The darvesh said, ‘They have related that a person had two wives, one old and the other young; and he himself had hair of two colors. Now he was fond of both his wives, and passed a day and a night in the apartment of each; and his habit was, when he entered the apartment of one of his wives, to put his head in her lap and go to sleep. One day he went to the room of the elderly wife, and, according to custom, put his head in her lap and went to sleep. The old lady gazed on his face and hair, and said to herself, ‘In the beard and whiskers of this person there are some black hairs; I can’t do better than pluck them out, that all his beard may appear white, and that young wife of his may not fancy him; so when he perceives that that wife is not fond of him but loathes him and has an aversion for him, the flame of his affection, too, will be quenched and he will remove his heart from her and will give himself up altogether to me.’ She then pulled out all the black hairs she could from his beard.

The next day that person was in the apartment of his young wife, and in his accustomed manner put his head in her lap and went to sleep. The young wife observed some white hairs in his beard, and thought to herself, ‘I must pluck out these white hairs that his whole beard may appear black, and when he sees himself with black hairs he will of course be disgusted with the society of his old wife, and will be attached to me. Thereupon she, too, pulled out as many white hairs as were required at the time. After some time had passed in this manner, one day that person stroked his beard with his hand; he found that the hairs were gone and that the harvest of his beard was scattered to the wind. At this he raised a cry of distress, but all his lamentation was vain. Now thy case is just similar. Part of thy capital and interest thou didst expend on thy baker’s shop, and part thou wastedst on thy farming business, and now when thou lookest about thee, thou hast neither baked bread in the oven of subsistence nor a stack obtained in the tillage-ground of life.

When I heard this story I perceived that what the old darvesh said was true, and that from this procedure I had got nothing but regret and remorse, and that all I possessed would not suffice to pay my debts. I looked upon it, therefore, as the best thing I could do in accordance with the direction, ‘Flight from what is insupportable is agreeable to the laws of Apostles,’ to fly from that city, which I accordingly did by night. I went on stage by stage, in terror and alarm, until I had traversed a long distance. After the lapse of a considerable interval, I heard that my children were dead and that my creditors had taken possession of my effects—under a valuation—in payment of my debts. Thus hopeless of returning to my country, I journey on from stage to stage and from one place to another: and I seek a solace for the pain of my heart, from every gentleman I meet with, and place the ointment of gratification on the wound of the fatigues of travel by interviews with men of God: till this moment, when the mirror of my heart has been purified from the rust of cares by the furbishing instrument of proximity to your honor, and the sharbat of my enjoyment has been prepared with the sweetness of the sugar-raining conversation of my lord.

This is a sample of my history, which I have narrated.’ The Devotee responded, ‘I have inhaled from thy words the perfume of sincerity, and my heart has borne testimony to the truth of thy discourse; and if during some days thou hast undergone the affliction of exile and the toils of travel, still thou hast gained good experience, and hast acquired perfect information of the manners and customs of divers nations, and mayest live hereafter in peace and tranquillity.

The Guest was pleased with his host, and the host, too, viewing the society of his guest as a piece of unexpected good fortune, shewed his satis­faction by his friendly unceremoniousness. Now the Devotee was one of the children of Israel, and knew the Hebrew language well; and though he was versed in most languages, and could converse in a majority of tongues, nevertheless, as the Hebrew was his mother-tongue, his fluency therein was conspicuous, and he always spoke in that tongue to his domestics. Although the European stranger was, in point of fact, ignorant of Hebrew, still he liked to hear the Devotee speak in it, and constantly besought him to do so. The latter, too, to gratify his Guest, and on account of his liking for the language, loosed the tongue of eloquence, and satisfied all that rhetoric could demand in speaking the Hebrew tongue well. Thus the Guest became a lover of the language, and from the excessive sweetness of the Devotee’s discourse, and the tastefulness of his conversation, he formed the desire of learning Hebrew from him.

Some days passed, and the veil of ceremony being removed from between them, their character of strangers was exchanged for that of united friends, and from the premises of acquaintance the conclusion of intimacy was obtained.

Then the Guest boldly commenced the praises of the Devotee, and said,

what ornament of discourse and embellishment of style is this? It is such that the eye of the reason of those of penetrating sight never saw more perfect eloquence, and the ear of the intelligence of those who can appreciate rhetoric never listened to more beautiful language.

I trust that thou wilt teach me this language, and I respectfully entreat that thou will not withhold from me instruction in this dialect; for, without previous introduction, thou hast fulfilled towards me all the dues of courtesy in treating me with honor and respect; and without the premission of the antecedents of friendship, thou hast been careful to display manifold attentions in thy hospitable reception of me. To-day, that the bond of our amity has been confirmed by means of our long intercourse, I am in hopes that thou wilt be pleased to shew kindness and link my request with acceptance, and draw on the page of my condition with eagerness and pleasure the writing of discipleship, in order that it may become a cause of the increase of the matters of mutual esteem, and that thus the daily portions of the commemoration of kindness and the fashion of gratitude may be observed.

The Devotee replied, ‘Why should I grudge or demur to do this? being as it is to raise a person from the abyss of ignorance to the pinnacle of knowledge, and to conduct a learner from the lowest place of the low of defective understanding to the rank of highest of the high of perfection. However, it occurs to me that between the Hebrew language and that of Europe there is an immense disagreement and huge difference. Forbid it! that in this study thy mind and intellect should be altogether wearied out on account of its being altogether incompetent to comprehend and recollect it. And in that case both my labor will be wasted and thy time lost.’ The Guest replied, ‘Whoever steps forward to acquire anything must undoubtedly prepare himself to undergo hardships, and he who turns his face in the direction of the K’abah* of his wish, must not think of the suffering in the desert of toil.

And I am so much in earnest in this resolve, that if every hair on my head became a thorn I would not turn my face from this enterprise; and though every eyelash on my eyelids were changed into a lance I would not glance at any other business.

And all suffering that is endured in the pursuit of learning turns into enjoyment in the end, and the labor of the student is never thrown away. In this way that Hunter, by means of a slight inconvenience which he submitted to for the sake of learning, and by an insignificant service which he performed towards the wise, obtained complete affluence, and arrived from the narrow strait of want in the expanding plain of independence and abundance.’ The Devotee asked, ‘How was that?’