原文：                                 The Sheik's White Donkey

    I was traveling across the desert with sheik Mahmoud Ibn Moosa and his caravan of 90 camels and 19 men. The sheik was a dignified old man with fierce dark eyes and a white beard. His commands were the only laws that the men of the caravan knew.

    The bearded sheik rode a large white donkey, and his donkey was dignified, too. The sheik treated him as a friend and an equal. The were almost always together all day, and they slept in the same tent every night.

    

                 The Bag of Gold

    I was carrying with me about 80 pieces of gold, which I kept in a leather bag. I kept the bag in my tent at night, and I put my hand into the bag each morning to be sure that the pieces of gold were safe. On the ninth morning, the bag was not there!

    I went at once to find Ibn Moosa. "Mahmoud Ibn Moosa," I began, “for eight days I have been your guest, and I am sincerely grateful for your hospitality."

    Ibn Moosa put his hand on his heart and answered, "To give hospitality to a guest is always my greatest pleasure."

    I continued, "I am very sorry to tell you that some trouble has come to me now. As a guest, I must tell this trouble to my host."

    I told him about my bag with 80 pieces of gold. He asked me a few questions, and then sat in silence, stroking his beard. At last he said, "The caravan will not leave this camp today. Before evening comes, you will have your gold."

    An hour later my host left the camp, alone. It was noon before he returned. Commanding his men not to disturb him for any reason, he disappeared into his tent and closed the flap of the tent behind him. I began to be worried about my money. There was only one man who could get it for me, and he was asleep in his tent!

    But after dinner my host came slowly from his tent, dressed in his finest clothes. He went to the top of a pile of bags in the center of the camp, and he told me to sit up there beside him. Then, in his dignified voice, he said, "Bring me the men." The men left the camels and stood in a row in front of him.

    When all the men were there, the sheik sat in silence, looking at them and stroking his beard. He did not hurry. He looked at each man a long time, and every man looked silently at him, too. At last he spoke, 

    "Today some trouble has come to my guest, this traveler. To steal is a crime, but when one steals from a guest, the crime is seven times worse. This traveler trusted himself to me. Someone has stolen from him in my home. As no one from outside has been near our camp, the man who stole from this traveler is before me now. He is standing before me while I speak, and he thinks he can hide his crime."

    The old sheik's voice became loud and angry as he spoke of the crime. He said that God himself was commanding him to find the thief and to find the traveler's gold. Then his voice became quiet and dignified again. Stroking his beard, he continued.

     

                 The Wonderful Donkey

    "My white donkey in my tent," he said, "is not an ordinary one. He is a direct descendant from the donkey that our prophet rode. My donkey is a very wise one. He always knows the truth; he always tells me the truth, because God tells him what is true."

    The sheik stopped for a minute and looked at each man. The he said, "My donkey will now tell me who stole the traveler's gold."

    "The donkey cannot speak our language, I always understand. I command each man now to go into my tent alone. Close the flap of the tent so that no one can see you except the donkey and God. Then, I command you, pull my donkey's tail. When an innocent hand touches his tail, he will be silent. But when the hand of the thief touches his tail, the donkey will speak to us all in his language, and we will take the thief and kill him without mercy."

    The sheik commanded the man at the end of the row to go first. The man entered the tent, closed the flap and, after a silent moment returned. The second man went and returned, and the the third. Twelve men entered and returned, and there was still no sound. Thirteen, fourteen, sixteen; only three more. Seventeen, eighteen, and now the last man was entering the tent. Surely there would be a sound from the sheik's tent now! But the man went in and came out, and there was no sound. The donkey was not so wise, after all.

    But Mahmoud Ibn Moosa said to me quietly, "Do not be worried. It is all right. You will get your bag of gold."

 

                   The Thief

    The men were in front of him in a row again, and they were sitting down. "Stand up!" he commanded. They all stood up. "Hold your hands out in front of you, with the palms up." Each man held out his hands. The sheik then went down from the pile of bags and walked slowly to the first man in the row. He bent his back and laid his face on the palms of the first man's hands. After a minute he went to the next man and laid his face on that man's palms. I was amazed when he did this again and again, going from man to man along the row. He came to the twelfth man and laid his face on the man's palms. Suddenly he lifted his face, pulled out his sword and shouted, "You dirty thief! Get that gold, or I will kill you at once!"

    The man fell on his face, begging for mercy. Then he jumped up and ran outside the circle of camels. He pulled up a stone and came back with my leather bag of gold.

    "Give it to the traveler!"

    The man put the bag into my hands, and I found that all the 80 pieces were in it. Then the sheik commanded two men to beat the thief. After a minute I begged mercy for him; and, at my host's command, the men let him go. The sheik went to his tent, and the men returned to their camels.

                    The Sheik's Explanation

    I was glad to get my money, but I was eager to know more about this miracle. As we rode over the desert the next day, I asked my host to explain.

    He looked at me, stroked his beard, and said, "You must not tell my men."

    "Of course," I answered.

    "Well," he began, "while I was in my tent yesterday, I took some mint and put it in water. When the water began to smell like mint, I put the donkey's tail into the water and left it there until his tail, too, smelt like mint. That evening, you remember, each man went into the tent. All pulled the donkey's tail except, of course, the thief. His hand alone had no smell of mint upon it."

