presence told the Minister what had betided, rejoicing and
saying, "My dream is come true and I have won my wish. It may be
this burthen will be a man child and inherit the Kingship after
me; what sayest thou of this, O Shimas?" But he was silent and
made no reply, whereupon cried the King, "What aileth thee that
thou rejoicest not in my joy and returnest me no answer? Doth the
thing mislike thee, O Shimas?" Hereat the Wazir prostrated
himself before him and said, ' O King, may Allah prolong thy
life! What availeth it to sit under the shade of a tree, if there
issue fire therefrom, and what is the delight of one who drinketh
pure wine, if he be choked thereby, and what cloth it profit to
quench one's thirst with sweet cool water, if one be drowned
therein? I am Allah's servant and thine, O King; but there are
three things[FN#64] whereof it besitteth not the understanding to
speak, till they be accomplished; to wit, the wayfarer, till he
return from his way, the man who is in fight, till he have
overcome his foe, and the pregnant woman, till she have cast her
burthen."----And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
to say her permitted say.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Second Night,

She resumed: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that after
Shimas had enumerated to the King the three things whereof it
besitteth not the understanding to speak save after they are
done, he continued, "For know, O King, that he, who speaketh of
aught before its accomplishment is like the Fakir who had hung
over his head the jar of clarified butter.[FN#65]" "What is the
story of the Fakir," asked the King, "and what happened to him?"
Answered the Wazir, "O King, they tell this tale anent.