le gifts upon his troops and people. "The brain will not be
perfumed by a censer of green aloes-wood; place it over the fire that it
may diffuse fragrance like ambergris. If ambitious of a great name, make
a practice of munificence, for the crop will not shoot till thou shalt
sow the seed."

A narrow-minded courtier began to admonish him, saying, "Verily, former
sovereigns have collected this wealth with scrupulosity and stored it
advisedly. Check your hand in this waste, for accidents wait ahead, and
foes lurk behind. God forbid that you should want it on a day of
need.--Wert thou to distribute the contents of a granary among the
people, every master of a family might receive a grain of rice; why not
exact a grain of silver from each, that thou mightest daily hoard a
chamber full of treasure?"

The prince turned his face aside from this speech, so contrary to his
own lofty sentiments, and harshly reprimanded him, saying, "A great and
glorious God made me sovereign of this property, that I might enjoy and
spend it; and posted me not a sentinel, to hoard and watch over
it.--Carown perished, who possessed forty magazines of treasure;
Nushirowan died not, who left behind him a fair reputation."

XIX

They have related that at a hunting seat they were roasting some game
for Nushirowan, and as there was no salt they were despatching a servant
to the village to fetch some. Nushirowan called to him, saying, "Take it
at its fair price, and not by force, lest a bad precedent be established
and the village desolated." They asked, "What damage can ensue from this
trifle?" He answered, "Originally, the basis of oppression in this world
was small, and every newcomer added to it, till it reached to its
present extent:--Let the monarch eat but one apple from a peasant's
orchard, and his guards, or slaves, will pull up the tree by its root.
From the plunder of five eggs, that the king shall sanction, his troops
will stick a thousand fowls on their spits."

XX

I have heard of a revenue-collector who would distrain the huts of the
peasantry, that he might enrich the treasury of the sovereign,
regardless of that maxim of the wise, who have said, "Whoever can offend
the Most High, that he may gain the heart of a fellow-creature, God on
high will instigate that creature against him, till he dig out the
foundation of his fortune:--That crackling in the flame is not caused by
burning rue, but it is the sigh of the afflicted that o