ing's praises. In describing the contest
I made Rustam appear standing in a cloud over the field of battle; who
seeing the king lay about him desperately, exclaims to himself, "Lucky
wight am I to be here instead of below, for certainly I should never
escape from his blows." I also exerted my wit, and was much extolled
when I said, that Sadik Khan and his troops ought not to repine after
all; for although they were vanquished, yet still the king, in his
magnanimity, had exalted their heads to the skies. In this, I alluded
to a pillar of skulls which his majesty had caused to be erected of
the heads of the vanquished. These sayings of mine were reported to the
Shah, and he was pleased to confer upon me the highest honour which a
poet can receive; namely, causing my mouth to be filled with gold coin
in the presence of the whole court, at the great audience. This led to
my advancement: and I was appointed to attend at court, and to write
verses on all occasions. In order to show my zeal, I represented to the
king, that as in former times our great Ferdousi had written his "Shah
Nameh," or the History of the Kings, it behooved him, who was greater
than any monarch Persia ever possessed, to have a poet who should
celebrate his reign; and I entreated permission to write a "Shahin Shah
Nameh," or the History of the King of Kings; to which his majesty was
most graciously pleased to give his consent. One of my enemies at court
was the lord high treasurer, who, without any good reason, wanted to
impose upon me a fine of 12,000 tomauns, which the king, on the plea
that I was the first poet of the age, would not allow. It happened
one day, that in a large assembly, the subject of discussion was the
liberality of Mahmoud Shah Ghaznevi to Ferdousi, who gave him a miscal
of gold for every couplet in the Shah Nameh. Anxious that the king
should hear what I was about to say, I exclaimed: "The liberality of his
present majesty is equal to that of Mahmoud Shah--equal did I say?--nay
greater; because in the one case, it was exercised towards the most
celebrated poet of Persia; and in my case, it is exercised towards the
humble individual now before you."

'All the company were anxious to hear how and when such great favours
had been conferred upon me. "In the first place," said I, "when my
father died, he left a property of 10,000 tomauns; the king permitted
me to inherit it; he might have taken it away--there are 10,000 tomauns.
Then the