lad shrink back and ask for pardon; but the old man stepped forward and said: I am the Seruji and this is my son; and the cub at the proving is like the lion. Now never has his hand nor mine done wrong in matter of needle or pencil: But only fortune, the harming, the hostile, has brought us to this, that we came forth to beg Of each one whose palm is moist, whose spring is sweet; of each whose palm is close, whose hand is fettered; By every art, and with every aim: by earnest, if it prosper, and if not, by jest. That we may draw forth a drop for our thirsty lot, and consume our life in wretched victual. And afterward Death is on the watch for us: if he fall not on us to-day he will fall to-morrow. Then said the Kadi to him, "Oh rare! how admirable are the breathings of thy mouth; well done! should I say of thee, were it not for the guile that is in thee. Now know that I am of those that warn thee, and will beware of thee. So act not again deceitfully with judges, but fear the might of those who bear rule. For not every minister will excuse, and not at every season will speech be listened to." Then the old man promised to follow his counsel, and to abstain from disguising his character. And he departed from the Kadi's presence, while the guile beamed from his forehead. Said Al Harith, son of Hammam: Now I never saw aught more wonderful than these things in the changes of my journeys, nor read aught like them in the records of books. THE NINTH ASSEMBLY, (CALLED "OF ALEXANDRIA")[24]