The Man in the Panther's Skin, 1912

256. "Now, sister, thou holdest the rope about my neck; without thee I can undertake nothing; whatever thou doest to me rests with thee, thou art balm to the mad. Otherwise who would bind his sound head with hayropes? (? like a madman)."

257. The maid replied: "Thy discourse, O knight, pleases me. Doubtless thou art some good knight, worthy of the praise of the wise. Since thou hast heretofor suffered such griefs, hearken to what I tell thee, and thou I shalt find what thou seekest.

258. "Nowhere can news of that knight be found. If he himself tell thee not it will not be told; none other shouldst thou believe. If thou canst wait so long, wait until he come. Be calm; freeze not the rose, let it not be snowed up in tears.

259. "I will tell thee our names if thou wishest to know them: Tariel is the name of that distracted knight; I am called Asmat’h, whom the hot fire burns, sigh upon sigh, not once alone, but many times.

260. "More words about him than these I cannot tell. thee. The elegant, slender-formed roams the plain. I eat, alas! alone of the meat brought by him from the chase. He may come anon, I know not, or he may tarry a long time.

261. "I entreat thee to wait; go not elsewhere. When; he comes I shall plead with him; it may be I shall be able to do something. I shall make you known to each other I shall make him love thee. He himself will tell thee his story; thou shalt make thy beloved to rejoice."

262. The knight listened to the maid, he was obedient, be submitted. Thereupon they looked round, they heard a splash from the glen, they saw the moon (i.e., Tariel) come forth from the water, its rays beaming. They hastened back; they made no long tarrying there.

263. The maid said: "O knight, God give thee soon what thou desirest; but make thyself unseen, hide thyself inside. No human being is disobedient to that knight; perchance I may so contrive that the sight of thee anger him not.

264. The maiden hastily hid Avt’handil secretly in the cave. That knight alighted from his horse; his quiver and sword adorn him. They wept aloud, their tears flowing even to the sea. Avt’handil gazed from the window, himself hidden from view.

265. The bath of tears turned the crystal to the colour of jasper. A long time the knight and that black-robed maiden wept. She unbuckled his armour and took it in; she also led in the horse. They were silent; the black knife of jet (of their eyelashes) cut off the (flow of) tears.

266. Avt’handil watched from the window, a prisoner but now freed from his dungeon. The maid laid down the panther's skin, the knight sat upon it, he sighs with added grief; the jetty eyelashes are plaited by tears of blood.

267. That maiden betook herself to the lighting of a gentle fire with a steel; she thought he would eat meat roasted, (a bird cooked) whole; she gave it to him, he bit off a piece, it was difficult for him to eat, he had no appetite; he began to spit it out unchewed.

268. He lay down a little, he fell asleep, but only for a short time; he was afraid, he screamed aloud, he leaped up as if dazed, he cried and incessantly beat his breast with a stone and his head with a stick; the maiden sits apart looking a him, ands scratches her face.

269. "Why hast thou returned?" she asked. "Tell me what has happened to thee." He answered: "I came upon a certain king hunting; he had countless soldiers, heavy weighed their baggage, he hunted in that plain where beaters were scattered.

270. "It was melancholy for me to see men, the fire flamed up still more; I came not near to meet him; I pitied myself. I returned pale from them. I hid in the wood. I thought: 'If he pursues me no more, I shall go away at daybreak to-morrow.'

271. The maiden's tears sprang forth an hundredfold, ten thousandfold more. She said: "Thou roamest alone with wild beasts in the deep forest, thou approachest no man for converse and entertainment; thou canst not help her thus; why dost thou waste thy days in vain?

272. "Thou hast fared over the whole face of the earth; how couldst thou not find one man in whom to take pleasure, and who could be with thee without making thee mad, though it would not lessen thy grief? If thou diest and she perishes, what doth this profit thee?"

273. He said: "O sister, this is like thy heart, but for this wound there is no balm upon earth. Who can find such a man as hath not yet come into the world? My joy is death, the severance of flesh and soul.

274. "Where, why should God cause a man to be born under the same planet as I, even if I desired his companionship and converse! Who could bear my woes, or even attempt it? Save thee, sister, I have no human being anywhere."

275. The maid said: "Be not angry with me, I fear and entreat thee; since God has appointed me thy vizier, I cannot conceal the best that I know in the matter: to go to extremes is of no use; thou hast overstepped the bounds."