Page:The Celebrated Romance of the Stealing of the Mare.djvu/97

 Agheyl. And forthwith he found Alia in the straits already told, and he made his thought known to her by signs, and by signs she gave him to understand her answers.

And at this point the Narrator began again to sing, and it was in the following verses:

So returneth my tale to the Hejazi Salame,

The hero Abu Zeyd, bearer of all men's burthens,

When that these had returned, the foemen from their fighting,

And she of the jewels had called aloud on his head a'blessing,

Then came back the hero Salame, he grieving for Alia,

Much in pain came he, and pondering his black fortune.

And to himself he said, "O thou, Hejazi Salame,

Wilt thou return to thy people, or wilt thou return to Alia?

I have reckoned the hour of judgment, and made account of its terrors,

When all is meted to men, the good with the evil dealing."

And I counsel took with myself how I should turn me towards her,

And learn the truth of her way, and how it sped with her fortune.

And I feared lest evil men should stir the anger of Fade],

And pain should be her lot, and grief in the day of evil.