[原创]Omar Khayyam and the  Rubaiyat (魯拜詩集)

(Scanned from the Mid-1960 edition of  E.J.Fitzgerald's translation of"Rybaiyat of Omar Khayyam"  Original painting illustration
was by Sarkis Katchadourian.)

Stanza 12, The Rubaiyat, by Omar Khayyam

A book of verse underneath the bough,
A jug of wine, a loaf of bread—and thou (*)
Beside me singing in the wilderness—
Oh, wilderness were Paradise enow !(**)

(*) The phrase "a jug of wine, a loaf or bread" has often been quoted
by many writers in books, magazines and even newspapers.
　　(**) enow is an old English word meaning “enough”

Chinese version of this Stanza can be found on a later message of this thread: (Update: move the translation from 第 26 楼to here.)

translated by 郭沫若

树荫下放着一卷诗章，
一 瓶美酒，一点干粮，
有你在这荒原中傍我欢歌－－
荒原呀，啊，便是天堂！

and

http://www.wfdn.com.tw/9208/030805/news/080511-1.htm

一簞疏食一壺漿 一卷詩書樹下涼
Appended, March 16, 2004.
http://www.wfdn.com.tw/9208/030805/news/080511-1.htm
(The following is copied from the site listed above . The Web page is in Big-5
character code, I do not know if it will show up properly on this site.)
一簞疏食一壺漿，
一卷詩書樹下涼，
阿儂為卿歌瀚海，
茫茫瀚海即天堂


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I was introduced to the poetry of Omar Khayyam, Persian Poet, Astronomer and Mathematician by an old classmate when I visited Los Angeles in 1965. When we were strolling down the street we passed by a bookstore. We went in to browse around and my friend picked up this book by Fitzgerald and brought it for me as a gift.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Part of this article has been posted at another site under a different name.)

It is good to have a goal to journey towards, but it is
the journey that matters in the end." - Ursula LeGuin

An燼necdote

No, I have not given up on this article yet. My wife has forgotten where she
had stored away my precious 25 dollar reproduction of Katchadourian's illustration
of牋one of the Stanza of the Rubaiyat. ( I am saving it for my great great grand child
who will bring it to the antique road show in the Mars Colony in the year 2103 and
would receive an evaluation of 2 million Inter-planetary dollar for it.)

牋 I may as well tell you this story while I am waiting for the picture to resurface.
牋
牋 In 1967 I went to Montreal to visit the International Exposition known as Expo 67.
When I came out of the main exhibition hall at the Iranian Pavillon I decided to visit
the gift shop--it was really just a small kiosk. There was this beautiful Iranian
girl (about my age at that time) working there. I looked into the glass cabinet
and saw what I thought was a stack of large size post cards. I recognized
immediately that the pictures on the cards were牋the illustrations of the Rubaiyat by Katchadourian. I also saw a sign that read 25 c-slash-which I thought was 25 cents,
the going rate for large postcards at that time.
牋
牋I told the girl I would like to "take one of each kind." She looked at me
with her lovely eyes and said "are you sure? They are 25 dollars each."
That , my friends ,was 25 Canadian dollars (almost at par with the US dollar at that time) in 1967 value-- which works out to between 150 to 200 dollar in today's money. There must have been 10 or 20 of those "cards" alltogether !牋Was I in a jam ! Of course I would not admit that I "overlooked" the
fact that the 25 c-slash was actually 25 $.牋My mind went into overdrive,
or more likely, hyperdrive. So I quipped "Well, I was looking for a particular one."

牋"Which one ?" She asked .牋So I thought I would take a gamble that she
would not know and that I could get away scot free.牋I happened to
have, at that time, memorized several of the stanzas by heart, so I said, "The
one I am looking for goes like this :

"Ah, my beloved, fill the cup that clears
Today of past regrets and future fears,
Tomorrow, why, tomorrow, I may be
Myself with yesterday's seven thousand years."

Stanza 21
Well folks, you guessed it. She found that one in no time at all. So I just
had to empty my wallet on that one.牋She told me that these were hand paintings,
not prints (that accounts for the 25 dollars. I had thought they were postcards).
Her father was the painter ! No wonder she knew them so well.

