The matter of the Cypress-tree*
achieved,
And an abode fit for her rank prepared,
The Sháh was free to find out how the sage
Would come off in a strife of wits, and so
He sent a large bowl all abrim with ghee
To that redoubtable philosopher,
And said: “Anoint thy limbs herewith, loins, waist,
Breast, back, and neck withal, repose thyself
Till thou hast shaken off thy weariness,
Then fill for me my mind and brain with knowledge.”
The sage, when he beheld the ghee, observed:—
“This should not prove a mystery to me!”
He placed a thousand needles in the bowl,
And then returned it to the sovereign,
Who, when he saw them, summoned privily
A smith and bade him melt them to an ingot,
And fashion out of it a disk. Sikandar
Dispatched this to the sage who furbished it,
And sent back in the place of that dull iron
A mirror free from rust and luminous.
They took this to Sikandar in the night,
Who, saying naught, exposed it to the wet
Till it grew dark and dull; then he returned it,
And thus prolonged the riddle of the iron.
The sage refurbished it to brilliancy,
And sent it back forthwith, but first applied
That which would prove preservative from damp.
Sikandar, seeing, called to him the sage
And, greetings done, assigned to him a seat
Below the throne, then spake about the bowl
Of ghee to further test that famed man's wit,
His goodly words
Found favour with the Sháh whose heart grew keener
By dint of the procedure of the sage.
He ordered that the treasurer should bring
A robe, gold, silver, and a vase of gems.
These they presented to the sage who said:—
“I have a privy jewel of mine own,
Which is both brighter and immune from foes,
And not, like wealth, the mate of Áhriman.
I need not hire a watchman for the night,
And when I go abroad I fear no thieves,
Since in the night-time knowledge is my warden,
And wisdom my soul's crown when it is waking,*
For wisdom, knowledge, right, are necessaries
Since error knocketh at the door of loss.
The Sháh will see that I have food and raiment
Enough for public and for private uses;
Why should I joy in superfluities,
And have to safeguard all this wealth? Command
To carry back these havings, and may wisdom
Direct thy soul.”
Sikandar mused at him,
And turned the matter o'er, then said: “The Lord
Of sun and moon will find me not in fault
In future since I have thy counsel, rede,
And useful talk.”
He bade the leech approach
That judged diseases by uroscopy,
And asked: “Who is the greatest sufferer
Whose pangs compel our tears?”
The leech replied:—
“The glutton, one without restraint at table.
Excessive food conduceth not to health,
And great is he who maketh health his aim.
Now will I gather herbs from every side,
And will exhibit unto thee a medicine,
Sikandar got prepared
A robe of honour and fair gifts for him,
And made him chief among the learned physicians.
That suasive leech departed to the mountains
Without attendants. With his ample knowledge
He could distinguish bane and antidote,
And, having gathered many mountain-herbs,
And put the worthless by, chose such as were
Medicinal, and out of these compounded
The needed potion. With these mountain-simples
He purged the Sháh and kept him sound and whole,
So that for nights he slept not but enjoyed
Society, affected much the Fair,
And sought their soft embraces till he ailed,
Because he tendered not himself, and so
One day the leech came, by uroscopy
Detected signs of decadence, and told him:—
“Youths surely age by intercourse with women:
Methinketh that for three nights thou hast slept not;
Speak unto me and give me a reply.”
Howbeit Sikandar answered: “I am well:
None of the ills of life is troubling me.”
Yet still the approven leech of Hindústán
Would not admit the matter to be so,
But sought that night among his books, and mixed
A medicine against that decadence.
That night Sikandar had no lovely mate.
The leech, when morning came, found him alone,
And, having ended the uroscopy,
Flung down the potion, sat in high delight,
And, taking in his hand a goblet, bade
The board be spread and wine and minstrels ordered.
Sikandar smiled,
Delighted with the leech, to whom he said:—
“Ne'er may this world lack Hind, for thou wouldst say
That all the leeches and astrologers
Flock thither.”
Calling for a purse of gold,
And for a sable steed whose reins were hung
With golden balls, he gave that skilled leech both,
And said: “Be honest rede thy tongue's companion.”
Then bade he, and they brought the golden goblet
Brimmed with cold water. All folk drank thereof
From morn till bed-time as in revelry,
But all the drinking did not minish it.
Then to the sage the Sháh said: “Kaid hath not
His equal in the world, and from this time
No longer shall we speak of Hindústán,
But Jádústán,*
as being Kaid's abode.
The people are no more than other folk
In looks but wonderful in tricks and magic!”
Then said the Sháh to that philosopher:—
“This knowledge must not be concealed from us:
How is the water in the cup renewed?
Is it the stars or Indian jugglery?”
“Despise not, sire! the cup,” the sage replied,
“For they were many years in making it,
And labours underwent in that behoof.
From all the provinces the astrologers,
Where'er there was a master known to fame,
Assisted Kaid, when fashioning the cup,
Both day and night, and passed full many a day
In noting all the aspects of the stars.
Take thou the loadstone, that wherewith a man
Attracteth iron, as an illustration.
This cup by innate force attracteth water,
Receiving fresh additions from the sky.
It catcheth water to replace the waste
Too quickly for man's eyes to follow it.”
The Sháh, on hearing that wise man's discourse,
Approved thereof; he thought the words of profit.
Thus said he to the elders of Mílád:—
“I will observe the compact made with Kaid
In honour while I live, for he is one
Before whose presence other folk should stand.
Since I have gotten from him four such things
We will not ask for more.”
Now afterward
Sikandar set the goods that he possessed,
With all the treasures that he had amassed,