Novella 1 - Monday
IN the land of Becher there lived a wise and prudent Muslim Emperor who had four wives, one was the daughter of his uncle, and the other three were daughters of great princes. And because he was a man of great learning, he used to bestow many courtesies and great signs of affection on talented men. And when he heard that any such men happened to be in his country, they were honored by him with magnificent and rich gifts. Hence, there were always a large number of such men around him with whom he spent time, when he was free of public duties, discussing various and virtuous subjects. It happened one day that he had a discussion with an excellent philosopher, who was reputed to have endless scientific knowledge about the beautiful and admirable wonders of nature. He asked if he would like to tell him any miraculous findings since he was made to believe that because of his advanced age and extensive learning he could learn from him some noteworthy things.
In this, he was not mistaken because the philosopher who was eager to please him said, "Sire, since I see your desire to learn about a wonderful secret of nature, I want to tell you about something I have never seen at any time in my life, nor learned something so important. Not so long ago, I happened to be in the western lands, where I had ventured to learn new things, having been informed that in these countries lived many men endowed with great and noble intellect.
