When it was the One Hundred and Fortyninth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that quoth the wolf to the fox，'Speak not of whatso concerneth thee not，lest thou hear what will please thee not！'Answered the fox，'To hear is to obey！ I will abstain henceforth from what pleaseth thee not；for the sage saith，'Have a care that thou speak not of that whereof thou art not asked；leave that which concerneth thee not for that which concerneth thee，and by no means lavish good counsel on the wrongous，for they will repay it to thee with wrong.''And reflecting on the words of the wolf he smiled in his face，but in his heart he meditated treachery against him and privily said，'There is no help but that I compass the destruction of this wolf.'So he bore with his injurious usage，saying to himself，'Verily insolence and evilspeaking are causes of perdition and cast into confusion，and it is said，'The insolent is shent and the ignorant doth repent；and whose feareth，to him safety is sent'：moderation marketh the noble and gentle manners are of gains the grandest. It behoveth me to dissemble with this tyrant and needs must he be cast down.'Then quoth he to the wolf，'Verily，the Lord pardoneth his erring servant and relenteth towards him，if he confess his offences；and I am a weak slave and have offended in presuming to counsel thee. If thou knewest the pain that befel me by thy buffet，thou wouldst ken that even the elephant could not stand against it nor endure it：but I complain not of this blow's hurt，because of the joy and gladness that hath betided me through it；for though it was to me exceeding sore yet was its issue of the happiest. And with sooth saith the sage，'The blow of the teacher is at first right hurtful，but the end of it is sweeter than strained honey.''Quoth the wolf，'I pardon thine offence and I cancel thy fault；but beware of my force and avow thyself my thrall；for thou hast learned my severity unto him who showeth his hostility！'Thereupon the fox prostrated himself before the wolf，saying，'Allah lengthen thy life and mayst thou never cease to overthrow thy foes！'And he stinted not to fear the wolf and to wheedle him and dissemble with him. Now it came to pass that one day，the fox went to a vineyard and saw a breach in its walls；but he mistrusted it and said to himself，'Verily，for this breach there must be some cause and the old saw saith，'Whoso seeth a cleft in the earth and shunneth it not and is not wary in approaching it，the same is selfdeluded and exposeth himself to danger and destruction.' Indeed，it is well known that some folk make the figure of a fox in their vineyards；nay，they even set before the semblance grapes in plates，that foxes may see it and come to it and fall into perdition. In very sooth I regard this breach as a snare and the proverb saith，'Caution is one half of cleverness.' Now prudence requireth that I examine this breach and see if there be aught therein which may lead to perdition；and coveting shall not make me cast myself into destruction.'So he went up to the hole and walked round it right warily，and lo！
it was a deep pit，which the owner of the vineyard had dug to trap therein the wild beasts which laid waste his vines. Then he said to himself，'Thou hast gained，for that thou hast refrained！'；and he looked and saw that the hole was lightly covered with dust and matting. So he drew back from it saying，'Praised be Allah that I was wary of it！ I hope that my enemy，the wolf，who maketh my life miserable，will fall into it；so will the vineyard be left to me and I shall enjoy it alone and dwell therein at peace.'Saying thus，he shook his head and laughed a loud laugh and began versifying，'Would Heaven I saw at this hour
The Wolf fallen down in this well，He who anguisht my heart for so long，And garred me drain eisel and fel！
Heaven grant after this I may live Free of Wolf for long fortunate spell When I've rid grapes and vineyard of him，And in bunchspoiling happily dwell.'
His verse being finished he returned in haste to the wolf and said to him，'Allah hath made plain for thee the way into the vineyard without toil and moil. This is of thine auspicious fortune；so good luck to thee and mayest thou enjoy the plentiful plunder and the profuse provaunt which Allah hath opened up to thee without trouble！'Asked the wolf，'What proof hast thou of what thou assertest？'：and the fox answered，'I went up to the vineyard and found that the owner was dead，having been torn to pieces by wolves：so I entered the orchard and saw the fruit shining upon the trees.'The wolf doubted not the fox's report and his gluttony gat hold of him；so he arose and repaired to the cleft，for that greed blinded him；whilst the fox falling behind him lay as one dead，quoting to the case the following couplet，'For Layla's[151] favour dost thou greed？ But，bear in mind
Greed is a yoke of harmful weight on neck of man.'
And when the wolf had reached the breach the fox said，'Enter the vineyard：thou art spared the trouble of climbing a ladder，for the gardenwall is broken down，and with Allah it resteth to fulfil the benefit.'So the wolf went on walking and thought to enter the vineyard；but when he came to the middle of the pitcovering he fell through；whereupon the fox shook for joy and gladness；his care and concern left him and he sang out for delight and improvised these couplets，'Fortune had mercy on the soul of me，And for my torments now shows clemency，Granting whatever gift my heart desired，And far removing what I feared to see：
I will，good sooth，excuse her all her sins
She sinned in days gone by and much sinned she：
Yea，her injustice she hath shown in this，
She whitened locks that were so black of blee：
But now for this same wolf escape there's none，
Of death and doom he hath full certainty.
Then all the vineyard comes beneath my rule，
I'll brook no partner who's so fond a fool.'
