CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 Gift of 
 Samuel B. Bird '21 
 
^_ Cornell Unlvaralty Library 
 
 PR S006.S53 1888 
 
 ^'',?.,?.'?"*'"9 °' Shagpat; an Arabian entert 
 
 3 1924 013 524 081 
 
M ^ Cornell University 
 WB Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013524081 
 
THE SHAYING OF SHAGPAT 
 
 AND 
 
 FAEIl^A 
 
GEORGE MEREDITH'S WORKS. 
 
 Each Novel will be complete in One Volume, price 6s. 
 
 DIANA OF THE CROSSWAYS. 
 
 EVAN HARRINGTON. 
 
 THE ORDEAL OF RICHARD FEVERED. 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF HARRY RICHMOND. 
 
 SANDRA BELLONI, originally Emilia in England. 
 
 VITTORIA. 
 
 RHODA FLEMING. 
 
 BEAUCHAMP'S CAREER. 
 
 THE EGOIST. 
 
 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT AND FARINA. 
 
THE 
 
 SHAVING OF SHAGPAT 
 
 ^n Arabian ffinttttaimiunt 
 
 FARIN-A 
 
 BY 
 
 GEORGE MEREDITH 
 
 SEW EDITION. 
 
 ROBERTS BROTHERS 
 
 3, SOMERSET STREET 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 1888 
 
^rf Hl^^ 
 
CONTENTS OF "THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT." 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE THWACKINGS .1 
 
 THE STORY OP BHANAVAE THE BEAUTIFUL .... 21 
 
 THE BETROTHAL 93 
 
 PUNISHMENT OF SHAHPESH, THE PERSIAN, ON KHIPIL, THE 
 
 BUILDER 103 
 
 THE GENIE KARAZ 110 
 
 THE WELL OP PARAVID 117 
 
 THE HORSE GAREAVEEN 121 
 
 THE TALKING HAWK 127 
 
 THE CASE OP HUMDRUM, A EEADEE OP PLANETS, THAT WAS 
 
 A BARBER 134 
 
 GOORELKA OP OOLB 138 
 
 THE LILT OP THE ENCHANTED SEA 144 
 
 STORY OP NOOENA BIN NOORKA, THE GENIE KARAZ, AND 
 
 THE PRINCESS OP OOLB . . . . .151 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 THE WILES OP BABESQUEAT. 
 
 THE PALACE OP AKLIS . 
 
 THE SONS OP AKLIS .... 
 
 THE SWOBD OP AKLIS . 
 
 KOOEOOKH 
 
 THE VEILED FIGURE .... 
 THE BOSOM OP NOOENA 
 
 THE EEVIVAL 
 
 THE EEOITAL OP THE VIZIEE PESHNAVAT 
 
 THE PLOT .... 
 
 THE DISH OP POMEGRANATE GEAIN 
 
 THE BURNING OP THE IDENTICAL 
 
 THE FLASHES OP THE BLADE 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 PAGE 
 
 168 
 186 
 194 
 205 
 209 
 216 
 221 
 226 
 22& 
 238 
 246 
 268 
 278 
 287 
 
CONTElfTS OF " FAEINA." 
 
 PAGK 
 
 THE WHITE EOSE CLTJB 295 
 
 THE TAPESTET WOKK 302 
 
 THE WAGEE 313 
 
 THE SILVER ARROW 322 
 
 THE LILIES OE THE VALLEY 332 
 
 THE MISSIVES . 340 
 
 THE MONK 353 
 
 the ride aud the race 359 
 
 the combat on drachenfels . . ... 363 
 
 the goshawk leads 372 
 
 "Werner's eck 379 
 
 the water-lady 384 
 
 the rescue 393 
 
 the passage of the rhine 399 
 
 the back-blows oe sathanas 404 
 
 the entry into cologne 408 
 
 conclusion 412 
 
THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 THE THWACKING S. 
 
 It was ordained tliat Shibli Bagarag, nephew to the 
 renowned Baba Mustapha, chief barber to the Court of 
 Persia, should shave Shagpat, the son of Shimpoor, the son 
 of Shoolpi, the son of ShuUum ; and they had been clothiers 
 for generations, even to the time of Shagpat, illustrious. 
 
 Now the story of Shibli Bagarag, and of the ball he 
 followed, and of the subterranean kingdom he came to, and 
 of the enchanted palace he entered, and of the sleeping king 
 he shaved, and of the two princesses he released, and of the 
 Afrite held in subjection by the arts of one and bottled by 
 her, is it not known as 't were written on the finger-nails of 
 men and traced in their corner-robes ? As the poet says : 
 
 Bipe with oft telling and old ia the tale, 
 
 But 't is of the sort that can never grow stale. 
 
 Now things were in that condition with Shibli Bagarag, 
 that on a certain day he was himgry and abject, and the city 
 of Shagpat the clothier was before him ; so he made toward 
 it, deliberating as to how he should procure a meal, for he 
 had not a dirhem in his girdle, and the remembrance of 
 great dishes and savoury ingredients were to him as the 
 illusion of rivers sheening on the sands to travellers gasping 
 with thirst. 
 
 B 
 
2 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 And he considered his case, crying, " Surely this comes 
 of wandering, and 't is the curse of the inquiring spirit ! for 
 in Shiraz, where my craft is in favour, I should he sitting 
 now with my uncle, Baba Mustapha, the loquacious one, 
 cross-legged, partaking of seasoned sweet dishes, dipping my 
 fingers in them, rejoicing my soul with scandal of the 
 Court!" 
 
 Now he came to a knoll of sand under a palm, from which 
 the yellow domes and mosques of the city of Shagpat, and its 
 black cypresses, and marble palace fronts, and shining pillars, 
 and lofty carven arches that spanned half-circles of the hot 
 grey sky, were plainly visible. Then gazed he awhile despond- 
 ingly on the city of Shagpat, and groaned in contemplation 
 of his evil plight, as is said by the poet : 
 
 The curse of sorrow is comparison ! 
 As the sun casteth shade, night showeth star. 
 We, measuring what we were by what we are. 
 
 Behold the depth to which we are undone. 
 
 Wherefore he counselleth : 
 
 Look neither too much up, nor down at all. 
 But, forward stepping, strive no more to fall. 
 
 And the advice is excellent ; but, as is again said : 
 
 The preacher preacheth, and the hearer hearetb, 
 But comfort first each function reqnireth. 
 
 And ' wisdom to a hungry stomach is thin pottage,' saith the 
 shrewd reader of men. Little comfort was there with Shibli 
 Bagarag, as he looked on the city of Shagpat the clothier ! 
 He cried aloud that his evil chance had got the better of him, 
 and rolled his body m the sand, beating his breast, and con- 
 juring up images of the profusion of dainties and the abund- 
 ance of provision in Shiraz, exclaiming, "Well-a-way and 
 
THE THWACKINGS. 3 
 
 •woe's me ! this it is to be selected for the diversion of him 
 that plotteth against man.'' Truly is it written : 
 
 On different heads misfortunes come : 
 One bears them firm, another faints, 
 
 While this one hangs them like a drum 
 Whereon to batter loud complaints. 
 
 And of the three kinds, they who hang the drum outnumber 
 the sUent ones as do the billows of the sea the ships that 
 swim, or the grains of sand the trees that grow ; a noisy 
 multitude. 
 
 Now he was in the pits of despondency, even as one that 
 yieldeth without further struggle to the waves of tempest at 
 midnight, when he was ware of one standing over him, — a 
 woman, old, wrinkled, a very crone, with but room for the 
 drawing of a thread between her nose and her chin ; she 
 was, as is cited of them who betray the doings of Time, 
 
 Wrinkled at the rind, and overripe at the core, 
 
 and every part of her nodded and shook like a tree sapped 
 by the waters, and her joints were sharp as the hind-legs of 
 a grasshopper ; she was indeed one close-wrecked upon the 
 rocks of Time. 
 
 Now, when the old woman had scanned Shibli Bagarag, 
 she called to him, " O thou ! what is it with thee, that thou 
 roUest as one reft of his wits ? " 
 
 He answered her, " I bewail my condition, which is 
 beggary, and the lack of that which fllleth with pleasant- 
 ness." 
 
 So the old woman said, " Tell me thy case." 
 
