They have related that a pair of pigeons had collected some grains of corn in the beginning of summer, and stored them up in a retired place as a hoard for winter. Now that corn was moist, and when summer drew to a close, the heat of the atmo­sphere had such an effect upon the corn, that it dried up, and appeared less than it did at first. During these days the male pigeon was absent from home. When he came back and observed that the corn appeared to be less in quantity, he began to reproach his partner, and said: “We had laid up this grain for our food in winter, so that when the cold became excessive, and from the quantity of snow, no corn was to be found on the fields, we might support ourselves with this. At this time, when pickings are to be met with in mountain and plain, why hast thou eaten our supplies? and why hast thou swerved from the path of prudence? Hast thou not heard, pray, that the sages have said:

Now that thou hast food in plenty,
Do thy best it up to store,
That thou may'st still have abundance
When the harvest-time is o'er.”

The female pigeon said: “I have eaten none of this grain, nor have I used any of it in any way whatever.” As the male pigeon saw that the grain had decreased, he did not believe her denial, and pecked her till she died. Afterwards, in the winter, when the rain fell incessantly, and the marks of dampness were evident on door and wall, the grain imbibed moisture and returned to its former state. The male pigeon then discovered what had been the cause of the apparent loss, and began to lament and to bewail his separation from his affectionate partner. Thus he wept bitterly, and said: “Grievous is this absence of my friend, and more grievous still that repentance is unavailing.

With prudence act, for haste will cause thee pain
And loss, and to regret the lost is vain.”

And the moral of this story is, that it behoves a wise man not to be precipitate in inflicting punishment, lest, like the pigeon, he suffer from the anguish of separation.

In the Syriac, Greek, and old Castilian versions, the vazīr who relates the story of the Two Pigeons has for his second a rather stupid tale, which may be entitled