Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol 8.djvu/284

272 that they looked on him with eyes of affection, he inclined to them and made friends with them and took up his abode with them, flying away in the morning whither he would and returning at eventide to pass the night with them.

After awhile, the tortoises, seeing that his [daylong] absence from them desolated them and finding that they saw him not but by night, (for at break of day he still took flight in haste and they knew not what came of him, for all their love to him,) said to each other, “Indeed, we love this heathcock and he is become our friend and we cannot brook parting from him; so how shall we do to make him abide with us always? For he flies away at daybreak and is absent from us all day and we see him not save by night.” Quoth one of them, “Be easy, O my sisters. I will bring him not to leave us for the twinkling of an eye.” And the rest answered, saying, “An thou do this, we will all be thy slaves.”

So, when the heathcock came back from his feeding-place and sat down amongst them, the wily tortoise drew near unto him and called down blessings on him, giving him joy of his safe return and saying, “O my lord, know that God hath vouchsafed thee our love and hath in like manner set in thy heart the love of us, so that thou art become to us a familiar friend and a comrade in this desert place. Now the goodliest of times for those who love each other is when they are in company and the sorest of afflictions for them is absence and separation. But thou leavest us at peep of day and returnest not to us till sundown, wherefore there betideth us sore desolation. Indeed this is exceeding grievous unto us and we abide in sore longing by reason thereof.”

“Indeed,” answered the bird, “I love you also and yearn for you yet more than you for me, nor is it easy for me to leave you; but I have no help for this, seeing