 He answered her, " old woman, surely it was written at 
 my birth that I should take ruin from the readers of planets. 
 Now, they proclaimed that I was one day destined for great 
 things, if I stood by my tackle, I, a barber. Know then, 
 that I have had many offers and bribes, seductive ones, from 
 
 B 2 
 
4 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 the rich and the exalted in rank ; and I heeded them not, 
 mindful of what was foretold of me. I stood by my tackle 
 as a warrior standeth by his arms, flourishing them. Now, 
 when I found great things came not to me, and 't was the 
 continuance of sameness and satiety with Baba Mustapha, 
 my uncle, in Shiraz, — the tongue-wagger, the endless tattler, 
 — surely I was advised by the words of the poet to go forth 
 in search of what was wanting, and he says : 
 
 ' Thon that dreamest an Event, 
 While Circumstance ia bat a waste of sand, 
 Arise, take up thy fortunes in thy hand, 
 
 And daily forward pitch thy tent.' 
 
 Now, I passed from city to city, proclaiming my science, 
 holding aloft my tackle. Wullahy ! many adventures were 
 mine, and if there 's some day propitiousness in fortune, 
 old woman, I '11 tell thee of what befell me in the kingdom 
 of Shah Shamshureen : 't is wondrous, a matter to draw 
 down the lower jaw with amazement ! Now so it was, that 
 in the eyes of one city I was honoured and in request, by 
 reason of my calling, and I fared sumptuously, even as a 
 great officer of state surrounded by slaves, lounging upon 
 clouds of silk stuffs, circled by attentive ears : in another 
 city there was no beast so base as I. Wah ! I was one 
 hunted of men and an abomination ; no housing for me, 
 nought to operate upon. I was the lean dog that lieth in 
 wait for offal. It seemeth certain, old woman, that a 
 curse hath fallen on barberoraft in these days, because of the 
 Identical, whose might I know not. Everywhere it is 
 growing in disrepute ; 't is languishing ! Nevertheless till 
 now I have preserved my tackle, and I would descend on 
 yonder city to exercise it, even for a livelihood, forgetting 
 awhile great things, but that I dread men may have changed 
 there also, — and there 's no stability in them, I call Allah 
 {whose name be praised !) to witness ; so should I be a thin<^ 
 
THE THWACKINGS. 5 
 
 unsightly, subject to hateful castigation ; wherefore is it 
 that I am in that state described by the poet, when, 
 
 ' Dreading retreat, dreading advance to make, 
 Bound tve revolve like to the woanded snake.' 
 
 Is not my case now a piteous one, one that toucheth the 
 tender comer in man and woman ? " 
 
 "When she that listened had heard him to an end, she 
 shook her garments, crying, " youth, son of my uncle, be 
 comforted ! for, if it is as I think, the readers of planets 
 were right, and thou art thus early within reach of great 
 things — nigh grasping them.'' 
 
 Then she fell to mumbling and reciting jigs of verse, 
 quaint measures ; and she pored along the sand to where 
 a line had been drawn, and saw that the footprints of the 
 youth were traced along it. Lo, at that sight she clapped 
 her hands joyfiiUy, and ran up to the youth, and peered in 
 his face, exclaiming, " Great things indeed ! and praise thou 
 the readers of planets, O nephew of the barber, — they that 
 sent thee searching the Event thou art to master. Wullahy ! 
 have I not half a mind to call thee already Master of the 
 Event?" 
 
 Then she abated somewhat in her liveliness, and said to 
 him, " Know that the city thou seest is the city of Shagpat 
 the clothier, and there 's no one living on the face of 
 earth, nor a soul that requireth thy craft more than he. 
 Go therefore thou, bold of heart, brisk, full of the sprightli- 
 ness of the barber, and enter to him. Lo, thou 'It see him 
 lolling in his shop-front to be admired of this people — ^mar- 
 velled at. Oh ! no mistaking of Shagpat, and the mole might 
 discern Shagpat among myriads of our kind ; and enter thou 
 to him gaily, as to perform a friendly office, one meriting 
 thanks and gratulations, saying, ' I will preserve thee the 
 Identical ! ' Now he '11 at first feign not to imderstand 
 thee, dense of wit that he is ! but mince not matters with him, 
 
6 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 perform well thy operation, and thou wilt come to great 
 things. "What say I ? 't is certain that when thou hast shaved 
 Shagpat thou wilt have achieved the greatest of things, and 
 be most noteworthy of thy race,— thou, ShibU Bagarag, even 
 thou ! and thou wilt be Master of the Event, so named in 
 anecdotes and histories and records, to all succeeding genera- 
 tions." 
 
 At her words the breast of Shibli Bagarag took in a great 
 wind, and he hung his head a moment to ponder them ; and 
 he thought, " There 's provokingness in the speech of this 
 old woman, and she 's one that instigateth keenly. She called 
 me by my name ! Heard I that t 'T is a mystery ! " And he 
 thought, " Peradventure she is a Genie, one of an ill tribe, 
 and she 's luring me to my perdition in this city ! How, if 
 that be so 1 " And again he thought, " It cannot be ! She 's 
 probably the genie that presided over my birth, and promised 
 me dower of great things through the mouths of the readers- 
 of planets." 
 
 Now, when Shibli Bagarag had so deliberated, he lifted 
 his sight, and lo, the old woman was no longer before him ! 
 He stared, and rubbed his eyes, but she was clean gone. 
 Then ran he to the knolls and eminences that were scattered 
 about, to command a view, but she was nowhere visible. 
 So he thought, " 'T was a dream ! " and he was composing 
 himself to despair upon the scant herbage of one of those 
 knolls, when as he chanced to gaze down the city below, he 
 paw there a commotion and a crowd of people flocking one 
 way ; he thought, " 'T was surely no dream ? come not Genii, 
 and go they not, in the fashion of that old woman? 1 '11 
 even descend on yonder city, and try my tackle on Shagpat, 
 inquiring for him, and if he is there, I shall know I have 
 had to do with a potent spirit, Allah protect me ! " 
 
 So, having shut together the clasps of resolve, he arose 
 and made for the gates of the city, and entered it by the 
 principal entrance. It was a fair city, the fairest and chief 
 of that country ; prosperous, powerful ; a mart for numerous 
 
THE THWAOKINGS. 7 
 
 commodities, handicrafts, wares; round it a wild country and 
 a waste of sand, ruled by the lion in his wrath, and in it the 
 tiger, the camelopard, the antelope, and other animals. Hither, 
 in caravans, came the people of Oolb and the people of 
 Damascus, and the people of Vatz, and they of Bagdad, and 
 the Eingheez, great traders, and others, trading; and there 
 was constant flow of intercourse between them and the city 
 of Shagpat. Now as Shibli Bagarag paced up one of the 
 streets of the city, he beheld a multitude in procession 
 following one that was crowned after the manner of kings, 
 with a glittering crown, clad in the yellow girdled robes, 
 and he sporting a fine profusion of hair, unequalled by all 
 around him, save by one that was a little behind, shadowed 
 by his presence. So Shibli Bagarag thought, " Is one of this 
 twain Shagpat? for never till now have I seen such rare 
 growths, and 't were indeed a bliss to slip the blade between 
 them and those masses of darkness that hang from them." 
 Then he stepped before the King, and made himself pro- 
 minent in his path, humbling himself; and it was as he 
 anticipated that the King prevented his removal by the 
 slaves that would have dragged him away, and desired a 
 hearing as to his business, and what brought him to the city, 
 a stranger. 
 
 Thereupon Shibli Bagarag prostrated himself and cried, 
 " great King, Sovereign of the Time ! surely I am one to 
 be looked on with the eye of grace ; and I am nephew to 
 Baba Mustapha, renowned in Shiraz, a barber ; — I a barber, 
 and it is my prayer, King of the Age, that thou take me 
 under thy protection and the shield of thy fair will, while 
 I perform good work in this city by operating on the un- 
 shorn." 
 
 When he had spoken, the King made a point of his eye- 
 brows, and exclaimed, " Shiraz ? So they hold out against 
 Shagpat yet, aha? Shiraz ! that nest of them ! that reptiles' 
 nest ! " Then he turned to his Vizier beside him, and said, 
 " What shall be done with this fellow ? " 
 
8 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 So, the Vizier replied, " 'T were well, King, he he sum- 
 moned to a sense of the loathsomeness of his craft by the 
 agency of fifty stripes." 
 
