With all this activity even Ehsan Yarshater was fully stretched, working as has been his wont through much of his life, a twelve to fourteen hour day. Yet he managed during these years to write a number of learned and literary articles for the journals Yahma, Mehr and Sokhan, as well as for the Bulletin of the Faculty of Letters of Tehran University. One day, meeting him in the Senate Library, Habib Yaghma'i pressed him for another article for his journal; whereupon Ehsan Yarshater, characteristically unable to refuse a friend, sat down and there and then wrote a piece which he called "The respected scholar" (Daneshmand-e mohtaram) . This, published as the leading article in Yaghma, has been twice reprinted in anthologies, and is often quoted as an admirable piece of satirical humour. For al his deep seriousness, Ehsan Yarshater has a rich vein of wit and humour, is quick to make or appreciate a jest, and breaks readily into warm, delightful laughter. Another striking facet of Ehsan Yarshater's character is his apparently effortless calm and self-control, maintained in the teeth of all the harassments that inevitably beset a man who initiates far-reaching plans, and who in the course of fulfilling them has to persuade large numbers of people, with different temperaments and interests, to cooperate and be reasonable. With this calmness goes iron resolve, once a goal has been fixed upon, and enviable powers of concentration. These struck even German scholars during a visit Ehsan Yarshater paid to Göttingen to study dialect materials there. While others came and went during the day, seeking refreshment, fresh air or relaxation, he sat on at his library desk from early till late, oblivious alike of the outer world and the inner man, working with total absorption. During the academic year 1958/59 he visited Columbia University, New York, as associate professor; and Columbia showed appreciation of his teaching by extending its invitation for a second year. |
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