So look，O idiot，if there be any trick with thee and save thyself from death therewith，before thou lavish instruction on others. But thou art like a certain sick man，who went to another，suffering from the same disease，and said to him，'Shall I heal thee of thy disease？'Why dost thou not begin by healing thyself？'answered the other；so he left him and went his way.
And thou，O ignorant wolf，art like this；so stay where thou art and be patient under what hath befallen thee.'When the wolf heard what the fox said，he knew he had no hope from him；so he wept for himself，saying，Verily，I have been heedless of mine affair；but if God deliver me from this scrape，I will assuredly repent of my arrogance towards those who are weaker than I and will put on wool and go upon the mountains，celebrating the praises of God the Most High and fearing His wrath. Yea，I will sunder myself from all the other wild beasts and feed the poor and those who fight for the Faith.'Then he wept and lamented，till the heart of the fox was softened and he took pity on him，whenas he heard his humble words and his professions of repentance for his past arrogance and tyranny. So he sprang up joyfully and going to the brink of the pit，sat down on his hind quarters and let his tail fall therein；whereupon the wolf arose and putting out his paw，pulled the foxs tail，so that he fell down into the pit with him. Then said the wolf，O fox of little ruth，why didst thou exult over me，thou that wast my companion and under my dominion？Now thou art fallen into the pit with me and retribution hath soon overtaken thee. Verily，the wise have said，'If one of you reproach his brother with sucking the teats of a bitch，he also shall suck her，'and how well saith the poet：
When fortunes blows on some fall hard and heavily，With others of our kind as friend encampeth she.
So say to those who joy in our distress，'Awake；For those who mock our woes shall suffer even as we.'
And death in company is the best of things；wherefore I will make haste to kill thee，ere thou see me killed.'Alas！Alas！'said the fox in himself. I am fallen in with this tyrant，and my case calls for the use of craft and cunning；for indeed it is said that a woman fashions her ornaments for the festival day，and quoth the proverb，'I have kept thee，O my tear，against the time of my distress！'Except I make shift to circumvent this overbearing beast，I am lost without recourse；and how well says the poet：
Provide thee by craft，for thou livst in a time Whose folk are as lions that lurk in a wood，And set thou the mill-stream of knavery abroach，That the mill of subsistence may grind for thy food，And pluck the fruits boldly；but if they escape From thy grasp，then content thee with hay to thy food.'
