Vis and Ramin

190 VISEAMIANI
majesty. Now I have hidden her state from thee, and my
secret has not been truly made known to thee. How could
I set about slaying one whose life I prefer to mine own
life ? Although I am her captive, she has not pitied me.
I prefer to die before she dies. But now I shall send
a man to the castle to bring Vis. I cannot bear to be
without her even for a moment, so we shall have her back.
I know well what will befall me from her. I shall find
much more bitterness, and from her I shall receive great
disobedience and difficulty. As long as Vis is queen in my
harem 1 2
1 expect no repose from her intrigue and treachery.
Since I am not merry one day in my heart if I do not
rejoice in Vis, it is no wonder."
Then he said to his brother :
"
Set out for the castle, and, swifter even than the wind,
go thither with two hundred men, take two horses with
thee, and bring Vis swiftly hither to me."
Zard went to the castle with two hundred men, and in
a trice brought Vis to Moabad and Shahro. Thereupon
Eamin went to Zard's and tarried secretly in his house one
Then Zard entreated Moabad for Ramin's sake,
and Moabad forgave him yet once more. He sewed up
Ramin's rent luck, the dev of enmity has hidden itself
217 month. |
again, and the garden of joy
blossomed. Anew the
palace shone with the face of Vis, sovereign of sovereigns,
moon 3 of moons. Pleasant was Moabad's state in rejoicing
and drinking, and in gazing on the sun-faced Vis. The
crystal hand of Vis was stained with the ruddy wine. The
merry Moabad began to drink, and generously to distribute
gifts among the armies. For a long time they thus made
merry. The news of them was spread in the whole country
as a tale, and the fame of Moabad's justice. They forgot
the grief they had formerly seen. Neither does joy remain
by Fate, nor heaviness ; in the end it makes grief and joy
equal. Let a man possess his heart in mirth, that his days
be not shortened, for man lasts not till the end (lives not
for ever) ; vain regret is unprofitable.
1
Sadedo, 116, 132.
2 Khlat'hui.
3 Lit., " most lunar."