Quoth the mouse，'I have made me for my house these seventy openings，whence I may go out at my desire，and I have set apart a place strong and safe，for things of price；and if thou can contrive to get the merchant out of the house，I doubt not of success，an so be that Fate aid me.' Answered the flea，'I will engage to get him out of the house for thee；'and，going to the merchant's bed，bit him a fearful bite，such as he had never before felt，then fled to a place of safety，where he had no fear of the man.So the merchant awoke and sought for the flea，but finding him not，lay down again on his other side.Then the flea bit him a second time more painfully than before.So he lost patience and，leaving his bed，went out and lay down on the bench before his door and slept there and woke not till the morning.Meanwhile the mouse came out and fell to carrying the dinars into her hole，till she left not a single one；and when day dawned the merchant began to suspect the folk and fancy all manner of fancies.And （continued the fox） know thou，O wise and experienced crow with the clearseeing eyes，that I tell thee this only to the intent that thou mayst reap the recompense of thy kindness to me，even as the mouse reaped the reward of her kindness to the flea；for see how he repaid her and requited her with the goodliest of requitals.Said the crow，'It lies with the benefactor to show benevolence or not to show it；nor is it incumbent on us to entreat kindly one who seeketh a connection that entaileth separation from kith and kin.If I show thee favour who art my foe by kind，I am the cause of cutting myself off from the world；
and thou，O fox，art full of wiles and guiles.Now those whose characteristics are craft and cunning，must not be trusted upon oath；and whoso is not to be trusted upon oath，in him there is no good faith.The tidings lately reached me of thy treacherous dealing with one of thy comrades，which was a wolf；and how thou didst deceive him until thou leddest him into destruction by thy perfidy and stratagems；and this thou diddest after he was of thine own kind and thou hadst long consorted with him：yet didst thou not spare him；and if thou couldst deal thus with thy fellow which was of thine own kind，how can I have trust in they truth and what would be thy dealing with thy foe of other kind than thy kind？Nor can I compare thee and me but with the saker and the birds.''How so？'asked the fox.Answered the crow，they relate this tale of The Saker[169] and the Birds.
There was once a saker who was a cruel tyrant'And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the One Hundred and Fiftysecond Night She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that the crow pursued，'They relate that there was once a saker who was a cruel tyrant in the days of his youth，so that the raveners of the air and the scavengers of the earth feared him，none being safe from his mischief；and many were the haps and mishaps of his tyranny and his violence，for this saker was ever in the habit of oppressing and injuring all the other birds.As the years passed over him，he grew feeble and his force failed him，so that he was often famished；but his cunning waxed stronger with the waning of his strength and redoubled in his endeavour and determined to be present at the general assembly of the birds，that he might eat of their orts and leavings；so in this manner he fed by fraud instead of feeding by fierceness and force.And out，O fox，art like this：if thy might fail thee，thy sleight faileth thee not；and I doubt not that thy seeking my society is a fraud to get thy food；but I am none of those who fall to thee and put fist into thy fist；[170] for that Allah hath vouchsafed force to my wings and caution to my mind and sharp sight to my eyes；and I know that whoso apeth a stronger than he，wearieth himself and haply cometh to ruin.Wherefore I fear for thee lest，if thou ape a stronger than thyself，there befal thee what befel the sparrow.' Asked the fox，'What befel the sparrow？' Allah upon thee，tell me his tale.' And the crow began to relate the story of The Sparrow and the Eagle I have heard that a sparrow was once flitting over a sheepfold，when he looked at it carefully and behold，he saw a great eagle swoop down upon a newly weaned lamb and carry it off in his claws and fly away.Thereupon the sparrow clapped his wings and said，'I will do even as this one did；'and he waxed proud in his own conceit and mimicked a greater than he.So he flew down forthright and lighted on the back of a fat ram with a thick fleece that was become matted by his lying in his dung and stale till it was like woollen felt.As soon as the sparrow pounced upon the sheep's back he flapped his wings to fly away，but his feet became tangled in the wool and，however hard he tried，he could not set himself free.While all this was doing the shepherd was looking on，having seen what happened first with the eagle and afterwards with the sparrow；so he came up to the wee birdie in a rage and seized him.Then he plucked out his wing feathers and，tying his feet with a twine，carried him to his children and threw him to them.'What is this？'asked one of them；and he answered，'This is he that aped a greater than himself and came to grief.' 'Now thou，O fox，art like this and I would have thee beware of aping a greater than thou，lest thou perish.This is all I have to say to thee；so fare from me in peace！' When the fox despaired of the crow's friendship，he turned away，groaning for sorrow and gnashing teeth upon teeth in his disappointment；and the crow，hearing the sound of weeping and seeing his grief and profound melancholy，said to him，'O fox，what dole and dolour make thee gnash thy canines？' Answered the fox，'I gnash my canines because I find thee a greater rascal than myself；'and so saying he made off to his house and ceased not to fare until he reached his home.Quoth the Sultan，'O Shahrazad，how excellent are these thy stories，and how delightsome！ Hast thou more of such edifying tales？' Answered she：They tell this legend concerning THE HEDGEHOG AND THE WOODPIGEONS.
