AS an Arab sat in
his tent one cold night,
he saw the curtain gently
lifted, and the
face of his Camel looking in.
"What is it?" he
asked kindly.
"It is cold, master," said the
Camel; "suf-
fer me, I pray thee, to
hold my head within
the tent."
"By all means,"
replied the hospitable
Arab; and the Camel stood
with his head
inside the tent.
"Might I also warm my
neck a little?" he
entreated after a moment.
The Arab readily
consented, and the
Camel's neck was thrust within the tent.
He stood, moving his head from side to side
uneasily, and presently said, "It is awkward
standing thus. It would take but little more
room if I were to place
my forelegs inside
the tent."
"You may place your forelegs
within the
tent," said the Arab. And
now he had to
move a little to make room,
for the tent
was but small.
The Camel spoke again:
"I keep the tent
open by standing thus, and make
it cold for
us both. May I not stand
wholly within?"
"Yes," said the Arab, whose compassion in-
cluded his beast as well as himself;
"come
in wholly if you wish."
But now the tent
proved to be too small to hold
both.
"I think, after all," said the Camel,
as he
crowded himself in, "that there will not
be
room here for us both. You are the
smaller;
it will be best for you
to stand outside.
There will be room then
for me." So he
pushed a little, and the
Arab with all haste
went outside the tent.
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