Deal fairly with thy subjects, and rest easy about the warfare of thine
enemies, for with an upright prince his yeomanry is an army.

* * * * *


VIII

They asked Hormuz, son of Nushirowan, "What fault did you find with your
father's ministers that you ordered them into confinement?" He replied:
"I saw no fault that might deserve imprisonment; yet I perceived that
any reverence for me makes a slight impression on their minds, and that
they put no implicit reliance on my promise. I feared lest from an
apprehension of their own safety they might conspire my ruin;
therefore, put in practice that maxim of philosophers who have told us:
'Stand in awe, O wise man, of him who stands in awe of thee,
notwithstanding thou canst cope with a hundred such as he. Therefore
will the snake bite the herdsman's foot, because it fears that he will
bruise its head with a stone. Seest thou not that now that the cat is
desperate it will tear out the tiger's eyes with its claws.'"


IX

In his old age an Arab king was grievously sick, and had no hopes of
recovery, when, lo! a messenger on horseback presented himself at the
palace-gate, and joyfully announced, saying: "Under his majesty's good
fortune we have taken such a stronghold, made the enemy prisoners of
war, and reduced all the landholders and vassals of that quarter to
obedience as subjects." On hearing this news the king fetched a cold