Penny Dreadfuls, 1900 · page 95 of 142
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, and the Salaman and Absal of Jami — page 95: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a page of running poetry text from what appears to be a narrative poem titled "Salámán and Absál" (page 69). The visible verses describe a skilled archer shooting with perfect precision, then depict the same figure's evening entertainments—playing chess, hosting a banquet with musicians, and playing stringed instruments like a harp and lute after drinking wine. A scholarly footnote below explains the historical practice of bow-stiffening among archers, citing an old translation of Chardin.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SALAMAN AND ABSAL. -- LTT Call'd for an unstrung bow—himself the cord Fitted unhelpt,! and nimbly with his hand Twanging made cry, and drew it to his ear: Then, fixing the three-feather’d fowl, discharged And whether aiming at the fawn a-foot, Or bird on wing, direct his arrow flew, Like the true Soul that cannot but go true. WueENn night came, that releases man from toil, He play’d the chess of social intercourse ; Prepared his banquet-hall like Paradise, Summon’d his Houri-faced musicians, 69 eee le And, when his brain grew warm with wine, the veil F lung off him of reserve: taking a harp, Between its dry string and his finger quick Struck fire: or catching up a lute, as if A child for chastisement, would pinch its ear To wailing that should agéd eyes make weep. ‘ Bows being so gradually stiffened, according to the age and strength of the Archer, as at last to need five Hundred- weight of pressure to bend, says an old Translation of Chardin, who describes all the process up to bringing up the string to the ear, “as if to hang it there” before shooting. Then the first trial was, who could shoot highest : then, the mark, &c. Bp (C(O) IGlboo Ss. (CO) =