Vis and Ramin

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CHAPTER
XVII
THE PARTING OF BAMIN FROM THE NURSE AND HER COMING
BEFORE VIS
WHEN the nurse saw Vis, she set in order seductive words
with enchantment and treachery, and she expatiated on the
pleasures of bravery. 1 When she saw the heart- wounded
Vis so melancholy that her pillow 2 was moistened with
tears by reason of the absence of her mother and brother,
3
her garments disordered, the nurse spake thus :
"Hey, chosen one of my soul, thou art not sick, why
dost thou continually lie down? Thy arrow-like form is
become like a bow. Why art thou thus as if thou wert in
a dungeon and not in Marav city ? Lighten the burden
of grief. Man's days are consumed by great woe and
melancholy. There is no worse plague than grief, and there
is no help for it but patience. If thou wilt hearken to me,
sit up cheerfully ; fight against thyself and Fate. For a
man to
4
trust in God is a good support, and lack of trust in
Him and grief are the avenger of blood to men."
When she heard this discourse Vis became a little quieter,
she raised her head from the knees of grief ;
her face shone
forth like the rising sun. The earth was perfumed with
the fragrance of her hair, and the air became amber ; the
earth was turned into Paradise by her face, and she adorned
88 the | palace. Her face was like a cloud in spring, for rain
came from her eyes ; her eyes, despite weeping and lack of
sleep, were fairer than narcissi at banquets. She spoke
thus to the nurse, with tears :
1
Bidchoba, 81, 127. 2 Saat'hiwdli, R., 514, 1126.
ShuJchsnaj 136 (daekhsna, 131).
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4
Zurgi back.