Page:The Shaving of Shagpat (1856).djvu/309



the feathers of Koorookh in his flight were ruffled by a chill breeze, and they were speeding through a light glow of cold rose-colour. Then said Noorna, Tis the messenger of morning, the blush. Oh, what changes will date from this day!"

The glow of rose became golden, and they beheld underneath them, on one side, the rim of the rising red sun, and rays streaming over the earth and its waters. And Noorna said, "I must warn Feshnavat, my father, and prepare him for our coming."

So she plucked a feather from Koorookh and laid the quill downward, letting it drop. Then said she, "Now for the awakening of my betrothed!"

Thereupon she hugged his head a moment, and kissed him on the eyelids, the cheeks, and the lips, crying, "By this means only!" Crying that, she pushed him, sliding, from the back of the bird, and he parted from them, falling head-foremost in the air like a stricken eagle. Then she called to Koorookh, "Seize him!" and the bird slanted his beak and closed his wings,—the two, Abarak and Noorna, clinging to him tightly; and he was down like an