He said: 'King Mas'oud, riding out one day,
Was parted from his army on the way.
Swift as the wind he galloped till he saw
A little boy sat by the ocean's shore.
The child was fishing-as he cast his hook,
The king dismounted with a friendly look
And sat by him; but the unhappy child
Was troubled in his heart and hardly smiled.
"You seem the saddest boy I've ever seen,"
The monarch said. "what such sorrow mean?"
"Our father's gone; for seven children I
Must cast my line" was his subdued reply.
"our mother's paralysed and we are poor;
It is for food that I must haunt this shore-
I come to fish here in the dawn,s first light
And cannot leave until the fall of night.
The merge harvest of my toil and pain
Must last us all till I return again."
The king said: "Let's be friends, do you agree?"
The poor child nodded and, immediately,
His new friend cast their line into the sea.
That day the boy drew up a hundred fish.
"This wealth is far beyond my wildest wish,"
He said: "A splendid haul,"the king replied.
"Good Fortune has been busy at your side-
Accept your luck, don't try to comprehend
How this has happened;you'd be lost, my friend.
Your wealth is greater than my own; today
A king has fished for you- I cannot stay."
He leap onto his horse. "But take your share,"
The boy said earnestly. "That's only fair."
"Tomorrow's catch is mine. We won't divide
Today's; you have it all," the king replied.
"Tomorrow when I fish you are the prey,
A trophy I refuse to give away."
The next day, walking in his garden's shade,
The king recalled the friend that he had made.
A captain fetched the boy, and this unknown
Was at the king's command set on his throne.
The courtier murmured at his poverty-
"He is my friend, this fact suffices me;
He is my equal here in everything,
The partner of my throne," declared the king;
To every taunt the boy had one reply:
"My sadness vanished when the king passed by."
ATTAR
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