The Ten Dreams of King Kayd

So spoke the Pahlavi teller of tales: it will amaze you to hear this story. There was a king of India named Kayd, who hunted for nothing but knowledge and wisdom. He had the heart of the wise and the mind of noble men; he wore the crown of kings and the cap of priests. For ten nights in a row, one after another, he dreamed. Consider how strange this was. All those in India who were learned, and skilled in speech and in knowledge, he ordered gathered into an assembly, everyone who was wise and could give counsel. He told them all his dreams, bringing what was hidden out into the open. No one could explain them; their hearts grew troubled and their faces pale. One said to Kayd: O king, wise one, heir of the great men of old, there is a famous man named Mehran who through knowledge has reached his heart's desire. In the city he finds neither sleep nor rest; he keeps company only with wild beasts. He eats the seeds of mountain plants, for he no longer counts himself among people like us. He dwells with the wild sheep and the deer, keeping apart from the trouble of men. Nothing in the world can harm him; he is a devout man of lofty fortune. Tell these dreams to no one but him, and seek no interpretation from the ignorant. The wise King Kayd said: there is no path but to go to this gifted man. At once he set his foot in the stirrup and rode off at the word of Mehran. The sages went along with him, so that the great man would not be displeased. When the world's ruler reached Mehran, he greeted the wise man as was fitting. He said: O God-worshipping man, you who dwell in the mountains with the wild sheep, listen closely to this dream of mine; interpret it and attend to each part. Know that one night, clear-minded and pure, I slept in peace, without fear or dread. I saw a house as vast as a great palace, and inside it a huge, monstrous elephant. A doorway showed larger than the palace, but before it lay a narrow hole. The raging elephant passed through that hole, and its body took no harm from the tightness. Its whole body and bulk passed through the window, yet its trunk stayed behind in the house. On the second night I dreamed the throne was left empty of me, O fortunate one, and another king sat upon that ivory throne and set the heart-brightening crown upon his head. On the third night sleep came upon me swiftly, and I saw in a dream a fine piece of linen. Four men were pulling at it, their faces gone blue from the effort. Yet the cloth tore in no place from their pulling, nor did the men grow worn out by it. On the fourth I saw, O renowned one, a man growing thirsty beside a stream. A fish kept pouring water toward him, but the thirsty man's head fled from the water. The man ran off and the water ran after him. What good can be read in such a dream? On the fifth my soul saw in a dream a city that also stood near water. All its people were blind in the eyes, yet not one of them was distressed by his blindness. With justice and giving, with buying and selling, you would say the whole city was thriving. On the sixth I saw, O honored lord, a city whose people were all sick and suffering. The healthy would come to visit them, and the sick would seek out the water of the well ones. They would ask: how are you in your pain, your body sick and your heart full of blood? The ailing, whose lives had reached their lips, all sought a cure from the healthy. When half of the seventh night had passed, I saw a swift steed out on the plain. It had two legs, two front feet, and two heads, and it kept cropping grass with its teeth. It grazed with a mouth on either side, but there was no opening in its body for anything to pass out. On the eighth I saw three jars, O pure of faith, set side by side upon the ground. Two were full of water and one empty in the middle, gone dry for years on end. Two good men from the two full jars kept pouring cold water into it, yet the two full ones grew no less from the pouring, nor did the dry one's heart fill with any moisture. On the ninth night I saw a cow in a dream, resting on water and grass beneath the sun. Before her stood a fine calf, its body thin, dry, and its face drawn. The mother cow was drinking milk from the calf, the great cow feeding on the calf that had no strength or vigor. If you will listen, I will give you the tenth dream; do not be troubled until I finish this last one. I saw a spring on a wide plain, and above it porches and a palace had been raised. The whole plain, all of it, was full of water and moisture, while the mouth of the spring stood gloomy with dryness. It would be fitting if you told me in secret what will come to pass in the world after this.