The king said, ‘They have related that a King had a Musician of a pleasant voice, and a sweet performer, who, by his enchanting melodies bore the foot of reason out of the stirrup, and wrested the reins of self-possession from the hand of patience and endurance.

The King held him in high esteem, and was ever pleased with listening to his delightful songs and gladsome lays.

And this Musician was instructing a clever slave, and kindly imparting to him lessons in playing and singing, till, in a short time he surpassed his master, and carried the harmony of his performance and the melody of his song to such a pitch, that the fame of his recitations and odes went beyond the conception of the thought or imagination; and the ears of high and low were altogether filled with the rumor and celebrity of his skill and execution.

The King, having heard of the slave’s accomplishments, deigned to patronize and encourage him; and this was continued until he became a confidential attendant and an intimate favorite, and received especial marks of distinction. The King was ever charmed with his exhilarating strains, which supplied a specimen of the miracles of the Messiah, and was inspired with a desire for the banquet of enjoyment, by the sound of his world-melting lute, which inflamed the hearts of lovers. At this, the spirit of envy being stirred in the heart of the master-musician, he killed the slave; and news of this deed reached the King. The monarch commanded the offender to be summoned into his presence: and when they had conducted him to the place of punishment, the King, with a terrible countenance, began to rebuke him,* saying, ‘Didst thou not know that I was fond of gaiety? and my enjoyment was of two kinds:—first, in public, at thy playing; and secondly, in private, at the singing of thy slave. What induced thee to kill the slave, and thus deprive me of half my enjoyment? I will this moment command them to cause thee to drink of that same potion which thou gavest to him, that hereafter none may venture on a similar act.’ The words of the King recalled to the mind of the Musician his wit,* and he replied, ‘O King! I have done ill that I have destroyed half the King’s enjoyment; but how will it be if the King should kill me and so put an end to his own gratification?’ The King was pleased at this answer, and bestowing on him a reward, absolved him from the punishment of death.

And my intention in adducing this story is that, through my son, one portion of happiness and delight is spoiled, and thou, also, soundest the note of separation. It is almost come to pass that the back of my hope, like the figure of the harp, has become bent; and that my afflicted breast, like the heart of the lute, has been lacerated with the nail of regret. And in the end a forcible separation must take place between friends; I pray thee, do not exert thyself to bring about a voluntary parting, and give not from thy hand the skirt of contentment.

The Lark replied, ‘Anger is hidden in the closet of the heart, and resentment is concealed in the cell of the bosom, and as it is impossible for any one to be aware of it, credence cannot be given to what is spoken by the tongue, for in this matter the tongue does not speak in truthful style of the purport of what lies hidden in the mind, and language does not discharge the duty of uprightness in signifying what is hoarded up in the soul. Hearts, however, in accordance with the saying, ‘Hearts bear witness to each other,’ are reciprocally true witnesses, and testimony that can be relied on.

And to what thy tongue is saying, thy heart does not assent; nor is thy tongue truthful in making known what thy heart contains.

O King! I well know the terribleness of thy fury, and am well aware of the awfulness of thy punishments.

I can never be secure from thee, nor repose for a moment from dread of the injury of thy assault. And I am not of that class to one of whom the physician said, ‘Medicine for the eyes is more fitting for thee, than physic for a stomach-ache.’ The King asked, ‘How was that?’