The Mercy of Allah by Hilaire Belloc — Read

As Mahmoud's nephews filed in just after the hour of public executions to hear the continuation of their uncle's absorbing tale, they wore an expression different from that which he had observed on their faces during so many days. The thought of this great man subjected to misfortune like any other, and passing through the trials of actual poverty, had shocked their young and sensitive souls. They had been trained indeed, even in their short experience, to the idea that they and their poor father must suffer contempt; but that the head of the family should ever have passed through such things shook their faith in the world.

The aged merchant, a little concerned with their appearance, warned them that what he had to tell them, not only upon that day but later too, would be concerned with no happy relation. "These were, my children," said he, "the days of my dereliction. They served to humble me, and often when I have occasion to turn a poor man out of his house or to prosecute some starving widow for debt, or to see to the imprisonment of one who has failed to keep some contract I may have imposed upon him, I sigh and chasten myself with the thought that I myself might (but for the infinite goodness of my God) have been in his or her position. Though, frankly, I cannot say, considering the ineptitude of such people, that I can ever imagine them in mine. " Having so prefaced what he had to tell, the merchant proceeded: