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Sasagua · Vegan Talk Beginner Joined: 23 Jun 2006 Posts: 3

A dervish was sitting by the roadside when a haughty courtier with his

retinue, riding past in the opposite direction, struck him with a cane,

shouting:

'Out of the way, you miserable wretch!'

When they had swept past, the dervish rose and called after them:

'May you attain all that you desire in the world, even up to your

greatest wishes!'

A bystander, much impressed by this scene, approached the devout man and

said to him:

'Please tell me whether your words were motivated by generosity of

spirit, or perhaps out of revenge because the desires of the world will

undoubtedly corrupt that man even more?'

'O man of bright countenance,' said the dervish, 'has it not occurred to

you that I said what I did simply because people who attain their real

desires then do not need to ride around striking dervishes?'