Aesopica

pārsīg

zarmān mard-ē tarsōg xar ī xvēš bē ō carag rānd. ka ped nēpayōsānīh vāng ī spāh ī dušmen ašnūd ī ō hō ālag abar dvārān, saxt tarsīd ud xvāst dā xar ped virīxtan hunsandēnīdan, mā agar ped dast ī dušmenān rasād. xar stambagīhā az ōy pursīd kū: “framāy-am guftan, menē kū avēšān abar man pušt do pālān nihānd bē az ēk?” zāl guft kū-š ōh nē mened. xar pāsox kird kū: “ā-m cē judīh andar kū kē-m ast xvadāy, ka hamvār ham ēk pālān-am abāyed burdan?”

English

A cowardly old man had led his donkey out to pasture. At the unexpected sound of the enemy army approaching towards there, the old man was stricken with terror and tried to persuade the donkey to run away, so that he wouldn’t fall into enemy hands. The donkey obstinately asked the old man, “Please tell me, do you think that they shall put two pack saddles over my back instead of one?” The old man said he did not think so. The donkey answered: “Then what difference does it make that who is my owner if I always have to carry one saddle at a time?”

varzegar-ē būd kē-š haft pusar būd hend. andar ēd ka purgāh būd u-š marg nazdīk, frazendān ō xvēš xvānd ud dastag-ē ī sīx ō avēšān dād, u-š ēdōn guft kū: “dastag mā višāyed bē ped ē bār hān škenned!” kas-iz nē šāyist ōh kirdan. pas mard dastag višād, harv cōb ō ēk pusar dād ud guft kū: “nūn ēn cōb škenned!” u-šān āsānīhā hān cōbān škast hend. varzegar handarz-išān ōh kird kū: “grāmīg frazendān, ka ped āgenīn baved, stambag dušmen-z-ē āšmāh stōb nē šāyed kirdan, aōn humānāg ceōn hān dastag; bē ka parganed, xvārīhā ceōn ēn cōb škenned.”

There was a farmer who had seven sons. When his time was full and his death near, he called his sons to himself and gave them a goad bundle. He told them so: “Do not open the bundle, but break it at once!” None could do so. Then the man opened the bundle, gave a stick to each son and said: “Now break this stick!” They easily broke it. The farmer instructed them thus: “My dear children, shall you be unified, no oppressive enemy may defeat you, just like that bundle. But should you scatter, you shall be easily broken like this stick.”

gōr-ē ēk xar dīd ī azēr ī aftāb nišastag. gōr ō xar abar mad u-š drustīh ī tan ud huxvarišnīh rāy zih guft. pasādar zamān, gōr ham xar dīd ī bārbarān ka-š stōrbān ped cōb abar pušt zaned. pas gōr guft kū: nūn an abēgumān jadag ī nēk ī to didīgar nē šāyam stūdan, cē-m dīd hān vahāg ī grān kū-t ēn xvārīh vasnād abāyed vizārdan!

An onager saw a donkey standing in the sunshine. The onager approached the donkey and congratulated him on his good physical condition and excellent diet. Later on, the onager saw that same donkey bearing a load on his back and being harried by a driver who was beating the donkey from behind with a club. The onager then declared, ‘Well, I am certainly not going to admire your good fortune any longer, seeing as you pay such a high price for your prosperity!’

gōr-ē xar-ē dīd kē azēr ī arg ud bār ī grān būd, u-š hān estām kū hān ī xar andar būd rāy afsōs kird ud guft kū: “farrox man! cē āzād ham az bann ud jōg ī anī kas, u-m carag ud vāstar-z nazdīk ud ayābišnīg, bē tū xvarišn rāy ō anī kas abestām hē, ud hamvār ped bēgārīh ud tāzānag avištāft hē! ped ham hān zamān, šagr-ē ānōh abar mad. ō xar rōn nē mad, cē-š cahārbāydār abāg būd. gōr hāmōyēn ēvtāg būd, ā-š šagr kušt u-š ōbārd.

An onager saw a donkey labouring under a heavy load and he made fun of the donkey’s enslavement. ‘Lucky me!’ said the onager. ‘I am free from bondage and do not have to work for anyone else, since I have grass near at hand on the hillsides, while you rely on someone else to feed you, forever oppressed by slavery and its blows!’ At that very moment a lion happened to appear on the scene. He did not come near the donkey since the donkey’s driver was standing beside him. The onager, however, was all alone, so the lion attacked and devoured him.

mard-ē būd ī kōr kē dastan ped šnāxtan ī harv gyānvar ped permāsišn, ud gōn ud sardag-iš nimūdan.

pas ē rōz kas-ē ēk gurg-vaccag pediš dast dād. kōr abar hān dast nihād ud guft kū: “nē dānam ka gurg-vaccag-ē ast ayāb rōbāh-vaccag-ē ayāb anī dad-ē az ham sardag. bē ēn dānam kū-š ped meyān ī ramag ī gōspendān nē abāyed hištan!”

āzend gōbed kū: ēdōn kū gōhr ī vad ī kas šāyed ped dēsag-iš dānistan.

There was a blind man who could identify any animal with his touch and tell its kind and species.

Then one day someone placed a wolf cub in his hands. The blind caressed it and said: “I do not know if this is a wolf’s or fox’s cub or another wild animal of the same sort, but I do know that it must not be placed between a flock of sheep!”

The story says: It is so that the bad essence of some can be known by their appearance.