Chapter IV: Story of the Pious Man and the Thief
In Tibriz dwelt a man who was dear in God's sight;He was always awake, and a riser at night.One night he observed where a robber, his nooseHad twisted and on to a roof had cast loose.He informed all the neighbours ; a tumult arose;Men with sticks, from each quarter sprang up from repose.When the noise of the crowd reached the base robber's ear,'Midst danger, he saw that no refuge was near.On hearing the tumult, fear mastered him quite;He bethought him in time to take refuge in flight.Pity softened, like wax, the religious man's heart,For the luckless night-thief had to, bootless, depart.By a path in the darkness he left him and thenReturned by another before him, again.Saying, "Friend ! I'm your chum! do not go, I entreat!By bravery, I swear! I'm the dust of your feet.I have never beheld one so pow'rful as you ;In warfare the modes of proceeding are two :—One facing your foe like a valorous man;One running from battle with life, while you can.In both of these modes I'm your servant the same ;Which say you? for I am the slave of your name !If such is your pleasure, the order convey !To a place I know well I will show you the way ;A cottage it is, with the door fixed secure,And the owner will not be at home, I am sure.Two clods, one on top of the other, let's put;And I'll place upon each of your shoulders a foot.Whatever arrives at your hand do not spurn !It is better than empty of hand to return."By condoling, cajoling and art's cunning grace,He drew him along to his own dwelling place.When the night-robber downwards his shoulders had bent,The possessor of mind on the top of them went.His chattels, including a turban and cap,From above he passed down to the night-robber's lap.Raised a clamour of, "Thieves !" from the place where he was,"Reward! oh young men ! and, your help in this cause !"The base thief made a bound to the door in alarm,And escaped with the pious man's clothes 'neath his arm.Heart soothed was the person of excellent creed,For the poor, luckless wretch in his aim did succeed.The thief who had never to man mercy shown,By the good-hearted pauper was pitied, alone.It's not rare, in the nature of those who are wise,Out of pity, to favour the bad they despise.In good men's prosperity bad men have grown,Although wicked men have no goodness their own.
Words in this poem
- riser n.
- One who rises; as, an early riser.
- informed a.
- Unformed or ill-formed; deformed; shapeless.
- luckless a.
- Being without luck; unpropitious; unfortunate; unlucky; meeting with ill success or bad fortune; as, a luckless gamester; a luckless maid.
- bootless a.
- Unavailing; unprofitable; useless; without advantage or success. [From Boot profit.]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- chum n.
- A roommate, especially in a college or university; an old and intimate friend. [Perh. a contraction fr. comrade or chamber fellow: cf. also AS. cuma a comer, guest.]
- entreat v. t.
- To treat, or conduct toward; to deal with; to use. [OE. entreten to treat, request, OF. entraiter to treat of; pref. en- (L. in) + traitier to treat. See Treat.]
- valorous a.
- Possessing or exhibiting valor; brave; courageous; valiant; intrepid. [Cf. F. valeureux, LL. valorosus.]
- spurn v. t.
- To drive back or away, as with the foot; to kick. [OE. spurnen to kick against, to stumble over, AS. spurnan to kick, offend; akin to spura spur, OS. & OHG. spurnan to kick, Icel. spyrna, L. spernere to despise,]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- clamour n.
- A great outcry or vociferation; loud and continued shouting or exclamation. [OF. clamour, clamur, F. clameur, fr. L. clamor, fr. clamare to cry out. See Claim.]
- pauper n.
- A poor person; especially, one development on private or public charity. Also used adjectively; as, pouper immigrants, pouper labor. [L. See Poor.]
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter IV: Story of the Pious Man and the Thief 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 IV: Story of the Pious Man and the Thief, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/4-20.html, id L29641.
