"Yes," replied she, "my whilom name was
Nuzhet ez Zeman;[FN#26] but my name at this present is Ghusset ez
Zeman."[FN#27] When the merchant heard this, his eyes filled with
tears, and he said to her, "Hast thou not a sick brother?"
"Indeed, my lord, I have," answered she; "but fortune hath parted
us, and he lies sick in Jerusalem." The merchant's heart was
confounded at the sweetness of her speech, and he said to
himself, "Verily, the Bedouin spoke the truth of her." Then she
called to mind her brother and how he lay sick in a strange land,
whilst she was parted from him and knew not what was become of
him; and she thought of all that had befallen her with the
Bedouin and of her severance from her father and mother and
native land; and the tears ran down her cheeks and she repeated
the following verses:
May God keep watch o'er thee, belov'd, where'er thou art, Thou
that, though far away, yet dwellest in my heart!
Where'er thy footsteps lead, may He be ever near, To guard thee
from time's shifts and evil fortune's dart!
Thou'rt absent, and my eyes long ever for thy sight, And at thy
thought the tears for aye unbidden start.
Would that I knew alas! what country holds thee now, In what
abode thou dwell'st, unfriended and apart!
If thou, in the green o the rose, still drink o' the water of
life, My drink is nought but tears, since that thou didst
depart.
Pages:
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104