The laughable stories collected by Mâr Gregory John Bar Hebræ

64 THE LAUGHABLE STORIES OF BAR-HEBR^US.
"angry with thee; neither do thou thus with him that is
"thy inferior, lest he presume overmuch before thee."
CCXLIV. When the father of a certain young prince
died a man asked him, "Whom did the king order to
"take care of thee?" And he replied, "The king ordered
"me to take care of those who should care for me."
CCXLV. Another king commanded his sons' teacher,
saying, "First of all order thine own doings and then
"those of my sons, for upon thee are their eyes set.
"Teach them from books, from the Divine Scriptures, and
"from the histories of the righteous kings and prophets.
"Do not threaten them in my name,
for when they have
"learnt by experience that thou art not able to reprove
"them, they will despise thee. Be not harsh with them,
"and drive them not overmuch lest they hate instruction;
"and be not slack with them lest they love idleness."
CCXLVI. Another of the sages used to say,
"facedness is
"Shame-
destroyed by two things, by a man seeking
"his own desire, and by converse with fools."
CCXLVII. When another king was admonishing the
soldiers of his bodyguard and they were paying no
heed unto him, he said to them, "Ye need a king who
"will do more unto you than admonish, ye need a
"king who will
beat you."
CCXLVIII. Another of the sages was asked, "How
"is that thy mercy is so abundant?" And he replied,
"I have never inflicted punishment on a man without
"leaving room for
reconciliation."
CCXLIX. Another of the sages said, "The crime of
"him that slayeth a prophet is not greater than that
"of him whom a prophet slayeth, that is to say, he that
"slayeth a prophet certainly committeth sin, but unless