Prevod

It is also told that a mouse and a weasel lived in a certain man’s house. The man was poor, and one of his friends had fallen ill. The physician prescribed hulled sesame for the sick man, who gave a quantity of sesame to his poor friend to have it hulled. The poor man gave it to his wife and told her to prepare it, and she hulled and cleaned it for him. When the weasel caught sight of the sesame, she came over and spent the whole day carrying it away to her hole, until she had taken most of it. The woman returned and saw that a great deal of the sesame was missing, so she sat down to watch and discover who was taking it. The weasel came down to carry some away as usual, but when she saw the woman sitting there, she knew she was lying in wait for her. She said to herself, “This business will have an ugly end, and I fear that woman is watching for me. Time is no friend to those who take no thought for the consequences. I must do some good deed to make myself appear innocent of all the wickedness I have done.” So she began carrying back some of the sesame from her hole. The woman saw her doing this and said to herself, “This creature cannot be the cause of the loss, for she is bringing it from the thief’s hole and putting it back with the rest. She has done us a kindness by returning the sesame, and kindness deserves nothing but kindness in return. She is not the pest that has been stealing it, but I shall keep watch until the culprit falls into my hands and I learn who it is.” The weasel guessed what was passing through the woman’s mind and went off to the mouse. “Sister,” she said, “there is no good in anyone who neglects a neighbour’s rights or fails to remain true in friendship.” “Indeed, my dear friend,” replied the mouse, “and what a blessing you are, and how fortunate I am to have you for a neighbour! But what has prompted these words?” The weasel said, “The master of the house brought some sesame, and he and his family ate their fill of it. Having no further need of it, they left the rest. Every living creature has taken some, and if you were to take some too, you would have more right to it than any of the others.” The mouse was delighted. She danced and flicked her tail, and, beguiled by her greed for the sesame, rose at once and left her hole. She saw the hulled sesame gleaming white, with the woman sitting there keeping watch, but gave no thought to how the matter might end. The woman had armed herself with a cudgel. Unable to restrain herself, the mouse plunged into the sesame, revelling in it and eating her fill. The woman struck her with the cudgel and split her head open. Thus greed brought about her death and blinded her to the consequences of her actions.

The king said, “O Shahrazad, by God, this is a fine tale! Have you a story about true friendship, and how friends remain faithful in adversity and help one another escape destruction?” She replied, “Yes.”