جمله صحرا را چرد او تا به شب ** تا شود زفت و عظیم و منتجب
She feeds on the whole field till nightfall, so that she grows stout and big and choice.
شب ز اندیشه که فردا چه خورم ** گردد او چون تار مو لاغر ز غم
During the night she becomes thin as a hair from anxiety, because she thinks, “What shall I eat to-morrow?”
چون برآید صبح گردد سبز دشت ** تا میان رسته قصیل سبز و کشت
At rise of dawn the field becomes green: the green blades and grain have grown up to (a man's) middle.
اندر افتد گاو با جوع البقر ** تا به شب آن را چرد او سر به سر
The cow falls to ravenously: till night she feeds on that (vegetation and devours it) entirely.
باز زفت و فربه و لمتر شود ** آن تنش از پیه و قوت پر شود 2860
Again she becomes stout and fat and bulky: her body is filled with fat and strength.
باز شب اندر تب افتد از فزع ** تا شود لاغر ز خوف منتجع
Then again at night she (is stricken) by panic (and) falls into a fever (of anxiety), so that from fear of seeking (vainly) for fodder she becomes lean,
که چه خواهم خورد فردا وقت خور ** سالها اینست کار آن بقر
Thinking, “What shall I eat to-morrow at meal-time?” This is what that cow does for (many) years.
هیچ نندیشد که چندین سال من ** می‌خورم زین سبزه‌زار و زین چمن
She never thinks, “All these years I have been eating from this meadow and this pasture;
هیچ روزی کم نیامد روزیم ** چیست این ترس و غم و دلسوزیم
My provender has never failed (even) for a day: what, (then), is this fear and anguish and heart-burning of mine?”
باز چون شب می‌شود آن گاو زفت ** می‌شود لاغر که آوه رزق رفت 2865
(No); when night falls that stout cow becomes lean again, thinking, “Alas, the provender is gone.”