Sol 5.6

  1. What has come between me and my aims is

    my resentment at bearing a benefaction from a giver.

  2. If I were willing to bow in pursuit of my aim,

    my aims would never have proved difficult for me.

  3. I gave my soul a choice between the dignity of one content

    with the least that suffices, and the abasement of one who desires.

  4. So it chose the dignity of contentment and recited:

    “Leave me be—for abasement is no inescapable fate.”

  5. There is no difference between death and desires

    if a detractor’s tongue should touch my honor.

  6. I go hungry though food is abundant,

    wary and fearful of a faultfinder’s reproach.

  7. I thirst, yet do not approach the coveted limpid water

    unless my drinking places are clear of whatever would sully them.

  8. Though I can endure crushing calamities, still I—

    the estrangement of an aggrieved beloved truly frightens me.

  9. The memory of ardent love and youth fills me with longing,

    and the beauty of the full-figured, budding-breasted maiden delights me.

  10. My enemies have no hold on even the loose end of my reins,

    yet a friend’s affection leads me wherever it wills.

  11. To the taste of those I love, I am sweetness itself,

    while my enemies suffer from me unremitting torment.

  12. Whenever a friend suspects me of flattery,

    he can only meet me with a suspicion that is false.

  13. And when those present see how I am during my absence,

    I give him the affection due an absent friend.

  14. In my eyes, the one I love and the one who hates me are alike

    if either turns his gaze away from respecting my rights.

  15. I have tested the sons of Time, yet found

    no one whom my experiences had not taught me to renounce.

Sol 5.6