A famous chief, the wearer of a crown.
This was Barzwí, the eloquent physician,
An orator and stricken well in years,
A man proficient in each branch of learning,
And for each branch acclaimed throughout the world.
One day Barzwí at audience-time drew near
The famous king, and said: “O Sháh, the friend
Of knowledge, apt to seek it and retain!
I scanned with heed an Indian scroll to-day,
And there within 'twas written: ‘On the mountains
Of Hind there is a herb like Rúman silk,
Which if the expert shall collect, prepare
According unto knowledge, and then strew
Upon the body of one dead, the corpse,
Good sooth, forthwith will speak.’ Now if the king
Permit I will adventure this hard journey,
And, with much lore to guide me on my way,
Achieve perchance this wondrous enterprise.
'Tis fitting that the dead should come to life
When Núshírwán is monarch of the world.”
The Sháh made answer: “Hardly this may be,
But ne'er the less the endeavour should be made.
Convey my letter thither to the Rája,
And look upon the attractions of that land.
Seek for a comrade in the enterprise,
As well as wakeful fortune's comradeship.
Thou wilt reveal some wonder to the world,
Because the words are enigmatical.
Bear to the Rája worthy offerings,
For doubtless he must furnish thee with guides.”
Then Núshírwán unlocked his treasury,
And of the havings that are fit for kings*
—
Dínárs, brocade, silks, beaver-skins, and signets,
Surpassing us in wisdom and in years,
And in his knowledge besting every chief.”
Thereat Barzwí said to those men of Hind:—
“Ye men of high renown and ardent soul!
Exert yourselves yet more on my behalf,
And point me out the way to him. Perchance
That eloquent old sage may succour me
In this affair.”
They led Barzwí to him,
Full of solicitude, with much to say.
Now when Barzwí, that man of eloquence,
Approached the sage and told all his own toils,
About the writing that he had discovered,
And of the experts' words, the ancient sage
Replied, informing him at large, and said:—
“We in those writings found the selfsame thing,
We too were instant in the same desire.
Now will I tell thee our discovery:
The noble heart must hear to understand.
The herb then is the sage, the mountain know-
ledge,
As being ever distant from the throng;
The corpse the man whose knowledge is to seek,
Because the unwise are kill-joys everywhere.
In sooth 'tis knowledge that doth make men live;
Blest is the constant toiler for its sake.
When men are stupefied through ignorance*
Kalíla*
is the herb, and understanding
The mountain. In the monarch's treasury,
On making quest there, thou wilt find a book
Of knowledge that will point thee out the way.”
Barzwí, when he had heard, rejoiced thereat,
And all his travail seemed like wind to him.
He blessed the sage and sped back to the king,
Like fire. Arrived he praised the Rája, saying:—
“Live thou while Hind shall last. There is a
book,
O potent Rája! that in Indian
Is called Kalíla.*
It is under seal,
And fondly treasured in the monarch's hoards—
A guide-book both to knowledge and to counsel.
Kalíla is the herb in mystic parlance;
So now, O king of Hind! be thou mine aid,
And, if I be not troublesome, command
Thy treasurer to hand the book to me.”
The Rája's soul was sad at that request,
He writhed upon his throne and answered thus
Barzwí: “No one has sought of us this thing
In times of yore or in these latter days.
However if the world-lord Núshírwán
Shall ask of me my body or my soul
There drachms and jewels lay to left and right,
And yet he chose him but a royal robe,
Put on that costly raiment and went forth
Back to the court of Núshírwán in haste.
When he approached the throne he did obeisance,
And praised the king, who said: “O man of toils!
Why hast thou left the treasury and brought
No purses with thee and no royal gems,
For treasure is the meed of them that travail?”
Barzwí replied: “O thou whose crown is higher
Than sun and moon! the wearer of king's
raiment
Hath access to the crown and throne of might,
So when
The fashioning of pen from kex was done
The scribe wrote of Barzwí in Chapter One.
As for the royal book which thus was writ
'Twas in the script of bygone centuries;
Among the royal hoards men treasured it,
But 'twas beheld not by unworthy eyes.
It was perused not, till the people took
To Arabic, save in the ancient tongue;
But when Mámún had made earth fresh and young
He dealt in other fashion with the book,
For he had clerkly lore, was politic
In kingly wise, and learned in every way.
'Twas then translated into Arabic,
Just as thou mayest hear it read to-day.
In Arabic, till Nasr was king, it stayed;
Then noble Abú'l Fazl, his minister
And, in respect to lore, his treasurer,
Gave orders, which were readily obeyed,*
For folk to speak in Persian and Darí.*
Thereafter precedent and policy
Conducted Nasr in wisdom's way when he
Was fain by whatsoever means might be
To leave within the world his memory.
They held a session with interpreters,
Who read the whole book out to Rúdagí.*
That poet linked the scattered words in verse,
And threaded*
thus those pregnant pearls, that he
Who is a scholar might new graces find,
And one unlearnéd more facility,
For words in prose escape us, but combined
In metric guise possess the brain and mind.
Life to Mahmúd, the world's great potentate!
May earth and time as slaves before him wait,
How it would joy the heart if but the bad
From Sháh Mahmúd less free allowance had!
Yet be not thou concerned thereat. Anon,
Since life is far advanced, thou must be gone.