Yet from this miserable life on earth
There is one only refuge. He! my son!
My hope! my stay! is dead; drowned by the sea
Of my misfortunes. But I am a slave!
I am dependent on another's will!
Can I give up my wife? Yes! even so!
For know thou this: one who is steeped in woe
Cares not for evil chances; not the state
Of the most loathsome beast, nor yet the wood
Of sword-leaved plants, nor even hell's dread stream,
Could add the smallest fraction to the pain
I have already borne. My son is dead!
Who then will make atonement for my sins?
Yet listen to my words, beloved one,
If I have offered sacrifice, and paid
Due reverence to the saints; if I have given
Alms to the needy--may we meet again
Hereafter, in the world to come, and find
The refuge for our woes denied us here.
Let us together follow in the path
By which our son has gone. Our hopeless fate
Can never alter here. Whatever words
I may have uttered, thoughtlessly, in jest,
These, when I pray for pardon, shall receive
Fullest forgiveness. Thou must not despise
Thy lord: nor pride thee on thy queenly state
Now passed and gone." The prince's wife replied:
"I am prepared to tread that path with thee,
O king, most saintly! and with thee that world
To enter." While she spoke these words, the king