FERISHTAH'S FANCIES.
69
8. TWO CAMELS.
Quoth one: "Sir, solve a scruple! No true sage
I hear of, but instructs his scholar thus:
'Would'st thou be wise? Then mortify thyself!
Baulk of its craving every bestial sense!
Say, 'If I relish melons—so do swine!
Horse, ass and mule consume their provender
Nor leave a pea-pod: fasting feeds the soul.'
Thus they admonish: while thyself, I note,
Eatest thy ration with an appetite,
Nor fallest foul of whoso licks his lips
I hear of, but instructs his scholar thus:
'Would'st thou be wise? Then mortify thyself!
Baulk of its craving every bestial sense!
Say, 'If I relish melons—so do swine!
Horse, ass and mule consume their provender
Nor leave a pea-pod: fasting feeds the soul.'
Thus they admonish: while thyself, I note,
Eatest thy ration with an appetite,
Nor fallest foul of whoso licks his lips
