and
zammahs, or the bristles of a beard:--The verdant foliage of thy spring
is turned yellow; place not thy kettle on my grate, for its fire is
cooled. How long wilt thou display this pomp and vanity; hopest thou to
regain thy former dominion? Make thy court to such as desire thee, sport
thy airs on such as will hire thee:--The verdure of the garden, they
have told us, is charming; that person (Sa'di) knows it who is relating
that story; or, in other words, that the fresh-shooting down on their
charmers' cheeks is what the hearts of their admirers chiefly
covet:--Thy garden is like a bed of chives: the more thou croppest it,
the more it will shoot:--Last year thou didst depart smooth as an
antelope, to-day thou art returned bearded like a pard. Sa'di admires
the fresh-shooting down, not when each hair is stiff as a
packing-needle:--Whether thou hast patience with thy beard, or weed it
from thy face, this happy season of youth must come to a conclusion. Had
I the same command of life as thou hast of beard, it should not escape
me till doomsday." I asked him and said: "What has become of the beauty
of thy countenance, that a beard has sprung up round the orb of the
moon?" He answered: "I know not what has befallen my face, unless it has
put on black to mourn its departed charms."

* * * * *

XII

They shut up a parrot in the same cage with a crow. The parrot was
affronted at his ugly look, and said: "What an odious visage is this, a
hideous figure; what an accursed appearance, and ungracious
demeanor!--_Would to God, O raven of the desert! we were wide apart
as the east is from the west_:--The serenity of his peaceful day would
change into the gloom of night, who on issuing forth in the morning
might cross thy aspect. An ill-conditioned wretch like thyself should be
thy companion; but where could we find such another in the world?"

But what is more strange, the crow was also out of all patience, and
vexed to the soul at the society of the parrot. Bewailing his
misfortune, he was railing at the revolutions of the skies; and,
wringing the hands of chagrin, was lamenting his condition, and saying:
"What an unpropitious fate is this; what ill-luck, and untoward fortune!
Could they any way suit the dignity of me, who would in my day strut
with my fellow-crows along the wall of a garden:--It were durance
sufficient for a good and holy man that he should be made the companion
of the wicked: