[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Foreign](https://indike.org/pramana/inf) › [Islamic world](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl) › [Persian](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa) › [Story books adapted from India](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa) › [سندبادنامه](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama) › [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt) › 273 # سندبادنامه 273 English (machine translation) 273 - **Language:** English ### [273.1](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.273.1) Without you, O life, I live; / I possess no capital, yet I trade. Shame on my deed, that why / do I live so long without you? You are gone, and I am in the world of the living; / in truth, I am an unwelcome burden. There is no life without your face, but / I employ stratagems, as you know. This soldier had a cat that had long made a pillow of his sleeve and spent its lifetime in his service, establishing past and present claims of loyalty; and from the time of the child's mother's death, it had not departed for a single moment from the surroundings of his cradle, standing guard over his life and watching over his possessions, and whenever the nurse was busy, it would rock the cradle. One day, the child's father and the nurse were both absent from the house, and the cat ### [273.11](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.273.11) 11 Tale of the Soldier, the Child, the Cat, and the Snake was sleeping before the cradle according to past custom. A black snake came out of a hole and went toward the child. The cat, out of the affection it had for the state of the child and following its natural disposition, turned toward the snake and engaged it in combat; now with the strike of its claws and now with the wound of its teeth, it tore the snake's throat and bit its head and nape, until the snake perished, and the child remained safe from danger, and the cat starched its fur coat with the snake's blood. When the man arrived, the cat came forward to welcome his arrival, and because it had brought down such an enemy and repelled such a calamity, and put its life in danger, it wagged its tail and fawned, hoping for a reward of goodness, that he might give it a bone or a morsel of bread. When the man looked at the cat and saw its mouth stained with blood, from the extremity of his love and affection for the child, fear and terror overcame his heart, for 'the child makes \[one\] a miser, a coward, and a griever.' It crossed his mind that this cat had killed his child. Out of the hastiness of nature, the whisperings of suspicion, and the weakness of human disposition, this fancy grew so strong in his heart that he struck the cat's head with a stick and brought the cat down; and when he went from the vestibule to the hall, and from the hall to the upper chamber, he saw a black snake killed, with blood draining from it, and his child sleeping safely in the cradle. ### [273.29](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.273.29) 11 Tale of the Soldier, the Child, the Cat, and the Snake He struck his hands together, tore his robe, and in deep regret and sorrow said: 'Ah, woe is me that I fell short of my duty to God!' (39:56). And he made the tears of repentance flow upon the pages of his cheeks from the fountain of his eyes, and felt remorse for the haste that had proceeded from Satan's instigation and the contrivance of slander, and blamed himself, saying: 'What excess was this that arose from my hasty nature and unjust, weary soul! And what unmanliness and mercilessness was this that proceeded from the greed of my soul toward this animal, and such an unpraiseworthy quality and excessive injustice became manifest from me! ## Linked texts (1) - [سندبادنامه](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama.273.1) — Ẓahīrī Samarqandī, Persian --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.273](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.isl.fa.qissa.sindbadnama~en-mt.273) · Pramāṇa