 The King said, " 'T is commanded ! " 
 
 Then he passed forward very majestically, and Shibli 
 Bagarag was ware of the power of five slaves upon him, and 
 he was hurried at a quick pace through the streets and before 
 the eyes of the people, even to the common receptacle of 
 felons, and there received from each slave severally ten 
 thwacks with a thong : 't is certain that at every thwack the 
 thong took an airing before it descended upon him. Then 
 loosed they him, to wander whither he listed ; and disgust 
 was strong in him by reason of the disgrace of the blows, 
 and the severity of the administration of the blows. He 
 strayed along the streets in wretchedness, and hunger in- 
 creased on him, assailing him first as a wolf in his vitals, 
 then as it had been a chasm yawning betwixt his trunk and 
 his lower members. And he thought, "I have been long in 
 chase of great things, and the hope of attaining them is 
 great j yet, wuUahy ! would I barter all for one refreshing 
 meal, and the sense of fulness. 'T is so, and sad is it ! " 
 And he was mindful of the poet's words, — ■ 
 
 Who seeks the shadow to the substance sinueth, 
 And daily craving what is not, he thianeth : 
 
 His lean ambition how shall he attain ? 
 For with this constant foolishness he doeth, — 
 He, waxing liker to what he pursuetb, 
 
 Himself beoometh what he chased in vain ! 
 
 And again : 
 
 Of honour half my fellows boast, — • 
 
 A thing that scorns and kills us : 
 Methinks that honours us the most 
 
 Which nourishes and fills us. 
 
 So, he thought he would of a surety fling far away his tackle, 
 discard barbercraft, and be as other men, a mere mortal 
 
THE THWAC KINGS. 9 
 
 forgotten with his generation. And he cried aloud, " thou 
 old woman ! thou deceiver ! what hast thou obtained for me 
 hy thy deceits ] and why put I faith in theo to the purchase 
 of a thwacking 1 Woe 's me ! I would thou hadst been but 
 a dream, thou crone ! thou guUef ul parcel of belabouring 
 bones ! " 
 
 Now, while he lounged and strolled, and was abusing the 
 old woman, he looked before him, and lo, one lolling in his 
 shop-front, and people standing outside the shop, marking 
 him with admiration and reverence, and pointing him out to 
 each other with approving gestures. He who lolled there 
 was indeed a miracle of hairiness, black with hair as he had 
 been muzzled with it, and his head as it were a berry in a 
 huge bush by reason of it. Then thought Shibli Bagarag, 
 " 'T is Shagpat ! If the mole could swear to him, surely can 
 I." So he regarded the clothier, and there was naught seen 
 on earth like the gravity of Shagpat as he lolled before those 
 people that failed not to assemble in groups and gaze at him. 
 He was as a sleepy lion, cased in his mane ; as an owl drowsy 
 in the daylight of applause. Now would he close an eye, or 
 move two fingers, but of other motion made he none, yet the 
 people gazed at him with eagerness. Shibli Bagarag was 
 astonished at them, thinking, " Hair ! hair ! There is might 
 in hair ; but there is greater might in the barber ! Never- 
 theless here the barber is scorned, the grower of crops held 
 in amazing reverence." Then thought he, '"T is truly 
 wondrous the crop he groweth ; not even King Shamshureen, 
 after a thousand years, sported such mighty profusion ! Him 
 I sheared : it was a high task ! — why not this Shagpat t " 
 
 Now, long gazing on Shagpat awoke in Shibli Bagarag 
 fierce desire to shear him, and it was scarce in his power to 
 restrain himself from flying at the clothier, he saying, 
 " What obstacle now 1 what protecteth him 1 Nay, why not 
 trust to the old woman t Said she not I should first essay 
 on Shagpat 1 and 't was my folly in appealing to the King 
 that brought on me that thwacking. 'T is well ! I '11 trust 
 
10 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 to her words. Wullahy ! will it not lead me to great- 
 tilings 1 " 
 
 So it was that as he thought this he continued to keep 
 eye on Shagpat, and the hunger that was in him passed, and 
 became a ravenous vulture that flew from him and singled 
 forth Shagpat as prey ; and there was no help for it but in he 
 must go and state his case to Shagpat, and essay shearing him. 
 
 Now, when he was in the presence, he exclaimed, " Peace, 
 vendor of apparel, unto thee and unto thine ! " 
 
 Shagpat answered, " That with thee ! " 
 
 Said Shibli Bagarag, "I have heard of thee^ thou 
 wonder ! WuUahy ! I am here to render homage to that I 
 behold." 
 
 Shagpat answered, " 'T is well ! " 
 
 Then said Shibli Bagarag, "Praise my discretion ! I have 
 even this day entered the city, and it is to thee I offer the 
 first shave, tangle of glory ! " 
 
 At these words Shagpat darkened, saying grufHy, "Thy 
 jest is offensive, and it is unseasonable for staleness and lack 
 of holiness." 
 
 But Shibli Bagarag cried, "No jest, purveyor to the- 
 outward of us ! but a very excellent earnest." 
 
 Thereat the face of Shagpat was as an exceeding red berry 
 in a bush, and he said angrily, " Have done ! no more of it ! 
 or haply my spleen will be awakened, and that of them who- 
 see with more eyes than two." 
 
 Nevertheless Shibli Bagarag urged him, and he winked, 
 and gesticulated, and pointed to his head, crying, " Fall not, 
 
 man of the nicety of measure, into the trap of error ; for 
 't is I that am a barber, and a rarity in this city, even 
 Shibli Bagarag of Shiraz ! Know me, nephew of the re- 
 nowned Baba Mustapha, chief barber to the Court of Persia. 
 Languishest thou not for my art ? Lo ! with three sweeps- 
 
 1 '11 give thee a clean poll, aU save the Identical ! and I can 
 discern and save it ; fear me not, nor distrust my skill and 
 the cunning that is mine.'' 
 
THE THWACKINGS. 11 
 
 "When he had heard Shibli Bagarag to a close, the counte- 
 Hiince of Shagpat waxed fiery, as it had been flame kindled by- 
 travellers at night in a thorny bramble-bush, and he ruffled, 
 and heaved, and was as when dense jungle-growths are 
 stirred violently by the near approach of a wild animal in hi& 
 fury, shouting in short breaths, " A barber ! a barber ! Is 't 
 so 1 can it be ? To me ? A barber ! thou, thou reptile ! 
 filthy thing ! A barber ! dog ! A barber 1 What f when 
 I bid fair for the highest honours known? sacrilegious 
 wretch ! monster ! How ] are the Afrites jealous, that they 
 send thee to jibe me ? " 
 
 Thereupon he set up a cry for his wife, and that woman 
 rushed to him from an inner room, and fell upon Shibli 
 Bagarag, belabouring him. 
 
 So, when she was weary of this, she said, " light of my 
 eyes ! O golden crop and adorable man 1 what hath he 
 done to thee '( " 
 
 Shagpat answered solemnly, " 'T is a barber ! and he hath 
 swora to shave me, and leave me not save shorn !" 
 
 Hardly had Shagpat spoken this, when she swooned with 
 horror, and became limp with the hearing of it. Then Shibli 
 Bagarag slunk from the shop ; but without the crowd had 
 increased, seeing an altercation, and as he took to his heels 
 they followed him, and there was terrific uproar in the streets- 
 of the city and in the air above them as of raging Genii, — he 
 like a started quarry doubling this way and that, and at th& 
 comers of streets and open places, speeding on till there was 
 no breath in his body, the cry still after him that he had 
 bearded Shagpat. At last they came up with him, and 
 belaboured him each and all ; it was a storm of thwacks 
 that fell on the back of Shibli Bagarag, from hands visible- 
 and unseen. When they had wearied themselves in this 
 fashion, they took him as he had been a stray bundle or a 
 damaged bale, and hurled him from the gates of the city 
 into the wilderness once more. 
 
 Now, when he was alone, he staggered awhile and then. 
 
12 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 flung himself to the earth, looking neither to the right nor 
 to the left, nor above. All he could think was, " accursed 
 old woman ! " and this he kept repeating to himself for 
 solace ; as the poet says : 
 
 'T is sure the special privilege of hate, 
 To curse the authors of our evil state. 
 
