Alas, poor Saadi!  The lovely cup-bearer, who made such a lasting impression on the heart of the young poet, was not destined for his bride.  His was indeed a sad matrimonial fate; and who can doubt but that the beauteous form of the stranger maiden would often rise before his mental view after he was married to the Xantippe who rendered some portion of his life unhappy!

Among the tales under the heading of “Imbecility and Old Age” we have one of “olde January that wedded was to freshe May,” which points its moral now as it did six hundred years ago:  When I married a young virgin, said an old man, I bedecked a chamber with flowers, sat with her alone, and had fixed my eyes and heart solely upon her.  Many long nights I passed without sleep, repeating jests and pleasantries, to remove shyness, and make her familiar.  On one of these nights I said:  “Fortune has been propitious to you, in that you have fallen into the society of an old man, of mature judgment, who has seen the world, and experienced various situations of good and bad fortune, who knows the rights of society, and has performed the duties of friendship;—­one who is affectionate, affable, cheerful, and conversable.  I will exert my utmost endeavours to gain your affection, and if you should treat me unkindly I will not be offended; or if, like the parrot, your food should be sugar, I will devote my sweet life to your support.  You have not met with a youth of a rude disposition, with a weak understanding, headstrong, a gadder, who would be constantly changing his situations and inclinations, sleeping every night in a new place, and every day forming some new intimacy.  Young men may be lively and handsome, but they are inconstant in their attachments.  Look not thou for fidelity from those who, with the eyes of the nightingale, are every instant singing upon a different rose-bush.  But old men pass their time in wisdom and good manners, not in the ignorance and frivolity of youth.  Seek one better than yourself, and having found him, consider yourself fortunate.  With one like yourself you would pass your life without improvement.”  I spoke a great deal after this manner (continued the old man), and thought that I had made a conquest of her heart, when suddenly she heaved a cold sigh from the bottom of her heart, and replied:  “All the fine speeches that you have been uttering have not so much weight in the scale of my reason as one single sentence I have heard from my nurse, that if you plant an arrow in the side of a young woman it is not so painful as the society of an old man.”  In short (continued he), it was impossible to agree, and our differences ended in a separation.  After the time prescribed by law, she married a young man of an impetuous temper, ill-natured, and in indigent circumstances, so that she suffered the injuries of violence, with the evils of penury.  Nevertheless she returned thanks for her lot, and said:  “God be praised that I escaped from infernal torment, and have obtained this permanent blessing.  Amidst all your violence and impetuosity of temper, I will put up with your airs, because you are handsome.  It is better to burn with you in hell than to be in paradise with the other.  The scent of onions from a beautiful mouth is more fragrant than the odour of the rose from the hand of one who is ugly.”