4
18. With what Fate gives to a man, therewithal should he be content, and so (? contentedly) speak of it.[1] The labourer should ever work, the warrior be brave. So, also, should the lover love Love, and recognize it. Who judges not will not be judged by others.
19. Minstrelsy[2] is, first of all, a branch of wisdom; divinely intelligible to the godlike, very wholesome to them that hearken; it is pleasant, too, if the listener be a worthy man; in few words he utters a long discourse:[3] herein lies the excellence of poetry.
20. Like a horse running a great race on a long course,[4] like a ball-player[5] in the lists striking the ball fairly and aiming adroitly at the mark, even so it is with the poet who composes and indites long poems, when utterance is hard for him and verse begins to fail.
21. Then, indeed, behold the poet, and his poesy will be manifest. When he is at a loss for Georgian (words), and verse begins to fail, he will not weaken Georgian, nor will he let it grow poor in words. Let him strike the ball[6] cunningly; he will show great virtue.
22. He who utters, somewhere, one or two verses cannot be called a poet; let him not think himself equal to great singers. Even if they compose a few discrepant verses from time to time, yet if they say, "Mine are of the best!" they are stiff-necked mules.
23. Secondly, lyrics which are but a small part of poetry and cannot command heart-piercing words—I may liken them to the bad bows of young hunters who cannot kill big game; they are able only to slay the small.
24. Thirdly, lyrics are fit for the festive, the joyous, the amorous, the merry, for pleasantries of comrades; they
- ↑ 1 Cor. vii. 17–20.
- ↑ Shairoba. Shairi is the form of verse used by Rust'haveli in this poem.
- ↑ This is the principle followed by Al. Surodjishvili in his critical work on the spurious passages (cf. Bibliographical Note in Appendix).
- ↑ Shara, P., 654.
- ↑ Burt'hi, 63, 804, 1100. The modern game is played with both hands and feet. The ball is of leather, about the size of a football.
- ↑ Chogan, game of polo; ? "He will make his goal."
