The Blind Man thought that his companion envied him his fine new whip, so he replied, "Ah, friend, I lost my whip and God has given me a better one. You, too, will doubtless find one as good if fortune favours you, but I am not the man to let any one cheat me out of my whip with fantastic tales and false alarms."
His companion laughed and said, "Friend, my sense of duty compelled me to warn you of your danger. You had best listen to what I say, and throw down the Snake."
At this the Blind Man became angry, and said, "You can't fool me! You have taken a fancy to my whip, and are urging me to throw it away so that you may take advantage of my blindness and secure it for yourself. Give up that hope, for the whip came to me miraculously and I shall hold it fast."
The more his comrade urged him to drop the Snake, the more closely the Blind Man clung to it. But at last, when the sun had mounted high and shone hotly down upon them, the Snake recovered its activity, and twisting itself around stung the Blind Man upon his hand and killed him.
(The Anvar-i Suhaili or The Lights of Canopus.)
