In this Baharestan anecdote a caliph mocks a Bedouin for tearing at and devouring roasted lamb greedily, as if the lamb had wronged him. The Bedouin reverses the charge: the caliph withholds and guards the lamb with such tenderness that it seems the animal's own mother had nursed the caliph. The accompanying verse generalizes the point — the wealthy master (khwaja) lavishes his so-called compassion on his own property, ready to sacrifice others' dear mother and child to spare his own livestock. The concept names the moral: apparent tenderness toward possessions is really attachment and miserliness, and the guest's witty reversal unmasks stinginess disguised as kindness.