Discourses of Rumi

158 V DISCOURSES OF RUMIsame and will not change their ways due to anythingyou say. You words have no affect on them,indeed they become more determined.For instance, take a loaf of bread, put it underyour arm, and deny it to others, saying, “I willnot give this to anyone. Give it? Why, I won’t evenshow it.” Even if that loaf had been cast away andthe dogs would not eat it because bread is so plentifuland cheap—yet the moment you begin torefuse it, everybody is after it and sets their heartson it, pleading and protesting, “We want to seethat bread which you refuse and keep hidden.”Especially if you keep it hidden for a year, insistingemphatically that you will neither give it awaynor show it, their eagerness for the loaf passes allbounds, since, “People are passionate for whateverthey are denied.”The more you tell your spouse, “Keep yourselfhidden,” the greater their itch to flirt and showthemselves. And through their being hidden, theopposite sex becomes more eager for them. Sothere you sit in the middle, augmenting eagernesson both sides, and you think of yourself as areformer! Why, that is the very essence of corrup-