Page:Swahili tales.djvu/241

Rh present me with." And he said, "What sort of gifts are they which make you weep so excessively?" And he said, "Father told me he would marry me to a beautiful wife, that he would make me a marriage-feast of four months, and he told me that he should know that I was his son; now of all these three, I have not got one, now can I help but weep at missing these? Well then, I will go and give him my answer."

It was afternoon when he went to his father, and says to him, "Father, Masalkheir!" [good afternoon], without his father's answering him. And he was silent. And he said, "Where are the dates?" And he said, "The dates father? The dates are already eaten by the bird." And he said, "Go and tell your mother inside to give you a headkerchief, and put it on, to give you a mask, and put it on, to give you kanzu and trousers, and put them on, to give you a veil to cover yourself with, and then let her look out for a husband, and marry you. Go away from before my face, I hate to see you."

And his wife arose, and said to him, "These youths do not go to look at the date-tree, they go to play, and to sleep. However, what are we to do? Let us wait till this time of its bearing."

And the sultan waited while many months passed. And the date-tree bore; and news was brought to him from the plantation by his headman, "Master, the date-tree has borne." "Has it borne like last year, or this year more?" He says, "Master, when a thing is young a man is not sure about it; so far as man can be sure about what is young, I should say, master, the dates this year are more than last, but they are things that get shed, let us see when they are grown." He says, "Very good, when you see the abortive ones beginning to drop, come and tell me." And he said, "Please God, master."