are none. 'His words have become lies.' Ah! what plan am I to make? Shall I go to my father and tell him, 'Bedouins came and drove me away, and when I went back and looked at the date-tree there were no dates?' He will say to me, 'All those slaves were there, and you did not fight with them. His words are become lies.' The old man will not accept these words. I will go to-morrow to my father, and tell him, 'I watched the date-tree till the time of early prayers, and when it was getting light I went to lie down a little, and when I had passed a little space it dawned, and I saw a slave coming to me to wake me, and telling me, "Master, the date-tree has no dates on it, not even one." And I arose and went, and when I arrived near the date-tree, and looked at the date-tree, it was true there were no dates. And so, father, I am come to you; you are the knife and I am the animal, do with me everything you will.' This is the best to say. Better tell the truth than tell a lie."
And he went away to his father's; and he found his father sitting on his baraza with his five sons. And when he came he saluted his father. And he said, "Give me the news from the garden." And he said, "There is good news and bad." "What sort of good and what sort of bad?" And he said, "The bad is that, as to the date-tree, the dates have been all eaten by some bird, there is not so much as one left." And he said, "Where were you that my date-tree was eaten by a bird?" And he said, "I watched the date-tree till the time of early prayers, and the cocks were crowing, it was getting light too, and I arose and went to lie down a little. Immediately the second head-man came and roused me. And I awoke and asked him, 'What do you want?' And he said, 'Did you come to watch the date-tree?' And I said, I did. And he said, 'Well, there is not one date on the
