Chapter II: Story of the Rich Man and the Noble Poor Man
A haughty one, drunk with the pride of high place,Shut the door of his house in a poor beggar's face.The pauper sat down in a corner, distressed ;Liver hot and sighs cold, from the fire in his breast.His sobs reached the ears of a man who was blind:—"What has vexed you and caused you this fury of mind?"He told-shedding tears on the dust of the road—Of the cruel oppression that proud person showed.He replied, "Oh unknown one ! abandon your care !For the night share my dwelling and break your fast there !"By kindness and coaxing he made him subdued;Took him home to his house and regaled him with food.The Dervish of luminous nature reposed,And said, "May the Lord ope your eyes that are closed!"Some drops, in the night, from his eyes trickled free ;He oped them at dawn and the world he could see !Through the city the story was told with surprise,That the man who was blind in the night oped his eyes.The hard-hearted tyrant was told the affair—From whom the poor man had gone off in despair.He said, " Oh thou favoured of Fate, tell me true !How has this hard affair become easy to you?Who caused your earth-lighting-up candle to blaze?"He answered : " Oh tyrant, of burdensome days !Your vision was short and your wisdom depraved ;With the sad-visaged owl, not the Phoenix, you slaved.In my face, the same person has opened the door,In whose face you had shut it, the ev'ning before.If you kiss but the dust of the feet of such men,By manhood! the light will approach you again.Those people whose heart's eyes are totally blind,Appear to neglect this eye-salve in their mind."When the man of changed fortune this censuring met,At his fingers he gnawed with the teeth of Regret ;"My falcon," he said, "fell to your snare as game;The good fortune was mine, but it went to your name."When has any one brought the male hawk to his net,Who has, mouse-like, his teeth upon avarice set ?
Words in this poem
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- pauper n.
- A poor person; especially, one development on private or public charity. Also used adjectively; as, pouper immigrants, pouper labor. [L. See Poor.]
- dervish n.
- A Turkish or Persian monk, especially one who professes extreme poverty and leads an austere life. [Per. derw, fr. OPer. derew to beg, ask alms: cf. F. derviche.]
- reposed a.
- Composed; calm; tranquil; at rest.
- favoured a.
- Countenanced; aided; regarded with kidness; as, a favored friend.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- avarice n.
- An excessive or inordinate desire of gain; greediness after wealth; covetousness; cupidity. [F. avaritia, fr. avarus avaricious, prob. fr. av to covert, fr. a root av to satiate one's self: cf. Gr. av to satiate one's self, rejoice, protect.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter II: Story of the Rich Man and the Noble Poor Man is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Garden of Fragrance: being a complete translation of the Bostan of Sadi from the original Persian into English verse, by G. S. Davie (London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Co., 1882), Internet Archive, the G. S. Davie translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Saadi, Chapter II: Story of the Rich Man and the Noble Poor Man, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/2-26.html, id L29583.
Form and metre
Chapter II: Story of the Rich Man and the Noble Poor Man is 38 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in anapaestic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRRSS placeA · faceA · distressedB · breastB · blindC · mindC · roadD · showedD · careE · thereE · subduedF · foodF · reposedG · closedG · freeH · seeH · surpriseI · eyesI · affairJ · despairJ · trueK · youK · blazeL · daysL · depravedM · slavedM · doorN · beforeN · menO · againO · blindP · mindP · metQ · regretQ · gameR · nameR · netS · setS
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A haughty one, drunk with the pride of high place, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Shut the door of his house in a poor beggar's face. | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| The pauper sat down in a corner, distressed ; | 11 | ·/˘····/˘˘/ |
| Liver hot and sighs cold, from the fire in his breast. | 12 | /˘······/··· |
| His sobs reached the ears of a man who was blind:— | 11 | ··········· |
| "What has vexed you and caused you this fury of mind?" | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| He told-shedding tears on the dust of the road— | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| Of the cruel oppression that proud person showed. | 11 | ··/˘/˘··/˘· |
| He replied, "Oh unknown one ! abandon your care ! | 12 | ·˘/·˘/·˘/˘·· |
| For the night share my dwelling and break your fast there !" | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| By kindness and coaxing he made him subdued; | 11 | ·/˘·/˘···˘/ |
| Took him home to his house and regaled him with food. | 12 | ·······˘/··· |
| The Dervish of luminous nature reposed, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘/· |
| And said, "May the Lord ope your eyes that are closed!" | 11 | ··········· |
| Some drops, in the night, from his eyes trickled free ; | 11 | ········/˘· |
| He oped them at dawn and the world he could see ! | 11 | ··········· |
| Through the city the story was told with surprise, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘···˘/ |
| That the man who was blind in the night oped his eyes. | 12 | ············ |
| The hard-hearted tyrant was told the affair— | 11 | ··/˘/˘···˘/ |
| From whom the poor man had gone off in despair. | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| He said, " Oh thou favoured of Fate, tell me true ! | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| How has this hard affair become easy to you? | 12 | ····˘/˘//˘·· |
| Who caused your earth-lighting-up candle to blaze?" | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| He answered : " Oh tyrant, of burdensome days ! | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘˘· |
| Your vision was short and your wisdom depraved ; | 11 | ·/˘····/˘˘/ |
| With the sad-visaged owl, not the Phoenix, you slaved. | 12 | ···/˘···/˘·· |
| In my face, the same person has opened the door, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| In whose face you had shut it, the ev'ning before. | 12 | ············ |
| If you kiss but the dust of the feet of such men, | 12 | ············ |
| By manhood! the light will approach you again. | 11 | ·/····˘/·˘/ |
| Those people whose heart's eyes are totally blind, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘˘· |
| Appear to neglect this eye-salve in their mind." | 11 | ˘/·˘/······ |
| When the man of changed fortune this censuring met, | 11 | ·····/˘·/˘· |
| At his fingers he gnawed with the teeth of Regret ; | 12 | ··/˘······˘/ |
| "My falcon," he said, "fell to your snare as game; | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| The good fortune was mine, but it went to your name." | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| When has any one brought the male hawk to his net, | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| Who has, mouse-like, his teeth upon avarice set ? | 11 | ········/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.