does, and this is the characteristic of men who know how to pass through life. The fourth is he who neither says nor does, and this is the quality of the mean and sordid. And thou belongest to that class who say and do not invest their words with the ornament of action; and I have always found thy talk to outrun thy capacity; and the Lion, deluded by thy sayings, has been exposed to so perilous an affair as this, and if (which God prevent!) a calamity should befal him, anarchy and confusion would prevail in this region and the disorders and disquiet of the people would exceed all bounds, and the lives and property of all would incur the risk of plunder and spoilation, and the guilt of all this misery would be on thy neck. STANZA. The man who acts or thinks unworthily, Shall not the face of goodness ever see. And he who makes the tree of wrong take root, Damnah replied, 'I have always been a faithful minister to the king, and have planted nought in the orchard of his affairs save the shrub of wholesome advice.' Kalilah rejoined, 'A plant whose fruit is this proceeding which we now witness, were better plucked up by the root; and advice which produces such a result as this we now behold, ought rather never to have been spoken nor heard; and how can any advantage be looked for in thy discourse, when, in point of fact, it is not adorned with the ornament of deeds? Learning, without practice-like wax without honey-is devoid of all flavour; and talking without doing-like a tree without leaves and fruit-is only fit to be burned. VERSE. Knowledge, that leaves no trace of acts behind, And men of eminence, have, with the pen of condescension, deigned to inscribe on the pages of their records, this writing, that there are six things from which it is impossible to derive advantage. The first is, talk without action the second, wealth without prudence: the third, friendship without experience the fourth, knowledge without virtue: the fifth, alms without pious intentions: the sixth, life without health. And though a king be, in his own person, just and inoppressive, yet one ill-disposed and of foul character, will cut off from his subjects the benefits of their monarch's 1 Ma'ásh dán I presume to be nearly equivalent to kár ázmúdah. I have not met with the word, to the best of my remembrance, elsewhere. 2 Keene must have read suhbat for sihhat, for he translates 'life without society." justice and clemency, and from dread of his opposition the afflicting tale of the oppressed will never gain the honor of representation to the king, like water, sweet and limpid-in which the form of a crocodile is visiblewherein no swimmer, though athirst and even exceedingly parched, dare strike out with his arms or with his feet.' COUPLET. Athirst I've reached the clear pure fountain's brink; Yet to what end? I'm powerless to drink! Damnah replied, 'My object in this transaction was simply to attain the honor of the king's service.' Kalilah answered, 'Efficient servants and active attendants and experienced ministers, are the ornament and grace of the court of kings; but thou desirest that all others should be discharged from waiting on the Lion and that thou shouldst be the confidant and counsellor, and that intimate access to his majesty should be restricted to thyself alone; and this notion proceeds from complete ignorance and excessive want of understanding, for princes cannot be confined to any one thing or any single person, and kingly rank is like the possession of loveliness and beauty; for just as a charmer seeks the more to display her attractions, the more men are in love with her; so a king, too, the more numerous his attendants and the larger his retinue, is the more desirous of increasing his train and multiplying those about him. And this vain longing that thou entertainest, is a clear proof of excessive stupidity; as the sages have said, 'Five things are marks of folly: first, to seek one's own advantage by injuring others: secondly, to look for the rewards of the future life without mortifying the flesh,' and piety: thirdly, to make love to women with rough language and ill-temper: fourthly, to expect to learn the niceties of science in slothful indulgence and ease: fifthly, to expect friendship from men without being faithful, and observing the duties of a friend.' And it is from excess of the kindly feeling that I entertain for thee, that I say these things; but it is as clear as the sun that the dark night of thy depravity will not be illuminated by the torch of my preaching. The gloom of ignorance and foulness of envy, which is interwoven in thy nature, will not be dispelled by the lustre of my counsels. COUPLET. Not Zamzam's well could bleach, nor Kausar's 2 tide His fortune's woof that fate has darkly dyed. 1 Ríyázat-i 'ibádat, 'the discipline of devotion,' appears to me to be a questionable reading. I would therefore read riyázat va 'ibádat, though I cannot find his suggestion supported by the MSS. Zamzam is the famous well at Makkah, otherwise called Hagar's well. The water is considered holy, and is much used in the ceremonies of the Hajj. For Kausar, see Sale's Preliminary Discourse,' p. 68. Gilim. Lit.: 'blanket,' or rough cloth used to sleep on. And my case, in relation to thee, is like what the man 1 said to that bird, namely, 'Take not useless trouble nor waste thy words upon a set who are not inclined to listen to thee.' It would not however give heed and was punished in the end.' Damnah inquired, 'How was that?' STORY XXIV. Kalilah said, 'They have related that a troop of monkeys had their abode in a mountain, and lived upon the fruits and herbage there. It befell that on a night more dark than the hearts of the guilty, and gloomier than the souls of men of ruined fortunes, the frost of winter began to assail them, and from the gust of a boisterous wind of icy chillness the blood in their bodies began to congeal. 4 VERSE. Such was the cold, the lion of the sky, Wished he his [shaggy] skin inverted had.2 The garden birds for heat so restlessly Longed, that to have been spitted they'd been glad.3 The poor creatures, distressed by the cold, were seeking shelter, and having briskly girded themselves in search of it, were running about in every direction. On a sudden, beside the road, they beheld a piece of sugar-cane lying shining, and, under the idea that it was fire, collected sticks and laid them about it, and commenced blowing, and a bird on a tree over against them called out That is not fire,' but they paid no attention, nor desisted from their unprofitable task. Meanwhile it happened that a man came there and said to the bird, 'Trouble not thyself, for by thy speaking they will not be deterred, and thou wilt meet with vexation. 