How can a mirror polished be, unless it bear a shake?”
Hear now this pregnant tale narrators have preserved;
A practice it relates in Qazwīn much observed:
Upon the breast, the arms, the bladebones, and the like,
With needle’s point and indigo, tattooed designs they strike.50
A certain Qazwīn bully to an artist hied,
To have a brave design imprinted on his hide.
The artist first inquired what pattern he’d select.
The man a lion rampant thought he must elect;
And said: “My luck resides in Leo,—lion-sign;