گفت ای قصاص در شهر شما ** کیست استاتر درین مکر و دغا

And said, ‘O story-teller, in your city who is the greatest expert in this (kind of) deceit and fraud?’

دعوی کردن ترک و گرو بستن او کی درزی از من چیزی نتواند بردن

[How the Turk boasted and wagered that the tailor would not be able to steal anything from him.]

گفت خیاطیست نامش پور شش ** اندرین چستی و دزدی خلق‌کش

He replied, ‘There is a tailor named Pír-i Shush who beats (all other) folk in light-fingeredness and thievery.’

گفت من ضامن که با صد اضطراب ** او نیارد برد پیشم رشته‌تاب

‘I warrant,’ said he (the Turk), ‘that (even) with a hundred efforts he will not be able to take away a coil of thread in my presence.’

پس بگفتندش که از تو چست‌تر ** مات او گشتند در دعوی مپر 1675

Then they told him, ‘Cleverer persons than you have been checkmated by him: do not soar (too high) in your pretensions.

رو به عقل خود چنین غره مباش ** که شوی یاوه تو در تزویرهاش

Go to, be not so deluded by your intelligence, else you will be lost in his wiles.’

گرم‌تر شد ترک و بست آنجا گرو ** که نیارد برد نی کهنه نی نو

The Turk became (still) hotter and made a wager there (and then) that he (the tailor) would not be able to rob (him of anything) either old or new.

مطمعانش گرم‌تر کردند زود ** او گرو بست و رهان را بر گشود

Those who flattered his hopes made him hotter (than before): immediately he wagered and declared the stakes,

که گرو این مرکب تازی من ** بدهم ار دزدد قماشم او به فن

Saying, ‘I will pay this Arab horse of mine as a forfeit if he artfully steals my stuff;

ور نتواند برد اسپی از شما ** وا ستانم بهر رهن مبتدا 1680

And if he cannot rob (me) I shall receive a horse from you (as an equivalent) for the first stake.’

ترک را آن شب نبرد از غصه خواب ** با خیال دزد می‌کرد او حراب

Because of his anxiety sleep did not overcome the Turk (all) that night: he was fighting with the phantom of the thief.

بامدادان اطلسی زد در بغل ** شد به بازار و دکان آن دغل

In the morning he put a piece of satin under his arm, went to the bazaar, and (entered) the shop of that cunning rogue.

پس سلامش کرد گرم و اوستاد ** جست از جا لب به ترحیبش گشاد

Then he saluted him warmly, and the master(-tailor) sprang up from his seat and opened his lips to bid him welcome.

گرم پرسیدش ز حد ترک بیش ** تا فکند اندر دل او مهر خویش

He inquired (after his health, etc.) with a cordiality exceeding (even) that of the Turk, so that he planted in his (the Turk's) heart (feelings of) affection for him.

چون بدید از وی نوای بلبلی ** پیشش افکند اطلس استنبلی 1685

When he (the Turk) heard from him a song like the nightingale's, he threw down before him the piece of Stamboul satin,

که ببر این را قبای روز جنگ ** زیر نافم واسع و بالاش تنگ

Saying, ‘Cut this into a coat for the day of battle: (let it be) wide below my navel and tight above it—

تنگ بالا بهر جسم‌آرای را ** زیر واسع تا نگیرد پای را

Tight above, to show off my body (figure); wide below, so as not to hamper my legs.’

گفت صد خدمت کنم ای ذو وداد ** در قبولش دست بر دیده نهاد

He replied, ‘O kindly man, I will do (you) a hundred services,’ and in (token of) accepting it (the commission) he laid his hand upon his eye.

پس بپیمود و بدید او روی کار ** بعد از آن بگشاد لب را در فشار

Then he measured (the satin) and inspected the working surface (of it) and, after that, opened his lips in idle chat.

از حکایتهای میران دگر ** وز کرمها و عطاء آن نفر 1690

Of stories about other Amírs and of the bounties and gifts of those persons

وز بخیلان و ز تحشیراتشان ** از برای خنده هم داد او نشان

And about the misers and their (mean) economies—(of all this) he gave a sample for the purpose of (exciting) laughter.

هم‌چو آتش کرد مقراضی برون ** می‌برید و لب پر افسانه و فسون

In a flash he whipped out a pair of scissors and went on cutting while his lips were full of tales and beguiling talk.

مضاحک گفتن درزی و ترک را از قوت خنده بسته شدن دو چشم تنگ او و فرصت یافتن درزی

How the tailor told laughable jests, and how the narrow eyes of the Turk were closed by the violence of his laughter, and how the tailor found an opportunity (to steal).

ترک خندیدن گرفت از داستان ** چشم تنگش گشت بسته آن زمان

The Turk began to laugh at the stories, and at that moment his narrow eyes closed.

پاره‌ای دزدید و کردش زیر ران ** از جز حق از همه احیا نهان

He (the tailor) filched a shred (of satin) and put it under his thigh, (where it was) hidden from all living beings except God.

حق همی‌دید آن ولی ستارخوست ** لیک چون از حد بری غماز اوست 1695

God saw it, but He is disposed to cover up (sins); yet when you carry (them) beyond bounds He is a tell-tale.

ترک را از لذت افسانه‌اش ** رفت از دل دعوی پیشانه‌اش

From his delight in his (the tailor's) anecdotes the Turk's former boast went out of his head.