 | The poems of Thomas Bailey Aldrich |  |
69
AT NIJNII-NOVGOROD
“A crafty Persian set this stone;
A dusk Sultana wore it;
And from her slender finger, sir,
A ruthless Arab tore it.
A dusk Sultana wore it;
And from her slender finger, sir,
A ruthless Arab tore it.
“A ruby, like a drop of blood—
That deep-in tint that lingers
And seems to melt, perchance was caught
From those poor mangled fingers!
That deep-in tint that lingers
And seems to melt, perchance was caught
From those poor mangled fingers!
“A spendthrift got it from the knave,
And tossed it, like a blossom,
That night into a dancing-girl's
Accurst and balmy bosom.
And tossed it, like a blossom,
That night into a dancing-girl's
Accurst and balmy bosom.
“And so it went. One day a Jew
At Cairo chanced to spy it
Amid a one-eyed peddler's pack,
And did not care to buy it—
At Cairo chanced to spy it
Amid a one-eyed peddler's pack,
And did not care to buy it—
“Yet bought it all the same. You see,
The Jew he knew a jewel.
He bought it cheap to sell it dear:
The ways of trade are cruel.
The Jew he knew a jewel.
He bought it cheap to sell it dear:
The ways of trade are cruel.
70
“But I—be Allah's all the praise!—
Such avarice, I scoff it!
If I buy cheap, why, I sell cheap,
Content with modest profit.
Such avarice, I scoff it!
If I buy cheap, why, I sell cheap,
Content with modest profit.
“This ring—such chasing! look, milord,
What workmanship! By Heaven,
The price I name you makes the thing
As if the thing were given!
What workmanship! By Heaven,
The price I name you makes the thing
As if the thing were given!
“A stone without a flaw! A queen
Might not disdain to wear it.
Three hundred roubles buys the stone;
No kopeck less, I swear it!”
Might not disdain to wear it.
Three hundred roubles buys the stone;
No kopeck less, I swear it!”
Thus Hassan, holding up the ring
To me, no eager buyer.—
A hundred roubles was not much
To pay so sweet a liar!
To me, no eager buyer.—
A hundred roubles was not much
To pay so sweet a liar!
| The poems of Thomas Bailey Aldrich | |