Story 7

  Two Khorasani dervishes travelled together. One of them, being weak,

broke his fast every second night whilst the other who was strong

consumed every day three meals. It happened that they were captured at

the gate of a town on suspicion of being spies; whereon each of them

was confined in a closet and the aperture of it walled up with mud

bricks. After two weeks it became known that they were guiltless.

Accordingly the doors were opened and the strong man was found to be

dead whilst the weak fellow had remained alive. The people were

astonished but a sage averred that the contrary would have been

astonishing because one of them having been voracious possessed no

strength to suffer hunger and perished whilst the other who was

abstemious merely persevered in his habit and remained safe.

        When eating little has become the nature of a man

        He takes it easy when a calamity befalls him

        But when the body becomes strong in affluence

        He will die when a hardship overtakes him.