On the Excellence of Contentment
STORY XCV
Two Khorâsâni Dervishes travelled together; one of them, being weak, broke his fast every second night, whilst the other, who was strong, consumed every day three meals. It happened that they were captured at the gate of a town on suspicion of being spies, whereon each of them was confined in a closet and the aperture of it walle dup with mud bricks. After two weeks it became known that they were guiltless; accordingly the doors were opened and the strong man was found dead, whilst the weak fellow had remained alive. The people were astonished, but a sage averred that the contrary would have been astonishing, because one of them, having been voracious, possessed no strength to suffer hunger, and perished, whilst the other, who was abstemious, merely persevered in his habit and remained safe.
When eating little has become the nature of a man, he takes it easy when a calamity befalls him; but when the body becomes strong in affluence, he will die when a hardship overtakes him.
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