It is told that a hedgehog made his home by the side of a palm tree which was the haunt of a ringdove and his mate who nested there and enjoyed an easy life. The hedgehog said to himself: ‘The ringdove and his mate eat the fruits of this palm tree, but I can find no way to do that and so I shall have to trick them.’ He then dug out a hole for himself at the foot of the tree where he and his mate went to live. Beside it he made a chapel for prayer, where he went by himself, pretending to be a devout ascetic, who had abandoned earthly things. When the ringdove saw him at his devotions, he felt pity for him because of his extreme asceticism and he asked how many years he had spent like this. ‘Thirty years,’ replied the hedgehog. ‘What do you eat?’ asked the dove. ‘Whatever falls from the tree.’ ‘What do you wear?’ ‘Spikes, whose roughness is of use to me.’ ‘And how did you choose this place of yours rather than somewhere else?’ ‘I chose it at random,’ said the hedgehog, ‘in order to guide those who are astray and to teach the ignorant.’ ‘I didn’t think that you were like this,’ said the dove, ‘but I now feel a longing for your kind of life.’ The hedgehog replied: ‘I’m afraid that what you say is the opposite of what you do. You are like the farmer who at harvest time neglects to sow again, saying: “I am afraid that the days may not bring me what I want, and I shall have begun by wasting my money thanks to sowing too soon.” Then, when harvest time comes round again and he sees people at work reaping, he regrets the opportunity that he lost by holding back and he dies of grief and sorrow.’
The dove asked him: ‘What should I do to free myself of worldly attachments and devote myself solely to the worship of my Lord?’ ‘Begin to prepare yourself for the life to come,’ said the hedgehog, ‘and content yourself with eating only enough for your needs.’ ‘How am I to do that?’ asked the dove. ‘I am a bird and I cannot leave this tree which provides me with my food, and even if I could, I don’t know where else to settle.’ The hedgehog said: ‘You can knock down enough fruit from the tree to last you and your mate for a year. Then you can settle in a nest underneath the tree, seeking right guidance. Afterwards, go to the fruit that you have knocked down, take it all away and store it up to eat in times of want. When you have finished the fruits and you find the waiting long, make do with bare sufficiency.’ ‘May God give you a good reward for the purity of your intentions,’ said the dove, ‘in that you have reminded me of the afterlife and given me right guidance.’
The dove and his mate then worked hard, knocking down dates until there were none left on the tree. The hedgehog was delighted to find this food; he filled his lair with the fruit and stored it up to serve as his provisions, saying to himself that if the dove and his mate needed food, they would ask him for it. ‘They will covet what I have,’ he said, ‘relying on my godly asceticism. Then, when they hear my advice and my admonitions, they will come up close to me and I can catch them and eat them. I shall then have this place to myself and I shall get enough to eat from the fruit that falls.’ After the dove and his mate had knocked down all the dates, they flew down from the tree and found that the hedgehog had removed them all to his lair. ‘Virtuous hedgehog,’ said the dove, ‘you sincere admonisher, we have not found any trace of the dates and we don’t know of any other fruit on which we can live.’ ‘It may be that the wind blew them away,’ said the hedgehog, ‘but to turn away from sustenance to the Provider of sustenance is the essence of salvation. He Who created the opening in the mouth will not leave it without food.’
On he went, giving these admonitions and making a show of piety dressed in elaborate speech, until the doves approached trustingly and tried to go in through the entrance of his lair. They were sure that he would not deceive them, but he jumped up to guard the entrance, gnashing his teeth. When the dove saw his deception unveiled, he exclaimed: ‘What a difference there is between tonight and yesterday! Don’t you know that the victims of injustice have a Helper? Take care not to practise trickery and deceit lest you suffer the same fate as the two tricksters who schemed against the merchant.’ ‘How was that?’ the hedgehog asked. THE DOVE SAID:
I heard that there was a wealthy merchant from a city called Sindah. He got together goods which he packed into bales and he left on a trading trip to visit a number of cities. He was followed by two swindlers who loaded up what wealth and goods they had and then accompanied him, pretending to be merchants. When they halted at the first stage, they agreed with each other to use cunning in order to take his goods, but each man planned to deceive and betray the other, saying to himself: ‘Were I to betray my companion, all would be well with me and I could take all this wealth.’ With these evil intentions towards one another, each of them produced food which had been poisoned before offering it to his companion. They both ate the food and both died. They had been sitting talking with the merchant, but after they had left him and been away for some time, he went in search of them to see what had happened, only to find them dead. He then realized that they were scoundrels who had been trying to double-cross him. Their cunning recoiled on their own heads, while the merchant not only escaped but took all that they had with them.
