vixen, and discovered such a perverse spirit and virulent tongue as
quite unhinged all my domestic comfort.--A scolding wife in the dwelling
of a peaceful man is his hell, even in this world. Protect and guard us
against a wicked inmate. Save us, O Lord, and preserve us from the
fiery, or hell, torture.

Having on one occasion given a liberty to the tongue of reproach, she
was saying, "Are you not the fellow whom my father redeemed from the
captivity of the Franks for ten dinars?" I replied, "Yes, I am that same
he delivered from captivity for ten dinars, and enslaved me with you for
a hundred!" I have heard that a reverend and mighty man released a sheep
from the paws and jaws of a wolf. That same night he was sticking a
knife into its throat, when the spirit of the sheep reproached him,
saying, "Thou didst deliver me from the clutches of a wolf, when I at
length saw that thou didst prove a wolf to me thyself."

* * * * *

XXXIII

One of the holy men of Syria had passed many years of devotion in the
wilderness, and was feeding on the leaves of trees. The king of that
country, in the way of a pilgrimage, visited him, and said, "If you can
see the propriety of removing into my capital I will prepare an abode,
where you may perform your devotions more at ease than in this place,
and others may benefit by the blessing of your spiritual communion, and
be edified by the example of your pious labors." The hermit was adverse
to this advice, and turned away his face. One of the king's ministers
spoke to him, saying: "For the satisfaction of his Majesty, it were
proper that you would for a few days remove into the city, and ascertain
the nature of the place; when, if it should prove that your purity might
be tarnished by coming in contact with the wicked, you have still the
option left of moving back."

It is reported that they prevailed on the hermit to accompany them into
the city; and, in a garden near the sacred residence of the king,
prepared for him a dwelling, which, like the mansions of paradise, was
rejoicing the heart, and exhilarating the soul.--Its damask roses were
blooming as the cheeks of the lovely, and its tufted spikenard like the
ringlets of our mistresses. It had as much to fear from the angry blasts
of winter as the babe who has not yet tasted its nurse's milk: _boughs
of trees on which hung crimson flowers, that gleamed like a flame amidst
their dusky foliage_.

Forth