Sa di

Ch 03 On The Excellence Of Contentment Story 17

I noticed an Arab of the desert sitting in a company jewellers at Bosrah and narrating stories to them. He said: ‘I had once lost my road in the desert and consumed all my provisions. I considered that I must perish when I suddenly caught sight of a bag full of pearls and I shall never forget the joy and ecstasy I felt on thinking they might be parched grain nor the bitterness and despair when I discovered them to be pearls. ’ In a dry desert and among moving sand It is the same to a thirsty man whether he has pearls or shells in his mouth. When a man has no provisions and his strength is exhausted It matters not whether his girdle is adorned with pearls or potsherds. THE GULISTAN OF SA'DI Translated by Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890)