Page:Swahili tales.djvu/369

Rh "And he said, 'I am the son of a Sultan, and my father died, and I governed. At last one day I opened my father's chest, and saw a bag and within it a book, and I read that book, and saw the praises of the prophet, and I longed much to see him, and I set out from our town and wandered in the forest seeking for the man. And every one I find says to me, 'He is not yet born.' And till now I am still seeking him. And I am going through the wilderness."

"And he said, 'Sit down then, that I may give you my story from the beginning until now.' And he said, 'Give it me, I am already set down.'

"And he said, 'My name is Jan Shah, and my father's name, Taighamus, a great Sultan. And every day for a month he used to go into the forest to shoot game. And I was his only son, and he loved me much. Till one day I said to him, 'Father let us go together to the forest.' And he said, 'Stay at home, and go nowhere.' And I cried much, and my father said, 'Let us go, do not cry.'

"And we went away to the forest, and there were many people who went. And when we reached the forest we ate our food, and then every one went into the forest to kill game.

"And I and seven men, my slaves, we went another way of our own, till we reached the forest, and we saw a very beautiful gazelle, and chased it as far as the sea without getting it. And the gazelle went into the water, and we took a boat, and went in, I and four of my slaves, and three of them went back to my father. And we chased the gazelle till we lost sight of the town, and we caught the gazelle and killed it. And when we had killed it, a great wind blew, and we lost our way.

"And those three slaves, when they reached my father, he asked them, 'Where is your master?' And they said