FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   >>  
d to inflict a punishment upon them, and could devise none worse than looking at that hideous face."' There are some good verses in the Arabic descriptive of the places where certain Arabs wished to be buried. It was Abu Mihjan, the Thackifite, who chose the vineyard. 'Bury me, when I die, by the roots of the vine, The moisture thereof will distil into my bones; Bury me not in the open plain, for then I much fear That no more again shall I taste the flavour of the grape.' Another version: 'When the Death angel cometh mine eyes to close, Dig my grave 'mid the vines on the hill's fair side; For though deep in earth may my bones repose, The juice of the grape shall their food provide. Oh, bury me not in a barren land, Or Death will appear to me dread and drear! While fearless I'll wait what he hath in hand If the scent of the vineyard my spirit cheer.' On the other hand, some of the wild people prefer the hill slopes, and an example is given in the address of the dying Bedouin to his tribe: 'O bear with you my bones where the camel bears his load, And bury me before you, if buried I must be; And let me not be buried 'neath the burden of the vine, But high upon the hill whence your sight I ever see! As you pass along my grave cry aloud, and name your names, The crying of your names shall revive the bones of me, I have fasted through my life with my friends, and in my death I will feast when we meet on that day of joy and glee.' The French poet, Alfred de Musset's, gentle verses in his elegy to Lucie, and which have been engraved on his tomb in Paris, at Pere-Lachaise, run as follows: 'When I shall die, dear friends, aslant My silent grave a willow plant; I love its foliage weeping near, To me its colour's sweet and dear; Its shadow gray will lightly fall Upon my tomb--a mourning pall, And will likewise do the keeping Of the ground where I am sleeping.' APPENDIX. LIST OF TRANSLATIONS _Published under the patronage of the Old Oriental Translation Fund_. =From the Persian=. 1. Memoirs of the Emperor Jehanghir. 2. History of the Afghans. 3. The Adventures of Hatim Tai. 4. The Life of Sheikh Muhammad Ali Hazin. 5. Autobiographical Memoirs of the Moghul Emperor Timur. 6. The Life of Hafiz ul Mulk Hafiz Rehmut Khan.
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   >>  



Top keywords:

buried

 

Memoirs

 

vineyard

 

Emperor

 

verses

 

friends

 

Lachaise

 
engraved
 

willow

 

aslant


silent

 

crying

 

revive

 

fasted

 

gentle

 

Musset

 
French
 

Alfred

 

likewise

 

Afghans


History

 

Adventures

 

Jehanghir

 

Translation

 

Persian

 

Sheikh

 
Rehmut
 

Moghul

 

Muhammad

 

Autobiographical


Oriental

 

lightly

 

mourning

 

shadow

 

weeping

 

colour

 

TRANSLATIONS

 

Published

 
patronage
 

APPENDIX


keeping
 
ground
 

sleeping

 
foliage
 

moisture

 
thereof
 

distil

 

cometh

 

flavour

 

Another