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سندبادنامه 380

English (machine translation) 380

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English

380.1

“O neighbour-lady of ours, the divining arrows are liars, / and most causes of success come alongside despair.”
“I have told this tale of the wiles of women so that it may become clear
to the luminous thought and momentous mind of the shah that women are devoid of religion and trustworthiness,
and out of an inverted mind and an upside-down intellect devise fabrications and inventions,
and act in accordance with their passion and desire, seeking their own benefit.” When the king
heard this story, he commanded that they delay the punishment and take the prince
back to prison.
The slave-girl’s coming on the sixth day into the presence of the shah
When this news reached the slave-girl’s ears, that the punishment of the prince
had fallen into delay because one of the viziers of the court had gone before the king,
and with all kinds of admonitions and diverse warnings had thrown him into hesitation regarding the punishment, and had related tales
of all sorts of perfidy and various wiles of women, which had prevented the rebuke and averted
the disciplining of the prince, anguish and bewilderment overcame her, and anxious reflection
and terror took hold of her, and she said to herself: “If delay, hesitation, neglect,

380.16

The slave-girl’s coming on the sixth day into the presence of the shah
and slackness occur in this matter, and the reins of the steed are left loose in the wheeling of this arena,
the affair will pass beyond remedy and fall prey to negligence and procrastination; and when on the seventh day
the prince unlocks his tongue and recounts my absurdities and ravings, by no means will there remain for me
any hope of life, and I must resign my heart to the bitterness of existence—nay, must tear my heart away from sweet life.”
Madness overcame her, and melancholy took possession of her;
she cast herself before the king’s throne, and tears of regret poured from her eyes,
and she poured the dust of remorse upon the crown of her head; she drew cold sighs, fanned the flames of the fire in her breast,
and said:

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