On the Excellence of Contentment
The son replied: "O father! Thou wilt certainly not obtain a treasure except by trouble, will not overcome thy foe unless thou hazardest thy life, and wilt not gather a harvest unless thou scatterest seed. Perceivest thou not how much comfort I gained at the cost of the small amount of trouble I underwent, and what a quantity of honey I have brought in return for the sting I have suffered? Although not more can be acquired than fate has decreed, negligence in striving to acquire is not commendable. If a diver fears the crocodile's throat he will never catch the pearl of great price. The nether millstone is immovable, and therefore must bear a heavy load. What will a fierce lion devour at the bottom of his den? What food does a fallen hawk obtain? If thou desirest to catch game at home thou must have hands and feet like a spider."
The father said to his son: "On this occasion heaven has been propitious to thee and good luck helpful, so that a royal person has met thee, has been bountiful to thee, and has thereby healed thy broken condition. Such coincidences occur seldom, and rare events cannot be reckoned upon.[1] The hunter does not catch every time a jackal. It may happen that some day a tiger devours him."
Thus it happened that one of the Kings of Pares, who possessed a ring with a costly bezel, once went out by way of diversion with some intimate courtiers to the Masalla[2] of Shirâz, and ordered his ring to be placed on the dome of Asad, promising to bestow the seal-ring upon any person who could make an arrow pass through it. It happened that every one of the four hundred archers in his service missed the ring, except a little boy who was shooting arrows in sport [at random]
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