A certain prince one day was told of a dervish whose blessing was said to bring great favour.  Reflecting that the life of a prince is sometimes uncertain and turbulent, and such a blessing might be useful, the prince decided to make a visit to the dervish.  Accordingly, he put on his finest robes, gathered an assembly of nobles to accompany him, and went to the deserted place where the dervish was said to live.

There, under a tree, wearing only rags, they found the dervish.  To the eye of the prince, there dervish looked like any beggar, and so to show his munificence and win the favour of the holy man, the prince said grandly, “Ask me for what you want.”

The dervish looked at the prince for a moment, and then said, “Is this how you speak to me, when I have two servants who are your masters?”

The startled prince said, “Who are these two?”

The dervish replied, “Greed and desire.  For I have conquered them, but they have conquered you.  I rule over them, but they rule over you.”