The latter, unaware of the impending misfortune, had, with its young,
eaten plentifully and fallen asleep. The Salamanders cast upon their
nest all the naphtha and brimstone that they had brought with them and
turned back and the blast of justice fell upon those oppressors. They
rose up from the sleep of negligence and all of them, with their abode
and nest, were at once consumed to ashes.

And this instance is given that thou mayest know that every one who
labours to repel an enemy, though he be small and weak, and his foe
great and strong, may yet hope for victory and triumph.



The Hermit, the Thief, and the Demon

It is related that a Hermit of pure disposition, abstemious and
virtuous, had made his cell in one of the environs of Baghdad, and
passed his morning and evening hours in the worship of the All-wise
King, and by these means had shaken his skirt clear from the dust of
worldly affairs. He had bowed his head in the corner of contentment
under the collar of freedom from care, and rested satisfied with the
portion that was supplied to him from the invisible world.

One of his sincere disciples got knowledge of the poverty and fastings
of the Holy Man, and by way of offering, brought to the hermitage a she
buffalo, young and fat, with whose delicious milk the palate of desire
was oiled and sweetened.

A thief beheld the circumstance, and his hungry appetite was excited;
and he set off for the cell of the recluse. A demon, too, joined him