Story 11

One of the Arabized men of Baghdad was asked: What do you say about beardless youths? He replied: There is no good in them; as long as one of them is delicate, he acts rough, and once he turns coarse, he acts gentle. That is: while he is handsome, refined, and slender, he behaves harshly and severely; but once he has grown coarse and rough, no longer good for anything, then he turns tender, and the harshness is gone. When the young man is beautiful and sweet, his words are bitter and his temper sharp. But once his beard comes in and he falls from favor, he grows sociable and eager for affection.