Vis and Ramin

VIS'S ANSWER 321
hunter of deer ;* but it is plain thou art an old fox 2 scarcely
fit, with a thousand tricks, to catch a hare. 3
Since thou
hadst washed thy form clean, why didst thou pour ashes on
thy head ? Why didst thou set down the wine goblet and
lift up vinegar in thy hands ? Why didst thou lay down the
musk4 -pot 5 and take up the garlic 6 -bowl ? 7 Why didst thou
rise from the royal couch and sit down on sackcloth? 8
s it not enough sin that thou didst go away, forsake
me, wed a wife, and abandon her who thought of thee ;
that thou didst reveal my shame to all, and make mine
enemies to rejoice? Was it not enough that thou didst
write me an insulting and abusive letter, and by thy letter
cause my blood to flow? Dost thou not remember when
I sent the nurse to thee and thou didst add ill to ill ;
thou didst insult and abuse her, and didst complain of a
thousand sorceries, evil deeds, doggishness,
witchcraft? 9
'Thou art the wizard 9 and filthy one not the nurse!'
What thou saidst of her I have now found all in thee.
"In the beginning, alas ! thou didst deceive her and me,
too, for thou knowest how to do everything cunningly.
Inconstant one ! Thou wert perjured towards me. Thou
didst go away to Gorab. As long as it pleased thee thou wert
there and madest merry, now thou art come with tearful
eyes and discoursest to us. Thy |
words are decked
gold without and iron 10 within, and I am that garden
with
864
blooming with a thousand colours to whom thou shouldst
not dare to speak even one such word. I am that rose on
which all monarchs cast themselves in desire. How did I
become so shameful in thine eyes that I should be more
hideous to thee than a dev ? I am a pure spring, of which,
when thou hadst drunk, thou didst fill it up with dirt;
now thou art thirsty again, and are come hither in haste.
If thou wert to desire it (afterwards), thou shouldst not have
filled it up with earth."
1
Iremi, 806. Meli, 879. R., 748, 1184.
s
Curdgheli, also rabbit. Mtuhci, 849.
* Ukhhduri7 milky : probably
( n.
alabaster bottle.
7 Djami bowl, 898.
P'Wow, 69. Marr IV., rtg. R., 1188.
9 Djadegoba, djadcgi (Saba Orbeliani's Lexicon).
21