lördag 27 mars 2021

Old Darius

 Current events make me think of old King Darius of Persia, who famously wrote:

Adam niyaštāyam imām yauviyām katanaiy
hacā Pirāva nāma rauta
tya Mudrāyaiy danuvatiy
abiy draya tya hacā Pārsā aitiy
pasāva iyam yauviyā akaniya
avaΘā yaΘā adam niyaštāyam
utā nāva āyatā hacā Mudrāyā
tara imām yauviyām abiy Pārsam
avaΘā yaΘā mām kāma āha.

- Darius


("I ordered that this canal should be dug
from the river called "Nile"
which flows through Egypt
to the sea which goes from Persia.
And so, this canal was dug
as I had ordered,
and ships went from Egypt
through this canal to Persia,
just as my wish had been.")

Yeah. That.