Shahnama of Firdausi vol.6 c.1010 - translated by A G Warner & E Warner - of Trűbener's Oriental Series, 1912.
Shahnama, the book of Kings, is the persian poetic epic.
Kaid of Hind & Sikandar : Shahnama - Firdausi, 1010 AD
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(5) How Kaid of Hind had a Dream, and how Mihrán interpreted it
~ A speaker of the tongue of days of old ~ A tale that thou wilt muse to hear thus told : ~ There was in Hind a monarch, Kaid by name, ~ Whose sole pursuit was knowledge and advice ; ~ He had a sage's heart, a prince's brain, ~ King's bearing and the Grace of archimages. ~ He dreamed a dream ten nights successively ~ A portent : mark it well. The men of learning ~ In Hindustan, the mighty both in word ~ And lore, the sages and the counsellors, ~ Met at his bidding, and he told his dreams ~ At large without reserve ; but every heart ~ Was full of deep concern, each visage wan, ~ For there was none that could interpret them. ~ Then said a sage to Kaid : " sovereign, ~ Memorial of the great and man of wisdom ! ~ There is a famous one by name Mihran, ~ Who hath attained his fill of earthly lore. ~ He will not sleep or rest him in a city, ~ And liveth but with cattle of the field, ~ Subsisting on the herbs upon the mountains, ~ And not accounting us as fellow-men ; ~ His home is with the onager and deer, ~ Apart from habitation and mankind ;
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{c. 1291} ~ Naught in the world doth injure him ; devout ~ Is he, and of high fortune."
~ To the sage ~ Thus said king Kaid : " One must not overlook ~ This virtuous man."
~ Moved by Mihrán's renown ~ He mounted then and there upon his steed, ~ While, lest he should grow downcast, men of lore ~ Escorted him. The monarch reached Mihran, ~ Saluted courteously the sage, and said : ~ " Thou devotee who with the mountain-sheep ~ Inhabitest the heights ! hear thou with care, ~ And then interpret wisely, these my dreams : ~ Know that one night, O wise and holy man ! ~ I slept in peace, unfrighted, undismayed, ~ No care at heart, no impulse in my head, ~ And in my chamber there was none with me. ~ Night's noon had passed, but dawn was not. I saw ~ A habitation like a vasty palace ; ~ Therein a huge, fierce elephant. The dwelling ~ Showed doorless, but had one strait aperture ~ Wherethrough that savage elephant would pass ~ Uninjured by the straitness ; its black bulk ~ Would pass therethrough, but leave its trunk behind. ~ Next night I saw the throne devoid of lord ~ Fair-fortuned, but upon the ivory seat ~ Sat one who donned the heart-delighting crown. ~ The third night came ; I made me haste to sleep, ~ And dreamed that I beheld a goodly kerchief ~ Whereat four men tugged till their cheeks turned blue ~ With pulling, yet the kerchief was not rent, ~ Nor were the men fordone. Upon the fourth night ~ I saw, illustrious sage ! a man athirst ~ Beside a stream. O'er him a fish kept pouring ~ The water, yet his droughty head was dry ~ Although the water followed as he moved !
{ - - - p.93}
~ How read'st thou this, good friend ? Upon the fifth night ~ My mind dreamed of a city by the water. ~ The citizens though blind seemed none the worse, ~ For thou hadst said : ' The whole place is afire ~ With liberality and trafficking ! ' ~ Upon the sixth night, honoured lord ! I saw ~ A city, all whose citizens were sick, ~ And went to question those in health, who first, ~ Preventing them, inquired : ' How came ye thus ~ With body aching and with heart o'ercharged ? ' ~ And then the sick, whose soul had reached their lips, ~ {c. 1292} ~ Sought of the healthy for a remedy. ~ When half the seventh night had passed I saw ~ A horse that grazed at will upon the plain ; ~ It had two fore, two hind, feet, and two heads, ~ And cropped the grass off quickly with its teeth. ~ It grazed on both sides with its double mouth, ~ And yet its body was without a vent ! ~ I saw upon the eighth night, holy man ! ~ Three vases on the ground set all a-row, ~ Two filled with water but the central empty, ~ And dry for many a year. Two worthies tried ~ To fill it from the others whose contents ~ Were minished not by pouring while the dry ~ Remained with lip unmoistened. On the ninth night ~ I dreamed that I beheld a cow reposing ~ 'Mid grass and water in the sun. A calf, ~ Small, gaunt, and wizened, with lack-lustre face, ~ Was standing just before her, and she sucked it ! ~ The cow was lusty and the calf was weak. ~ If thou wilt lend thine ear to my tenth dream ~ Thou wilt not grow aweary ere I end. ~ Upon a spacious plain I saw a spring ~ With streams and dykes about it. All the champaign ~ Was watered yet the fountain-head was dry. ~ I prithee answer and reveal the future."
{ - - - p.94}
~ Mihran, when he had heard this thing from Kaid, ~ Said : " Be not sick at heart about this dream ; ~ Thy fame shall fail not, ill not reach this realm. ~ Sikandar will lead forth a mighty host, ~ The chosen chieftains of Iran and Rum, ~ And, if thou wouldst still rule, consort with wisdom, ~ And fight him not. Four things thou hast whose equals ~ None, great or small, e'er saw. One is thy daughter, ~ Like Paradise above, through whom thy crown ~ Is bright on earth ; the next thy privy sage, ~ Who telleth thee the secrets of the world ; ~ The third thy worthy leech, most famed of doctors ; ~ The fourth a cup wherein, if thou pour water, ~ That water will not heat for sun or fire, ~ No drinking minish it. These will defeat ~ All his endeavours, for when he shall come ~ Confide in these, and not in war, if thou ~ Wouldst have him gone betimes. Thou canst not face ~ His troops, his strategy, his realm, and treasure. ~ As wisely I advise thee so will I ~ Interpret these thy dreams. Thou didst behold ~ {c. 1293} ~ A dwelling and strait aperture wherethrough ~ Passed elephant but left its trunk behind. ~ Now hear the rede of the interpreter. ~ Know that this dwelling imageth the world, ~ The elephant a thankless king, unjust, ~ False in his words, and royal but in name, ~ A man of mean heart and of feeble body, ~ Keen in his greed and gloomy in his soul. ~ At length, when he shall pass away, his name ~ Abideth in dishonour in the end. ~ Thy second dream concerning crown and throne, ~ Which one man voided and another gained, ~ Illustrateth that this inconstant world ~ Removeth one and speedeth up another.
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~As for thy third dream of that goodly kerchief, ~ Clutched by four righteous men yet never rent ~ Though they that tugged thereat were never weary : ~ Hereafter there will come a man renowned ~ Forth from the desert of spear-wielding horsemen, ~ A holy, virtuous man by whom the Faith ~ Of God will come to be four-square, and, know, ~ Tis imaged by that kerchief, while the four ~ That tug thereat tug in safe-guarding it. ~ One Faith is the Dihkan's who worshippeth ~ The Fire, and taketh not the sacred twigs ~ Save with a muttered prayer. ^[1] Another one ~ Is that of Moses, which thou call'st the Jew's, ~ Who saith : ' None other should be praised '; another ~ That of Yúnán, ^[2] a good Faith making just ~ The great king's ^[3] heart ; and, fourth, the Arabian, ~ Pure and exalting from the dust the prudent. ~ Four parties thus assuming to be guardians ~ Tug at the kerchief in their several ways, ~ And, as they pull against each other thus, ~ Antagonize for their religion's sake. ~ Then, fourthly, for the droughty man who shunned ~ Sweet water which a fish threw after him : ~ A time will come when holy men will be, ~ Just like that fish, despised as having drunk ~ Of wisdom's stream ; but evil-doers' heads ~ Will be exalted to the Pleiades. ~ When one shall call the thirsty to the water ~ None wisely will respond, but all will shun ~ The wisdom-seeker and combine to curse him. ~ In thy fifth dream thou sawest a busy city. ~ The burghers spent their lives in feasting, largess, ~ And trafficking, but ' Fortune,' thou hadst said,
*[1] See Vol. i. pp. 80, 81 s.v. Dihkán, Báj, and Barsam.
*[2] I.e. Javan, the son of Japheth and the progenitor of the Greeks.
*[3] Sikandar.
{ - - - p.96}
~ ' Had sewn their eyes up so that none could see ~ {c. 1294} ~ Another.' This referreth to a time ~ When wise men will be slaves to ignorant, ~ Who will despise the erudite and these, ~ Their tree of wisdom fruiting not for them, ~ Will laud, and openly commend, the witless, ~ Though conscious of their own hypocrisy, ~ And that such service is inglorious. ~ As for the sixth dream, when the ailing sick ~ All went to question those in health : a time ~ Will come wherein the wretched mendicant ~ Will be misprized in the rich man's eyes, ~ And turn in his resourcelessness to any ~ Possessed of goods, who will not give him aught, ~ So that he will become a wageless servant, ~ Or else a slave without the purchasing. ~ As for the ventless and two-headed steed ~ Of thy seventh dream : a time will come when men ~ Will joy in wealth and never have enough. ~ The beggar, student, and celebrity ~ Will get no share from them, for they will think ~ Of no one save themselves and help not any. ~ As to thine eighth dream of two vases brimming, ~ And one left wholly void, two vases filled ~ With lucid water, and the middle one ~ All dry and moistureless : a time will come ~ Wherein the poor will grow so weak and wretched ~ That, though the clouds of springtide, charged with showers, ~ Shall hide the sunshine from the mendicant, ~ Those very showers not e'en then will descend ~ On him, and he will be heart-stricken. The rich ~ Will lavish gifts among themselves and bandy ~ Their honied compliments while beggars go ~ With droughty lips and so pass day to night. ~ As for the ninth wherein a lusty cow
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~ Sucked its lean calf: when Saturn entereth Libra ~ The world will be beneath the strong arm, poor ~ And sick fare ill, and yet the well-to-do ~ Will still exact from them, will never open ~ Their own hoards, nor abate the others' travail. ~ In thy tenth dream thou sawest a fountain dry, ~ With waters all about it savouring musk, ~ Yet no clear stream of water bubbled forth, ~ And sped to mingle with those other waters. ^[1] ~ A time is coming when the world will have ~ A king that is devoid of understanding, ~ A king whose dark soul will be full of dudgeon, ~ The whole world gloom beneath his tyranny, ~ And never good be found among his treasures. ~ He ever will be gathering fresh hosts ~ {c. 1295} ~ To win his crown new fame, but in the end ~ This monarch and his hosts will pass away, ~ And there will be a change of dynasty. ~ But our time is the epoch of Sikandar, ~ Who is the crown upon the heads of nobles. ~ Upon his coming give him these four things ; ^[2] ~ Methinketh not that he will ask for more, ~ But, when thou dost content him, pass thee by, ~ For he is diligent to learn and wise."
~ Kaid, having heard the matter from Mihran, ~ Regained the vigour of his former years, ~ Came, kissed the sage's head and eyes, and went ~ His ways triumphant, happy, and content.
*[1] Perhaps this may mean : " I have patrons among the nobles but Mahmud is obdurate." Cf. what follows and Vol. i. p. 33.
*[2] I.e. the Four Wonders. Cf. p. 94.
VOL. VI. - G
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(6) How Sikandar marched against Kaid of Hind and wrote a Letter to him
~ Now when Sikandar had surveyed Írán, ~ And knew that crown and throne were his, he led ~ His host toward Kaid of Hind and, road or none, ~ Pursued his march, while as he went along ~ The people of the cities on his way ~ Unbarred their gates to him. In all that coast ~ He found none worthy to be called a man, ~ And raised his helm o'er Venus. On approaching ~ The mighty city, named by valiant Kaid ~ Mílád, they called a scribe and seated him ~ Before Sikandar who, like lion lusting ~ For quarry, wrote to Kaid : " This from Sikandar ~ The mighty and victorious, the lord ~ Of scimitar, of crown, and belt."
