Ighe fact that I』m standing here placid and still; if truth be told, I』ve been galloping for turies; I』ve passed over plains, fought in battles, carried off the melancholy daughters of shahs to be wed; I』ve galloped tirelessly page by page from story to history, from history to legend and from book to book; I』ve appeared in tless stories, fables, books and battles; I』ve apanied invincible heroes, legendary lovers and fantastic armies; I』ve galloped from campaign to campaign with our victorious sultans, and as a result, I』ve appeared in tless illustrations.
How does it feel, you ask, to be painted so often?
Of course, I』m proud of myself. Yet, I also questioher, indeed, it is I beied in all cases. It is evident from these pictures that I』m perceived differently by everyoill, I have the strong sehat there』s a onality, a unity to the illustrations.
My miniaturist friends were reting a story retly, and from it, I learhe following: The king of
the Frankish infidels was sidering marriage to the daughter of the Veian Doge. He was sidering it, but then he lagued with the thought, 「What if this Veian is poor and his daughter ugly?」 To reassure himself, he ordered his best artist to paint the Veian Doge』s daughter, possessions, property and belongings. The Veians could care less about gross indecy: They』ll expose not only their daughters to the prying eyes of the artist, but their horses and palazzos, as well. The gifted infidel artist could depict a maiden or a horse in such a way that you』d be able to pick either out of a crowd. Ba his courtyard, as the Frankish king examihe pictures from Venice, p whether he should take the maiden as his wife, his stallion, suddenly aroused, attempted to mount the attractive mare in the painting, and the hrooms were hard pressed t the ferocious animal under trol before he destroyed the picture and its frame with his huge member.
They say that it wasn』t the beauty of the Veian mare that had aroused the Frankish stallion—though she was iriking—but the act of taking a particular mare and painting a picture in her exact likeness. Now, the question arises: Is it sinful to be depicted as that mare had been, that is, like a real mare? In my case, as you see, there is very little differeween my image and other pictures of horses.
Actually, those of you who pay particular attention to the gray midse, the length of my legs and the pride of my bearing will uand that I am indeed unique. But these excelleures point to the uniqueness of the miniaturist who illustrated me, not to my uniqueness as a horse. Everyone knows that there』s no horse exactly like me. I』m simply the rendering of a horse that exists in a miniaturist』s imagination.
Looking at me, observers frequently say, 「Good God, what a geous horse!」 But they』re actually praising the artist, not me. All horses are in fact distinct, and the miniaturist, above all, ought to know this.
Take a close look, even a given stallion』s a resemble another』s. Don』t be afraid, you exami up close, and even take it in your hands: My God-given marvel has a shape and curve all its own.
Now then, all miniaturists illustrate all horses from memory in the same way, even though we』ve each been uniquely created by Allah, Greatest of all Creators. Why do they take pride in simply rendering thousands and tens of thousands of horses in the same way without ever truly looking at us? I』ll tell you why: Because they』re attempting to dep