Chapter IX: Story of the Fraudulent Man and the Devil
A person, by fraud, people's property used;And on giving it up, he the Devil abused!On a highway, the Devil harangued him, one day :"I never have seen such a fool, I must say ;In secret, between you and me there is peace ;Why, in public, the sabre of warfare release ?"What a pity it is the vile demon's command,Will against you be writ by an angel's pure hand !You from foulness and ignorance seem to delight,That the holy the sins you've committed should write.Secure a good road and for peace seek with care !A Saviour obtain and excuses declare!One moment of respite for no one will stay,When the measure is full, as time passes away.If a strong hand in business you do not possess,Like the helpless, put forward the hand of distress !And if beyond measure your wickedness went,You'll be good when you say it has gone, and repent.When the portal of peace you see open, advance !For the door of repentance is shut at a glance !Oh son ! do not walk under Sin's heavy load !For a porter gets weary and weak on the roadIt behoves one in rear of the pious to run ;For whoever enquired for this happiness, won.But as you in pursuit of the vile demon strive,I know not when you 'mong the good will arrive.That man's intercessor the Prophet will be,Whom, walking the road of the Prophet, you see.Pursue the straight road, till the wished stage you find!You have strayed from the road and are therefore behind.Like the ox, that, with eyes by the oil-presser bound,Through the whole of the night in the same place goes round.
Words in this poem
- sabre n.
- A sword with a broad and heavy blade, thick at the back, and usually more or less curved like a scimiter; a cavalry sword. Saber fish, or Sabre fish (Zoöl.), the cutlass fish.
- saviour n.
- One who saves, preserves, or delivers from destruction or danger. [OE. saveour, OF. salveor, F. sauveur, fr. L. salvator to save. See Save, v.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- repent a.
- Prostrate and rooting; -- said of stems. Gray. [L. repens, -entis, creeping, p. pr. of repere to creep.]
- whoever pron.
- Whatever person; any person who; be or she who; any one who; as, he shall be punished, whoever he may be.
- intercessor n.
- One who goes between, or intercedes; a mediator. (a) One who interposes between parties at variance, with a view to reconcile them. (b) One who pleads in behalf of another. [L., a surety: cf. F. intercesseur.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Chapter IX: Story of the Fraudulent Man and the Devil 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 Fraudulent Man and the Devil, in The Garden of Fragrance (1882), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/saadi-bostan/9-16.html, id L29750.
Form and metre
Chapter IX: Story of the Fraudulent Man and the Devil is 32 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPP usedA · abusedA · dayB · sayB · peaceC · releaseC · commandD · handD · delightE · writeE · careF · declareF · stayG · awayG · possessH · distressH · wentI · repentI · advanceJ · glanceJ · loadK · roadK · runL · wonL · striveM · arriveM · beN · seeN · findO · behindO · boundP · roundP
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 person, by fraud, people's property used; | 11 | ·/˘··/˘/˘˘· |
| And on giving it up, he the Devil abused! | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| On a highway, the Devil harangued him, one day : | 12 | ··/··/˘˘/··· |
| "I never have seen such a fool, I must say ; | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| In secret, between you and me there is peace ; | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Why, in public, the sabre of warfare release ?" | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/·˘/ |
| What a pity it is the vile demon's command, | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| Will against you be writ by an angel's pure hand ! | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| You from foulness and ignorance seem to delight, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘˘··˘/ |
| That the holy the sins you've committed should write. | 12 | ··/˘···˘/˘·· |
| Secure a good road and for peace seek with care ! | 11 | ˘/········· |
| A Saviour obtain and excuses declare! | 11 | ·/˘˘/·˘/˘˘/ |
| One moment of respite for no one will stay, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| When the measure is full, as time passes away. | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| If a strong hand in business you do not possess, | 12 | ·····/˘···˘/ |
| Like the helpless, put forward the hand of distress ! | 12 | ··/˘·/˘···˘/ |
| And if beyond measure your wickedness went, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘˘· |
| You'll be good when you say it has gone, and repent. | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| When the portal of peace you see open, advance ! | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| For the door of repentance is shut at a glance ! | 12 | ····˘/˘····· |
| Oh son ! do not walk under Sin's heavy load ! | 11 | ········/˘· |
| For a porter gets weary and weak on the road | 12 | ··/˘·/˘····· |
| It behoves one in rear of the pious to run ; | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| For whoever enquired for this happiness, won. | 12 | ·˘/˘˘/··/˘˘· |
| But as you in pursuit of the vile demon strive, | 12 | ····˘/···/˘· |
| I know not when you 'mong the good will arrive. | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| That man's intercessor the Prophet will be, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Whom, walking the road of the Prophet, you see. | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| Pursue the straight road, till the wished stage you find! | 12 | ˘/······˘··· |
| You have strayed from the road and are therefore behind. | 12 | ············ |
| Like the ox, that, with eyes by the oil-presser bound, | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| Through the whole of the night in the same place goes round. | 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.