Count Lucanor | Page 4

I will, with the blessing of God, adopt in this book, so that all who read it may be benefited and amused at the same time, and they shall not have the excuse to say that, being tiresome and dry, the good advice therein was lost; for, like the palatable ingredients combined with the bitter medicines essential for the complaint, so the beauty and aptness of the language which I have endeavoured to conveying this book shall render the moral inseparable from the story.
And God, who is the author and giver of all good, will I trust, in His mercy, cause all who read this book to derive benefit therefrom both in soul and body; knowing this to be my desire and intention in writing it; and He wills attribute any faults committed therein to the weakness of my understanding, and not to perverseness of spirit. And if any good be derived therefrom, I and my readers should thank God for it, He being the author and source of all light and truth. And now we will commence the book in the manner of a dialogue between Count Lucanor and his friendly adviser Patronio.
NOTE.
* Compare Tasso, Ger. Lib. I. 3.
"So we, if children young diseased we find,
Anoint with sweets the vessel's foremost parts,
To make them taste the potions sharp we give;
They drink deceived; and so deceived they live."
FAIRFAX'S translation.

CHAPTER I.
Relates to what happened to a Moorish king of Cordova.
ONE day Count Lucanor spoke to Patronio his friend after this manner: --
"Patronio, you know that I am a great hunter, and that I have invented many new devices in hunting which no other man ever thought of; and you know also that I have made improvements in the hoods and leashes, such as were never made before; nevertheless the people speak ill of me, and ridicule me; and when they praise the Cid Ruy Diaz, or Count Ferdinand Gonzalez, for the many things which they did, or the holy and happy King Ferdinand for the many conquests which he gained, they say of me, with ironical praise, that I also have done many great things, alluding to the hoods and leashes. Now I feel this irony very painful to me, and injurious to my character; therefore, I pray you, advise me what to do, so as to avoid being ridiculed, for the good things I do. "
"My lord," said Patronio, "in order that you may know what it behooves you to do in this case, I will, with your permission, relate what happened to a Moorish king of Cordova." The Count assented, and Patronio proceeded: --
"There was in Cordova a Moorish king, named Alhaquima, who governed his kingdom well: he studied to act with honor to himself and justice to others; indeed, he did all that was required of good kings; not only in guarding their kingdoms, but in augmenting their territories, with the view that they might receive the praises of their people; and after death be remembered for their good deeds. Yet this king gave himself up to a life of luxury and enjoyment; vice and disorder reigning in his palace. Now it happened as they played before him on an instrument which the Moors liked very much, and which they called Albogon, that the king perceived that it did not sound as well as it ought, so he took the instrument and made a hole at the lower part of it, but in the same direction as the other holes; and since that time the Albogon has given a much better sound than before.
"Now although this cannot be considered but as an improvement, yet it was not an act suited to the dignity of a king -- and so thought the people -- for when they heard that the improvement was made by the king, they exclaimed in a ridiculing manner in Arabic, 'Vahedezut Alhaquima,' which signifies, 'This is the work of King Alhaquima.' This exclamation became so common all over the country that it at last reached the ears of the king, who begged to know why the people always used this saying; but his attendants were anxious to avoid answering his question. He however insisted on being told the truth, and the signification of the expression; so they were compelled to tell him. When he heard it he was very much grieved; but instead of punishing those who related the origin of the saying, he resolved to do some worthy deed, in order that the people might be compelled to praise him deservedly.
"At this time the mosque of Cordova not being yet finished, King Alhaquima did all that was necessary for its completion, and in this way it became one of the most beautiful mosques the Moors had in Spain, -- glory to God! it is