Chapter IX: Story of the Man and the Wolf
A man reared the cub of a wolf at his door ;When reared, its protector in pieces it tore.On resigning his spirit he laid down his head;A man of experience passed him and said:"If you nurture a foe with such delicate care,Don't you know that, defenceless, his wounds you must bear ?Has not Satan regarding us vented his spite?Saying, ' Wickedness only in these comes to light !'Alas ! for the evils that in us unite ;I'm afraid the opinion of Satan is right !"When our chastisement pleased the accursed one, then,The Lord, for our sakes, overthrew him again.When shall I my head from this baseness release?For with God I'm at war and with Satan at peace !The friend rarely looks the direction of you,When yourself and the foe entertain the same view.If a friend you require who will friendship repay,You should not an enemy's order obey!How long with base coin will you buy at the mart,And cut from the friendship of Joseph your heart?The person approves of estrangement from friends,Who to share the same house with the foe condescends.A friend rarely places his foot, don't you know?In the house where he sees that there dwelleth a foe.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- mart v. t.
- To buy or sell in, or as in, a mart.
- estrangement n.
- The act of estranging, or the state of being estranged; alienation. [Cf. OF. estrangement.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter IX: Story of the Man and the Wolf 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 IX: Story of the Man and the Wolf, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/9-14.html, id L29748.
Form and metre
Chapter IX: Story of the Man and the Wolf is 24 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 AABBCCDDDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKK doorA · toreA · headB · saidB · careC · bearC · spiteD · lightD · uniteD · rightD · thenE · againE · releaseF · peaceF · youG · viewG · repayH · obeyH · martI · heartI · friendsJ · condescendsJ · knowK · foeK
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 man reared the cub of a wolf at his door ; | 11 | ··········· |
| When reared, its protector in pieces it tore. | 11 | ···˘/˘·/˘·· |
| On resigning his spirit he laid down his head; | 11 | ·˘/˘·/····· |
| A man of experience passed him and said: | 11 | ···˘/˘˘···· |
| "If you nurture a foe with such delicate care, | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| Don't you know that, defenceless, his wounds you must bear ? | 13 | ············· |
| Has not Satan regarding us vented his spite? | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Saying, ' Wickedness only in these comes to light !' | 11 | /˘/˘/˘····· |
| Alas ! for the evils that in us unite ; | 11 | ˘/··/˘···/· |
| I'm afraid the opinion of Satan is right !" | 12 | ·˘/·˘/˘·/˘·· |
| When our chastisement pleased the accursed one, then, | 11 | ·//˘˘······ |
| The Lord, for our sakes, overthrew him again. | 11 | ···/··˘/·˘/ |
| When shall I my head from this baseness release? | 11 | ·······/˘˘/ |
| For with God I'm at war and with Satan at peace ! | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| The friend rarely looks the direction of you, | 11 | ··/˘··˘/˘·· |
| When yourself and the foe entertain the same view. | 12 | ·˘/····˘/··· |
| If a friend you require who will friendship repay, | 12 | ·····/··/˘˘/ |
| You should not an enemy's order obey! | 11 | ····/˘˘/˘˘/ |
| How long with base coin will you buy at the mart, | 11 | ··········· |
| And cut from the friendship of Joseph your heart? | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| The person approves of estrangement from friends, | 11 | ·/˘˘/·˘/˘·· |
| Who to share the same house with the foe condescends. | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| A friend rarely places his foot, don't you know? | 11 | ··/˘/˘····· |
| In the house where he sees that there dwelleth a foe. | 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.