Vis and Ramin

other ;
VIS REPLIES TO THE NURSE 113
for when drop by drop thy sin accumulates, there
will be a great flood from it." l
The (sweet) tongued moon thus answered :
"
nurse ! How
long wilt thou speak evil and despicable
words ? How long wilt thou seek water in fire ?
"PARABLE (Araci)
: Hast thou not heard from wise
men that the battle is not grievous to onlookers ?
"
I am a footman, and thou art a horseman ; thy steed is
swift and the field is flat. Thou knowest not my woe and
weariness. I am sick, and thou art whole ; thou knowest
not what spot hurts me. The sovereign is my lord and
husband, but he is suspicious, dangerous, and ill-natured.
Though Viro is my brother, I now hate him. To my eye he
is like another's gold ; and though he be the moon itself, he
is of no use to me, for he is not mine. As for Ramin, | he 127
is an idle flatterer. Thou thyself knowest that his tongue
does nought but deceive. A flattering tongue and a lasting
love go not together. His tongue in the hour of converse
is sugar, but afterwards gall, and he is full of knavery. 2
I,
alas ! am
put to shame ; having a thousand affairs, I am
idle, and having a thousand lovers and friends, am lover-
less. I have brother, husband, and lover, and through
these three I burn on fire. My name will remain to me
only from my wedded state, from my state of love only
reproach will remain to me. I esteem not as magnificent
the golden bowl 3 in which my enemy has poured out my
blood. If I had been fortunate, none save Viro had been
my
husband. I should not have seen Ramin's face nor
Moabad's, who resemble lovers, but are hateful foes. One is
like a plague, always torturing the soul, and the other for
me is like stone with glass ; the heart of one is immovable, 4
like a stone, and the heart of the other is a seeker of
unrighteousness."
1
Rhyme in the Georgian.
*
Bidchobieha, 82, 184 ;
Taihti.
bidchi* boy, or knave.
4
Daudgmeli (?).