" So he summoned Terkash and bade him
choose a hundred horse and go in quest of the prince. Accordingly
he went out and was absent ten days, after which he returned and
said, "I can learn no tidings of him and have come on no trace of
him, nor can any tell me aught of him." With this, King Sasan
repented him of that which he had done with Kanmakan; whilst his
mother abode without peace or comfort, nor would patience come at
her call: and thus twenty heavy days passed over her.
To return to Kanmakan. When he left Baghdad, he went forth,
perplexed about his case and knowing not whither he should go: so
he fared on alone into the desert for the space of three days and
saw neither footman nor horseman. Sleep deserted him and his
wakefulness redoubled, for he pined for his people and his
country. So he wandered on, eating of the herbs of the earth and
drinking of its waters and resting under its trees at the hour of
the noontide heats, till he came to another road, into which he
turned and following it other three days, came to a land of green
fields and smiling valleys, abounding in the fruits of the earth.
It had drunken of the beakers of the clouds, to the sound of the
voices of the turtle and the ring-dove, till its hill-sides were
enamelled with verdure and its fields were fragrant. At this
sight, Kanmakan recalled his father's city Baghdad, and for
excess of emotion repeated the following verses:
I wander on, in hope I may return Some day, yet know not when
that day shall be.
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