Another Saadi snap. This is story 118 from the chapter of the Bustan called
"On Edification." "Ghulams"--line 3--are military slaves, often serving as
bodyguards.
Story 118
I've heard that at a feast of drunken Turks
a postulant wrecked the minstrel's drum and harp;
those ghulams plucked his hair like harp strings
and beat his face as if it were a drum.
The pain kept him awake all night. Next day,
his teacher said to him, "If you don't want
your face torn and battered like a drum,
keep your head down, my son, just like a harp!"
Two people witnessed the dust and turmoil
of a fight, stones flying through the air,
shoes scattered. One, when he saw there was trouble,
walked away. Another dove right in
and got his head broken! No one is more
pleasant than the man with self-control,
who won't involve himself with what is good
or bad in anybody else. Eyes
were put in your head, ears too; you have
a mouth to speak and a heart endowed with sense
so you will know what's down from up and not
say one's too short, while the other's too long.
--Saadi of Shiraz, translated by Richard Jeffrey Newman
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