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rubaiyat of omar khayyam-第7章

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Flower;〃 (which grows plentifully about the Fleam Dyke; near

Cambridge;) grows only where Danish Blood has been spilt。



(XXI。) A thousand years to each Planet。



(XXXI。) Saturn; Lord of the Seventh Heaven。



(XXXII。) ME…AND…THEE: some dividual Existence or Personality distinct

from the Whole。



(XXXVII。) One of the Persian PoetsAttar; I thinkhas a pretty story

about this。  A thirsty Traveller dips his hand into a Spring of Water

to drink from。  By…and…by comes another who draws up and drinks from

an earthen bowl; and then departs; leaving his Bowl behind him。  The

first Traveller takes it up for another draught; but is surprised to

find that the same Water which had tasted sweet from his own hand

tastes bitter from the earthen Bowl。  But a Voicefrom Heaven; I

thinktells him the clay from which the Bowl is made was once Man;

and; into whatever shape renew'd; can never lose the bitter flavour of

Mortality。



(XXXIX。) The custom of throwing a little Wine on the ground before

drinking still continues in Persia; and perhaps generally in the East。

Mons。 Nicolas considers it 〃un signe de liberalite; et en meme temps

un avertissement que le buveur doit vider sa coupe jusqu'a la derniere

goutte。〃  Is it not more likely an ancient Superstition; a Libation to

propitiate Earth; or make her an Accomplice in the illicit Revel?  Or;

perhaps; to divert the Jealous Eye by some sacrifice of superfluity;

as with the Ancients of the West?  With Omar we see something more is

signified; the precious Liquor is not lost; but sinks into the ground

to refresh the dust of some poor Wine…worshipper foregone。



Thus Hafiz; copying Omar in so many ways: 〃When thou drinkest Wine

pour a draught on the ground。  Wherefore fear the Sin which brings to

another Gain?〃



(XLIII。) According to one beautiful Oriental Legend; Azrael

accomplishes his mission by holding to the nostril an Apple from the

Tree of Life。



This; and the two following Stanzas would have been withdrawn; as

somewhat de trop; from the Text; but for advice which I least like to

disregard。



(LI。) From Mah to Mahi; from Fish to Moon。



(LVI。) A Jest; of course; at his Studies。  A curious mathematical

Quatrain of Omar's has been pointed out to me; the more curious

because almost exactly parallel'd by some Verses of Doctor Donne's;

that are quoted in Izaak Walton's Lives!  Here is Omar: 〃You and I are

the image of a pair of compasses; though we have two heads (sc。 our

feet) we have one body; when we have fixed the centre for our circle;

we bring our heads (sc。 feet) together at the end。〃  Dr。 Donne:



  If we be two; we two are so

     As stiff twin…compasses are two;

  Thy Soul; the fixt foot; makes no show

     To move; but does if the other do。



  And though thine in the centre sit;

     Yet when my other far does roam;

  Thine leans and hearkens after it;

     And rows erect as mine comes home。



  Such thou must be to me; who must

     Like the other foot obliquely run;

  Thy firmness makes my circle just;

     And me to end where I begun。



(LIX。) The Seventy…two Religions supposed to divide the World;

including Islamism; as some think: but others not。



(LX。) Alluding to Sultan Mahmud's Conquest of India and its dark

people。



(LXVIII。) Fanusi khiyal; a Magic…lanthorn still used in India; the

cylindrical Interior being painted with various Figures; and so

lightly poised and ventilated as to revolve round the lighted Candle

within。



(LXX。) A very mysterious Line in the Original:



   O danad O danad O danad O



breaking off something like our Wood…pigeon's Note; which she is said

to take up just where she left off。



(LXXV。) Parwin and MushtariThe Pleiads and Jupiter。



(LXXXVII。) This Relation of Pot and Potter to Man and his Maker

figures far and wide in the Literature of the World; from the time of

the Hebrew Prophets to the present; when it may finally take the name

of 〃Pot theism;〃 by which Mr。 Carlyle ridiculed Sterling's

〃Pantheism。〃  My Sheikh; whose knowledge flows in from all quarters;

writes to me



〃Apropos of old Omar's Pots; did I ever tell you the sentence I found

in 'Bishop Pearson on the Creed'?  'Thus are we wholly at the disposal

of His will; and our present and future condition framed and ordered

by His free; but wise and just; decrees。  Hath not the potter power

over the clay; of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour; and

another unto dishonour?  (Rom。 ix。 21。)  And can that earth…artificer

have a freer power over his brother potsherd (both being made of the

same metal); than God hath over him; who; by the strange fecundity of

His omnipotent power; first made the clay out of nothing; and then him

out of that?'〃



And againfrom a very different quarter〃I had to refer the other

day to Aristophanes; and came by chance on a curious Speaking…pot

story in the Vespae; which I had quite forgotten。



'Greek text deleted from etext。'



〃The Pot calls a bystander to be a witness to his bad treatment。  The

woman says; 'If; by Proserpine; instead of all this 'testifying'

(comp。 Cuddie and his mother in 'Old Mortality!') you would buy

yourself a rivet; it would show more sense in you!'  The Scholiast

explains echinus as 'Greek phrase deleted from etext'。〃



One more illustration for the oddity's sake from the 〃Autobiography of

a Cornish Rector;〃 by the late James Hamley Tregenna。  1871。



〃There was one odd Fellow in our Companyhe was so like a Figure in

the 'Pilgrim's Progress' that Richard always called him the

'ALLEGORY;' with a long white bearda rare Appendage in those

daysand a Face the colour of which seemed to have been baked in;

like the Faces one used to see on Earthenware Jugs。  In our Country…

dialect Earthenware is called 'Clome'; so the Boys of the Village used

to shout out after him'Go back to the Potter; Old Clomeface; and get

baked over again。'  For the 'Allegory;' though shrewd enough in most

things; had the reputation of being 'saift…baked;' i。e。; of weak

intellect。〃



(XC。) At the Close of the Fasting Month; Ramazan (which makes the

Mussulman unhealthy and unamiable); the first Glimpse of the New Moon

(who rules their division of the Year) is looked for with the utmost

Anxiety; and hailed with Acclamation。  Then it is that the Porter's

Knot maybe heardtoward the Cellar。  Omar has elsewhere a pretty

Quatrain about the same Moon



 〃Be of Good Cheerthe sullen Month will die;

  And a young Moon requite us by and by:

    Look how the Old one meagre; bent; and wan

  With Age and Fast; is fainting from the Sky!〃









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