An Adventure in Brotherhood

In an ancient city of the East, there were seven brothers who were constantly quarreling among themselves. They fell out about the way their father divided his property among them; they argued about the number of camels each had a right to; they disagreed over the management of their business; and altogether they behaved so rudely to each other that their acquaintances came to speak of them as the "unbrotherly brothers."

Their father was much grieved over the actions of his sons, and he pondered long what means to take to teach them a lasting lesson. At length he called them together in his own house and spoke to them in this manner: