| palace, castle | قصر |
| That palace that/where, /ān qasr ke/: We usually see the construct /har x-i ke/ with the suffix -i appended to the noun, however, it is not uncommon for this -i suffix to be dropped in poetry or even high-brow prose. Here, meter aside, it would sound less poetic with the -i as /har qasr-i ke/. |
آن قصر که |
|
that palace that Bahrām in it..., that palace in which Bahrām... | آن قصر که بهرام درو ... |
| cup, goblet | جام |
|
he raised [his] wine cup < to raise [one's] wine cup, as in a celebration or
festive occasion. Notice the effective use of the simple past used as we
often see in English: 'He once raised his cup', i.e., he used to raise his
cup (on multiple occasions.) | جام گرفت < جام گرفتن |
| to take, to grab, to catch, to hold. Notice that /gereftan/ is used in each line of this quatrain.) | گرفتن |
| fox | روبه = روباه |
| it made, i.e., had a child < to have children, to give birth | بچّه کرد < بچّه کردن |
| lion, pronunciation: shir | شیر |
| it rested < to settle down, to rest, to repose | آرام گرفت < آرام گرفتن |
| constant, continuously, constantly, continuously | دایم = دائم |
| he used to catch onagers, he would hunt onagers < to hunt onagers, the imperfect tense followed by the classical -i suffix emphasizes continuousness, habitual action and repetition which are already conveyed by the imperfect tense. This -i suffix is often used simply to add an extra syllable for the poetic meter. | میگرفتی = میگرفت< گرفتن |
| today | امروز |
| (you) look! Observe! (imperative) < to look | نگر < نگریستن |
| onager, wild ass. The English word "onager" comes from Greek onagros : onos, 'ass' + agrios, 'wild', 'living in the fields or woods'. (The key in this quatrain is the pun on “gur” which means both “onager” and “grave”.) |
گور |
| The Sassanid king Bahrām V was famous for his life-long passion to hunt/capture onagers, so much so that he is known by the moniker "Bahrām-e gur" meaning "Bahrām the onager [hunter]." Note that he is often called "Bahrām Gur" in English but in Persian, you do need the ezāfe: "Bahrām-e Gur." (The key in this quatrain is the pun on “gur” which means both “onager” and “grave”.) | بهرامِ گور |
| fox | روبه = روباه |