Persian Literature, Volume 2, Comprising The Shah Nameh | Page 3

harbor in his heart:--"_When a man is desperate he will give a latitude
to his tongue, like as a cat at bay will fly at a dog_"--"at the moment of
compulsion when it is impossible to fly, the hand will grasp the sharp
edge of a sword." The king asked, saying, "What does he say?" One of
the Vizirs (or nobles in attendance), and a well-disposed man, made
answer, "O my lord! he is expressing himself and saying, _(paradise is
for such) as are restraining their anger and forgiving their
fellow-creatures; and God will befriend the benevolent_." The king felt
compassion for him, and desisted from shedding his blood. Another
nobleman, and the rival of that former, said, "It is indecorous for such
peers, as we are, to use any language but that of truth in the presence of
kings; this man abused his majesty, and spoke what was unworthy of
him." The king turned away indignant at this remark, and replied, "I
was better pleased with his falsehood than with this truth that you have
told; for that bore the face of good policy, and this was founded in
malignity; and the intelligent have said, 'A peace-mingling falsehood is
preferable to a mischief-stirring truth':--Whatever prince may do that
which he (his counsellor) will recommend, it must be a subject of
regret if he shall advise aught but good."
They had written over the portico of King Feridún's palace:--"This
world, O brother! abides with none. Set thy heart upon its maker, and
let him suffice thee. Rest not thy pillow and support on a worldly
domain which has fostered and slain many such as thou art. Since the
precious soul must resolve on going, what matters it whether it departs
from a throne or the ground."

II
One of the kings of Khorasan saw, in a dream, Sultan Mahmud, the son
of Saboktagin, an hundred years after his death, when his body was
decayed and fallen into dust, all but his eyes, which as heretofore were
moving in their sockets and looking about them. All the learned were at
a stand for its interpretation, excepting one dervish, who made his
obeisance, and said:--"He is still looking about him, because his
kingdom and wealth are possessed by others!--Many are the heroes
whom they have buried under ground, of whose existence above it not
one vestige is left; and of that old carcase which they committed to the
earth, the earth has so consumed it that not one bone is left. Though
many ages are gone since Nushirowan was in being, yet in the
remembrance of his munificence is his fair renown left. Be generous, O
my friend! and avail thyself of life, before they proclaim it as an event
that such a person is not left."
III
I have heard of a king's son who was short and mean, and his other
brothers were lofty in stature and handsome. On one occasion the king,
his father, looked at him with disparagement and scorn. The son, in his
sagacity, understood him and said, "O father! a short wise man is
preferable to a tall blockhead; it is not everything that is mightier in
stature that is superior in value:--_a sheep's flesh is wholesome, that of
an elephant carrion_.--_Of the mountains of this earth Sinai is one of
the least, yet is it most mighty before God in state and
dignity_.--Heardst thou not what an intelligent lean man said one day to
a sleek fat dolt? An Arab horse, notwithstanding his slim make, is more
prized thus than a herd of asses."
The father smiled; the pillars of the state, or courtiers, nodded their
assent, and the other brothers were mortified to the quick. Till a man
has declared his mind, his virtue and vice may have lain hidden; do not
conclude that the thicket is unoccupied, peradventure the tiger is gone
asleep!
I have heard that about that time a formidable antagonist appeared

against the king. Now that an army was levied in each side, the first
person that mounted his horse and sallied upon the plain was that son,
and he exclaimed: "I cannot be that man whose back thou mayest see
on the day of battle, but am him thou mayest descry amidst the thick of
it, with my head covered with dust and blood; for he that engages in the
contest sports with his own blood, but he who flees from it sports with
the blood of an army on the day of fight." He so spoke, assaulting the
enemy's cavalry, and overthrew some renowned warriors. When he
came before the king he kissed the earth of obeisance, and said, "O
thou, who didst view my body with scorn, whilst not aware of valor's
rough exterior, it is the lean steed