Vis and Ramin

EAMIN FALLS IN LOVE WITH GUL 229
form I am fine like my father, and lovely of face like my
mother. My breast is silver, and my neck is crystal. I am
soft as ermine, 1 and fragrant as musk. Why dost thou ask
my race and name since all the land knows it to be praiseworthy
? If thou knowest not my name, yet I know thine
exceeding well. Thou art Kamin, Shahinshah's brother, and
Vis's lover, by whose nurse thou art bewitched, and thou
preferrest her to soul and heart.
"PARABLE (Araci) ; If Bagdad can exist without the
river, 2 then thou, too, couldst live without Vis.
"
But why do I speak? Thy love to Vis can no more be
out from thee than blackness from a negro. The 260
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old nurse binds thy heart in love for Vis, her (the nurse's)
rope 3 and nail 4 are her sorcery and incantations. Thou
canst not exist away from her and stay with a beauty like
me. And since thou canst not bear to be without her, be
hers alone ! She will be a disgrace to thee and thou to her,
and both of you fill Shahinshah with shame. In all the
world there is no place where your story will not be told,
and they will not deride you."
Eamin said :
"0 moon, shining down from above, never reproach the
lover who is overtaken by mischance. When thou seest
(such) a man, ask pardon for him from God. Now I curse
my former mind and self. But every act of God is hidden
from man. The doings of God's providence upon us are
long. Reproach me not. If my deed was so shameful, my
fate brought it on me. None can bring back the past. We
should not recall yesterday. Know this present, that I
am so anxious to know thee, that I prefer thee to all I have
seen. God willing, thou shalt not repent being my wife.
Be my sun, and let thy face be the soother of my
heart. I
shall be thine own, and shall seek to fulfil all thy wishes.
If thou desirest even my life, I shall not grudge
1
it. Save
Qarqumi (Turkish, qaqum), 118. ? Karakoram. R., 128. Marr,
IV 104, note, and XII. 4-1. 1
a
Didjila, var., Diladji, 198, 261, 801. RM 818, 880.
V Toilo hobble, 267, 279. Lutwmri, 416.