Counsel Between Tariel and  Nestan-Daredjan and Its Results
516	"EXCESSIVE melancholy approached my heart as if to strike with a knife, but when Asmat'h's slave entered I sat proud and strong. He gave me a letter; in it was written: 'She who is like an aloe-tree in form commands thee to come hither soon without putting off time.'
517	"I MOUNTED, went forth, entered the little garden, as thou canst imagine, with a full measure of joy; I passed through the little garden and arrived at the tower; I saw Asmat'h standing at the foot; I looked and saw that she had been weeping, tear stains could be seen on her cheeks; I was sad, and did not ask; she was troubled by desire for my coming.
518	"I SAW her frowning; this oppressed me exceedingly, She no longer smiled on me as she had formerly smiled: She said no word to me, only her tears showered down: thereby she wounded me the more, she healed not mv wounds.
519	"SHE carried my thoughts very far away. She led me into the tower and raised the curtain. I went in, I saw that moon, every woe forsook me, the ray fell on my heart, but my heart was not melted.
520	"THE light falling upon the curtain was not light; her face was carelessly covered by the golden veil I had given her; the peerless one, apparelled in that same green garment, was seated in a reclining position on the couch; a shower of tears fell on her face flashing with radiance.
521	"SHE crouched, like a tiger on the edge of a rock, her face flashing fury; no longer was she like the sun, the moon an aloe-tree planted in Eden. Asmat'h seated me far off"; my heart was struck as by a lance. Then she sat erect with frowning brows, angry, enraged.
522	"SHE said to me: 'I marvel why thou art come, thou breaker of thy binding oath, fickle and faithless, thou forsworn; but high Heaven will give thee guerdon and answer for this!' I said: 'How can I reply to what I know not?'
523	"I SAID: 'I cannot answer thee if I know not the truth. Wherein have I sinned, what have I done, I senseless and pale?' Again she said to me: 'What shall I say to thee, false and treacherous one! Why did I let myself be deceived, woman-like! For this I burn with flame.
524	"KNOWEST thou not of the bringing of Khvarazmsha to wed me? Thou wert sitting as counsellor, thy consent to this was given, thou hast broken thine oath to me, the firmness and bindingness thereof. Would to God I might bring thy cunning to nought!
525	"REMEMBEREST thou when thou didst sigh "Ah! Ah!" when thy tears bathed the fields, and the physicians and surgeons brought thee medicines ? What else is there that resembles a man's falsehood ? Since thou hast denied me, I, too, will renounce thee. Let us see who will be the more hurt.
526	"I TELL thee this: Whosoever shall rule India I have the rule also, whether they go trackless or by the road! It may not be thus! Now thou hast fallen into error. Thine opinions are like thee—even so untrue!
527	"WHILE I live, by God, thou shalt no more dwell in India. If thou seekest to tarry, the soul shall be parted from thy body! None other shalt thou find like me, even though thou stretch thy hand unto heaven!'" When the knight had ended these words he wept, moaned, and said: "Ah me!"
528	HE said: "When I heard this from her, hope revived in me exceedingly; once more mine eyes had power to look upon her light; now I have lost it, why art thou not surprised tha dazed I live ? Woe to thee, fleeting world! Why seekest thou to drain my blood ?
529	"I LOOKED, and saw on the lectern the Koran lying open: I raised it, I stood up, and, praising God and afterwards her, said: '0 sun, thou burnedst me, and in truth my sun is set; since thou slayest me not, I will venture to make thee some answer:
530	"IF what I tell thee, these words, be falsely cunning, may Heaven itself be wrathful with me, may all the sun ‘s rays be turned against me! If thou considerest me worthy to be judged, I have done no ill.' She said: 'What thou knowest, speak!' She nodded to me.
531	"THEN again I ventured to say: 'If I, 0 sun, have broken my vow to thee, may God now forthwith show His anger b hurling a thunderbolt from heaven upon me! Who save thee has for me a face like a sun, a form like a tree ? So how can I remain alive if a lance strike my heart!
532	'"THE sovereigns summoned me to court, they held a solemn council, beforehand they had appointed that youth as thy husband; even if I had opposed it I could not prevent it, I should have been a fool for my pains; I said to myself: "Agree with them for the nonce; it is better for thee to fortify thy heart."
533	"HOW could I dare to forbid it, since P'harsadan understands not, knows not that India shall not remain masterless! It is 1 alone who am India's owner; none other has any right. I know not him whom he will bring hither, nor who is mistaken in this matter.
534	"I SAID: "I can do nothing in this; I shall contrive some other means." I said: "Be not assailed by a multitude of thoughts." My heart was like a wild beast; a thousand times I was ready to fly to the fields. To whom can I give thee ? Why shouldst thou not take me ?'
535	"I SOLD soul for heart's sake; thus the tower became for me a market.' That rain which at first had frozen the rose became milder; I saw pearl in the coral, round about the pearl the coral was tenderly enfolded; she said: 'Why do I, too, judge this to be right?
536	"I DO not believe thee to be treacherous and faithless, a denier of God, not thankful to Him; entreat of him myself and lordship in gladness over India; I and thou shall be sovereigns - that is the best of all matches!'
537	"THE wrathful, enraged one became tender to me; either the sun was on earth or the full-faced moon; she set me near her, she caressed me, hitherto unworthy of this, she conversed with me; thus she extinguished the fire kindled in me.
538	"SHE said to me: 'The prudent should never hasten, he will contrive whatever is best, he will be calm under the passing world. If thou suffer not the suitor to come in to India, woe if the king be wroth with thee, thou and he will quarrel, India will be laid waste.
539	"ON the other hand, if thou allow the bridegroom to come in, if he wed me, if it so fall out, we shall be sundered each from other, our gay garb will be turned to mourning, they will be happy and glorious, our sufferings will be magnified a hundredfold. This shall not be said, that the Persians1 hold sway in our court." ' Khvarazma was a province of Persia.
540	"I SAID: 'May God avert the wedding of thee by that youth! When they come into India and I discover their quality, I shall show forth to them my strong-heartedness and prowess; I shall so slay them that they become of no account!'
541	"SHE spoke to me saying: 'A woman should act in a womanly way as befits her sex; I cannot have thee shed much blood, I cannot become a wall of division. When they come, slay the bridegroom without killing his armies. To do true justice makes even a dry tree green.
542	"THUS do, my lion, most excellent of all heroes; slay the bridegroom stealthily, take not soldiers, slaughter not his armies like cattle or asses; how can a man bear the burden of much innocent blood!
543	"WHEN thou hast killed him, tell thy lord, my father, say to him "I could never let India be food for the Persians; it is mine own heritage, never will I give up even a drachm of it; if thou wilt not leave me in peace I will make a wilderness of thy city!"
544	"SAY not that thou wantest my love or desirest me, so will the righteousness of thy deed seem the greater; the king will then entreat thee in the most desperate and abject manner; I shall give myself into thy hands, reigning together will suit us.'
545	"THIS counsel and advice pleased me exceedingly; I boasted that I would wield my sword for the slaying of my foes. Then I rose to depart. She began to entreat me to sit down; I longed to do so, but could not bring myself to clasp and embrace her.
546	"I TARRIED some time, then I left her, but I became like one mad, Asmat'h went in front of me; I shed hot tears; my grief increased a thousandfold, my joy was reduced to one; then I went unwillingly away, and so I went slowly."