English
Bahram Gur and the Stingy Merchant
The next week he went hunting alone; grim of mood, he set off with his quiver and arrows.
When the blazing sun made the plain hot, the commander turned back slowly from the hunt.
He reached the house of a merchant; he looked around but saw no one.
He said to the merchant, 'Can you give us shelter? You'll find us no trouble.'
When the merchant took him in, he chose a place for him to rest.
He lay there groaning with a stomach ache and handed the merchant a few coins.
He told him, 'Bring a little aged wine, and roast some almonds along with it.'
'A home-raised chicken would do; my heart is set on these small comforts.'
The merchant brought none of what he asked; he had no almonds tucked away either.
When it grew dark the host crept in quietly, bringing a single roasted chicken, still hot.
He set the table and carried it to Bahram; brave Bahram said to the merchant,
'I asked you for aged wine, I made my request politely with my tongue.'
'You brought none, though I had given you coins, since I was groaning with a stomach ache.'
He answered, 'You witless man, you have no sense to nourish your soul.'
'When I've brought you this hot roasted chicken, asking for more is neither custom nor decency.'
When Bahram heard these words from him, his craving for aged wine was gone.
He regretted his request, ate his bread, and said no more of what had passed.
When the time for sleep came he slept, and said nothing further to the merchant.
When the sun rose from the churning sea, that pitch-black veil of night vanished.
The wealthy merchant kept saying to his assistant, 'You bungling man,'
'That chicken wasn't worth a single coin; you bought it dear and did me wrong.'
'Had you bought it cheap for this rider, I'd have had no quarrel in the dark of night.'
'Had you bought him a coin's worth of cheese, he'd be like water and milk with me today.'
The assistant said, 'If this is not my affair, then know the chicken is on my account.'
'You be my guest along with this rider; don't fight with me over one chicken.'
When Bahram rose from his pleasant sleep, he went to his obedient steed,
to saddle it and ride to the palace, where his crown would rise from the hall to the stars.
When the assistant saw him, he said to Bahram, 'Be my companion today, for better or worse.'
The king went and sat upon his seat, marveling at the young man's good fortune.
The youth went and brought two hundred eggs; he told the master, 'Honored one, don't leave.'
'A roasted chicken with warm bread, aged wine, and soft almonds.'
He went to Bahram and said, 'Rider, yesterday you were asking for eggs.'
'Now I'll bring your wishes hot, along with several kinds of tender dishes.'
He said this and then went off to the market, buying a different sort of provisions.
He sought sugar, almonds, chicken and lamb, to set the whole table beautifully.
He brought wine and saffron, musk and rosewater, and hurried home with an eager heart.
He brought the table with fine dishes; the youth was noble-minded and pure of spirit.
When the meal was done he carried in a full cup, handing the first to Bahram the king.
In this way they grew glad and merry, passing round the cup from small to large.
The king said to the host, 'Bahram invites us.'
'Drink your wine and grow tipsy; don't stir until you become worshippers of wine.'
Then he rubbed down his horse, saddled it, and set off, cheered by wine, toward the rose garden.
He said to the merchant, 'Stop haggling so much, you cheap seller, over this man's generosity.'
'Last night you sold me for a single coin, and you kept the assistant's eyes shut,'
'because he bought a chicken above its price and set me down in the dragon's jaws.'
He said this to the merchant and left, hurrying swiftly toward the royal court.
When the sun showed its crown upon its throne, the world's guardian sat upon his ivory throne.
The king ordered the chief of audience to summon the merchant,
and to bring the assistant along with him; one of them glad, the other downcast.
When assistant and master came at once, like smoke, before the king of Iran,
the moment he saw the assistant he honored him, seating him gladly among the nobles.
They brought a purse of gold to him, and his darkened soul turned bright as the moon.
He told the merchant, 'As long as you live, know that you are the assistant's servant.'
'And twice each month count out for him sixty coins from your treasury.'
'Let the assistant host guests at your expense; this gladdens the heart of a generous man.'
After that the king said to the wise priest, 'When a king does not watch over the world's affairs,'
'how can he know which people are the best? How can he tell the lowly from the great?'