the tale of a dog's golden dish

thanks british library flickr (PD)

In this tale from the 1001 Nights a man, hungry and poor, wanders into a great house during its reception hour.  He ends up seated next to the household dogs as they dine on rich meats out of gold dishes.  Though he's starving, he won't steal from them.  Yet one of the dogs seems to understand his plight, and pushes toward him the priceless dish and its delicious contents.  What happens next? You'll have to read the rest here, from the Richard Burton translation, found at the marvelous sacred-texts.com.