The laughable stories collected by Mâr Gregory John Bar Hebræ

20 THE LAUGHABLE StORIES OF BAR-HEBR^US.
"patience would be if it were, not that life is [so]
"short."
LXXII. Another sage was asked, "Is it indeed true
"that any speech of truth can be hated?" He replied,
"Yes, by the Calumniator."
LXXIII. Another sage said, "I hold every man who
"saith that he hateth riches to be a liar until he es-
"tablisheth a sure proof thereof from what he hath
"gathered together, and having established his belief it
"is, at the same time, quite certain that he is a fool!"
LXXIV. Another sage was enquired of concerning a
means of subsistence, and he replied, "If it is ordained
"for thee hasten not, for it will come unto thee; and if
"it be not ordained go not in after it, for it will not
"come unto thee."
LXV. Another sage said, "He that doeth good
"to a fool is like him who decketh a pig with rich and
"heavy jewellery and who feedeth a serpent upon
"honey."
LXXVI. Another sage said, "He who is mighty in
"the fulfilling and keeping of the laws shall become
"mighty, and he who is mighty in transgressing the
"commandment and in [doing] illegal things shall become
"feeble."
LXXVII. Another sage used to say, "The wise man
"goeth round about [seeking] for a means of subsist-
"ence, but the fool [stayeth] in the place of his father
"who begot him."
LXXVIII. Once upon a time Anosharwan' the king ordered
that
no man should either eat of the same kind of
food as that of which he ate,
or drink of the same kind of
' He reigned from A.D. 531 to 579.