Vis and Ramin

ZARD INTERCEDES FOR VIS 201
far from thee as the sky. Fulfilment of thy desire is as
near as thy life. 1 Thou art the mistress of a luckless
mind ; the sight of two eyes and the hearing of two ears
are useless to thee.
"PARABLE (Araci): Counsel 2 to thee is as useless as a
cooking-pot 3 to him who is too ill to eat anything, or a
head-dress 4 to a traveller.
"When I advise and instruct thee, thou art weary of
reason. Instead of profit I have borne from thee so many
shames and dishonours that each of them seems to me like
a hundred. Thou art a devil, 6 for thou art always afraid
of a good name. If from afar thou seest righteousness,
thy soul cannot bear it, for it begins to shriek at the sight
thereof. Thou piercest the pure heart with a knife and
despisest the good. If I call thee a dev, thou art pleased
with me ; if the devil, thou hopest it is a black one.
Everything honourable is made shameful by thee, and
thou hast broken the fame of every man. I have seen
none shameful as thee, and none trustful 6 as I am. Shame
has forsaken me on account of my so great
love for thee.
To shed thy blood is justifiable, 7 because thy life is | the
cause of woe to many souls. I know no medicine to
instruct thee save thy death by this sword."
He prepared to strike off her head, and she had not so
much fear for the sword as grief for the lack of Ramin.
Then Zard went to his brother and said :
" Exalted 8 king, may God multiply your days in gladness !
Thou thyself understandest what woe will fall on thee afterwards
from slaying her. Thou hast once tried separation
from her, and what befell thee ? How weary thou becamest
of dwelling in the land and of the army on her account !
Thou thyself knowest how many tears thou didst shed.
Thou wilt not find on the earth another like unto her in
beauty 9 of form, nor is there such an one created by God.
1
Sulni. * Shcgoneba, 226.
* KoVhani earthenware pot.
4 lalkant? ceremonial head-dress for a woman, 227.
Eshma, 277. Shcudjerebeli.
7 Alalni (Arabic).
Magliali. Thualadoba, 166, 240. B., 1065.
230