s, and the gazelle mine;' and the lion
knocked his eye out. Then the fox said: 'A curse on him, what a silly
division he proposed!' Accordingly the lion said: 'Then do you make
the division, O possessor of the brush!' And the fox said: 'The ass
will be for your dinner, the gazelle for your supper, and the hare for
your luncheon.' The lion said: 'You rogue! who taught you to make such
a just distribution?' and Reynard answered, 'The eye of the wolf.'

VI.

A certain king asked his vizier whether habit can vanquish nature, or
nature habit? The vizier replied: 'Nature is stronger, because it is a
root, and habit a branch, and every branch returns to its root.' Now
the king called for wine, and a number of cats made their appearance
with candles in their paws, and stood around him; then he said to the
vizier: 'Do you perceive your mistake in saying that nature is
stronger than habit?' The vizier replied: 'Give me time till this
evening.' The king continued: 'You shall have it.' Accordingly the
vizier appeared in the evening with a mouse in his sleeve, and when
the cats were standing with their candles, he allowed it to slip out,
whereon all the cats threw down the candles and ran after it, so that
the house was nearly set on fire. Then the vizier said: 'Behold, O
king, how nature overcomes habit, and how the branch returns to the
root.'

The 'Merzuban namah,' translated from the Persian into Arabic, is said
to be of very ancient origin, and to embody good maxims in fables. It
was composed, or is supposed to have been composed, by one of the old
princes of Persia called Merzuban, a brother of the King Nausherwan
the Just, who died A.D. 578. On referring to the great encyclopaedical
and bibliographical dictionary, edited by Fluegel, it will be found,
under No. 11,783, that Haji Khalfa mentions this book, giving,
however, its title only, without mentioning the time of its
composition, nor the author of it, nor the language in which it had
been written. The following are some extracts from this work, and the
stories resemble others that have come from the Farther East.

I.

The philosopher Merzuban said: 'I am informed that in a certain
district of Aderbaijan there is a mountain as high as the sky, with
fine brooks, trees, fruits and herbs. Under the shelter of one of the
most beautiful trees a pair of partridges lived most happily, but in
the vicinity there was likewise a powerful eagle with his brood, who
per