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THE CALIPH AND THE POET Once upon a time there was a famous Arab [ Footnote : Ar'ab . ] whose name was Al Mansur . He was the ruler of all the Arabs , and was therefore called the caliph . [ Footnote : Caliph ( pronounced ka'lif ) . ] Al Mansur loved poetry and was fond of hearing poets repeat their own verses . Sometimes , if a poem was very pleasing , he gave the poet a prize . One day a poet whose name was Thalibi [ Footnote : Thal i'bi . ] came to the caliph and recited a long poem . When he had finished , he bowed , and waited , hoping that he would be rewarded . " Which would you rather have " asked the caliph , " three hundred pieces of gold , or three wise sayings from my lips ? " The poet wished very much to please the caliph . So he said , " Oh , my master , everybody should choose wisdom rather than wealth . " The caliph smiled , and said , " Very well , then , listen to my first wise saying : When your coat is worn out , don't sew on a new patch ; it will look ugly . " " Oh , dear ! " moaned the poet . " There go a hundred gold pieces all at once . " The caliph smiled again . Then he said , " Listen now to my second word of wisdom . It is this : When you oil your beard , don't oil it too much , lest it soil your clothing . " " Worse and worse ! " groaned the poor poet . " There go the second hundred . What shall I do ? " " Wait , and I will tell you , " said the caliph ; and he smiled again . " My third wise saying is — " " O caliph , have mercy ! " cried the poet . " Keep the third piece of wisdom for your own use , and let me have the gold . " The caliph laughed outright , and so did every one that heard him . Then he ordered his treasurer to pay the poet five hundred pieces of gold ; for , indeed , the poem which he had recited was wonderfully fine . The caliph , Al Mansur , lived nearly twelve hundred years ago . He was the builder of a famous and beautiful city called Bagdad . " BECOS ! BECOS ! BECOS ! " Thousands of years ago the greatest country , in the world was Egypt . It was a beautiful land lying on both sides of the wonderful river Nile . In it were many great cities ; and from one end of it to the other there were broad fields of grain and fine pastures for sheep and cattle . The people of Egypt were very proud ; for they believed that they were the first and oldest of all nations . " It was in our country that the first men and women lived , " they said . " All the people of the world were once Egyptians . " A king of Egypt , whose name was Psammeticus , [ Footnote : Psammeticus ( pro . sam met'i kus ) . ] wished to make sure whether this was true or not . How could he find out ? He tried first one plan and then another ; but none of them proved anything at all . Then he called his wisest men together and asked them , " Is it really true that the first people in the world were Egyptians ? " They answered , " We cannot tell you , O King ; for none of our histories go back so far . " Then Psammeticus tried still another plan .
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