سندبادنامه 156
English (machine translation) 156
- Language
- English
156.1
The jackal eats the grapes, and the fox is struck.
'Thirdly, when the throne of sovereign power remains empty and deprived of royal rank, and the kingdom has
no heir and claimant by whom the four-cushioned throne of rule might be adorned, the enemy will aim at this
realm, strive to root us out and destroy us, and bring ruin upon the people of this land. And if we
do not remedy this occurrence or make amends with piercing judgment, its misfortune and ruin will return upon us.' The viziers said: 'If the king executes a resolution without our counsel and deliberation,
and has not sought advice from us concerning it,
how can the harm of its consequences and the disaster of its outcomes fall back upon us?' The eldest vizier said: 'If you stray from the course of my counsel,
and do not consider my word to be effective,
the same will befall you that befell the monkeys who did not heed the word of their commander
and elder, until they were caught in the penalty for it.' They asked: 'How was
that story? Recount it!'
156.12
Story of the Woman, the Ram, the Elephants, and the Monkeys
The vizier said: 'They relate that in the mountains of the city of Hamadān there were many monkeys
156.14
[...]
156.15
Story of the Woman, the Ram, the Elephants, and the Monkeys
who had their dwelling there. They had a chieftain named Rūzbih, experienced and world-traveled,
who had tasted the cold and heat, and had known the good and bad of things. He always spent his time
in deliberation and wisdom, and regarded the care of his subjects as an incumbent obligation upon himself.
156.19
One day, he was sitting atop a mountain on a rock, looking down upon the city.
He saw a ram that was head-butting playfully with a woman. Rūzbih called out to his companions
and said: 'I see a strange thing.' His companions looked and saw a ram on a road head-butting
playfully with a woman. They said: 'It is a ram playing with a woman.' He said:
156.23
'This matter is not without a trap, and inevitably harm will reach our lives on this account.
The prudent course is to take women and children away from this mountain and migrate to another place.'
The monkeys said: 'If a ram plays with a woman, what effect can that have,
and how could its harm return to us?' Rūzbih said: 'I have the claim of sovereign rule and command over you,
and you have the claim of friendship and care upon me; what is incumbent upon me'
I fulfill; and if you place trust in my word, it will be better for you. I at any rate act upon
my own word.” And at that very moment, he gathered his wife and children from that mountain
156.31
4. Tale of the Woman, the Ram, the Elephants, and the Monkeys
and went to another place. The monkeys did not accept his advice, and did not listen with the ear of truth,
and said: “He is old and senile.” And they did not know:
Linked texts (1)
- سندبادنامه — Ẓahīrī Samarqandī, Persian