The Cycle Of Spring

Excerpt-Sruti-bhushan, what is my Vizier whispering to you?
He tells me, King, to instruct you in the ways of fortune.
What instruction can you give?
There is a verse in my book of devotions which runs as follows:
Fortune, as fickle as lotus-flower,Closes her favours when comes the hour.Oh, foolish man, how can you trust her,Who comes of a sudden, and goes in a fluster?
Ah, Pundit. One breath of your teaching blows out the false flame of ambition. Our teacher has said:
"Teeth fall out, hair grows grey;Yet man clings to hope that plays him false."
Well, King, now that you have introduced the subject of hope, let me give you another verse from the Ocean of Renunciation. It runs as follows:
That fetters are binding, all are aware;But fetters of hope are strange, I declare.Hope's captive is tossed in the whirlpool's wake,And only grows still when the fetters break.
Ah, Pundit. Your words are priceless. Vizier, give him a hundred gold sequins at once. What's that noise outside?