5 1 Keene has the following note:- From the story it appears that it was not a man, but another bird, who said this to the bird. There is some mistake.' The editions do indeed faultily read mardi in one place, and murgh-i digar in the subsequent passage; but, on referring to the MSS., I find it should be mardi in both places. In the next line the printed edition has nishinad for na shunid. 2 The peasants in Italy, and the Afghán mountaineers, wear a cloak of skins, the plain side of which they turn inwards in warm weather, and reverse it in winter, so as to have the warm fur next their bodies. This custom may have given rise to this most strange expression. For a note on wájhún, see M. Quatremère's review of M. Chodzko's Grammar, Journal des Savants,' October, 1853. 3 The literal translation of this impracticable line is: 'The birds in the gardens had the horse-shoes in the fire, that it would be pleasant to be at the spit at the fire. With such impossible idioms has the hapless translator to deal. To have the horse-shoes in the fire' signifies to be ready;' and the Burhan-i Kát'i explains that in order to get a sort of magic influence over a person, it is a custom to write his name on a horse-shoe and put it in the fire, and it is supposed he and the shoe will become malleable together. Keene has, they saw a bright lump of quicksilver;' but nai párah can mean nothing but a piece of reed,' or 'cane.' Párá, indeed, means 'quicksilver,' but it is a word of Sanscrit origin. Here the editions have, by a mistake, murgh-i digar for mardi. See note 1, above. COUPLET. He that is joined to evil fortune, leave him to his fate;1 For he will not, by all thy efforts, prove more fortunate. And to exert oneself in correcting and amending such persons is like trying a sword upon a stone, or to seek from deadly poison the properties of a sovereign antidote. STANZA. Expect no trace of goodness in the man, For by no efforts of thy making can A white hawk from a dingy crow be had.' When the bird saw that they did not attend to his words, from excess of kindness he came down from the tree in order that he might make them hear distinctly his advice, and admonish them against the futile toil they were undergoing. The monkeys collected round the bird, and separated his head from his body, and my dealings with thee have just the same character, and I do but waste my time and speak vain words, and besides that no advantage will accrue to thee, I am in danger too of being damaged.' STANZA. Thy hearer to thy counsel gives no heed; Then why vain burthens on thy soft heart lay? Then leave him fatuous lagging on his way. Damnah said, "O brother! the great have always fulfilled their duty faithfully towards their inferiors as regards advice and admonition, and have shunned partiality and dissimulation; and it is incumbent on men of real eminence to persevere in the due practice of counsel and exhortation, whether any one attends to them or not.' STANZA. Withhold from none thy warnings, but say on, Although the hearer may thy words neglect. Though in their stony breasts they nought effect. Kalílah said, 'I do not close the gate of advice against thee, but I am afraid that thou hast based thy affairs on perfidy and deceit, and hast 1 I have been obliged to omit the words az ágház-i kúr, from the commencement of the affair,' which Keene joins with tawám gashtah, but which I should prefer to connect with tark girid. 2 Burák was the winged animal, smaller than a mule and bigger than an ass, upon which Muhammad performed his journey by night, from the sacred temple of Makkah to the further temple of Jerusalem,' and thence through the seven heavens to the presence of God. See Ku'rán, ch. xvii.; Sale p. 209; and Prideaux's Life of Mahomet, p. 43. adopted as thy practice, conceit and egotism: The worst of qualifications is obstinacy.' And when thy repentance comes, it will be unavailing, and however much thou mayest gnaw the back of thy hand and lacerate the surface of thy breast, it will be to no purpose, and a proceeding which is based on deceit and treachery will terminate in disgrace and conclude in dishonor. So it happened to the cunning partner; and the perniciousness of his stratagem turned out the noose of the snare of calamity, and closed on his own neck; while his careless associate, by the blessing of his uprightness and honest simplicity, attained his wish.' Damnah said, 'How was that?' STORY XXV. 1 Kalilah said, 'They have related that there were two associates, one of whom was shrewd and the other careless. The former, by his extreme acuteness and cunning, could cast a thousand spells upon the water, and him they called Sharp-Wit. The latter, from his excessive stupidity and dullness, could not discern between things profitable and injurious, and him they called Light-Heart. These two formed the intention of trading, and set out upon their travels in company with each other, and went on traversing many a stage and march. It chanced that they found a purse of gold in the way and viewing it as an unlooked-for piece of good-fortune, halted. The clever partner said, 'O brother! there is in this world plenty of profit that is never realized. Now it appears to be best to be content with this purse of gold and to finish our lives in the nook of our cottages in unfettered ease.' VERSE. How long, gold-seeking, round the earth wilt go? As grows thy treasure so thy care will grow. Nought will the eye-cup of the greedy fill,2 Pearls brim the shell, but not until 't is still. They then retraced their steps, and, entering the city, alighted at a lodging. The careless partner said, 'O brother! come on, let us divide this gold, and freeing ourselves from anxiety, spend our several portions according to our several inclinations.' The clever one replied, 'It is not advisable to divide at present. Our judicious course would be to take such sums as we require for our immediate expenditure, and place the rest very carefully in deposit somewhere, and every certain number of days come and take from thence as much as we require, and preserve the remainder in the very 1 Keene renders íshán-rá dďíyah-i bázárgání shud—'They had_a_claim upon a certain merchant.' I think, however, that the words may bear the sense I have given to them, which would suit the general story better, for it is not likely they would have given up their claim, which they would more easily have realized with the aid of their newly-acquired funds. 2 Kásah-i chashm signifies, I imagine, 'the socket of the eye,' or is it used metaphorically? 'the eye of the greedy, like a cup which can never be filled.' |