Chapter VI: Story of the Man at the King's Table
One had only an onion to eat with his bread ;With life's dainties he was not, like other men, fed.A lunatic shouted, "Oh indigent wretch !Go and ready-cooked meat from the public tray fetch!Demand thou, oh sir ! and for no one show dread !For cut off is the timid petitioner's bread."He put on his cloak and with hands ready, stood;They fractured his fingers and tore up his hood.I have heard he was saying and shedding red tears :"Oh my spirit ! what help for what's self-done appears?The Captive of Avarice, evil pursues;Henceforth my own house, bread and onions, I'll use.The barley loaf I by my own arm can eat,Is better than charity loaves made of wheat."How distressed was the sleep of that base one, last night,Who on other men's tables had fastened his sight !
Words in this poem
- indigent a.
- Wanting; void; free; destitute; -- used with of. [L. indigent, L. indigens, p. p. of indigere to stand in need of, fr. OL. indu (fr. in- in) + L. egere to be needy, to need.]
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
- 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.]
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter VI: Story of the Man at the King's Table 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 VI: Story of the Man at the King's Table, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/6-9.html, id L29676.
Form and metre
Chapter VI: Story of the Man at the King's Table is 16 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. 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 AABBAACCDDEEFFGG breadA · fedA · wretchB · fetchB · dreadA · breadA · stoodC · hoodC · tearsD · appearsD · pursuesE · useE · eatF · wheatF · nightG · sightG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| One had only an onion to eat with his bread ; | 12 | ··/˘·/˘····· |
| With life's dainties he was not, like other men, fed. | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| A lunatic shouted, "Oh indigent wretch ! | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘˘· |
| Go and ready-cooked meat from the public tray fetch! | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| Demand thou, oh sir ! and for no one show dread ! | 11 | ˘/········· |
| For cut off is the timid petitioner's bread." | 12 | ·····/˘˘/˘˘· |
| He put on his cloak and with hands ready, stood; | 11 | ········/˘· |
| They fractured his fingers and tore up his hood. | 12 | ·/˘˘·/˘····· |
| I have heard he was saying and shedding red tears : | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| "Oh my spirit ! what help for what's self-done appears? | 12 | ··/˘······˘/ |
| The Captive of Avarice, evil pursues; | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘˘/ |
| Henceforth my own house, bread and onions, I'll use. | 11 | //·····/˘·· |
| The barley loaf I by my own arm can eat, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Is better than charity loaves made of wheat." | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘···· |
| How distressed was the sleep of that base one, last night, | 12 | ·˘/········· |
| Who on other men's tables had fastened his sight ! | 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.