 As he was thus complaining, behold the very old woman 
 before him ! And she wheezed, and croaked, and coughed, 
 and shook herself, and screwed her face into a pleasing 
 pucker, and assumed womanish airs, and swayed herself like 
 as do the full moons of the harem when the eye of the 
 master is upon them. Having made an end of these pretti- 
 nesses, she said, in a tone of soft insinuation, " youth, 
 nephew of the barber, look upon me." 
 
 Shibli Bagarag knew her voice, and he would not look, 
 thinking, " Oh, what a dreadful old woman is this ! just 
 calling on her name in detestation maketh her present to 
 us." So the old woman, seeing him resolute to shun her, 
 leaned to him, and put one hand to her dress, and squatted 
 beside him, and said, " youth, thou hast been thwacked !" 
 
 He groaned, lifting not his face, nor saying aught. Then 
 said she, " Art thou truly in search of great things, youth ? " 
 
 Still he groaned, answering no syllable. And she con- 
 tinued, " 'T is surely in sweet friendliness I ask. Art thou 
 not a fair youth, one to entice a damsel to perfect friend- 
 liness 1 " 
 
 Louder yet did he groan at her words, thinking, " A 
 damsel, verily ! " So the old woman said, " I wot thou art 
 angry with me ; but now look up, nephew of the barber 1 
 ao time for vexation. What says the poet ? — 
 
 ' Cares the warrior for his wounds 
 When the steed in battle bounds ? ' 
 Moreover : 
 
 ' Let him who grasps the crown strip not for shame, 
 Lest he expose what gain'd it — blow and maim!' 
 
THE TEWACKINGS. 13 
 
 So he it with thee and thy thwacking, foolish youth! 
 Hide it from thyself, thou silly one ! "What ! thou hast 
 heen thwacked, and refusest the fruit of it — which is 
 resoluteness, strength of mind, sternness in pursuit of the 
 object ! " 
 
 Then she softened her tone to persuasiveness, saying, 
 "'T was written I should be the head of thy fortune, 
 Shibli Bagarag ! and thou 'It be enviable among men by my 
 aid, so look upon me, and (for I know thee famished) thou 
 shalt presently be supplied with viands and bright wines 
 and sweetmeats, delicacies to cheer thee." 
 
 Now, the promise of food and provision was powerful with 
 Shibli Bagarag, and he looked up gloomily. And the old 
 woman smiled archly at him, and wriggled in her seat like a 
 dusty worm, and said, " Dost thou find me charming, thou 
 fair youth 1 " 
 
 He was nigh laughing in her face, but restrained himself 
 to reply, " Thou art that thou art ! " 
 
 Said she, " Not so, but that I shall be." Then she said, 
 " youth, pay me now a compliment ! " 
 
 Shibli Bagarag was at a loss what further to say to the old 
 woman, for his heart cursed her for her persecutions, and 
 ridiculed her for her vanities. At last he bethought himself 
 of the saying of the poet, truly the offspring of fine wit, 
 where he says : 
 
 Expect no flatteries from me, 
 
 While I am empty of good things ; 
 I '11 call thee fair, and I '11 agree 
 
 Thou boldest Love in silken strings, 
 When thon hast primed me from thy plenteous store! 
 But, oh ! till then a clod am I : 
 
 No seed within to throw up flowers : 
 All 's drouthy to the fountain dry : 
 
 To empty stomachs Nature lowers : 
 The lake was full where Hearen look'd fair of yore ! 
 
 So, when he had spoken that, the old woman laughed 
 
14 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 and exclaimed, " Thou art apt ! it is well said ! Surely I 
 ■excuse thee till that time ! Now listen ! 'T is written we 
 work together, and I know it by divination. Have I not 
 known thee wandering, and on thy way to this city of Shagpat, 
 where thou 'It some day sit throned ? Now I propose to thee, 
 this — and 't is an excellent proposition — ^that I lead thee to 
 great things, and make thee glorious, a sitter in high seats, 
 Master of an Event 1 " 
 
 Cried he, "A position honourable to thee, and pleasant 
 in the ear ! " 
 
 She added, "Provided thou marry me in sweet marriage." 
 
 Thereat he stared on vacancy with a serious eye, and he 
 could scarce credit her earnestness, but she repeated the same. 
 So presently he thought, "This old hag appeareth deep in 
 the fountain of events, and she will be a right arm to me in 
 "the mastering of one, a torch in darkness, seeing there is 
 wisdom in her as well as wickedness. The thwaokings? — 
 sad was their taste, but they 're in the road leading to greatness, 
 ■and I cannot say she put me out of that road in putting me 
 where they were. Her age ?^shall I complain of that when 
 it is a sign she goeth shortly altogether ? " 
 
 As he was thus debating he regarded the old woman 
 stealthily, and she was in agitation, so that her joints creaked 
 like forest branches in a wind, and the puckers of her visage 
 moved as do billows of the sea to and fro, and the anticipations 
 of a fair young bride are not more eager than what was 
 visible in the old woman. Wbeedlingly she looked at him, 
 and shaped her mouth like a bird's bill to soften it ; and she 
 ■drew together her dress, to give herself the look of slimness, 
 using all fascinations. He thought, " 'T is a wondrous old 
 woman ! Marriage would seem a thing of moment to her, 
 yet is the profit with me, and I'll agree to it." So he said, 
 " 'T is a pact between us, old woman ! " 
 
 Now, the eyes of the old woman brightened when she 
 heard him, and were as the eyes of a falcon that eyeth game, 
 hungry with red fire, and she looked brisk with impatience, 
 
THE THWACKINGS. 15 
 
 laughing a low laugh and saying, " youth, I must claim of 
 thee, as is usual in such oases, the kiss of contract." 
 So Shibli Bagarag was mindful of what is written, 
 
 If thou wouldst take the great leap, be ready for the little jnmp, 
 
 and he put his mouth to the forehead of the old woman. 
 When he had done so, it was as though she had heen 
 illuminated, as when light is put in the hollow of a pumpkin. 
 Then said she, " This is well ! this is a fair beginning ! Now 
 look, for thy fortune wiU of a surety follow. Call me now 
 sweet bride, and knocker at the threshold of hearts ! " 
 
 So, Shibli Bagarag sighed, and called her this, and he 
 said, " Forget not my condition, old woman, and that I 
 •am nigh famished." 
 
 Upon that she nodded gravely, and arose and shook her 
 garments together, and beckoned for Shibli Bagarag to follow 
 her; and the two passed through the gates of the city, and 
 held on together through divers streets and thoroughfares 
 till they came before the doors of a palace with a pillared 
 entrance ; and the old woman passed through the doors of 
 the palace as one familiar to them, and lo ! they were in a 
 lofty court, built all of marble, and in the middle of it a 
 fountain playing, splashing with silver splashes. Shibli 
 Bagarag would have halted here to breathe the cool refresh- 
 ingness of the air, but the old woman would not; and she 
 hurried on even to the opening of a spacious hall, and in it 
 slaves in circle round a raised seat, where sat one that was 
 their lord, and it was the Chief Vizier of the King. 
 
 Then the old woman turned round sharply to Shibli 
 Bagarag, and said, " How of thy tackle, my betrothed 1 " 
 
 He answered, " The edge is keen, the hand ready." 
 
 Then said she, '"T is well." 
 
 So, the old woman put her two hands on the shoulders of 
 Shibli Bagarag, saying, " Make thy reverence to him on the 
 raised seat ; have faith in thy tackle and in me. Kenounce 
 
16 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 not either, whatsoever ensueth. Be not abashed, O my 
 bridegroom to he I " 
 
 Thereupon she thrust him in; and Shihli Bagarag was 
 abashed, and played foolishly with his fingers, knowing not 
 what to do. So when the Chief Vizier saw him he cried 
 out, " "Who art thou, and what wantest thou 1 " 
 
 Now, the back of Shibli Bagarag tingled when he heard 
 the Vizier's voice, and he said, "I am, man of exalted 
 condition, he whom men know as Shibli Bagarag, nephew to 
 Baba Mustapha, the renowned of Shiraz ; myself barber like- 
 wise, proud of my art, prepared to exercise it.'' 
 
 Then said the Chief Vizier, "This even to our faces! 
 Wonderful is the audacity of impudence ! Know, O nephew 
 of the barber, thou art among them that honour not thy art. 
 Is it not written. For one thing thou shalt be crowned here,, 
 for that thing be thwacked there 1 So also it is written. 
 The tongue of the insolent one is a lash and a perpetual 
 castigation to him. And it is written, Shibli Bagarag, 
 that I reap honour from thee, and there is no help but that 
 thou be made an example of." 
 
 So, the Chief Vizier uttered command, and Shibli Bagarag^ 
 was ware of the power of five slaves upon him ; and they 
 seized him familiarly, and placed him in position, and made 
 ready his clothing for the reception of fifty other thwacks 
 with a thong, each several thwack coming down on him with 
 a hiss as it were a serpent, and with a smack as it were the 
 mouth of satisfaction; and the people assembled extolled the 
 Chief Vizier, saying, " Well and valiantly done, stay of 
 the State ! and such-Uke to the accursed race of barbers." 
 
 Now, when they had passed before the Chief Vizier and 
 departed, lo ! he fell to laughing violently, so that his hair 
 was agitated and was as a sand-cloud over him, and his 
 countenance behind it was as the sun of the desert reflected 
 ripplingly on the waters of a bubbling spring, for it had the 
 aspect of merriness ; and the Chief Vizier exclaimed, " O 
 Shibli Bagarag, have I not made fair show 1 " 
 
THE THWACKINGS. 17 
 
 And Shibli Bagarag said, " Excellent fair show, mighty 
 one ! " Yet knew he not in what, but he was abject by- 
 reason of the thwacks. 
 
 So.^the Vizier said, "Thou lookest lean, even as one to 
 whom Fortune oweth a long debt. Tell me now of thy 
 barbercraft : perchance thy gain will be great thereby 1 " 
 
 And he answered, " My gain has been great, eminent in 
 rank, but of evil qualify, and I am content not to increase 
 it." And he broke forth into lamentations, crying in 
 excellent verse : — 
 
 Why am I thus the sport of all — 
 A thing Fate knooketh like a ball 
 From point to point of evil chance, 
 Even as the sneer of Ciicumstatice ? 
 While thirsting for the higLest fame, 
 
 I hunger like the lowest beast : 
 To be the first of men I aim 
 
 And find myself the least. 
 
 Now, the Vizier delayed not when he heard this to ha\e 
 a fair supply set before Shibli Bagarag, and meats dressed in 
 divers fashions, spiced, and coloured, and with herbs, and 
 wines in golden goblets, and slaves in attendance. So Shibli 
 Bagarag ate and drank, and presently his soul arose from its 
 prostration, and he cried, "WuUahy! the head cook of King 
 Shamshureen could have woiked no better as regards the 
 restorative process." 
 
 Then said the Chief Vizief, " Shibli Bagarag, where 
 now is thy tackle 1 " 
 
 And Shibli Bagarag winked and nodded and turned his 
 head in the manner of the knowing ones, and he recited the 
 verse : 
 
 'T is well that we are sometimes oiroiimspeot. 
 And hold ourselves in witless ways deterred : 
 
 One thwacking made me seriously reflecc ; 
 A SECOND turned the cream of love to curd : 
 
 Most surely that profession I reject 
 Before the fear of a prospective thieu. 
 
13 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 So, the Vizier said, " 'T is well, thou tumest verse neatly." 
 And he exclaimed extemporaneously : 
 
 If thou wouldst have thy achievement as high 
 
 As the wings of Ambition can fly : 
 If thoQ the clear summit of hope wouldst attain, 
 
 And not have thy labour in vain ; 
 Be steadfast in that which impell'd, for the peace 
 
 Of earth he who leaves mast have trust : 
 He is safe while he soars, but when faith shall cease. 
 
 Desponding he drops to the dust. 
 
 Then said he, " Fear no further thwacking, but honour and 
 prosperity in the place of it. What says the poet ? — 
 
 ' We faint, when for the fire 
 There needs one spark ; 
 We droop, when our desire 
 Is near its mark.' 
 
 How near to it art thou, Shibli Bagarag ! Know, 
 then, that among this people there is great reverence for the 
 growing of hair, and he that is hairiest is honoured most, 
 wherefore are barbers creatures of especial abhorrence, and 
 of a surety flourish not. And so it is that I owe my station 
 to the esteem I profess for the cultivation of hair, and to my 
 persecution of the clippers of it. And in this kingdom is 
 no one that beareth such a crop as I, saving one, a clothier, 
 an accursed one ! — and may a blight fall upon him for his 
 vanity and his affectation of solemn priestliness, and his 
 lolling in his shop-front to be admired and marvelled at by 
 this people. So this fellow I would disgrace and bring to- 
 scorn, — this Shagpat ! for he is mine enemy, and the eye of 
 the King my master is on him. Now I conceive thy assist- 
 ance in this matter, O Shibli Bagarag, — thou, a barber." 
 
 When Shibli Bagarag heard mention of Shagpat, and the 
 desire for vengeance in the Vizier, he was as a new man, and 
 ho smelt the sweetness of his own revenge as a vulture 
 smelleth the carrion from afar, and he said, " I am thy 
 
THE THWAC KINGS. 19 
 
 servant, thy slave, Vizier!" Then smiled he as to his 
 own soul, and he exclaimed, " On my head be it ! " 
 
 And it was to him as when sudden gusts of perfume from 
 garden roses of the valley meet the traveller's nostril on the 
 hill that overlooketh the valley, filling him with ecstasy and 
 newness of life, — delicate visions. And he cried, " Wullahy ! 
 this is fair ; this is well ! I am he that was appointed to do 
 thy work, man in office ! What says the poet 1 — 
 
 ' The destined hand doth strike the fated blow : 
 Surely the arrow 's fitted to the bow! ' 
 
 And he says : 
 
 ' The feathered soed for the wind delayeth. 
 The wind above the garden swayeth, 
 The garden of its burden knoweth, 
 The burden falleth, sinketh, soweth.' " 
 
 So, the Vizier chuckled and nodded, saying, " Eight, right ! 
 aptly spoken, O youth of favour ! 'T is even so, and there is 
 wisdom in what is written : 
 
 ' Chance is a poor knave ; 
 Its own sad slave ; 
 Two meet that were to meet : 
 Life 's no cheat.' " 
 
 Upon that he cried, " Eirst let us have with us the Eclipser 
 of Eeason, and take counsel with her, as is my custom." 
 
 Now, the Vizier made signal to a slave in attendance, and 
 the slave departed from^ the hall, and the Vizier led Shibli 
 Bagarag into a closer chamber, which had a smooth floor of 
 inlaid silver and silken hangings, the windows looking forth 
 on the gardens of the palace and its fountains and cool re- 
 cesses of shade and temperate sweetness. While they sat 
 there conversing in this metre and that, measuring quotations, 
 lo ! the old woman, the affianced of Shibli Bagarag — and 
 she sumptuously arrayed, in perfect queenliness, her head 
 bound in a circlet of gems and gold, her figure lustrous with 
 
 c 2 
 
20 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 a full robe of flowing crimson silk; and she wore slippers 
 embroidered with golden traceries, and round her waist a 
 girdle flashing with jewels, so that to look on she was as a 
 long falling water in the last bright slant of the sun. Her 
 hair hung disarranged, and spread in a scattered fashion off 
 ■ her shoulders; and she was younger by many moons, her 
 brow smooth where Shibli Bagarag had given the kiss of 
 contract, her hand soft where he had taken it. Shibli 
 Bagarag was smitten with astonishment at sight of her, and 
 he thought, "Surely the aspect of this old woman would 
 realize the story of Bhanavar the Beautiful ; and it is a 
 story marvellous to think of; yet how great is the likeness 
 between Bhanavar and this old woman that groweth 
 younger ! " 
 
 And he thought again, " What if the story of Bhanavar 
 be a true one ; tliis old woman such as she — no other 1 " 
 
 So, while he considered her the Vizier exclaimed, "Is she 
 not fair — my daughter ? " 
 
 And the youth answered, " She is, Vizier, that 
 she is ! " 
 
 But the Vizier cried, " Nay by Allah ! she is that she 
 will be." And the Vizier said, " ' T is she that is my 
 daughter ; tell me thy thought of her, as thou thinkest it." 
 
