HASSAN
(Prostrating himself) I meant no offence. My life is at your feet.
But you bade me talk to you as a friend.

CALIPH
Not Ishak, not Ishak himself, who has been my friend for years,
would dare address me thus. (Bursting into laughter)
Rise, Hassan. Thy impudence has a monstrous beauty,
like the hindquarters of an elephant.

HASSAN
Forgive me, forgive me.

CALIPH
I forgive you with all my heart, but, I advise you,
speak in conformity with your character and of things you understand,
and never leave the Garden of Art for the Palace of Action.
Trouble not your head with the tyranny of Princes,
or you may catch a cold therein from the Wind of Complication.
Keep to your poetry and carpets, Hassan, and make no reference to politics,
for which even the market of Bagdad is an insufficient school.

HASSAN
(Dolefully) I hear and obey.

CALIPH
Forget it now; set your mind on pleasant things. Have you noticed
this little pavilion in front of which we have talked so long?
This is your little house, good Hassan, where you shall find
a shelter from the wind you so much dislike and all all other blasts