--
Yeti's editing notes: That picture was posted in the old message #14, which I have deleted. The picture has been moved to here.

It is good to have a goal to journey towards, but it is
the journey that matters in the end." - Ursula LeGuin

Continued...

Into this universe, and why not knowing,
　　Nor whence, like water willy-nilly flowing,
　　And out of it, as wind along the waste,
　　I know not whither, willy-nilly blowing.

　　The Rubaiyat, Stanza 29. By Omar Khayyam. Translated from Perisan by Edward J. Fitzgerald.

--------
Bluesea at Tianya (*) provided this Chinese Translation which she had
read from somewhere before. Unfortunately, she has forgotten where.

不知为什么亦不知来自何方
　　 进入此世，如水不自主地流
　　 离开此世，不知朝何处去
　　 如风于旷野，不自主地吹
　　 (-- 无名氏译)
(* ) This article on Khayyam is based on an old article published at Tianya about a year and a half ago.
-----------------------------------
"The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" is considered to be one of the ten best known
poems of the world. Many scholars believe that it is probably the most popular piece
of oriental (1) literature in the Western World. From the many times that I have
come across bits and pieces of words and phrases that have been quoted in literatures of all kinds, in books, magazine articles and even news paper articles,
I would have to agree with that believe.

(* The East, or the "Orient" is a reference based on England as the center. Anything
to the East of Europe is the "Orient."  Persia is the "Middle" East, and China is the Far
East. I personally think that this reference must have come from a time when people
thought the earth was flat !)

--
To be continued...

It is good to have a goal to journey towards, but it is
the journey that matters in the end." - Ursula LeGuin

I notice that there are several people here who love poetry. In the days ahead
when I continue on with the essay about Khayyam and the Rubaiyat, feel free
to try your hand on translating them into Chinese. It's all for fun and exchange of ideas.

It is good to have a goal to journey towards, but it is
the journey that matters in the end." - Ursula LeGuin

Continued...

"Of threats of Hell and Hopes of Paradise !
One thing at lest is certain-- This life flies,
One thing is certain and the rest is Lies,
The flower that once has blown for ever dies."
Stanza 63 of the Rubaiyat.
* for ever : as appeared in the original text
is Lies : as appeared in the original text.
---
Born in Central Asia in 1044 CE (see note 1), Omar Khayyam grew up to become
a famous mathematician, astronomer, philosopher and poet. Among his many important contributions to mathematics, Khayyam was credited for having developed
the binomial theorem and determining the
binomial coefficient.
Khayyam, togehter with Nizaim-ul-Mulk and Hasan Ben Sabbah, studied under the famous sage and teacher Imam Mowaffak of Naisphapur, Persia. Legend has it that one day Imam asked his three favourite pupils to take a vow of mutual sharing on any and all future fortunes, to which they all agreed.

(Note 1: CE=common Era. Some people who wants to stay "religious neutral" prefers to use CE and BCE (before the common era) instead of B.C. (before Christ)
and A.D. (Anno Domini)

To be continued...
---
(Once again, poetry and translation lovers, please feel free to try you hand
on a E to C translation of these stanzas.)

It is good to have a goal to journey towards, but it is
the journey that matters in the end." - Ursula LeGuin

Continued

There was the Door to which I found no Key, There was the Veil through which I might not see: Some little talk awhile of Me and Thee That was--and then no more of Thee and Me. Stanza 32, Rubaiyat, by Omar Khayyam. ------------------------------------------------------- In time, Nizaim-ul-Mulk became the Vizier to the powerful Persian Sultan Alp Arslan. When both his old school mates learned of his good fortune they came to see him to remind him of their vow of sharing. Hsan demanded and was granted a place in the government. But all Khayyam wanted was a place to continue his research in mathematics and astronomy. Hsan eventually got into trouble with the affaris of the state and took flight. He joined up with a group of fanatics and soon became their leader. By the time of the Crusades, Hasan and his band of fanatic outlaws were meancing the mountain passes in Central Asia . He became widely known by the Crusaders as "The Old Man of the Mountains." (*) (* Mr. Untitled at another BBS pointed out that the word "Assassin" is derived from "Hassanin" (followers of Hasan). I heard from someone long time ago, and was recently reminded by "Untitled", that the "old man of the mountain" is a prototype of the "山中老人“ in both 金庸 's and 古龍 's stories. "Untitled" further mentioned that the 山中老人 was mentioned in 倚天屠龍。 That , in turn, reminded me of the fact that the 聖火令 is supposed to have belonged to Persian 明教. BTW, was 金毛獅王 supposed to be a caucasian ?)