 And Shibli Bagarag replied, " Vizier, my thought of 
 her is, she seemeth indeed Bhanavar the Beautiful — no 
 other." 
 
 Then the Vizier and the Eclipser of Reason exclaimed to- 
 gether, " How of Bhanavar and her story, youth 1 We 
 listen ! " 
 
 So, Shibli Bagarag leaned slightly on a cushion of a 
 couch, and narrated as followeth. 
 
AND THIS IS THE STORY OF BHANAVAR 
 THE BEAUTIFUL. 
 
 Know that at the foot of a lofty mountain of the Caucasus 
 there lieth a deep blue lake ; near to this lake a nest of ser- 
 pents, wise and ancient. Now it was the habit of a damsel 
 to pass by the lake early at morn, on her way from the tents 
 of her tribe to the pastures of the flocks. As she pressed 
 the white arch of her feet on the soft green-mossed grasses 
 by the shore of the lake she would let loose her hair, look- 
 ing over into the water, and bind the braid again round her 
 temples and behind her ears, as it had been in a lucent 
 mirror : so doing she would laugh. Her laughter was like 
 the falls of water at moonrise ; her loveliness like the very 
 moonrise ; and she was stately as a palm-tree standing before 
 the moon. 
 
 This was Bhanavar the Beautiful. 
 
 Now, the damsel was betrothed to the son of a neighbour- 
 ing Emir, a youth comely, well-fashioned, skilled with the 
 bow, apt in all exercises ; one that sat his mare firm as the 
 trained falcon that fixeth on the plunging bull of the plains ; 
 fair and terrible in combat as the lightning that strideth the 
 rolling storm ; and it is sung by the poet : 
 
 When on his desert mare I see 
 
 My prince of men, 
 
 I think him then 
 As high above humanity 
 As he shines radiant over me. 
 
22 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 Lo ! like a torrent he doth bound, 
 
 Breasting the shock 
 
 From rock to rock : 
 A pillar of storm, he shakes the ground, 
 His turban on his temples wound. 
 
 Match me for worth to be adored 
 
 A youth like him 
 
 In heart and limb ! 
 Swift as his anger is his sword ; 
 Softer than woman his true word. 
 
 Now, the love of this youth for the damsel Bhanavar was 
 a consuming passion, and the father of the damsel and the 
 father of the youth looked fairly on the prospect of their 
 union, which was near, and was plighted as the union of the 
 two trihes. So they met, and there was no voice against 
 their meeting, and all the love that was in them they were 
 free to pour forth far from the hearing of men, even where 
 they would. Before the rising of the sun, and ere his 
 setting, the youth rode swiftly from the green tents of the 
 Emir his father, to waylay her by the waters of the lake; 
 and Bhanavar was there, bending over the lake, her image 
 in the lake glowing like the fair fulness of the moon ; and 
 the youth leaned to her from his steed, and sang to her 
 verses of her great loveliness ere she was wistful of him. 
 Then she turned to him, and laughed lightly a welcome of 
 sweetness, and shook the falls of her hair across the blushes 
 of her face and her bosom ; and he folded her to him, and 
 those two would fondle together in the fashion of the 
 betrothed ones (the blessing of Allah be on them all !), 
 gazing on each other till their eyes swam with tears, and 
 they were nigh swooning with the fuhiess of their bliss. 
 Surely 't was an innocent and tender dalliance, and their 
 prattle was that of lovers till the time of parting, he showin" 
 her how she looked best — she him ; and they were forgetful 
 of all else that is, in their sweet interchange of flatteries ; and 
 the world was a wilderness to them both when the youth 
 
THE STOET OF BHANAVAU. 23 
 
 parted ■witli Bhanavar by the brook which bounded the tents 
 of her tribe. 
 
 It was on a night when they were so together, the damsel 
 leaning on his arm, her eyes towards the lake, and lo ! what 
 seemed the reflection of a large star in the water ; and there 
 was darkness in the sky above it, thick clouds, and no sight 
 of the heavens ; so she held her face to him sideways and 
 said, " What meaneth this, my betrothed t for there is 
 reflected in yonder lake a Hght as of a star, and there is no 
 star visible this night." 
 
 The youth trembled as one in trouble of spirit, and 
 exclaimed, " Look not on it, my soul ! It is of evil omen." 
 
 But Bhanavar kept her gaze constantly on the light, and 
 the light increased in lustre ; and the light became, from a 
 pale sad splendour, dazzling in its brilliancy. Listening, 
 they heard presently a gurgling noise as of one deeply 
 drinking. Then the youth sighed a heavy sigh and said, 
 "This is the Serpent of the Lake drinking of its waters, as 
 is her wont once every moon, and whoso heareth her drink 
 by the sheening of that light is under a destiny dark and 
 imminent ; so know I my days are numbered, and it was 
 foretold of me, this ! " Now the youth sought to dissuade 
 Bhanavar from gazing on the light, and he flung his whole 
 body before her eyes, and clasped her head upon his breast, 
 and clung about her, caressing her; yet she slipped from 
 him, and she cried, " Tell me of this serpent, and of this 
 light." 
 
 So, he said, " Seek not to hear of it, my betrothed ! " 
 
 Then she gazed at the light a moment more intently, and 
 turned her fair shape toward him, and put up her long 
 white fingers to his chin, and smoothed him with their soft- 
 ness, whispering, " Tell me of it, my life ! " 
 
 And so it was that her winningness melted him, and he 
 said, " Bhanavar ! the serpent is the Serpent of the Lake ; 
 old, wise, powerful ; of the brood of the sacred mountain, 
 that lifteth by day a peak of gold, and by night a point of 
 
24 THE SEATING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 politary silver. In her head, upon her forehead, between 
 her eyes, there is a Jewel, and it is this light." 
 
 Then she said, " How came the Jewel there, in such a 
 place 1 " 
 
 He answered, " 'T is the growth of one thousand years in 
 the head of the serpent." 
 
 She cried, "Surely precious f" 
 
 He answered, " Eeyond price ! " 
 
 As he spake the tears streamed from him, and he was 
 shaken with grief, but she noted nought of this, and watched 
 the wonder of the light, and its increasing, and quivering, 
 and lengthening ; and the light was as an arrow of beams 
 and as a globe of radiaiace. Desire for the Jewel waxed in 
 her, and she had no sight but for it alone, crying, '"T is a 
 Jewel exceeding in preciousness all jewels that are, and for 
 the possessing it would I forfeit all that is." 
 
 So, he said sorrowfully, " Our love, O Bhanavar? and our 
 hopes of espousal 'i " 
 
 But she cried, " No question of that ! Prove now thy 
 passion for me, warrior ! and win for me that Jewel." 
 
 Then he pleaded with her, and exclaimed, " Urge not 
 this ! The winning of the Jewel is worth my life ; and my 
 life, Bhanavar— ^surely its breath is but the love of thee." 
 
 So, she said, " Thou fearest a risk 1 " 
 
 And he replied, "Little fear I; my life is thine to cast 
 away. This Jewel it is evil to have, and evil followeth the 
 soul that hath it." 
 
 Upon that she cried, " A trick to cheat me of the Jewel ! 
 thy love is wanting at the proof." 
 
 And she taunted the youth her betrothed, and turned 
 from him, and hardened at his tenderness, and made her 
 sweet shape as a thorn to his caressing, and his heart was 
 charged with anguish for her. So at the last, when he had 
 wept a space in silence, he cried, " Thou hast willed it • the 
 Jewel shall be thine, my soul ! " 
 
 Then said he, "Thou hast willed it, Bhanavar! and 
 
THE STORY OF BHANAVAR. 25 
 
 my life is as a grain of sand weighed against thy wishes ;' 
 Allah is my witness ! Meet me therefore here, my 
 heloved, at the end of one quarter-moon, even beneath the 
 shadow of this palm-tree, by the lake, and at this hour, and 
 I will deliver into thy hands the Jewel. So farewell ! 
 Wind me once about with thine arms, that I may take 
 comfort from thee." 
 
