Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-10-18

SIDE-LIGHTS On The RUbA11 Al
Richard Walton Tullys play, omar.
the Tentmaker,'' is based upon the lie,
times and Rubaiyat of Omar khayyam,
the Persian poet, whose lifting qua
trains for those who speak the English
tongue have been best rendered by the
late Edward Fitzgerald.
There are many ancient manuscripts
giving the ,Rubaiyat in its original
form, but unfortunately for students in
this country, most Of these are housed
in the libraries and museums of Europe.
splendid facsimile of the famous
manuscript of the year A II. 500 "a. u.
1860, the original of which is in the
BoGleian Library at Oxford, undoubt-
eddy the oldest copy OF the Rubalyat
extant, was discovered by Prof. Coweu
in 1856 among an uncatalogued mass OF
oriental manuscripts comprising the
Ouseley collection
There can scarcely be a more beauti-
full Persian manuscript OF ITS age IN
existence. 1t is written in purple-black
ink upon thick yellow paper, and Is
profusely powdered with gold The
only places where the ink has faded
in the formal heading, which, translat-
ed, means, and likewise to him." which
is written above each quatrain. Ex-
perts have decided that the borders and
headings were written later than the
ouatrains themselves, and in a different
ink.
1t is known that Fitzgerald depended
n great deal upon this Bodleian manu-
script which enhances Its value to the
student and bibliophtle.
The famous quatfain as immortalized
by Fitzgerald reads as follows:
book Of verses upasrns9sh s,s the soafh ;,on
Beside me singing in the wilderness
Oh, wilderness were paradise enoW
When literally translated from the
original Persian into English 1t really
reads:
u . loaf of wheaten-hread be Forthcoming.
"a rourd of wine and thtgh-bone OF mutton,
And then If thou and I be sitting In the wilder
That Would be a Joy to which no sultan can set
bounds.
No better example Of the wonderful
Fitzgerald music and magic could be
cited.
persons, Fitzgerald's rendering OF the
Rubaiyat is no mere translation ex-
pressed in poetic form. Rather 1t ID
the result of Fitzgerald's entire course
of Persian studies, for he even gives
quatrains for which no equivalent
Whatsoever is discernible in the orig
inal Persian of Omar Khayyam.
The following Is notable instance OF
this:
Thou. who man of baser earth dids't make,
And ev'n with paradise devise the snake;
For all tine sin wherewith the race OF man .
Is b!ackened-man's forgiveness give-and takel
AS PrOI. SOWell up TilZscTdlu .
method, he (Fitzgerald) was always
aiming at some strong and worthy
equivalent. Verbal accuracy he disre-
garded. Some of the Fitzgerald qua
trains even find their source in the
writings of Persians other than khay-
yam. Yet the spirit of the man Khay-
yam pervades every line of the Fitzger-
aid version.
THE MATINEE GIRL.-The matinee
girl is extinct except in the far west.
And with her have gone the mash
notes" and the pleas for photographs
In short, the head rules the heart of the
present -day girl. No longer does she
rush around to the stage door after the
show with beating heart and tfmorous
smile to see the manly hero stride forth.
Instead, she attends the performance
with coldIy critical air and girl chum
and takes her romance casually with her
dancing In the drawing ROOM. Such are
the ahssrvations of Lewis s. Stone.
.aylI Of the Pacific coast hoN4vsga