Page:The poetical works of Matthew Arnold, 1897.djvu/128

90 As the king said, so was it done,

And to the mosque my lord passed on.

But on the morrow, when the king

Went forth again, the holy book

Carried before him, as is right,

And through the square his way he took;

My man comes running, flecked with blood

From yesterday, and falling down

Cries out most earnestly, "O king,

My lord, O king, do right, I pray!

"How canst thou, ere thou hear, discern

If I speak folly? but a king,

Whether a thing be great or small,

Like Allah, hears and judges all.

"Wherefore hear thou! Thou know'st, how fierce

In these last days the sun hath burned;

That the green water in the tanks

Is to a putrid puddle turned;

And the canal, that from the stream

Of Samarcand is brought this way,

Wastes and runs thinner every day.

'Now I at nightfall had gone forth

Alone, and in a darksome place

Under some mulberry-trees I found

A little pool; and in short space

With all the water that was there

I filled my pitcher, and stole home

Unseen; and having drink to spare,

I hid the can behind the door,

And went up on the roof to sleep.