Firdausi hears his Own Verses repeated to him (litho)

Firdausi hears his Own Verses repeated to him. Firdausi (941-1020), the father of the famous Persian literature, was born at Tus. His great service to the country was the preservation of its ancient legends in his Shahnama (Book of Kings), out of vast materials collected by Mahmud of Ghazni. Quarrelling with that dangerous monarch, Firdausi wandered about Persia, wrote his great romance, Yusuf-u-Zulaikhan (Joseph and Potiphar's Wife), and finally found his way to Tus in extreme age, where he was greatly affected on hearing a child lisp a satiric quatrain of his own on his treatment by Mahmud. Illustration for Hutchinson's History of the Nations (Hutchinson, c.1920). Note: Image has been digitally enhanced to facilitate repro.