Ch 01 Manner Of Kings Story 03 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFG HI BJK LM NODB PBQ PRS TPQ PBU VWXYZIDA2BTEB2B C2D2 TE2TQIE QEEB| I have heard that a royal prince of short stature and mean presence | A |
| whose brothers were tall and good looking once saw his father | B |
| glancing on him with aversion and contempt but he had the shrewdness | C |
| and penetration to guess the meaning and said 'O father a puny | D |
| intelligent fellow is better than a tall ignorant man neither is | E |
| everything bigger in stature higher in price A sheep is nice to eat | F |
| and an elephant is carrion ' | G |
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| The smallest mountain on earth is Jur nevertheless | H |
| It is great with Allah in dignity and station | I |
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| Hast thou not heard that a lean scholar | B |
| One day said to a fat fool | J |
| 'Although an Arab horse may be weak | K |
| It is thus more worth than a stable full of asses ' | - |
| - | |
| The father laughed at this sally the pillars of the state | L |
| approved of it but the brothers felt much aggrieved | M |
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| While a man says not a word | N |
| His fault and virtue are concealed | O |
| Think not that every desert is empty | D |
| Possibly it may contain a sleeping tiger | B |
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| I heard that on the said occasion the king was menaced by a powerful | P |
| enemy and that when the two armies were about to encounter each other | B |
| the first who entered the battlefield was the little fellow who said | Q |
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| 'I am not he whose back thou wilt see on the day of battle | P |
| But he whom thou shalt behold in dust and blood | R |
| Who himself fights stakes his own life | S |
| In battle but he who flees the blood of his army ' | - |
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| After uttering these words he rushed among the troops of the | T |
| enemy slew several warriors and returning to his father made humble | P |
| obeisance and said | Q |
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| 'O thou to whom my person appeared contemptible | P |
| Didst not believe in the impetuosity of my valour | B |
| A horse with slender girth is of use | U |
| On the day of battle not a fattened ox ' | - |
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| It is related that the troops of the enemy were numerous and that | V |
| the king's being few were about to flee but that the puny youth | W |
| raised a shout saying 'O men take care not to put on the garments | X |
| of women ' These words augmented the rage of the troopers so that they | Y |
| made a unanimous attack and I heard that they gained the victory on | Z |
| the said occasion The king kissed the head and eyes of his son | I |
| took him in his arms and daily augmented his affection till he | D |
| appointed him to succeed him on the throne His brothers became | A2 |
| envious and placed poison in his food but were perceived by his sister | B |
| from her apartment whereon she closed the window violently and the | T |
| youth shrewdly guessing the significance of the act restrained his | E |
| hands from touching the food and said 'It is impossible that men | B2 |
| of honour should die and those who possess none should take their | B |
| place ' | - |
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| No one goes under the shadow of an owl | C2 |
| Even if the homa should disappear from the world | D2 |
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| This state of affairs having been brought to the notice of the | T |
| father he severely reproved the brothers and assigned to each of them | E2 |
| a different but pleasant district as a place of exile till the | T |
| confusion was quelled and the quarrel appeased and it has been said | Q |
| that ten dervishes may sleep under the same blanket but that one | I |
| country cannot hold two padshahs | E |
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| When a pious man eats half a loaf of bread | Q |
| He bestows the other half upon dervishes | E |
| If a padshah were to conquer the seven climates | E |
| He would still in the same way covet another | B |
Saadi Shirazi
(1)
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