Note 94 — The Thirteenth New Year’s Feast

The version of the last two lines is by Sir William Jones, and is given by him in his Tenth Anniversary Discourse, delivered on February 28, 1793. As my friend Mr Whinfield has pointed out to me, the quotation comes from the story of S͟hiblī and the ant in the second chapter of the Būstān. It occurs in the sixth story of the second book and p. 161 of Graf’s edition. Sir William Jones’s remark is: “Nor shall I ever forget the couplet of Firdausi, for which Sadi, who cites it with applause, pours blessings on his departed spirit.” The quotation from Firdūsī occurs on p. 67 of Vol. I. in Macan’s edition of the S͟hāh-nāma. ↑