It is good to have a goal to journey towards, but it is
the journey that matters in the end." - Ursula LeGuin

Continued...

Meanwhile Khayyam worked quietly in his little corner where he produced important works in astronomy, algebra and poetry. He once estimated the length of the year to be
　　365.24219858156 days.
　　 Omar Khayyam died in the year 1123 CE at the ripe old age of 79. He left behind numerous works in algebra, geometry, analytical geometry, physics, metaphysics, and of course, the Rubaiyat.

It is good to have a goal to journey towards, but it is
the journey that matters in the end." - Ursula LeGuin

Doesn't this stanza reminds you of 李白 ?

Then to the Lip of this poor earthen Urn I lean'd, the Secret of my Life to learn: And Lip to Lip it murmur'd--"While you live, Drink!--if, once dead, you never shall return." Stanza 35 (Don't you find the man portraited in Katchadourian's illustration kind of effeminate ?) -- The Rubaiyat is a collection of poem. Rubaiyat means “quatrains (四行诗) conveying a single sustained thought.” The stanzas are not part of a larger poem; they are all independent.

It is good to have a goal to journey towards, but it is
the journey that matters in the end." - Ursula LeGuin

Continued...

Stanza 71 "The moving fingers write; and having writ; Moves on; nor all your piety nor wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a line, Nor all your tears wash out a word of it." The verses I quoted were from the second translated version by Edward J.Firzgerald -- his first version came out in 1859. The story of how Rubaiyat came to see the light of day in the western literary world is itself an interesting one. It seems as if fate was watching to make sure this important work wil one day be known all over the world. Fitzgerald , who had been studying the Persian Language for four years accidently notice this manuscript in a library at Oxford university. He approached the Fraser Magazine to have his translation of 75 quatrains published but was turned down. Fitzegerald then published the verses with his own money but the book did not sell well. In fact, it was selling so poorly that the book was put in what is called the "penny box"-- equivalent to the prce-slashed/liquidation box we have today. One day, a celtic scholar by the name of Whitley Stokes happened to pass by and pick that book out of the penny box. He gave the book as a gift to an influentil literati of that time, one by the name of Dante Rossetti.(*) From Rossetti, the book passed on to other important academics, artists, literati of his time , including such notables as Robert and Elizabeth Browning. Today many foreign translations , based either on the original Persian translation, or on Fitzgerald's work exist all over the world. (* For more about Rossetti's painting and poetry , see: http://users.telenet.be/gaston.d.haese/drossetti.html )

It is good to have a goal to journey towards, but it is
the journey that matters in the end." - Ursula LeGuin

numbers and versions

XLVII

When You and I behind the Veil are past,
Oh, but the long, long while the World shall last,
Which of our Coming and Departure heeds
As the Sea's self should heed a pebble-cast.

  There are altogether a total of about 800 quatrains written by Khayyam.  Fitzgerald's
publication is but a small amount of the whole.  The stanza number
I quoted in this article are from his fifth (I think) edition . There are differences
in the numbering of the verses between that in the main text of the book
and in the supplement at the end where he quoted his "first version."

As mentioned before, I received this book as a gift in 1965, yet, in the inside cover it says " The special  contents of this edition are copyrighted MCMXLVI by Grosset and Dunlapo, Inc." If  I read that correctly, that would be 1946. I could not find the publication date of that book anywhere in the book.

It is good to have a goal to journey towards, but it is
the journey that matters in the end." - Ursula LeGuin