سندبادنامه 349.4

349.4

15 داستان عاشق وگنده پیر وسگ گریان تا روزی گنده پیری ، کی دست قواس روز گار استوای قدش را بانحنا بدل کرده بوذ ، وحراث اتام بر موضع لاله زارش خردهآ زعفران ریحته ، وبر چمن سنلش گرد کافور سحته ، بر جوان گذشت ، در وی نظر کرد ، طراوت ورونق گلباغ جمال جوان پژمرده دند ، ونضرت ارغوان رخسارش بزعفران بدل شذه یافت . بنظر تفرس از احوال باطن او تفحصی کرد ، واز موجب ذبول ونحول او تحسسی بوذ ؛ در نفسرهآ صفرت او نگرست ، بدانست کی جوان در تب مطبق عشق است ، ودر حرارت مخرق هجران ، کی آثار اصفرار بر صفحات رخسار او ظاهر شذه بوذ . گفت : ای جوان ، بگوی چرا آفتاب شباب نو در بدو حال صفرت گرفتست ، وگلزار جوانیت بهنگام اعتدال بوبهار فترت یدرفته ؟ اگر بیماری عشق است ، طبیب می یابی . جوان چون این اشارت ، در ضمن این بشارت معلوم کرد ، نفس سرد بر آورد ، واشک گرم از دیده فرو ریخت . گنده پیر چون رمن عشق را تفسیر برخواند ، ومحکم ومتشابه هجران را تأویل بشناخت ، گفت :

15. The Story of the Lover, the Old Woman, and the Weeping Dog
Until one day an old woman, whose straight stature the bowmaker hand of time had bent into a curve,
and over the site of whose tulip garden the ploughman of days had strewn fragments of saffron, and over the meadow of whose hyacinth
he had ground the dust of camphor, passed by the young man. She looked at him and saw that the freshness and lustre of the rose garden of the young man's beauty had withered,
and found that the bloom of the Judas-tree blossoms of his cheeks had turned to saffron.
With an eye of physiognomy she investigated his inner state,
and inquired into the cause of his wasting and emaciation; she gazed into the indicator of his yellowness,
and knew that the young man was afflicted with the continuous fever of love and the burning heat of separation,
for the marks of pallor were manifest on the pages of his cheeks. She said: “O young man,
tell me, why has the sun of your youth grown yellow at the very start of its course, and why has the flower-garden of your youth suffered languor at the very season of spring's equilibrium?
If it is the sickness of love, you have found a physician.” When the young man discerned this hint within this glad tidings, he drew a cold
breath and shed warm tears from his eyes. When the old woman interpreted the sign of love
and understood the explanation of the clear and ambiguous verses of separation, she said:
“‘You have fallen upon an expert in this matter, and have alighted upon one knowledgeable of its innermost truth.’ Recount your affair!