o travel into foreign countries in order to increase his
wealth by trade. His wife endeavours to persuade him to remain at home
in peace and security instead of imperiling his life among strangers.
But he expatiates on the evils of poverty and the advantages of wealth:
"A man without riches is fatherless, and a home without money is
deserted. He that is in want of cash is a nonentity, and wanders in the
land unknown. It is, therefore, everybody's duty to procure as much
money as possible; for gold is the delight of our lives--it is the
bright live-coal of our hearts--the yellow links which fasten the coat
of mail--the gentle stimulative of the world--the complete coining die
of the globe--the traveller who speaks all languages, and is welcome in
every city--the splendid bride unveiled--the defender, register, and
mirror of jehandars. The man who has dirhams [_Scottice_,
'siller'--_Fr._ 'l'argent'] is handsome; the sun never shines on the
inauspicious man without money."[42] Before leaving home the merchant
purchased at great cost in the bazaar a wonderful parrot, that could
discourse eloquently and intelligently, and also a sharak, a species of
nightingale, which, according to Gerrans, "imitates the human voice in
so surprising a manner that, if you do not see the bird, you cannot help
being deceived"; and, having put them into the same cage, he charged his
spouse that whenever she had any matter of importance to transact she
should first obtain the sanction of both birds.

[42] "He that has money in the scales," says Saadi, "has
strength in his arms, and he who has not the command of
money is destitute of friends in the world."--Hundreds
of similar sarcastic observations on the power of wealth
might be cited from the Hindu writers, such as: "He who
has riches has friends; he who has riches has relations;
he who has riches _is even a sage_!" The following
verses in praise of money are, I think, worth
reproducing, if only for their whimsical arrangement:

Honey,
Our Money
We find in the end
Both relation and friend;
'Tis a helpmate for better, for worse.
Neither father nor mother,
Nor sister nor brother,
Nor uncles nor aunts,
Nor dozens