~The letter ~ Began with praises of the man that laveth ~ His heart with knowledge, " for in his desire ~ To eat the fruitage of his toils he chooseth ~ The easiest course, adoreth holy God, ~ And trusteth, feareth, reverenceth Him, ~ While knowing that we top the throne and are ~ The Shadow of the all-conquering Lord. Now I ~ Have written thee a letter to enlighten ~ Thy darkling mind ; so when thy scribe shall read it ~ Lay it not out before thee and consider, ~ But, if it come by night, wait not for day, ~ And do my will forthwith. If thou shalt slight ~ My words so will not I, but trample down ~ Beneath my feet thy throne and head and crown."
{ - - - p.99}
(7) How Kaid of Hind answered Sikandar's Letter and announced the Sending of the Four Wonders
~ Now when this letter came to Kaid of Hind ~ {c. 1296} ~He interviewed the great king's envoy, praised ~ And favoured him exceedingly, assigned him ~ In courtesy a seat upon the throne, ~ And said : " I joy to do the Shah's behest, ~ And alway will be true to him ; but still ~ That one so great as I am should set forward ~ So quickly and unreadily would please not ~ The Maker and the monarch of the earth."
~ Then calling for a scribe, for pen of Chin, ~ And silk of Hind, he wrote at once an answer, ~ And decked it like the garth of Paradise. ~ He gave, first, praises to the Omnipotent, ~ The Lord of victory and time, the Lord ~ Both generous and just, the Lord of manhood, ~ Of sense and prowess ; then : " The good man's head ~ Will turn not from the great, illustrious king, ~ Nor are we well advised in keeping aught ~ From him who hath the army, crown, and sword. ~ Four things have I that none else in the world ~ E'er hath possessed in public or in private, ~ And after me none will possess the like. ~ These, if the Shah shall bid me, I will send ~ To give new vigour to his heart and rule, ~ And afterward, if he commandeth me, ~ Will come and slave-like do him fealty."
{ - - - p.100}
(8) How Sikandar sent back the Messenger to ~ receive the Four Wonders
~ The envoy came as swiftly as the wind, ~ Told all that he had heard, and gave the letter. ~ Sikandar said to him : " Go to, return ~ To that famed man, and say : ' What things are these ~ That none e'er had in public or in private, ~ For we ourselves have seen whatever is, ~ And heaven will not create afresh ?'"
~ The envoy ~ Went from the presence, journeyed swift as fire, ~ {C. 1297} ~ And said to Kaid : " The Shah is fain to know ~ What things they are that no one else possesseth, ~ For seeing is believing."
~ When he heard, ~ Kaid cleared the court and sat with his advisers ~ In council, set the envoy in his presence, ~ And courteously entreated him. then said :- ~ " I have within my bower a daughter such ~ That if the sun on high should gaze on her ~ 'Twould gloom contrasted with my darling's face. ~ Her locks are lassos of one hue with pitch, ~ Milk savoureth on her lips, a cypress-stem ~ Is crooked to her, she scattereth pearls in speech, ~ Her looks and countenance make wisdom fly, ~ Yet 'tis the food of her discourse. When silent ~ She is the soul of modesty, and none ~ Hath seen her peer in this age. Sprung from chiefs, ~ And pious, she is chaste of heart and modest. ~ I have a cup which thou mayst fill with wine, ~ Or pour therein cold water, and although ~ Thou sat'st with boon-companions for ten years
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~ The wine would fail not ; whether wine or water ~ The cup affordeth thee, the marvel is : ~ No drinking draineth it. My third possession ~ Is this : a youthful leech who diagnoseth ~ Disease by making a uroscopy. ~ So long as he is at the court the Shah ~ Will never ail ; and, fourthly, I possess, ~ Though privily, a sage who will foretell ~ The Shah all that will chance from circling sun ~ And shining moon. "
~ The noble messenger ~ Withdrew, made wind his mate, came and informed ~ Sikandar, and the heart of the world-king ~ Bloomed like a rose. He said : " If what is spoken ~ Be true could this world purchase all the four ? ~ Kaid will illume my dark soul if he send them. ~ His country 'neath my feet I will not tread, ~ But with this good will hie me home instead."
...cont...
(9) How Sikandar sent Ten ^[1] Sages with a Letter to inspect the Four Wonders of Kaid of Hind
~ The Shah made choice of Rumans learned, wise, ~ And well disposed, then wrote a letter all ~ Excuse and perfume, colour and device : ~ " Ten trusty chiefs of mine, world- veteran, ~ {C. 1298} ~ And in my confidence, wise men and modest, ~ Endowed with Grace and counsel, shrewd observers, ~ Learned and directing, lo I have dispatched thee : ~ They will not deviate from thy shrewd counsels. ~ Exhibit those four wonders unto them, ~ And suffer them to stay with thee awhile. ~ When I receive the letter of mine ancients, ~ Those men expert and erudite, to say :-
*[1] Nine in P.
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~ ' The four things those whose like none e'er beheld ~ Have passed before our eyes,' I will indite ~ A patent drawn on silk to this effect :- ~ ' Kaid, while he liveth, is the king of Hind.' "
~ So those ten Human sages left Sikandar, ~ And sped to Kaid who, when he saw those chiefs, ~ Had much to ask of them and heard their answers, ~ Received them graciously and lodged them featly.
~ Next day, when heaven grew pallid and the sun ~ Drew forth its sword of battle, they adorned, ~ Although the moon requireth no adornment, ~ The monarch's daughter, and within the palace ~ Set up, and decked with ornaments of Chin, ~ A golden throne whereon she sat sun-faced, ~ Outshining Venus in the sky. The sages, ~ Those ancient men, fair-spoken and observant, ~ Drew near. The monarch sent them to the bride, ~ As bade Sikandar, son of Failakus. ~ The ancients, seeing the king's daughter's face ~ Illumining the palace, crown, and throne, ~ Were lost in wonder and astonishment ; ~ Feet failed them at the sight. They stood stock-still, ~ Their tongues all busied with the praise of God, ~ Unable to withdraw or look elsewhere, ~ Till one arrived to call them, since they lingered, ~ Before the king, who said : " Why such delay ? ~ The owner of that face is but a human, ~ Endowed with goodliness by every star." ~
~ A Rúman answered : " None, O king ! beholdeth ~ A picture like her in his halls ; so now ~ We each of us will send the Shah a letter ~ Describing somewhat of the lady's charms." ~
They all sat down with paper, ink, and pens. ~ Each wrote what he had noted, covering all ~ The paper with his words ; then from ^[1] Milád
*[1] Reading with P.
{ - - - p.103}
~ They sent in haste a horseman to Sikandar, ~ Who marvelled as he read, for every sage ~ {c. 1299} ~ Had written some description of the lady. ~ He wrote to them and said : " Ye have done well, ~ Ye ancients ! ye have looked on Paradise. ~ Return with those four things and ask naught else. ~ When ye have given the patent unto Kaid ~ Make ready for the way and load the beasts. ~ No man henceforth shall do him injury, ~ For I have found him just, and that sufficeth." ~ The envoy quitted that green country-side, ~ And to those Rúman ancients' presence hied.
[10] How the Ten Sages brought the Daughter, the Cup, ~ the Leech, and the Sage, from Kaid of Hind to Sikandar
~ Now when those sages heard their Shah's reply, ~ Brought by the toilful cavalier, they went ~ Forth from their palace and approached king Kaid, ~ And his famed court. The king of Hindustan, ~ When he had read the answer to his letter ~ The message of the imperious world-aspirant ~ Joyed to be free from trouble with Sikandar, ~ And chose withal a hundred men of Hind ~ Of honied tongue and eloquent, unlocked ~ Hoards not by him amassed, and chose therefrom ~ Crown, throne, and armlet, and of gems withal, ~ And raiment in the piece, all that was best. ~ They brought three hundred camel-loads of raiment, ~ And royal jewelry ; ten of dinars, ~ And five score all of drachms ; there was withal ~ A splendid litter of green aloe- wood, ~ Inlaid with gold and gems. Kaid placed gold thrones ~ Upon ten elephants and on another,
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~ More splendidly caparisoned, the Beauty, ~ Who was escorted by the sage and leech, ~ And showered tears of blood. A magnate bare ~ The cup, whose wine made all the chiefs bemused. ~ When that Moon reached the royal women's house ~ There was a crown of black musk on her head ; ~ She had let fall her tresses o'er her cheeks, ~ Like mail o'er cercis-blossom, and appeared ~ A slender cypress 'neath the full orbed moon, ~ {c. 1300} ~ To gaze was perilous. Her eyes were like ~ To twin narcissi grown in Paradise. ~ Thou wouldst have said : " She is compact of charms." ~ Sikandar gazed upon her stately form. ~ Her hair, her face, and all from head to foot, ~ And said : " Behold the Lustre of the world ! " ~ While privily invoking benisons ~ Upon the All-just, the Maker of the sky, ~ Who had created such a form and face. ~ He gave command, and all the men of lore, ~ And understanding, in the host of Rum ~ Sat by while he demanded her in marriage, ~ The which he solemnised with Christian rites, ~ And showered dínárs upon her from above ~ Out of his hoards till scarcely she could move.
[11] How Sikandar tested the Sage, the Leech, and the Cup sent by Kaid of Hind
The matter of the Cypress-tree ^[1] achieved, ~ And an abode fit for her rank prepared, ~ The Shah was free to find out how the sage
*[1] The daughter of Kaid.
{ - - - p.105}
~ Would come off in a strife of wits, and so ~ He sent a large bowl all abrim with ghee ~ To that redoubtable philosopher, ~ And said : " Anoint thy limbs herewith, loins, waist, ~ Breast, back, and neck withal, repose thyself ~ Till thou hast shaken off thy weariness, ~ Then fill for me my mind and brain with knowledge."
~ The sage, when he beheld the ghee, observed : ~ " This should not prove a mystery to me !"
~ He placed a thousand needles in the bowl, ~ And then returned it to the sovereign, ~ Who, when he saw them, summoned privily ~ A smith and bade him melt them to an ingot, ~ And fashion out of it a disk. Sikandar ~ Dispatched this to the sage who furbished it, ~ And sent back in the place of that dull iron ~ A mirror free from rust and luminous. ~ They took this to Sikandar in the night, ~ Who, saying naught, exposed it to the wet ~ Till it grew dark and dull ; then he returned it, ~ And thus prolonged the riddle of the iron. ~ The sage refurbished it to brilliancy, ~ And sent it back forthwith, but first applied ~ That which would prove preservative from damp. ~ Sikandar, seeing, called to him the sage ~ And, greetings done, assigned to him a seat ~ Below the throne, then spake about the bowl ~ Of ghee to further test that famed man's wit, ~ Who said : " Ghee will not penetrate the frame. ~ {c.1301} ~ Thou said'st : ' I pass the sages of the state ~ In knowledge.' I replied : ' mighty Shah ! ~ A man that is both wise of heart and pure ~ Will like a needle pierce both feet and bones, ~ Or e'en a stone if one is in the way.' ~ I said in fact to thee : ' My goodly speech, ~ My heart and soul and prudent purposes
{ - - - p.106}
~ Make use of words still finer than a hair, ~ And thou hast not a heart more dense than iron.' ~ Thy answer to me was : ' In bygone years ~ My heart grew rusty hi the midst of bloodshed. ~ How shall the gloom depart, for why should I ~ Continue thus distraught ? ' I answered thee : ~ ' I will refurbish by celestial wisdom ~ Thy heart if it becometh malcontent, ~ And when it shineth with a brilliant lustre ~ How shall it rust again ?'"
~ His goodly words ~ Found favour with the Shah whose heart grew keener ~ By dint of the procedure of the sage. ~ He ordered that the treasurer should bring ~ A robe, gold, silver, and a vase of gems. ~ These they presented to the sage who said :- ~ " I have a privy jewel of mine own, ~ Which is both brighter and immune from foes, ~ And not, like wealth, the mate of Ahriman. ~ I need not hire a watchman for the night, ~ And when I go abroad I fear no thieves, ~ Since in the night-time knowledge is rny warden, ~ And wisdom my soul's crown when it is waking, ^[1] ~ For wisdom, knowledge, right, are necessaries ~ Since error knocketh at the door of loss. ~ The Shah will see that I have food and raiment ~ Enough for public and for private uses ; ~ Why should I joy in superfluities, ~ And have to safeguard all this wealth ? Command ~ To carry back these havings, and may wisdom ~ Direct thy soul."
~ Sikandar mused at him, ~ And turned the matter o'er, then said : " The Lord ~ Of sun and moon will find me not in fault ~ In future since I have thy counsel, rede,
*[1] Order of couplets as in P.
{ - - - p.107}
~ And useful talk." ~
~ He bade the leech approach ~ That judged diseases by uroscopy, ~ And asked : " Who is the greatest sufferer ~ Whose pangs compel our tears ?"
~ The leech replied :- ~ " The glutton, one without restraint at table. ~ Excessive food conduceth not to health, ~ And great is he who maketh health his aim. ~ Now will I gather herbs from every side, ~ And will exhibit unto thee a medicine, ~ One that will keep thee sound ; no need to purge ; ~ {c.1302} ~ Thine appetites will greaten too, and when ~ Thou eatest much it will not injure thee. ~ Heed thou my skilled advice, then blood and brain ~ Will wax in thee, thou wilt grow strong of frame, ~ Thy heart will.be as blithe as jocund spring. ~ 'Twill bring back colour to thy face and make ~ Thy judgment sound in all, thy flowing locks ~ Shall turn not grey, not soon shalt thou despond." ~ Sikandar said : " I have not seen or heard ~ Of any king thus favoured, but if thou ~ Produce this noble potion thou wilt be ~ My guide to good, and I with mine own soul ~ Will purchase thee. The malice of thy foes ~ Shall harm thee not."
~ Sikandar got prepared ~ A robe of honour and fair gifts for him, ~ And made him chief among the learned physicians. ~ That suasive leech departed to the mountains ~ Without attendants. With his ample knowledge ~ He could distinguish bane and antidote, ~ And, having gathered many mountain-herbs, ~ And put the worthless by, chose such as were ~ Medicinal, and out of these compounded ~ The needed potion. With these mountain-simples
{ - - - p.108}
~ He purged the Shah and kept him sound and whole, ~ So that for nights he slept not but enjoyed ~ Society, affected much the Fair, ~ And sought their soft embraces till he ailed, ~ Because he tendered not himself, and so ~ One day the leech came, by uroscopy ~ Detected signs of decadence, and told him :- ~ " Youths surely age. by intercourse with women : ~ Methinketh that for three nights thou hast slept not ; ~ Speak unto me and give me a reply."
~ Howbeit Sikandar answered : " I am well : ~ None of the ills of life is troubling me. "
~ Yet still the approven leech of Hindústán ~ Would not admit the matter to be so, ~ But sought that night among his books, and mixed ~ A medicine against that decadence. ~ That night Sikandar had no lovely mate. ~ The leech, when morning came, found him alone, ~ And, having ended the uroscopy, ~ Flung down the potion, sat in high delight, ~ And, taking in his hand a goblet, bade ~ The board be spread and wine and minstrels ordered, ~ {c. 1303} ~ The Shah inquired: "Why hast thou poured away ~ The draught that thou hadst mixed so carefully ? "
~ He said : " Last night the world -lord sought no mate ~ But slept alone, and when thou sleepest thus ~ Thou needest, sire ! no draught."
~ Sikandar smiled, ~ Delighted with the leech, to whom he said :- ~ " Ne'er may this world lack Hind, for thou wouldst say ~ That all the leeches and astrologers ~ Flock thither."
