Gulistan of Saadi
On Love and Youth
Story 2
It is said that a gentleman possessed a slave of exquisite beauty, whom he regarded with love and
affection. He nevertheless said to a friend: ‘Would that this slave of mine, with all the beauty and good
qualities he possesses, had not a long and uncivil tongue!’ He replied: ‘Brother, do not expect service,
after professing friendship; because when relations between lover and beloved come in, the relations
between master and servant are superseded’:
When a master with a fairy-faced slave
Begins to play and to laugh
What wonder if the latter coquets like the master
And the gentleman bears it like a slave?
A slave is to draw water and make bricks.
A pampered slave will strike with the fist.
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