Kárshinás said, ‘They have related that the infirmity of age had taken effect on a Snake, and that complete debility had supervened upon him. Through loss of strength, he was unable to pursue his prey, and was bewildered in his proceedings how to obtain food. Life was impossible without food, and to hunt for that which was wont to be his food, had, through want of strength, become impracticable. Accordingly he thus reflected, ‘Alas! for the strength of my youth, and woe is me for the season of my prosperity; and now to expect the return of the days of my juvenescence, and to hope for the recurrence of my animal vigor is a thing of the same complexion as to light a fire from water, and to desire to remove thirst with fire; and, notwithstanding all this, would that there were permanence even to the season of old age, and that this brief period, too, could be relied upon!
The Snake felt that what was passed could not be recalled, and he therefore busied himself with taking thought for the future, which is the most important business, and said, ‘In lieu of the strength of youth I have a little experience which I have acquired, and a trifle of prudence, the clue of which I have during a long life laid hold of. I must now base my proceedings on abstaining from injuring others, and every degradation that is presented to me I must gratefully accept it. I must begin, too, to consider how I may obtain, for the remainder of my life, what may be the means of support.’ He then went to the brink of a spring of water in which there were a number of frogs, who had a potent king, and one who was obeyed and renowned. The Snake cast himself down there in the dust of the road, like to mourners with their bosoms rent, and to sufferers on whom calamity has fallen. A frog speedily made up to him, and asked him, ‘I see thou art very sorrowful, what is the cause of it?’ The Snake replied, ‘Who deserves more to grieve than I, whose maintenance was from hunting frogs? To-day an event has happened to me which has rendered the pursuit of them unlawful to me, and if I seriously designed to seize one, I could not.’ The frog went away and told the king. The king of the frogs was amazed at this strange circumstance, and coming to the Snake, asked him, ‘What is the cause of this accident that has befallen thee?* and what act has brought down this upon thee?’ The Snake replied,
O king! audacious greed plunged me into the mesh of calamity, and mischievous covetousness opened upon me this gate of trouble, and this befell as follows. One day I attempted to seize a frog, which fled from me and took refuge in the house of a holy man. My appetite led me to follow him into the house, which happened to be dark. The son of the holy man lay there asleep, and his great toe coming against me I fancied it was the frog. From the ardour of my greediness I closed my teeth upon it, and the child died on the spot. The holy man discovered the fact, and, from regret for his son, attacked me, and I, turning towards the open country, fled with speed, and the recluse pursued me and imprecated a curse on me, and said, ‘I desire of my Creator that He will make thee base and powerless, and cause thee to be the vehicle of the frog-king. And, verily, thou shalt not have power to eat frogs save what their king shall bestow on thee as alms.’ And now, of necessity, I have come hither that the king may ride upon me, and I have acquiesced in the Eternal command and the will of God.
The matter pleased the king of the frogs, and he thought that it would redound to his honor and advantage; and he always seated himself upon the Snake, and indulged in vain-glorious airs in consequence, and sought to magnify himself above those of his own species. Some time passed in this way. At last the Snake said, ‘May the life of the king be prolonged! I cannot do without food and sustenance, that I may support life thereon, and fulfil this service.’ The king said, ‘The case is as thou sayest; I cannot* do without my steed, and my steed cannot have strength without food.’ He then fixed two frogs as his daily allowance, that he might use as his regular supply for breakfast and dinner. The Snake maintained himself on that allowance; and inasmuch as the attention he paid to the frog-king involved a benefit to himself, he did not find fault with it.
And I have adduced this story to make it apparent that if I, too, was patient, and endured abasement with a view to the destruction of my foes, and the welfare of my friends, which were involved in that abasement, I did not experience such a sensation of disgust. Moreover, courtesy and humility are readier means to uproot an enemy than war and contest. As when fire furiously assails a tree, all that it is possible for it to consume is as much as is on the face of the earth; while water gently and softly undermines the roots of every tree (even of those that are* larger and stronger), to such a degree that there is no farther hope of its abiding in the same place.
Hence they have said that indulgence and counsel are better than valor, since, however brave and mighty a warrior may be, he can but match ten persons, or, at the utmost, twenty; and if any one would choose to exagge-rate, he might say a hundred, and a thousand would be the climax. But a wise man, by a single right-aiming scheme, may thrust a whole country into perplexity, and may, by one plan, overthrow a powerful army, and embroil a populous kingdom.
The king said, ‘Thou hast obtained a wonderful triumph over our enemies, and thy hand has won a marvelous victory!’ Kárshinás answered, ‘All this success is not attributable to the goodness of my plans and the excellence of my deliberations, but the splendour of the good fortune and the felicitous auspices of the king lent their aid in this matter. And they have said, ‘If a party form the design of doing a thing, and a body of people take steps in any enterprise, that one will attain his object who is distinguished by a high sense of honor; for it is the peculiar property of honor that the affair of its possessor progresses; and if all are equal in this point, he will be successful who has the greatest firmness and sincerity of purpose; and if they be on the same footing in this respect too, that one will win the end in view, whose friends and allies are most numerous; and if here also there be no difference, his will be the triumph, who is aided by fortune and befriended by destiny.
The king said, ‘They thought not so much of us, and did not imagine that we could be designing to revenge ourselves, for they saw that we were few, and they accounted us weak.’ Kárshinás replied, ‘There are four things, a little of which must be thought a great deal. The first is fire, a little of which is as mischievous in burning as a great deal. The second is debt, since the shame of being dunned for one dirham is the same as for a thousand dínárs. The third is sickness, for, though the health may be but little disturbed, yet its concomitants are debility and want of spirits. The fourth is an enemy, who, though he may be weak and contemptible, will in the end effect his purpose. And I have heard that a Sparrow in spite of its feeble condition, obtained vengeance on a powerful snake.’ The king asked, ‘How was that?’