Form and metre
Chapter IV: Story of the Pious Man and the Thief is 48 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRRSSTTUUVVWWVV sightA · nightA · nooseB · looseB · aroseC · reposeC · earD · nearD · quiteE · flightE · heartF · departF · thenG · againG · entreatH · feetH · youI · twoI · manJ · canJ · sameK · nameK · conveyL · wayL · secureM · sureM · putN · footN · spurnO · returnO · graceP · placeP · bentQ · wentQ · capR · lapR · wasS · causeS · alarmT · armT · creedU · succeedU · shownV · aloneV · wiseW · despiseW · grownV · ownV
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In Tibriz dwelt a man who was dear in God's sight; | 12 | ············ |
| He was always awake, and a riser at night. | 12 | ··/˘˘/··/˘·· |
| One night he observed where a robber, his noose | 12 | ···˘/˘··/˘·· |
| Had twisted and on to a roof had cast loose. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| He informed all the neighbours ; a tumult arose; | 12 | ·˘/··/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Men with sticks, from each quarter sprang up from repose. | 12 | ·····/˘···˘/ |
| When the noise of the crowd reached the base robber's ear, | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| 'Midst danger, he saw that no refuge was near. | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| On hearing the tumult, fear mastered him quite; | 12 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘˘·· |
| He bethought him in time to take refuge in flight. | 12 | ·˘/·····/˘·· |
| Pity softened, like wax, the religious man's heart, | 12 | /˘/˘···˘/˘·· |
| For the luckless night-thief had to, bootless, depart. | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| By a path in the darkness he left him and then | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Returned by another before him, again. | 12 | ˘/˘·˘/˘···˘/ |
| Saying, "Friend ! I'm your chum! do not go, I entreat! | 12 | /˘········˘/ |
| By bravery, I swear! I'm the dust of your feet. | 12 | ·/˘˘········ |
| I have never beheld one so pow'rful as you ; | 12 | ··/˘˘/······ |
| In warfare the modes of proceeding are two :— | 11 | ·/····˘/˘·· |
| One facing your foe like a valorous man; | 11 | ·/˘····/˘˘· |
| One running from battle with life, while you can. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| In both of these modes I'm your servant the same ; | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Which say you? for I am the slave of your name ! | 11 | ··········· |
| If such is your pleasure, the order convey ! | 11 | ····/˘·/˘˘/ |
| To a place I know well I will show you the way ; | 12 | ············ |
| A cottage it is, with the door fixed secure, | 12 | ·/˘······˘˘/ |
| And the owner will not be at home, I am sure. | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| Two clods, one on top of the other, let's put; | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| And I'll place upon each of your shoulders a foot. | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| Whatever arrives at your hand do not spurn ! | 11 | ·/˘˘/······ |
| It is better than empty of hand to return." | 12 | ··/˘·/˘···˘/ |
| By condoling, cajoling and art's cunning grace, | 12 | ····˘/˘··/˘· |
| He drew him along to his own dwelling place. | 11 | ···˘/···/˘· |
| When the night-robber downwards his shoulders had bent, | 12 | ···/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| The possessor of mind on the top of them went. | 12 | ·˘/˘········ |
| His chattels, including a turban and cap, | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| From above he passed down to the night-robber's lap. | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| Raised a clamour of, "Thieves !" from the place where he was, | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| "Reward! oh young men ! and, your help in this cause !" | 11 | ˘/········· |
| The base thief made a bound to the door in alarm, | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| And escaped with the pious man's clothes 'neath his arm. | 12 | ·˘/··/˘····· |
| Heart soothed was the person of excellent creed, | 12 | ··˘··/˘·/˘˘· |
| For the poor, luckless wretch in his aim did succeed. | 12 | ···/˘·····˘/ |
| The thief who had never to man mercy shown, | 11 | ····/˘··/˘· |
| By the good-hearted pauper was pitied, alone. | 12 | ···/˘/˘·/·˘/ |
| It's not rare, in the nature of those who are wise, | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Out of pity, to favour the bad they despise. | 12 | ··/˘·/˘···˘/ |
| In good men's prosperity bad men have grown, | 11 | ···˘/˘˘···· |
| Although wicked men have no goodness their own. | 12 | ··/˘˘···/˘·· |
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.