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my furnaces. Wherever I may be, what matters it to me[1] if I have but my freewill?[2]
776. "Sadness avails thee not, nor useless flow of tears. The deed which is inevitably decreed above cannot be avoided. It is a law with men[3] that they should struggle and suffer woes, and no creature of flesh hath power to thwart Providence.[4]
777. Whatever God has predestined to come to pass upon me let it be fulfilled, and when I return my heart will no longer remain ashes. May I see you also joyful[5] in majesty and manifold wealth. What I can do for him is my glory, and this is sufficient booty for me.
778. "O king, this is my decision. Slay me![6] if anyone can disapprove! O king, can it be that my going grieves thee! I cannot be false, I cannot do a cowardly deed; he would shame me when we meet face to face in that eternity whereto we both shall come.
779. "Mindfulness of a friend ne'er doeth us harm. I despise the man who is shameless, false and treacherous. I cannot be false; I cannot do it for a mighty king. What is worse than a hesitant,[7] tardy-going man!
780. "What is worse than a man in the fight with a frowning face, shirking, affrighted and thinking of death! In what is a cowardly man better than a woman weaving a web! It is better to get glory than all goods!
781. "A narrow road cannot keep back Death, nor a rocky one; by him all are levelled, weak and strong-hearted; in the end the earth unites in one place youth[8] and greybeard. Better a glorious death than shameful life![9]
782. "And now I fear, O king, to make this request to
- ↑ Mgama. Cf. 118.
- ↑ Cf. 189, 422, 423, 591, 776, 777, 883, 1151.
- ↑ Mamat'hgan. In his dictionary, Ch. gives mamatzi, mamri—i.e., male man—as the equivalent, but the primary sense is father. Might not the passage read, "a law handed down from our fathers"?
- ↑ Or, "transfer the decree of predestination." Cf. note 775.
- ↑ Plural—Rostevan and T'hinat'hin; cf. 788.
- ↑ Momcal, 601, 725.
- ↑ Suhdidi.
- ↑ Moqme.
- ↑ Cf. 189a. This is the most popular phrase in the poem.
