English
Story 10
In the bloom of my youth, as such things happen and you know how it goes, I fell for a lovely one, secretly and with all my heart, because he had a voice that sang sweetly and a face like the full moon when it rises.
One whose cheek is so tender it seems to drink the water of life;
whoever tastes sugar looks toward his sweetness.
By chance I saw in him a behavior that went against my nature, something I could not accept; so I pulled my skirt away from him, packed up, and said:
Go, take whatever path you please;
you have no thought for me, so mind yourself.
I heard that as he left he was saying:
If the bat has no wish for the sun's embrace,
that does no harm to the sun's own worth.
He said this and set off, and his leaving left its mark on me.
I lost the time of union, and a person stays ignorant
of how sweet life was until misfortune comes.
Come back and kill me, for to die before you
is better than to live on after you are gone.
But thanks and praise to God, after a while he returned; that David-sweet voice had changed, his Joseph-like beauty had faded, a dust like the down on a quince had settled on the apple of his chin, and the market of his charm had lost its shine. He expected me to take him in my arms, but I kept my distance and said:
In the days when your face was smooth and lovely,
you drove away the one with an eye for beauty.
Today you come to make peace,
now that stubble has broken out on you.
Fresh spring, your leaves have turned yellow;
don't set the pot on, for our fire has gone cold.
How long will you strut and show your pride,
imagining last year's good fortune still holds?
Go to someone who is still looking for you;
save your airs for the one who would still buy you.
They say the new grass in the garden is pleasant;
the one who says it knows what he means.
That is, a faint green down on a beautiful face
makes the hearts of lovers want it even more.
But your garden is a patch of overgrown leeks;
no matter how much you pull, it just grows back.
Whether you keep or pluck the hair by your ear,
this fortune of your beautiful days is coming to an end.
If I had any power over life as you have over that beard,
I would never let it come around, not until the Day of Judgment.
I asked him: what has happened to the beauty of your face,
that ants now swarm around the moon?
He answered: I don't know what has come over my face;
perhaps it has dressed in black to mourn my lost beauty.