Sunday, September 28, 2008

Genghis Khan's Supreme Joy

To live in a house by the side of the road, and be a friend to man.
No, wait, wrong bin. Genghis Khan's Supreme Joy, Take Two:
To cut my enemies to pieces, drive them before me, seize their possessions, witness the tears of those dear to them, and embrace their wives and daughters.
There, that's more like it. And to think I would have settled for "to outlive your enemies."

Source: René Grousset, The Empire of the Steppes: a History of Central Asia (Trans. 1970) at 249, quoting Rashid ad-Din, Persian/Jewish polymath and historian.

Afterthought: But GK understood that the good times would end:
After us, the people of our race will wear garments of gold; they will eat sweet, greasy food, ride splendid coursers, and hold in their arms the loveliest of women, and they will forget that they owe these things to us. ...
Id.

No comments: