第13章 The Hawk and the Partridge.(3)

Verily，'said the fox，distrust is not to be commended in every case；on the contrary，a confiding disposition is the characteristic of a noble nature and its issue is freedom from terrors. Now it behoves thee，O wolf，to put in practice some device for thy deliverance from this thou art in and the escape of us both will be better than our death： so leave thy distrust and rancour；for if thou trust in me，one of two things will happen；either I shall bring thee whereof to lay hold and escape，or I shall play thee false and save myself and leave thee；and this latter may not be，for I am not safe from falling into some such strait as this thou art in，which would be fitting punishment of perfidy. Indeed the adage saith，'Faith is fair and perfidy foul.'It behoves thee，therefore，to trust in me，for I am not ignorant of the vicissitudes of Fortune： so delay not to contrive some device for our deliverance，for the case is too urgent for further talk.'To tell thee the truth，'replied the wolf，for all my want of confidence in thy fidelity，I knew what was in thy mind and that thou wast minded to deliver me，whenas thou heardest my repentance，and I said in myself，'If what he asserts be true，he will have repaired the ill he did： and if false，it rests with God to requite him.'So，behold，I accept thy proposal，and if thou betray me，may thy perfidy be the cause of thy destruction！'Then he stood upright in the pit and taking the fox upon his shoulders，raised him to the level of the ground，whereupon the latter gave a spring and lighted on the surface of the earth. When he found himself in safety，he fell down senseless，and the wolf said to him，O my friend，neglect not my case and delay not to deliver me.'The fox laughed derisively and replied，O dupe，it was but my laughing at thee and making mock of thee that threw me into thy hands： for when I heard thee profess repentance，mirth and gladness seized me and I frisked about and danced and made merry，so that my tail fell down into the pit and thou caughtest hold of it and draggedst me down with thee. Why should I be other than a helper in thy destruction，seeing that thou art of the host of the devil！I dreamt yesterday that I danced at thy wedding and related my dream to an interpreter，who told me that I should fall into a great danger and escape from it. So now I know that my falling into thy hand and my escape are the fulfilment of my dream，and thou，O ignorant dupe，knowest me for thine enemy；so how canst thou，of thine ignorance and lack of wit，hope for deliverance at my hands，after all thou hast heard of harsh words from me，and wherefore should I endeavour for thy deliverance，whenas the wise have said，'In the death of the wicked is peace for mankind and purgation for the earth？'Yet，but that I fear to reap more affliction by keeping faith with thee than could follow perfidy，I would do my endeavour to save thee.'When the wolf heard this，he bit his paws for despite and was at his wits end what to do.

Then he gave the fox fair words，but this availed nought；so he said to him softly，Verily，you foxes are the most pleasant spoken of folk and the subtlest in jest，and this is but a jest of thine；but all times are not good for sport and jesting.'O dolt，'answered the fox，jesting hath a limit，that the jester overpasses not，and deem not that God will again give thee power over me，after having once delivered me from thee.'Quoth the wolf，It behoves thee to endeavour for my release，by reason of our brotherhood and fellowship，and if thou deliver me，I will assuredly make fair thy reward.'The wise say，'rejoined the fox，'Fraternize not with the ignorant and wicked，for he will shame thee and not adorn thee，--nor with the liar，for if thou do good，he will hide it，and if evil，he will publish it；'and again，'There is help for everything but death： all may be mended，save natural depravity，and everything may be warded off，except Fate.'As for the reward thou promisest me，I liken thee therein to the serpent that fled from the charmer. A man saw her affrighted and said to her，'What ails thee，O serpent？'Quoth she，'I am fleeing from the serpent-charmer，who is in chase of me，and if thou wilt save me and hide me with thee，I will make fair thy recompense and do thee all manner of kindness.'So he took her，moved both by desire of the promised recompense and a wish to find favour with God，and hid her in his bosom. When the charmer had passed and gone his way and the serpent had no longer any reason to fear，he said to her，'Where is the recompense thou didst promise me？Behold，I have saved thee from that thou dreadest.'Tell me where I shall bite thee，'replied she，'for thou knowest we overpass not that recompense.'So saying，she gave him a bite，of which he died. And I liken thee，O dullard，to the serpent in her dealings with the man. Hast thou not heard what the poet says？

Trust not in one in whose heart thou hast made wrath to abide And thinkest his anger at last is over and pacified.

Verily vipers，though smooth and soft to the feel and the eye And graceful of movements they be，yet death-dealing venom they hide.'

O glib-tongue，lord of the fair face，'said the wolf，thou art not ignorant of my case and of mens fear of me and knowest how I assault the strong places and root up the vines. Wherefore，do as I bid thee and bear thyself to me as a servant to his lord.'O stupid dullard，'answered the fox，that seekest a vain thing，I marvel at thy stupidity and effrontery，in that thou biddest me serve thee and order myself towards thee as I were a slave bought with thy money；but thou shalt see what is in store for thee，in the way of breaking thy head with stones and knocking out thy traitors teeth.'So saying，he went up to a hill that gave upon the vineyard and standing there，called out to the people of the place，nor did he give over crying，till he woke them and they，seeing him，came up to him in haste. He held his ground till they drew near him and near the pit，when he turned and fled. So they looked into the pit and spying the wolf，fell to pelting him with heavy stones，nor did they leave smiting him with sticks and stones and piercing him with lances，till they killed him and went away；whereupon the fox returned to the pit and looking down，saw the wolf dead： so he wagged his head for excess of joy and chanted the following verses：

Fate took the soul o the wolf and snatched it far away；Foul fall it for a soul thats lost and perished aye！

How oft，O Gaffer Grim，my ruin hast thou sought！But unrelenting bale is fallen on thee this day.

Thou fellst into a pit，wherein theres none may fall Except the blasts of death blow on him for a prey.

Then he abode alone in the vineyard，secure and fearing no hurt.