The Manners of Kings
STORY XXXV
I was sitting in a vessel with a company of great men, when a boat which contained two brothers happened to sink near us. One of the great men promised a hundred dinârs to a sailor if he could save them both; whilst, however, the sailor was pulling out one, the other perished. I said: "He had no longer to live[1] and therefore delay took place in rescuing him."
The sailor smiled, and replied: "What thou hast said is certain; moreover, I preferred to save this one, because, when I once happened to lag behind in the desert, he seated me on his camel, he seated me on his camel, whereas I had received a whipping by the hands of the other. When I was a boy I recited: 'He who doth right, doth it to his own soul, and he who doth evil, doth it against the same.'"[2]
As long as thou canst, scratch the interior[3] of no one, because there are thorns on this road; be helpful in the affairs of a Dervish, because thou also hast affairs.
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