1861.] Gyg es ' ring in Plato and Nizami. 153 
Of all the achievements of those of ancient time, 
Of all that they did in magic and illusion, 
I will tell thee one, — but one of an hundred such, 
None in this world knows this secret of the Master. 
If the king command me, I will tell a little thereof, 
Not one of ten, but one of an hundred.” 
Permission was granted by that lord of just rulers, 
That the sage should declare the history. 
Then the world-experienced sage, enlightened of heart, 
Thus uttered the tale, ‘ Oh thou monarch of happy throne, 
Of the days and revolutions of ancient time 
1 have heard this memorial from my teacher. 
I have heard, that once a hot vapour came rushing on 
And split the ground with a sudden rent, 
And the plain threw up the dried earth from the chasm,. 
And a talisman came to light from under the ground, 
A molten image of tin and copper, 
A statue cast in the likeness of a horse ; 
And in the side of the lofty steed was seen 
An opening like the bed of a water channel. 
When the sun shone into that hole, 
A hidden picture flashed forth to view. 
A shepherd by chance passed by that deep ravine, 
He beheld an empty chasm in the bare plain, 
And when he entered into that ravine’s depth, 
Lo he saw in it a gleaming talisman, 
A copper steed, and in the body 
A huge fissure proportioned to the statue. 
He looked in the hole by the light of the sun 
And it stretched from the horse’s head to its haunch ; 
And he saw an old man asleep therein, 
Not one of his gray hairs moved from its place, 
And in his hand a ring of gold 
With a signet shining like the planet Jupiter. 
Towards it he hastily stretched his hand 
And he drew the ring from off the finger, 
And when he saw the ring in his grasp, 
He placed it at once on his own finger. 