 When their kiss was over the youth led her silently to 
 the brook of their parting — the clear, cold, bubbling brook — 
 and passed from her sight ; and the damsel was exulting, 
 and leapt and made circles in her glee, and she danced and 
 rioted and sang, and clapped her hands, crying, "If I am 
 now Bhanavar the Beautiful how shall I be when that Jewel 
 is upon me, the bright light which beameth in the darkness, 
 and needeth to light it no other light 'i Surely there will be 
 envy among the maidens and the widows, and my name and 
 the odour of my beauty will travel to the courts of far 
 kings." 
 
 So was she jubilant ; and her sisters that met her 
 marvelled at her and the deep glow that was upon her, even 
 as the glow of the Great Desert when the sun has fallen ; 
 and they said among themselves, "She is covered all over 
 with the blush of one that is a bride, and the bridegroom's 
 kiss yet burneth upon Bhanavar ! " 
 
 So, they undressed her and she lay among them, and was 
 all night even as a bursting rose in a vase filled with droop- 
 ing lilies ; and one of the maidens that put her hand on the 
 left breast of Bhanavar felt it full, and the heart beneath it 
 panting and beating swifter than the ground is struck by 
 hooves of the chosen steed sent by the Chieftain to the city 
 of his people with news of victory and the summons for 
 rejoicing. 
 
 Now the nights and the days of Bhanavar were even as 
 this night, and she was as an unquiet soul tiU the appointed 
 time for the meeting with her lover had come. Then when 
 the sun was lighting with his slant beam the green grass 
 
26 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 slope by the blue brook before her, Bhanavar arrayed 
 herself and went forth gaily, as a martial queen to certain 
 conquest ; and of all the flowers that nodded to the setting, 
 — yea, the crimson, purple, pure white, streaked-yellow, 
 azure, and saffron, there was no flower fairer in its hues than 
 Bhanavar, nor bird of the heavens freer in its glittering 
 plumage, nor shape of loveliness such as hers. Truly, when 
 she had taken her place under the palm by the waters of the 
 lake, that was no exaggeration of the poet, where he says : 
 
 Snows of the mountain-peaka were mirror'd there 
 Beneath her feet, not whiter than they were ; 
 Not rosier in the white, that falling flush 
 Broad on the wave, than in her cheek the blush. 
 
 And again : 
 
 She draws the heavens down to her, 
 
 So rare she is, so fair she is ; 
 They flutter with a crown to her. 
 And lighten only where she is. 
 
 And he exclaims, in verse that applieth to her : 
 
 Exquisite sieuderueijs ! 
 Sleek little antelope ! 
 Serpent of sweetness ! 
 Eagle that soaringly 
 Wins me adoringly ! 
 Teach me thy fleetness, 
 Vision of loveliness ; 
 Turn to my tenderness ! 
 
 NoWjWhen the sun was lost to earth, and all was darkness, 
 Bhanavar fixed her eyes upon an opening arch of foliage 
 in the glade through which the youth her lover should come 
 to her, and clasped both hands across her bosom, so shaken 
 was she with eager longing and expectation. In her hunger 
 for his approach, she would at whiles pluck up the herbage 
 about her by the roots, and toss handfuls this way and that, 
 chiding the peaceful song of the night bird in the leaves above 
 
TEE STORY OF BHANAVAl?. 21 
 
 her head ; and she was sinking with fretf ulness, when lo ! 
 
 from the opening arch of the glade a sudden light, and 
 
 Bhanavar knew it for the Jewel in the fingers of her betrothed, 
 
 by the strength of its effulgence. Then she called to him 
 
 joyfully a cry of welcome, and quickened his coming with 
 
 her calls, and the youth alighted from his mare and left it to 
 
 pasture, and advanced to her, holding aloft the Jewel. And 
 
 the Jewel was of great size and purity, round, and all-luminous, 
 
 throwing rays and beams everywhere about it, a miracle to 
 
 behold, — the light in it shining, and as the very life of the 
 
 blood, a sweet crimson, a ruby, a softer rose, an amethyst of 
 
 tender hues : it was a full globe of splendours, showing like 
 
 a. very kingdom of the Blest ; and blessed was the eye 
 
 beholding it ! So when he was within reach of her arm, the 
 
 ■damsel sprang to him and caught from his hand the Jewel, 
 
 and held it before her eyes, and danced with it, and pressed 
 
 it on her bosom, and was as a creature giddy with great joy 
 
 in possessing it. And she put the Jewel in her bosom, and 
 
 looked on the youth to thank him for the Jewel with 
 
 aU her beauty ; for the passion of a mighty pride in him who 
 
 had won for her the Jewel exalted Bhanavar, and she said 
 
 sweetly, " Now hast thou proved to me thy love of me, and 
 
 I am thine, my betrothed, — wholly thine. Kiss me, then, 
 
 and cease not kissing me, for bliss is in me." 
 
 But the youth eyed her sorrowfully, even as one that hath 
 great yearning, and no power to move or speak. 
 
 So, she said again, in the low melody of deep love-tones, 
 ■"Kiss me, O my lover ! for I desire thy kiss." 
 StiU he spake not, and was as a pillar of stone. 
 And she started, and cried, ' ' Thou art whole 1 without a hurt 1 " 
 Then sought she to coax him to her with all the softness of 
 her half-closed eyes and budded lips, saying, '"T was an 
 idle fear ! and I have thee, and thou art mine, and I am 
 thine ; so speak to me my lover ! for there is no music like 
 the music of thy voice, and the absence of it is the absence 
 of all sweetness, and there is no pleasure in life without it." 
 
28 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 So tbe tenderness of her fondling melted the silence in him, 
 and presently his tongue was loosed, and he breathed in paia 
 of spirit, and his words were the words of the proverb : 
 
 lie that fighteth with poison is no match for the prick of a thorn. 
 
 And he said, "Surely, Bhanavar, my love for thee 
 surpasseth what is told of others that have loved before us, 
 and I count no loss a loss that is for thy sake." And he 
 sighed, and sang : 
 
 Sadder than is the moon's lost light, 
 
 Lost ere the kindling of dawn, 
 
 To travellers journeying on, 
 The shutting of thy fair face from my sight. 
 
 Might I look on thee in death. 
 
 With bliss I would yield my breath. 
 Oh ! what warrior dies 
 With heaven in his eyes ? 
 Bhanavar ! too rich a prize ! 
 
 The life of my nostrils art thou, 
 
 The balm-dew on my brow ; 
 Thou art the perfume I meet-as I speed o'er the plains. 
 The strength of my arms, the blood of my veins. 
 
 Then said he, " I make nothing matter of complaint, Allah 
 witnesseth ! not even the long parting from her I love. 
 What will be, will be : so was it written ! 'T is but a 
 scratch, my soul ! yet am I of the dead and them that 
 are passed away. 'T is hard ; but I smile in the face of 
 bitterness." 
 
 Now, at his words the damsel clutched him with both her 
 hands, and the blood went from her, and she was as a block 
 of white marble, even as one of those we meet in the desert, 
 leaning together, marking the wrath of the All-powerful on 
 forgotten cities. And the tongue of the damsel was dry, 
 and she was without speech, gazing at him with wide-open 
 t-yes, like one in trance. Then she started as a dreamer 
 ^^'akeneth, and flung herself quickly on the breast of the 
 
TUB STORY OF BHANAVAB. 29 
 
 youth, and put up the sleeve from liis arm, and heheld hy 
 the beams of the quarter-crescent that had risen through the 
 leaves, a small bite on tho arm of the youth her betrothed, 
 spotted with seven spots of blood in a crescent ; so she knew 
 that the poison of the serpent had entered by that bite ; and 
 she loosened h"6rself to the violence of her anguish, shrieking 
 the shrieks of despair, so that the voice of her lamentation 
 was multiplied about and made many voices in the night. 
 Her spirit returned not to her till the crescent of the moon 
 was yellow to its fall ; and lo ! the youth was sighing heavy 
 sighs and leaning to the ground on one elbow, and she flung 
 herself by him on the ground, seeking for herbs that were 
 antidotes to the poison of the serpent, grovelling among the 
 grasses and strewn leaves of the wood, peering at them 
 tearfully by tho pale beams, and startling the insects as she 
 moved. When she had gathered some, she pressed them and 
 bruised them, and laid them along his lips, that were white 
 as the ball of an eye ; and she made him drink drops of the 
 juices of the herbs, wailing and swaying her body across him, 
 as one that seeketh vainly to give brightness again to the 
 , flames of a dying fire. But now his time was drawing nigh, 
 ; and he was weak, and took her hand in his and gazed on her 
 face, sighing, and said, "There is nothing shall keep me by 
 thee now, my betrothed, my beautiful ! Weep not, for it 
 is the doing of fate, and not thy doing. So ere I go, and 
 the grave-cloth separates thy heart from my heart, listen to 
 me. Lo, that Jewel ! it is the giver of years and of powers, 
 and of loveliness beyond mortal, yet the wearing of it availeth 
 not in the pursuit of happiness. Now art thou Queen over 
 the serpents of this lake : it was the Queen-serpent I slew, 
 and her vengeance is on me here. Now art thou mighty, 
 Bhanavar ! and look to do well by thy tribe, and that from 
 which I spring, recompensing my father for his loss, pouring 
 ointment on his affliction, for great is the grief of the old 
 man, and he loveth me, and is childless." 
 
