The laughable stories collected by Mâr Gregory John Bar Hebræ

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THE LAUGHABLE STORIES OF BAR-HEBR^US.
"acteristic of kings to love not him that is greater
"than they."
XIX. Another philosopher said, "Take heed of the
"two-legged lion," thereby referring to the king.
XX. To another philosopher it was said, "Why do
"we eat the outside of the date, and the inside of the
"nut?" He replied, "The Divine Providence of the
"Creator concerneth not itself with how that which
"hath been created shall be eaten, but with the matter
"of how the species thereof shall be preserved in per-
"petuity; thus that whereby the species is preserved
"is inside both, even though the kernel of the nut is
"edible and the stone of the date is not."
XXI. Alexander [the Great] saw among the soldiers
of his army a man called Alexander who continually
took to flight in the time of war, and he said to him,
"Either be strong in battle or change thy name, so
"that listeners be not deceived by the similarity of our
"names."
XXII. Another philosopher saw a city with a mighty
wall round about it, and he said, "This is a dwelling-
"place for women and befitteth not men."
XXIII. A certain philosopher, who was a cynic from
Alexandria, asked the king for a mathkal"- of gold, and
the king made answer to him, saying, "This is not of
"the gifts which kings are wont to give." The philosopher
then asked him for a talent [of gold]", and the
king replied, "This is not a request which should be
"made by a cynic."
XXIV. Aristotle was asked, "Why have the envious
"always sad and gloomy faces?" He replied, "Because
'
A gold coin equal in value to about nine shillings of our money.
^ /. e., about £4,217 sterling.