سندبادنامه 185

English (machine translation) 185

Language: English

185.1

A two-hundred-year rain would not settle / this dust of calamity that you have raised!'
Then he reached his hand into the cage, dragged the parrot out in anger, and its head, its feet,

Story of the Master of the House with the Woman and the Parrot
and its feathers and wings he tore apart and severed, and cast it outside. By chance,
one of his friends passed by the door of the house, saw the parrot in that state, and asked: 'Upon what accusation of crime
did you inflict such torture and violence upon this parrot, and by what proof have you deemed its blood lawful,
like the blood of the sacrifices of the Sanctuary? For this parrot was exceedingly graceful and eloquent,
the greenness of its wings was like fresh green corn and spring, and its beak was like a lustrous ruby!'

185.10

The man recounted what had happened. That friend of his was a man of physiognomic insight and master
of sagacity, and possessed of consummate astuteness alongside complete skill. He reproached him severely for that rashness
and said: 'Did you not know that when the misfortunes of the days and the accidents of time gather,
and vague difficulties and obscurities arise, their core must be struck against the touchstone of intellect,
weighed on the scale and measure of wisdom, and that in the interpretation of muddled dreams
and the management of the happenings of time, consultation must be joined with the wise men of the world and trustworthy counsellors?

185.16

O glory be to God! Do you not know that birds do not tell lies, nor do they ponder deception and fraud, and whatever
they say, they say from what they have seen and heard? Why did you not in the very first place inquire into these reports and investigate
these deeds, and fulfill the requirements of deliberation and caution? For women have compositions in wiles
and treachery, and compilations in deceit and stratagems, to such a degree that Iblīs, with all his mastery of sorcery

185.20

[...]

185.21

Story of the Master of the House with the Woman and the Parrot
and skill, loses the thread of sagacity in the riddle of women's wiles! If
you wish the reality of this state of affairs to be disclosed and verified for you, send the mistress of the house out of the home on some pretext,
and command the chastisement and interrogation of a servant-girl who is an intimate of the house, a confidante of the dwelling, and a trusted keeper
of secrets, so that she tells whatever has transpired, and this veil may be lifted from before it.' In accordance with his sound advice, the man entered the house,
that the veil be lifted from before it. According to his approval, the man entered the house,
carried out this resolution, and presented threats and severe pressure to the servant-girl who was the companion of intimacy and the repository of the woman's secrets.
She stated whatever had happened in detail and
in summary, explaining it from beginning to end; and the beauty of the face of the bride of certainty
emerged all the more beautifully from the veil of doubt and suspicion, and it became known that
the parrot had been innocent like Joseph’s wolf, and like the she-camel of Ṣāliḥ had without any guilt
become food for the sword; and that what had been executed and carried out in its regard was pure oppression
and sheer injustice, and immediately the penalty for that evil consequence had to be faced,
and the retribution for that unbridled impulse had to be borne; and that what he had done had proceeded from haste,
the prevailing whispering of Satan, and the phantasm of the deluding concupiscent soul. Bewilderment and grief
overcame him, and anguish and agitation appeared; tears of regret poured from his eyes onto the surface of
his cheeks, and out of grief and sorrow he would say:

185.38

[Illustration]

185.39

The vizier telling another story

Linked texts (1)

سندبادنامه — Ẓahīrī Samarqandī, Persian