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133. The knight replied: "O sun, who causest the jet to blink,[1] what have I said to thee, and what have I done to make thee suspect me? I awaited death; thou hast renewed my will to live.[2] I shall certainly obey thee like a slave in service."
134. Again he spoke: "O sun, since God has created thee a sun, so that the heavenly planets obey thee wherever they may be, I have heard from you[3] that which has overwhelmed me with grace; my rose shall not wither, thy ray shines generously upon it."
135. Once more they made an oath together, they promised each other, they confirmed it and discoursed much, with many a word; what grief they had borne until now became easy. Their white teeth flashed white lightning as if transparent.
136. They sat together, they made merry, they talked simply of a hundred things, they spoke with their crystal and ruby (faces) and jet (eyes). The knight said: "Those who gaze upon thee become mad; my heart is burned to ashes by the fire that comes from thee."[4]
137. The youth went away, but he could not bear parting from her; he looked back, his eyes were dazed, crystal hails down and freezes the rose, his graceful form was trembling[5]; he had heart for heart, he had lent (his) to love.
138. He said to himself: "O sun, separation from thee is thus early manifested on the rose; my crystal and ruby have faded, I am become yellower than amber. What
- ↑ Jet means "eyes" or "eyelashes." The passage may also read, "O sun with jet eyelashes." For this difficult quatrain, cf. Car., p. 269.
- ↑ Or, "for thou hadst made life a torment to me."
- ↑ Such changes from the second person singular to the second person plural, or vice versa, are not uncommon. Cf. Visramiani, passim. Their object is, apparently, to show respect by the occasional use of a plural, majestatis.
- ↑ In this quatrain all the lines end with asadages in four different senses, of which the last ("burned to ashes") is the most usual. Such instances of a play upon words are common in the ode-writers of the period. Cf. Professor N. Marr's Odopistsii. Var. E. C., l. 4, tzetzkhlman mandet'h modebulman guli chemi datzadages.
- ↑ M., "strewing with a hail (of tears) the crystal (of his face), and freezing the roses (his cheeks), he swayed his fair form."
