Page:The Shaving of Shagpat (1856).djvu/312

298 their heads; so he commanded them to rise, crying, "Search ye the earth and its confines, and bring hither tidings of the Genie Karaz."

So they said, "To hear is to obey."

Then they began to circle each round the other, circling more and more sharply till beyond the stretch of sight, and Shibli Bagarag said to Feshnavat, "Am I not awake, O Feshnavat? I will know where is Karaz ere I seek to operate on Shagpat, for it is well spoken of the poet:

and I will encounter this Karaz that was our Ass ere I try the great shave. Tell me now what has happened in the city while we were absent from it."

Feshnavat replied, "O Master of the Event, my son, no long story that." Then when Shibli Bagarag had invested himself in dry robes, and all were seated on the herbage, he said: