COUPLET. 'Bethink thee ever, all thou didst pretend Of faithful love, proved falsehood in the end. I have passed my life in kingly sway, and I have experienced many heats and chills of fortune. Fortune snatched back from me her own bestowings, and heaven required of me that which it had conferred; and I became numbered with the wretched, and fell into the circle of the ill-starred. Yet I am not of such a nature as to have remained altogether destitute of the fruits of experience; so as not to know what happens, and not to discern a quarter in which reliance can be placed, from one where only hypocrisy is to be found. Cease these words, and forbear henceforth to take thy seat among the generous. Leave off thy boastings of fidelity, nor speak of sincerity and honor. COUPLET. O speak not thou of faithfulness where feast the frank and free; And if any one makes an initiatory display of virtues, whatever they may be,' and talks of his manliness and honor, one may discover his real metal in the time of trial, and test his coin on the touchstone of experience. COUPLET. How good, if trial such a touchstone were, That liars would a blackened visage bear!' The Tortoise exclaimed loudly in great grief and said, 'What suspicion is this that thou entertainest of me? and what quality is this that thou imputest to me? Heaven forbid that anything contrary to thy good pleasure should ever have passed through my mind! or that any illdesign or perfidious scheme with reference to thee should have crossed my thoughts. And though thou shouldest cast a hundred thousand stones of despite in my face, I will not remove my face from the dirt of thy threshold; and though thou shouldest pierce my breast again and again with the sword of contumely, I will not remove my heart from thy society." The Monkey retorted, 'Fool! think not I am like that Ass of which the fox said, that it had neither heart nor ears.' The Tortoise said, 'How was that?' STORY III. He said, 'They have related that a lion had become afflicted with the mange. Together with constant fever, he was worn out with itchy torments, and at last by reason of the irritation, the numberless thorns of disquietude pierced his heart and his vigor flagged, and abandoning all motion, he relinquished the pleasures of the chase. Now in this lion's service was a 1 I am doubtful of this rendering, but I can make no other meaning of this obscure sentence. fox, who used to gather up the scraps from his table, and the remnants of his repast, and who gained strength and food from the blessing of his leavings. When the lion was unable to pursue the chase, the affairs of the fox came to distress. One day from the meagreness of the supplies and the overpowering violence of hunger, he began to reproach the lion, and said, 'O king of beasts! anxiety for thy indisposition, has made the beasts of this jungle sad, and the lassitude of thy state and the impression of thy despondency, pervade all thy attendants, nay, the whole body of thy subjects. COUPLET. A hundred thousand beings tremble for thy life, Shocked at thy failing strength, a world with care is rife. Wherefore dost thou not apply some remedy to this disease, and direct attention to the cure of this heart-tormenting pain?' The lion, groaning with pain, said, COUPLET. 'A thorn lies buried in my heart, no needle can remove it thence; And lo! my heart is changed to blood, and nought can dull its aching sense.1 O fox! I have now a long time suffered agonies from this cruel disease, and from this itching I waste away daily. My body from attenuation has become like a hair, and not a hair is left upon it; and I know not how to cure this illness, or how to allay these sufferings. A physician, in whose words I have complete confidence, has, indeed, lately pronounced that I must eat the ears and heart of an Ass, and that all other remedies will be unavailing. Since then I have been rendered anxious by the thought how this wish can be accomplished, and by what stratagem of my friends I can obtain this desired object.' The fox replied, 'If the royal command is condescendingly uttered, I that am the nearest of the attendants of the court will gird up the waist of inquiry and step forward on the road of search, and my hope is that by the blessing of the imperial auspices and the happy influence of the perpetual fortune of the king, what is desired will be gained.' The lion asked, 'What kind of artifice hast thou imagined? and what device hast thou read from the volume of imposture?' The fox answered, 'O king! it occurs to me that it is impossible for you to issue forth from this jungle; since, after your body has been denuded of hair, and the gloriousness of your beauty, and the majesty of your appearance, have suffered some deterioration; to move out and exhibit yourself to friends and strangers would be injurious to the royal dignity and kingly awe. Wherefore, the advisable course appears to me to be this, that I should bring the object of your desire into this jungle, in order that the king of the beasts may tear 1 Lit. And this thorn comes not forth from my heart.' 2 Lit. 'I drink blood from this anger.' him to pieces, and at pleasure eat that which he may desire.' The lion replied, "Whence wilt thou bring him?' The fox answered, 'In the vicinity of this wilderness there is a spring of water, which from its abundance resembles the sea of 'Umán,' and by its sweetness and purity represents the fountain of life. COUPLET. Its ripples pure as beauty's cheek, Its waves of life's own sweetness speak. And a washerman comes there every day to wash clothes, and an Ass, which carries burthens for him, grazes daily around that spring. Perhaps I may, by a stratagem, lead him to this jungle. Let the king, however, vow that, after eating his heart and ears, he will bestow the rest as alms on the other beasts.' The lion vowed and promised accordingly, and confirmed his words with an oath; and the fox, in hopes of a plentiful feast, directed his steps towards the spring of water, and as soon as he saw the Ass at a distance he performed the customary salutations, and began to address him in a soft voice, and politely opened the path of conversation. COUPLET. With honied tongue, and language soft and fair, Thou mayst conduct a mammoth with a hair. He then asked, 'What is the cause that I see thee suffering and lean?' The Ass replied, "This washerman is constantly imposing work on me, and neglects to take care of me; I perish of distress for forage, and he cares not a grain for it; and the harvest of my life is almost carried away by the wind of extinction, and he takes not so much account of it as of a blade of grass. VERSE. I've got no kind friend to supply my famine; Of hay and barley I ne'er heard the name e'en. Under this load each day my blood devouring, I with my tongue, all night, the walls am scouring. For blood and dirt are all the food I've tasted.' The fox replied, 'O simpleton! thou hast feet and the power of moving; why, then, dost thou choose this drudgery, and why tarry thus miserably beset?' The Ass rejoined, 'I am a notorious bundle-carrier, and go where I will there is no getting free of this toil. Besides, I am not the only ass especially devoted to this labor: all my brethren are overtaken in the same troubles, and groan under the like burthens. COUPLET. Each has of pain his fated portion: none Can by free passport this allotment shun. 1 The sea betwixt Ethiopia and India. 2Elephant' in the original, a word never intended for verse. And after much consideration I have come to the firm conclusion that since the cup of trouble is to be quaffed everywhere, and the garment of vexation and endurance of suffering to be put on in all places, I must rest quiet in the house of some one, and not endure the reproach of fickleness for a life which, as it passes, disappoints our expectations. HEMISTICH. 'Tis naught to wander on from door to door.' The fox said, 'Thou art wrong, HEMISTICH. Thou canst not die of famine, for I'm here. to the earth's In accordance with the text, Verily God's earth is spacious,' plain ample space has been given; and the royal mandate, Go through the earth,' was sent down for those who suffer oppression and endure tyranny. STANZA. Go! travel, should thy station please thee not, Thither to move from hence is no disgrace. And if too narrow be on earth thy lot, The earth God made is no contracted space.' The Ass said, 'Let one go where he will, he will obtain no more than what is destined. Wherefore, to choose to be covetous, and on the top of other loads to undertake voluntarily the hardships of travel, is far removed from what is reasonable. DISTICHS. The allotted portion reaches every seeker. So The fox said, 'These words have reference to an exalted state of reliance on God, and every one is not able to attain this rank. The command of the Lord God (may His name be glorified!) was on that account issued, that in this world of causes, subsistence should be conveyed to each by the intervention of some means, and the Causer of Causes, in respect to each one of those who subsist by Him, displays in a different manner the means of supply. HEMISTICH. Strive thou to earn-all earners are God's friends. And if thou art content I will take thee to a meadow, the ground of which, 1 Kur'an, ch. xxix. 56; Sale, p. 301, 1. 1: 'O my servants, who have believed, verily my earth is spacious; wherefore serve me.' 2 Kur'an, ch. vi. 11; Sale, p. 92, 1. 27: Say, Go through the earth, and behold what hath been the end of those who accused our prophets of imposture.' Vide also Sale, p. 298, 1. 27, where the same expression occurs; as also p. 44 of this book where, by an error, p. 82 of Sale is quoted for p. 92. like the houses of the vendors of jewels, is adorned and lustrous with the radiance of a variety of gems, while its air, like the tray of the perfumer, is aromatized and scented by its fragrant breeze with the odor of the purest musk. 1 VERSE. Its air delightsome, and its plains wide-spread, Its trees fruit-burthened, and their branches green : Murmurs its wooings soft ;-as when, between Two lovers, vows are pledged, where parting long has been. And before to-day I have given advice to another ass, and led him to that Eden-like spot, and at this moment he walks proudly, at perfect ease, in the expanse of freedom from care, and feeds in happiness and health in the garden of security and peace.' In short, the fox, employing his subtle language, used such wheedlings, and uttered such cajolings, that the bread of his deceit was baked in the oven of imposture, and the cauldron of the Ass's desire began to boil with vain longing, and he said, 'It is not right to turn aside from thy directions, which spring from pure friendship and compassion, nor allowable to disregard thy injunctions, which are the essence of kindness and commiseration. HEMISTICH. Whate'er thou biddest, with my life I'll do.' The fox went first, and brought him near the lion, who, from excessive eagerness, sprang at him at once, and inflicted a wound on him, but owing to excessive weakness, failed of his object. The Ass turned to flight, and the fox, astonished at the feebleness of the lion, began to reproach him, saying, 'Well now! what was the advantage of uselessly tormenting an animal? and what end has been served from being hasty in a matter, the opportunity for commencing which was not fleeting away? Prudence required thee to restrain thyself, and firmness of purpose pointed out to thee not to relinquish the hold on the reins of option, so as not to repent in the end. HEMISTICH. Of what avail repentance now, when things have passed beyond thy power?' These words annoyed the lion, and he thought to himself, 'If I admit that I have not kept a guard on my actions, I shall lay myself open to the charge of unsteadiness and want of fixed purpose; and if I shall have recourse2 to the temptations of appetite as my apology, I shall be branded with greediness and levity and rashness; and if I acknowledge my want of strength, the imputation of weakness and impotence follows, and sundry bad consequences, 1 For the reading of the editions I would gladly substitute bih nasím-i'ambar shamím-i i mutayyab va mu'attar, did the MSS. allow it. 2 Observe this somewhat uncommon use of tamassuk justan. |