The laughable stories collected by Mâr Gregory John Bar Hebræ

STORIES OF THOSE WHOSE DREAMS AND DIVINATIONS HAVE
COME TRUE.
CCCLXXXVI. A certain king saw in his dream that
another king who was his enemy had thrown him upon
the ground,
and he went up and gathered together his
wise men and repeated to them what he had seen.
one of the
And
wise men who was more skilful than all the
rest said to him, "The dream and the interpretation
"thereof are as follows. Thou shalt indeed fight with
"that king and thou shalt overcome him, for thou wert
"upon the earth, and it was supporting thee and was
"nigh unto thee, while he was above thee, and his back
"was towards the sky which was very far away from thee.''
CCCLXXXVn. A certain king sent an ambassador
to another king who was his enemy, and when he returned
the king said to him, "How didst thou find
"him?" The ambassador said, "I found him sitting on
"a step with his feet in water." And the king said,
"In very truth he shall
have dominion over me, and he
"will make spoil of my wives and daughters, for a step
"indicateth dominion, and the feet being in the water
"indicate commerce with women."
unto
CCCLXXXVIII. Another king sent a painter secretly
another king who was his enemy to paint his portrait
and to bring it to him. And when he had painted