Hormuzd, being asked what fault the veziers of his father had <br />committed that he imprisoned them, replied: 'I discovered no fault. <br />I saw that boundless awe of me had taken root in their hearts but that <br />they had no full confidence in my promises, wherefore I apprehended <br />that they, fearing calamities would befall them, might attempt my life <br />and I acted according to the maxim of sages who have said: <br /> <br /> 'Dread him who dreads thee, O sage, <br /> Although thou couldst cope with a hundred like him. <br /> Seest thou not when the cat becomes desperate <br /> How he plucks out with his claws the eyes of a tiger? <br /> The viper stings the shepherd's foot <br /> Because it fears he will strike his head with a stone.'<br /><br />Saadi Shirazi<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ch-01-manner-of-kings-story-08/
