A brave man was severely wounded in the Tatar war.
Someone said: “Such-and-such merchant has a healing potion; if you ask, he might not withhold it.”
It is said that the merchant was known for his stinginess.
If the sun were in his bread basket,
No one would see daylight until the Day of Judgment.
The brave man said: “If I ask, he may give or not give. And if he gives, it may benefit or not. In any case, asking him is like drinking poison.”
"Whatever you ask from the lowly with obligation,
You add to your body but diminish your soul."
And the wise have said: “If the water of life were sold in exchange for dignity, the wise would not buy it, for dying with honor is better than living in disgrace.”
"If you eat colocynth from the hand of a kind person,
It is better than sweetness from the hand of a sour-faced one."
