The Man in the Panther's Skin/Chapter 26

by Shot'ha Rust'havelli

XXVI

OF THE GOING OF AVT'HANDIL TO P'HRIDON'S WHEN HE MET HIM AT MULGHAZANZAR

931. Alas! O world (Fate), what ails thee? Why dost thou whirl us round? What (? ill) habit afflicts thee?^[1] All who trust in thee weep ceaselessly like me. Whence and whither carriest thou? Where and whence uprootest thou? But God abandons not the man forsaken by thee.

932. Avt'handil, parted from (Tariel), weeps; his voice reaches to the heavens. Quoth he: "The stream of blood which flowed anew flows once again. Now is parting as hard as union will be till (we meet) in heaven. Men are not all equal; there is a great (difference) between man and man."

933. Then the beasts of the field drank their fill of the tears he shed there; he could not quench the furnace, he burned with frequent fire. Again the thought of T'hinat'hin fills him all the more with grief; the coral-rooted crystal shines on the rose of the lips.

934. The rose is faded, it drips, the branch of the aloetree quivers, the cut crystal and ruby are changed into lapis-lazuli.^[2] He strengthened himself against death; against him it vaunted not itself.^[3] He said: "Why should I wonder at darkness since thou, O sun, hast abandoned me!"

935. He said to the sun: "O sun, I compare thee to the cheeks of T'hinat'hin, thou art like her and she is like thee, ye light mountain and valley. The sight of thee rejoices me a madman, therefore unweariedly I gaze on thee; but why have you (both) left my heart cold, unwarmed?^[4]

936. The absence of one sun for a month in winter freezes us; I, alas! have parted from two; how, then, should heart not be harmed? Only a rock perceives not, is never hurt!^[5] A knife cannot cure a wound; it cuts or causes a swelling."^[6]

937. Wending his way he laments to the sky, he speaks; to the sun he says: "O sun, to thee I pray, thou mighty of the mightiest mights,^[7] who exaltest the humble, givest sovereignty, happiness (?); part me not from my beloved* turn not my day to night!"^[8]

938. "Come, O Zual,^[9] add tear to tear, woe to woe; dye my heart black, give me to thick gloom, heap upon me a heavy load of grief as on an ass; (but) say to her: 'Forsake him not! Thine he is, and for thee he weeps.'

939. "O Musht'har,^[10] I entreat thee, thou just, perfect judge, come and do justice, heart takes counsel^[11] with heart; twist not justice, destroy not thus thy soul. I am righteous, judge me, why wouldst thou wound afresh me wounded for her!"

940. "Come, O Marikh,^[12] mercilessly pierce me with thy spear, dye me and stain me red with the flow of blood; tell her my sufferings, let her hear them with the tongue; thou knowest what I am become, no longer my heart hath joy."

941. " Come, Aspiroz,^[13] aid me somewhat;^[14] she has consumed me with the flame of fires, she who encircles the pearl (of her teeth) with lip of coral; thou beautifiest the fair with such charm (? as thine); one like me thou abandonest and maddenest."

942. "Otarid!^[15] save thee none other's fate is like to mine. The sun whirls me, lets me not go, unites with me and gives me over to burning. Sit down to write my woes! For ink I give thee a lake of tears, for pen I cut for thee a trim form, slim as a reed."^[16]

943. "Come, O Moon, take pity on me; I shrink and am wasted like thee; the sun fills me, the sun, too, empties me; sometimes I am full-bodied, sometimes I am spare. Tell her my tortures, what afflicts me, how I faint. Go, say: 'Forsake him not!' I am hers, and for her sake I die.

944. "Behold, the stars bear witness, even the seven^[17] confirm my words: the sun, Otarid, Musht'har and Zual faint^[18] for my sake; moon, Aspiroz, Marikh, come and bear me witness; make her hear what fires consume me without thee (her)."

945. Now he says to his heart: "As the tear still flows, and is not dried, what avails it to slay thyself! It is clear thou hast fraternized with the devil as a brother. I myself know that she who maddened me has for hair the tail of a raven; but if thou bearest not grief what is the enduring of joy?^[19]

946. "If I remain, this is better for me"—he speaks of the uncertainty of life—"perchance it will be my lot to see the sun (T'hinat'hin), I shall not forever cry Alas!" He sang with sweet voice; he checked not the channel of tears. Compared to his voice even the voice of the nightingale was like an owl's.

947. When the knight's song was heard, the beasts came to listen; by reason of the sweetness of his voice even the stones came forth from the water, they hearkened, they marvelled, when he wept they wept; he sings sad songs, tears flow like a fount.

947a. ^[20]All living creatures on earth came to applaud: game from the forest, fishes in the water, crocodiles^[21] in the sea, birds from the sky, from India, Arabia, Greece, Orientals and Occidentals,^[22] Russians, Persians, Franks and Egyptians from Misret'hi.^[23]

1. ? "What nature hast thou?"
2. Lazhvardi, P., 1255.
3. Amist'hvis ar imkhneoda. The passage would be clearer but for the ar; it might then read, "on that account he emboldened himself"—khneva. Accepting the usual reading, perhaps the sense is, "it (death) had no terrors for him."
4. 816, 817, 987.
5. Ch. Dict.
6. Thus in Ch. Dict.
7. Mdzle, also conqueror.
8. Invocation to the sun, 816, 817, 935.
9. A., Saturn, planet of woe.
10. A., Jupiter, planet of justice.
11. Gaebrdchobis, ? disputes.
12. Mars, planet of vengeance.
13. Hesperus, Venus, planet of healing.
14. Marge ra.
15. Mercury, planet of learning.
16. Marr, xii. 26, 28. Cf. Rust'haveli, 4, 869; also Odes, v., 50, xii. 8.
17. 275, 1385, 1515.
18. Bndebian.
19. I.e., "There is no merit in enjoyment; grief shows of what stuff the heart is made."
20. This quatrain is not in the editions of Karthv. and Car.; it is evidently spurious.
21. Niangi; ? sea for Nile.
22. Mashriqni da maghribelni, A.
23. Egypt.