Page:The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night - Volume 2.djvu/42

 24 Alf LaylaJi toa Lay la k. bright ; the cherry that makes teeth shine clear by her sleight, and the fig of three colours, green, purple and white. There also blossomed the violet as it were sulphur on fire by night ; the orange with buds like pink coral and marguerite ; the rose whose redness gars the loveliest cheeks blush with despight ; and myrtle and gilliflower and lavender with the blood-red anemone from Nu-'uman hight. The leaves were all gemmed with tears the clouds had dight ; the chamomile smiled showing teeth that bite, and Narcissus with his negro * eyes fixed on Rose his sight ; the citrons shone with fruits embowled and the lemons like balls of gold ; earth was carpeted with flowers tinctured infinite ; for Spring was come brightening the place with joy and delight ; and the streams ran ringing, to the birds* gay singing, while the rustling breeze upspringing attempered the air to temperance exquisite. Shaykh Ibrahim carried them up into the pavilion, and they gazed on its beauty, and on the lamps aforemen- tioned in the latticed windows; and Nur al-Din, remembering his entertainments of time past, cried, " By Allah, this is a pleasant place ; it hath quenched in me anguish which burned as a fire of Ghaza-wood. 2 " Then they sat down and Shaykh Ibrahim set food before them ; and they ate till they were satisfied and washed their hands : after which Nur al-Din went up to one of the latticed windows, and, calling to his handmaid fell to gazing on the trees laden with all manner fruits. Presently he turned to the Gardener and said to him, " O Shaykh Ibrahim hast thou no drink here, for folk are wont to drink after eating ? " The Shaykh brought him sweet water, cool and pleasant, but he said, " This is not the kind of drink I wanted." " Perchance thou wishest for wine ? " " Indeed I do, O Shaykh ! " "I seek refuge from it with Allah : it is thir- teen years since I did this thing, for the Prophet (Abhak 3 ) cursed An unsavoury comparison of the classical Narcissus with the yellow white of a nigger's eyes.  A tree whose coals burn with fierce heat : Al-Hariri (Vth Seance). This Artemisia is like the tamarisk but a smaller growth and is held to be a characteristic of the Arabian Desert. A Badawi always hails with pleasure the first sight of the Ghaza", after he has sojourned for time away from his wilds. Mr. Palgrave (i. 38) describes the "Ghada" as an Euphorbia with a woody stem often 5-6 feet high and slender flexible green twigs (?), " forming a feathery tuft, not ungraceful (o the eye, while it affords some shelter to the traveller, and food to his camels." Arab. Sal'am = S(alla) A(llah) a(Iayhi) wa S(allam) ; A(llah) b(less) h(im) a(nd) k(eep) = Allah keep him and assain !