And mere punctilio of a chance.
Butler’s Remains.
But the Hindú sages give forth no uncertain sound on this subject, as may be seen from these verses, which are cited in the Hitopadesa, a Sanskrit version of the celebrated Fables of Bidpaï:
“As from a lump of clay a workman makes whatever he pleases, in like manner a man obtains the destiny prepared by himself.”
“Fortune waits upon that lion of a man who exerts himself. Abject fellows say: ‘It is to be given by destiny.’ Put forth manliness with all your strength. If when effort has been made it succeed not, what blame is there in such a case?”
[52] Muslims regard Lukman as the type of human wisdom. He is said to have been an Ethiopian slave and served in the army of the Hebrew king David. Many striking sayings and fables are ascribed to him, but it is more than doubtful whether he composed any apologues.
[53] The loves of Laylá and Majnún—the Romeo and Juliet of the East—have formed the theme of several very beautiful Persian and Turkish poems. Majnún (which means “mad from love:” his proper name was Kays) was the son of an Arab chief and deeply enamoured of a maiden of another tribe; and on her being married to a foreign and wealthy suitor he became distraught, and fled to the wilderness. When Laylá became a widow and met her lover once more she found him a raving maniac and died soon after. Majnún expired on her tomb.
[54] Muslim poets are never weary of harping on the fancied love of the nightingale (bulbul) for the rose, to which he is supposed to pour out his nightly plaint.
[55] “The philosopher,” says a Persian poet, “died of grief and distress, while the blockhead found a treasure in a ruin.”
[56] It is rare indeed to find in Eastern tales such sensible observations put in the mouths of sultans, who are for the most part mere lay figures or credulous fools. Mr. R. L. Stevenson has happily described the monarchs that figure in the Arabian Nights as “wooden kings.” Here, however, we have in this sultan a really sagacious man.