Notes
bow 腰をかがめる、お辞儀する;
alas [悲嘆・憂慮などを表わして] ああ!, 悲しいかな;
whilt しぼむ、しおれる、元気がなくなる;
wept weepの過去形, (涙を流して)泣く;
melancholy 憂うつな，陰気な，もの悲しい；
***********************
The poet bowed his head and obeyed: “But when the hour of death comes, O my caliph, then alas! thou wilt learn that all thy delights were but a shadow.”
The caliph’s eyes were filled with tears. Emotion choked him. He covered his face and wept.
Then one of the officers, who was sitting near the poet, cried out: “Stop! The caliph wished you to amuse him with pleasant thoughts, and you have filled his mind with melancholy.”
“Let the poet alone,” said Raschid. “He has seen me in my blindness, and is trying to open my eyes.”
Haroun-al-Raschid was the greatest of all the caliphs of Bagdad. In a wonderful book, called “The Arabian Nights,” there are many interesting stories about him. (from the book FIFTY FAMOUS PEOPLE -A BOOK OF SHORT STORIES
BY JAMES BALDWIN)
***********************
