Vis and Ramin

THE FIRST LETTER OF VIS TO RAMIN 255
Ramin ! Now thou art drunk, and in drunkenness thou
hast broken thine oath. Do it not, Ramin, for when
thou art sober thou shalt remain wifeless and loverless ! I
see thee weeping before me, and with thy face fixed at the
door of my palace (or '
lying
on the threshold of the door
of my palace ') ; thine enmity turned to love, seeking me,
thou canst not find me. Since thou art sated of me and
my lips, doubtless thou wilt soon have enough of Gul.
When thou wast not submissive to me and didst not rejoice
beside me, to whom else wilt thou be subject? Lovers
with a loud voice :
cry
receive death as his reward.'
' He whom Vis does not suit, let him
"It will suffice thee as a sign of ill-luck that God gave
thee a rose (?i.e., Gul), and then straightway bereft thee
of the planted garden (i.e., Vis). He showed thee the
darkened moon (Gul), and bereft thee of the brilliant sun
(Vis). Thou boastest of having found one tree, and thou
knowest not that thou no longer hast the vineyard. Surely
thou dost not forget what sorrow and impatience thou wast
in for my love? When thou sawest me in a dream thou
didst think thyself a king. When my soul was given to
thee, thou wast raised from death to life.
" Man's folly is this, that he soon forgets grief and joy.
Thus thou didst say :
'
I have lost my youth in the pursuit
of her. | I have repented, and the pleasant world is become 288
bitter to me/ Then I thought this :
'
I have planted thee as
a sugar-cane, and then I looked for fruit, and gall showed
itself as fruit.' If I remembered my griefs from thee, fire
would come up even into my brain, and Djeon 1 would flow
from mine eyes. How many griefs have I seen from thee ?
And at last it befalls me that thou diggest a well, 2 the
nurse hast cast me in, and you are both seated pleasantly.
Thou didst bring wood, the nurse lit the fire, and both
burned me in it against my will. I know not if I should
complain of thee or her, the fund of my woe is from both.
How much hatred I have known from thee ! Thou hast
chained me with the fetters of separation, and hast lighted
1
Djeon, 267, 481
' Delia, 189.