The Spitting Image

 It is told that a Governor held court in the region of Khorasan. One day, a close advisor told him:

"My Lord, there is a man in the city whose face and features are so much like yours, it is as if an apple has been sliced in two."

Astonished by this reported resemblance, the Governor commanded the man be brought to his presence immediately.

When the common man stood before the ruler, the Governor confirmed the shocking likeness. He smirked and, intending to mock the man's low status, he asked with a condescending tone:

"Tell me, did your mother, in her youth, work as a broker or matchmaker, frequently visiting the homes of the city's wealthy nobles?"

The man did not flinch. He replied calmly:

"No, my Lord. My mother was a poor and chaste woman who never once stepped outside the threshold of her own small home."

He paused, then finished:

"However, my father, God rest his soul, was a water carrier who worked in the gardens of the great lords of the city, and he frequented many houses!"