~ Calling for a purse of gold, ~ And for a sable steed whose reins were hung ~ With golden balls, he gave that skilled leech both, ~ And said : " Be honest rede thy tongue's companion."
{ - - - p.109}
~ Then bade he, and they brought the golden goblet ~ Brimmed with cold water. All folk drank thereof ~ From morn till bed-time as in revelry, ~ But all the drinking did not ininish it. ~ Then to the sage the Shah said : " Kaid hath not ~ His equal in the world, and from this time ~ No longer shall we speak of Hindustan, ~ But Jádústán, ^[1] as being Kaid's abode. ~ The people are no more than other folk ~ In looks but wonderful in tricks and magic !"
~ Then said the Shah to that philosopher : ~ " This knowledge must not be concealed from us : ~ How is the water in the cup renewed ? ~ Is it the stars or Indian jugglery ? "
~ " Despise not, sire ! the cup," the sage replied, ~ " For they were many years in making it, ~ And labours underwent in that behoof. ~ From all the provinces the astrologers, ~ Where'er there was a master known to fame, ~ Assisted Kaid, when fashioning the cup, ~ Both day and night, and passed full many a day ~ In noting all the aspects of the stars. ~ Take thou the loadstone, that wherewith a man ~ Attracteth iron, as an illustration. ~ This cup by innate force attracteth water, ~ Receiving fresh additions from the sky. ~ It catcheth water to replace the waste ~ Too quickly for man's eyes to follow it."
~ The Sháh, on hearing that wise man's discourse, ~ Approved thereof; he thought the words of profit. ~ Thus said he to the elders of Milád : ~ " I will observe the compact made with Kaid ~ In honour while I live, for he is one ~ Before whose presence other folk should stand. ~ Since I have gotten from him four such things
*[1] Sorcerer-land.
{ - - - p.110}
~ We will not ask for more."
~ Now afterward ~ Sikandar set the goods that he possessed, ~ With all the treasures that he had amassed, ~ {c. 1304} ~ And therewithal a hundred jewelled crowns, ~ Upon two hundred carriers and stored ~ All, with dinars and jewels in the rough, ~ Upon a mountain. When they vanished there ~ None saw again what was reposited ; ~ From that time forward no one e'er beheld ~ That treasure and the men that hoarded it. ~ Sikandar only knew where, hid from sight, ~ Were laid those treasures on the mountain-height. ^[1]
*[1] Sikandar's method of hiding his treasures bears a suspicious resemblance to that of Captains Kidd and Flint.
Reference:
P. = Mohl's edition pf the Shahnama
Shahnama of Firdausi vol.1 c.1010 - translated by A G Warner & E Warner - of Trűbener's Oriental Series, 1912.
-::4. We desire to make some explanations with regard to certain important words in the original.
Báj and Zamzam. By these terms is known a certain practice of Zoroastrians which may be para- phrased in English as " taking prayer inwardly." Before eating, washing, &c., it is customary to mutter the beginning of some sacred formula, to carry through the operation in complete silence, and then to utter the rest of the formula aloud. We have employed such expressions as " muttering "or " muttered prayer " to describe the practice. It is sometimes used as a pretext for obtaining a few moments' private conversation.
Barsam. This was formerly a bundle of twigs, but now of metal wires varying in number according to circumstances, held in the hand during the performance of certain religious rites of the Zoroastrians. The practice is clearly referred to in Ezekiel viii. 16, 17. We translate "Barsam" by "the sacred twigs."
Dakhma. Firdausi does not use this word in its proper sense that in which it is still used by the Parsis at the present day but in that of mausoleum, charnel, or charnel-house, and we have so translated it.
Dihkán. The general sense of this word is that of countryman as distinguished from townsman. Owing, however, to the fact that the rural class in Iran as elsewhere were the chief repositories of the traditions and folklore of their native land, which were handed down orally and recited at local gatherings by those best qualified for the task, the word came to have the secondary meaning of bard or minstrel, and we have rendered it according to its first or secondary meaning as the sense of the passage required.