The laughable stories collected by Mâr Gregory John Bar Hebræ

92 THE LAUGHABLE STORIES OF BAR-HEBR^US.
and he began to abuse it; and the thorn bush said to
him, "Abuse thyself because thou didst wish to take
"hold upon that which layeth hold upon everything."
CCCLXXVIII. A certain king was in company with
one of his philosophers, and as they passed through a
ruined village they saw there two owls; and he said to
the philospher, "What are these birds saying to each
"other?" And the philosopher said, "I understand some-
"thing of what they are saying, and if thou wilt swear
"unto me that thou wilt do me no harm, I will shew
"thee." And when the king had sworn to him, the
philosopher said, "One of the owls hath a son and the
"other a daughter, and they wish to arrange a marriage
"between them. The owl with the daughter is willing
"to give her one hundred ruined [villages] as a dowry,
"but the other one will not accept them and demandeth
"more. The father of the daughter having no more to
"give promiseth his fellow, saying, 'If this king ruleth
"his kingdom in the way in which he is now ruling it
"for one year more, I will give thee a thousand ruined
"[villages].'"
and he began to
When the king heard this he was rebuked,
work righteousness.
CCCLXXIX. While a certain dog was pursuing a
gazelle, the gazelle said unto him, "Thou art not able
"to catch me", and the dog said, "Why not?" The
gazelle said to him, "Because I run for my life, but
"thou for thy master."
CCCLXXX. A scarabaeus said to its mother,
"Whithersoever I go men spit upon me." Its mother
replied, "It is because thy beauty and smell are
pleasant."
CCCLXXXI. When a fox was being hotly pursued
by a dog he said to him, "Thou art not acting thus