                                             酋长的白骆驼

      

    我与首领默罕默德·伊本·莫撒以及他那有着90匹骆驼和19人的驼队一起穿行沙漠。首领是个很受尊敬的老人，他有着白色的胡子，还有黑色的眼睛露出犀利目光。他的命令是驼队至高无上的法律。

    长胡子的首领骑着一匹白色的驴，他的驴也很尊贵。首领对它像个朋友一样平起平坐。他们白天几乎都呆在一起，并且每晚都睡在同一个帐篷里。

                     

                           金币袋子

    我随身带着80枚金币，就放在一个皮袋子里。晚上我将皮袋子放在我的帐篷里，每天早晨我伸手摸摸袋子里的金币是否还在。第九天的早上，袋子不见了！

    我立刻找到伊本·莫撒。“默罕默德·伊本·莫撒，”我开始说，“我在这八天里作了你的客人，我对你的款待表示真诚的感谢。”

    伊本·莫撒将手放在胸前答道，“给我的客人以厚待是我最高的荣幸。”

    我继续说道：“我很遗憾的告诉你，我现在有麻烦了。作为客人，我必须把这件事告诉我的主人。”

    我告诉他有关80个金币的袋子的事。他问了我几个问题后安静地坐在那捋着他的胡子。最后他说：“驼队今天不离开这个营地了。夜晚来临前，你会得到你的金币。”

    一个小时之后，我的主人独自离开了营地。他到正午才回来。他命令手下不要以任何原因来打扰他，然后进了自己的帐篷并把门帘放了下来。我开始担心我的钱。那是唯一能帮我找回它们的人，而他现在却在自己的帐篷里睡觉！

    然而，晚餐过后，我的主人穿着他最好的衣服从帐篷里出来。他站在营地中心的一堆包裹顶上，并让我坐到他的旁边。接着，他用他威严的声音说道：“把我的人都叫来。”人们离开骆驼，来到他面前站成一排。

    当所有人来齐了之后，首领安静地坐下，手捋胡须看着他们。他一点也不急。他把每个人都观察了很长时间，每个人也安静地看着他。最后他说话了：

    “今天，我们的客人，这位旅客，有了麻烦。偷窃是犯罪，但是当偷的是客人的话，罪行将加七倍重。这位旅客信任我交给我这件事--有人在我的地盘偷了他的东西。由于没有外人接近我们的营地，那么偷窃的人现在就站在我的面前。我说话的时候，他就站在这里，他以为他可以掩盖他的罪行。”

    老首领说到罪行的时候，声音越来越大，越来越气愤。他说上帝让他找出窃贼并找到旅客的金币。接着，他的声音又安静了下来，依旧保持着威严。他捋着胡子继续说道：

       

                           神奇的驴子

    “我白色的驴子在帐篷里，”他说，“它可不普通。它是我们先哲的坐骑的后代。我的驴很聪明，它总是知道真相，并且会告诉我，因为上帝会告诉他什么是真相。”

    首领停顿了一分钟，他看着每一个人。接着说：“我的驴会告诉我是谁偷了旅客的金币。”

    “驴不能说我们话，”首领接着说，“但它用它的话对我说的时候，我总能明白。现在我要求每个人独自走进我的帐篷，放下门帘好让除了驴和上帝以外的人没法看见。然后，我要求你们拉它的尾巴，当清白的手拉的时候，它会默不作声的。但是当贼人之手触碰它的尾巴时，驴会用自己的语言告诉我们的，然后我们会找出窃贼并毫不留情地杀了他。”

    首领要求队伍的最后一个人先进。那个人进了帐篷放下门帘，安静地过了一会儿又出来了。第二个进去又出来，接着第三个。十二个人进去又出来了，那儿却依旧无声无息。第十三个，第十四个，第十六个；就剩三个了。第十七个，第十八个，而现在最后一个人进入了帐篷。肯定会有声音从首领的帐篷里传出！可是那个人进去又出来了，仍旧没有声响。驴，毕竟没那么聪明。

                            窃贼

    人们又在他面前成排坐下。“起立！”他下达了命令，所有人都站了起来。“把你们的手伸到前面来，掌心向上。”每个人都伸出了手。首领从一堆包裹上下来，慢慢地走到队伍的第一个人面前。他弯下腰，将脸贴近第一个人的手心。当他挨个地重复这个动作时，我很吃惊。突然，他抬起头拔出剑大吼道：“你这个肮脏的贼！你偷走了金币，我将立刻杀了你！”

    那人俯首跪下，乞求他的宽恕。接着他跳起来跑到骆驼围成的圈外，抱起一个石头，那后面就是我的那包金币。

    “把它交给旅客！”

    那个人把袋子放回我手上，我看到所有80枚都在里面。接着首领下令让两个人殴打他。过了几分钟我替他求了情；于是在我的主人的命令下，那两个人把他放了。首领回到他的帐篷，那个人也回到了驼队中。

                            首领揭秘

    能找回钱我很高兴，但我急切地想要更多地了解这是怎么一回奇事。第二天我们穿过沙漠后，我请求首领给我解释。

    他捋着胡子看着我说：“那你不要告诉我的手下。”

    “一定。”我承诺道。

    “恩，”他开始说，“昨天在帐篷里时，我带了几片薄荷泡到水里。当水闻着有薄荷味时我就把驴尾巴泡进来直到驴尾巴也有了薄荷味。你记得吗，那晚上每个人都进了帐篷。所有人都拉了驴尾巴，当然，除了那个贼。他的手上没有薄荷味。”