Chapter III: Story of the Villager and the Army of the Sultan
An old village chief with his son, on their way,Passed a king's mighty army, in battle array.The son looked on heralds and weapons untold ;On mantles of satin and girdles of gold ;On bow-bearing heroes, the slayers of game;On slaves, quiver-bearing, and archers of fame.Parnian silken mantles the breasts of some graced;On the temples of others are coronets placed.When the son all this splendour and grandeur had seen,He saw that his father was humble and mean ;That his manner had changed and his colour had fled;That he hurried away to a corner, from dread"You are chief of a village, at least ?" the son said ;"In chiefship you're over the great people's head!What occurred, that the hope of your life you forsook?That at sight of a king, like a willow you shook?"He said, "I'm a ruler and chief, as you state;But my dignity stops at my own village gate !"Overwhelmed with amazement the holy are seen,Because in the court of the king they have been.In the village, oh careless one! such is your case,That you on yourself a high estimate place !Men of eloquence have not delivered a speech,That Sadi some proverb, thereon, does not teach.
Words in this poem
- untold a.
- Not told; not related; not revealed; as, untold secrets.
- graced a.
- Endowed with grace; beautiful; full of graces; honorable.
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- amazement n.
- The condition of being amazed; bewilderment ; overwhelming wonder, as from surprise, sudden fear, horror, or admiration.
- thereon adv.
- On that or this. [AS. . See There, and On.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter III: Story of the Villager and the Army of the Sultan 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 III: Story of the Villager and the Army of the Sultan, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/3-21.html, id L29613.
Form and metre
Chapter III: Story of the Villager and the Army of the Sultan is 24 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 92% of the lines. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFFFGGHHE-IIJJ wayA · arrayA · untoldB · goldB · gameC · fameC · gracedD · placedD · seenE · meanE · fledF · dreadF · saidF · headF · forsookG · shookG · stateH · gateH · seenE · been · caseI · placeI · speechJ · teachJ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| An old village chief with his son, on their way, | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| Passed a king's mighty army, in battle array. | 12 | ···/˘/˘·/˘˘/ |
| The son looked on heralds and weapons untold ; | 11 | ····/˘·/˘˘/ |
| On mantles of satin and girdles of gold ; | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| On bow-bearing heroes, the slayers of game; | 11 | ··/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| On slaves, quiver-bearing, and archers of fame. | 11 | ··/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Parnian silken mantles the breasts of some graced; | 11 | ··/˘/˘····· |
| On the temples of others are coronets placed. | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘/· |
| When the son all this splendour and grandeur had seen, | 12 | ·····/˘·˘/·· |
| He saw that his father was humble and mean ; | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| That his manner had changed and his colour had fled; | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| That he hurried away to a corner, from dread | 12 | ··/˘˘/··/˘·· |
| "You are chief of a village, at least ?" the son said ; | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| "In chiefship you're over the great people's head! | 11 | ········/˘· |
| What occurred, that the hope of your life you forsook? | 12 | ·˘/·······˘/ |
| That at sight of a king, like a willow you shook?" | 12 | ········/··· |
| He said, "I'm a ruler and chief, as you state; | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| But my dignity stops at my own village gate !" | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| Overwhelmed with amazement the holy are seen, | 12 | ·˘/·˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Because in the court of the king they have been. | 11 | ··········· |
| In the village, oh careless one! such is your case, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘····· |
| That you on yourself a high estimate place ! | 11 | ···/˘··/˘·· |
| Men of eloquence have not delivered a speech, | 11 | ··/˘··˘/˘·· |
| That Sadi some proverb, thereon, does not teach. | 11 | ····/˘˘/··· |
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