Читать книгу The Mesnevi онлайн

124 страница из 127

“Through the miraculous power of Him who has endowed man with speech and His creatures with life, the beast broke forth and exclaimed: ‘Make me not a staring-block in the world, and I will do anything you may wish of me, so as to suffice for you and your children for many years to come!’

“Our father answered: ‘How should I set thee free, when thou art so strange and unparalleled a creature?’ The beast replied: ‘I will make an oath.’ Our father said: ‘Speak! Let us hear thy oath.’

“The beast now said: ‘We are of the faith of Muhammed, and disciples of the holy Mevlānā. By the soul of the Mevlānā, the holy Jelālu-’d-Dīn of Rome, I will go, and I will return.’

“Our father fainted away with astonishment. I, therefore, now asked: ‘How hast thou any knowledge of him?’ The beast replied: ‘We are a nation of twelve thousand individuals. We have believed in him, and he frequently showed himself to us at the bottom of the sea, lecturing and sermonising to us on the divine mysteries of the truth. He brought us to a knowledge of the true faith; so that we continually practise what he taught us.’