The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-03-07

village near Tus in the year $40 of our
era Already poet Of the name OF
Dekiki had undertaken TO weave the
old Persian traditions into a cOntinu-
Gus narrative. but had left his work
unfinished. Inspired by this example
the young F'irdusi set himself 10 re-
cover the ancient legends Of his land
Much he found written in books, much
he took down from the oral traditions
among the people. for the people Of
Iran had not forgotten the glorious
deeds Of their ancestors, and, indeed,
10 this day these traditions are handed
down by memory from father 10 son
This great body Of legends the poet
wrought into long narrative OF some
$1,000 cOuplets. Having got this vast
work well under way. he set out for
the court. There is a curious story
told of an adventure on the road In
a garden near the capital he happened
TO come upon three court poets drink
ing wine and amusing themselves with
extemporizing verse. Thinking TO have
sport with the stranger. they asked
aim to cap a stanZa for them. ChOos-
ing a most difficult rhyme they each
pronounced a line. whereupon to their
1mazement the newcomer added a
fourth, which contained a historical
AAAAIAOA4 Ntu4lC uLAhllQhu u LAE4l. - q
-eWard, they introduced him TO the
court, where Firdusi soon won the IA
vor Of Shah Mahmud. Never had such
verse as his been heard. and all at first
we're glad to do him honor. In the
md, however. Jealousy and malice
found him He was accused of slight
.ng the Mohammedan faith for the an
eient religion of his fathers; he was
heated Of his promised payment, and
in disgust, having added a few lines Of
bitter satire against the shah at the
end Of his completed poem, he fed from
he court and hid himself in his native
town. Here he died a poor man, but
tradition declares that the shah re
pented at last and that the messen-
gers bearing his bounty entered the
gate of the town at the very moment
when the poets body was being car
ried out to his last resting place.
The epic Of Firdusi, The Shah Ma
meh, or Book of Kings is well de-
scribed by its name It is a cOntinu-
Gus narrative of Persian history from
GayUmers. the fabulous first man and
king Of the race, down to the invasion
Of the Arabs in the seventh century.
A great number of episodes are woven
into the thread. and indeed the poem
is bewildering by its very richness Of
ferent from the epics Of Greece and
India and Germany. each of which is
made to center about one historic
event. Yet, if the Shah Nameh' lacks
the unity Of the 'Iliad" or the -Ra-
mayana," it has another kind Of unity
OF SIS own
We have seen that the old religion
Of Iran was strongly dualistic, and this
dualism is the central and harmonic
ing motive Of FirdUsi's poem. Here.
again, we seen the everlasting conflict
of light and darkness. of truth and
falsehOOd, waging on the earth His
tory and mythology have been mex
tricably confused. The old mythical
powers Of light are now the Persian
people themselves. while the princes Of
darkness are the abOrigines and Tu-
ranians with whom Iran was cOntinu-
ally at war. This religious background
lends a certain moral earnestnesS to
the poem. and is one of its most pleas
ing features. Firdusi has changed the
faith Of his fathers into history and
woven il into the very texture Of his
plot; the doctrine Of MOhammed. Of
which he was nOminally a follower, he
has for the most part avoided, saving
himself by giving a certain deistic tone
70 the work At bottom. fate IS the
power that FirdUsi really wOrsh'ps-
Fate that mocks at human affairs and
raises Up the mighty only in the end
TO toss them into the dust. At the clos
Of each epoch Of events he is wont 70
add some such sad moral as this:
Look yei Who could attain a glory
ike to this mans? Re hath shown 10
men how riches are won. but he hath
not enjoyed riches. The world is but
a passing dream; neither happiness nor
sorrow enduTes." And again. 20
world cease TO raise Us up only 10
gather US as a harvest at the end, If
thou Wishest that We vanish away.
why. then, raise US up? Thou exaltest
man above the armament, and
straightway huriest him under the %
seure earth.