And the earth felt his ardor like a scourge, And melted ashen-colored into dust. And no one wore a shoe for very heat, And the brain reeled beneath the overpowering blast, And in the river that reflecteth heaven The fish and cattle were but shrivelled forms. In short, the world was made a weary waste, Fire raged around on every side, and heat, Brought by the bitter fury of the blast, Took all the beauty from the realm of man. XXXIX KING AUGUST SENDS THE HOT WIND WITH FIRE TO THE ROSE GARDEN Whoever sets afire this history Has fed with fuel a refulgent lamp; For August, sitting on his royal throne, Is mighty in his exercise of power; He gathered all the nobles of the land To heaven, to meet him at the great Divan. He was by fortune and by greatness warmed, And through his power and lordship, filled with pride. And thus he spake among his mighty lords: “Speed as ye may o’er earth’s remotest line, I now am lord of all the universe; See in my hand it melt, how weak it is! The ardor of my fury works in it, And my heat flies from brow to sweating brow. And lives there now on earth a single wight Who has not felt the ardor of my breath? And is there king of greatness and of might Who has not felt the flaming of mine eyes?” They answered: “Sire, the world is all aglow! ’Tis very true thy fury sways the world. And yet in Rūm there is a little town Such as the world has never seen before. ’Tis governed by a monarch of its own; His throne with budding honor is adorned; The town is called the Garden of the Rose, The king is named the monarch of the spring. There the green blade that tranquil lifts its head Has never felt the fury of thy heat.” Soon as these words the monarch August heard His bosom with tempestuous heat was filled. He said: “At once we undertake the task Of devastating that forgotten realm. And while its monarch joys with placid heart Disaster shall rain down upon his head. And yet ’tis necessary, first of all, A messenger from me be sent to them, To testify my grandeur in their sight And bear the tidings that I send to them. That when they learn of my design, through fear Their courage may dissolve like ice in spring. For he must say that I to conquer come And captive take the people of the town. The monarch must be yielded to my hand, And all must live in terror of my power.” There stands a courier at his behest, Who, like a flea, now here, now there is found; Like lightning sudden is he in his flight, And rapid as the flame, or as the thought. From his breath, warmed as by a fever’s heat, He had been Samum named and known to all. And he was with the East Wind closely bound, His elder brother, as it seemed to be; The first of them is the delight of Spring,