 Then the youth fell back and was still ; and Bhanavar put 
 
so THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 her ear to his mouth, and heard what seemed an inner voice 
 murmuring in him, and it was of his infancy and his boy- 
 hood, and of his father the Emir's first gift to him, his horse- 
 Zoora, in old times. Presently the youth revived somewhat, 
 and looked upon her ; but his sight was glazed with a film, 
 and she sang her name to him ere he knew her, and the sad 
 sweetness of her name filled his soul, and he replied to her 
 with it weakly, like a far echo that groweth fainter, 
 " Bhanavar ! Bhanavar ! Bhanavar ! " Then a change came 
 over him, and the pain of the poison and the passion of the 
 death-throe, and he was wistful of her no more ; hut she lay 
 by him, embracing him, and in the last violence of his 
 anguish he hugged her to his breast. Then it was over, and 
 he sank. And the twain were as a great wave heaving upon 
 the shore ; lo, part is wasted where it falleth ; part draweth 
 back into the waters. So was it ! 
 
 Now, the chill of dawn breathed blue on the lake and was 
 astir among the dewy leaves of the wood, when Bhanavar 
 arose from the body of the youth, and as she rose she saw 
 that his mare Zoora, his father's first gift, was snuffing at the 
 ear of her dead master, and pawing him. At that sight the 
 tears poured from her eyelids, and she sobbed out to the 
 mare, " Zoora ! never mare bore nobler burden on her 
 back than thou in Zurvan my betrothed. Zoora ! thou 
 weepest, for death is first known to thee in the dearest thing 
 that was thine; as to me, in the dearest that was mine! And 
 Zoora, steed of Zurvan my betrothed, there 's no loveliness 
 for us in life, for the loveliest is gone ; and let us die, Zoora, 
 mare of Zurvan my betrothed, for what is dying to us, 
 Zoora, who cherish beyond all that which death has taken f " 
 
 So spake she to Zoora the mare, kissing her, and running 
 her fingers through the long white mane of the mare. Then 
 she stooped to the body of her betrothed, and toiled with it 
 to lift it across the crimson saddle-cloth that was on the 
 back of Zoora ; and the mare knelt to her, that she might 
 lay on her back the body of Zurvan ; when that was done, 
 
THE STORY OP BHANAVAR. 3t 
 
 Bhanavar paced beside Zoora the mare, weeping and caressing^ 
 her, reminding her of the deeds of Zurvan, and the battles 
 she had borne him to, and his greatness and his gentleness. 
 And the mare went without leading. It was broad light 
 when they had passed the glade and the covert of the wood. 
 Before them, between great mountains, glimmered a space of 
 rolling grass fed to deep greenness by many brooks. The 
 shadow of a mountain was over this space, and one slant of 
 the rising sun, down a glade of the mountain, touched the 
 green tent of the Emir, where it stood a little apart from the 
 others of his tribe. Goats and asses of the tribe were pastur- 
 ing in the quiet, but save them nothing moved among the 
 tents, and it was deep peacefulness. Bhanavar led Zoora 
 slowly before the tent of the Emir, and disburdened Zoora of 
 the helpless weight, and spread the long fair limbs of the 
 youth lengthwise across the threshold of the Emir's tent,, 
 sitting away from it with clasped hands, regarding it. Ere 
 long the Emir came forth, and his foot was on the body of 
 his son, and he knew death on the chin and the eyes of 
 Zurvan, his sole son. Now the Emir was old, and with the 
 shook of that sight the world darkened before him, and he 
 gave forth a groan and stumbled over the sunken breast of 
 Zurvan, and stretched over him as one without life. "When 
 Bhanavar saw that old man stretched over the body of his 
 son, she sickened, and her ear was filled with the wailings of 
 grief that would arise, and she stood up and stole away from 
 the habitations of the tribe, stricken with her guilt, and 
 wandered beyond the mountains, knowing not whither she 
 went, looking on no living thing, for the sight of a thing 
 that moved was hateful to her, and all sounds were to her 
 sounds of lamentation for a great loss. 
 
 Now, she had wandered on alone two days and two nights, 
 and nigh morn she was seized with a swoon of weariness, 
 and fell forward with her face to the earth, and lay there 
 prostrate, even as one that is adoring the shrine ; and it was 
 on the sands of the desert she was lying. It chanced that- 
 
32 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 the Chieftain of a desert tribe passed at midday ty the spot, 
 and seeing the figure of a damsel unshaded by any shade of 
 tree or lierb or tent-covering, and prostrate on the sands, he 
 reined his steed and leaned forward to her, and called to her. 
 Then as she answered nothing he dismounted, and thrust his 
 arm softly beneath her and lifted her gently ; and her swoon 
 had the whiteness of death, so that he thought her dead verily, 
 and the marvel of her great loveliness in death smote the 
 heart on his ribs as with a blow, and the powers of life went 
 from him a moment as he looked on her and the long 'dark 
 ■wet lashes that clung to her colourless face, as at night in 
 groves where the betrothed ones wander, the slender leaves 
 of the acacia spread darkly over the full moon. And he 
 cried, " 'T is a loveliness that maketh the soul yearn to the 
 cold bosom of death, so lovely, exceeding all that liveth, is 
 she ! " 
 
 After he had contemplated her longwhile, he snatched his 
 sight from her, and swung her swiftly on the back of his 
 mare, and leaned her on one arm, and sped westward over 
 the sands of the desert, halting not till he was in the hum 
 of many tents, and the sun of that day hung a red half-circle 
 across the sand. He alighted before the tent of his mother, 
 and sent women in to her. When his mother came forth to 
 the greeting of her son, he said no word, but pointed to the 
 damsel where he had leaned her at the threshold of her tent. 
 His mother kissed him on the forehead, and turned her 
 shoulder to peer upon the damsel. But when she had close 
 view of Bhanavar, she spat, and scattered her hair, and 
 stamped, and cried aloud, " Away with her ! this slut of 
 darkness ! there 's poison on her very skirts, and evil in the 
 look of her." 
 
 Then said he, " Eukrooth, my mother ! art thou lost 
 to charity and the uses of kindliness and the laws of 
 hospitality, that thou talkest this of the damsel, a stranger 1 
 Take her now in, and if she be past help, as I iear, be it thy 
 care to give her decent burial ; and if she live, my 
 
THE STORY OF BHAXATAR. 33 
 
 mother, tend her for the love of thy son, and for the love of 
 Lim be gentle with her." 
 
 While he spake, Eulcrooth his mother knelt over the 
 damsel, as a oat that sniffeth the suspected dish ; and she 
 flashed her eyes back on him, exclaiming scornfully, " So 
 ait thou befooled, and the poison is already in thee ? But 
 I will not have her, my son ! and thou, Euark, my son, 
 neither shalt thou have her. "What ! will I not die to save 
 thee from a harm'! Surely thy frown is little to me, my 
 son, if I save thee from a harm ; and the damsel here is — I 
 shudder to think what ; but never lay shadow across my 
 threshold dark as this ! " 
 
 Kow,Ruark gazed upon his mother, and upon Bhanavar, 
 and the face of Bhanavar was as a babe in sleep, and his 
 soul melted to the parted sweetness of her soft little curved 
 red lips and her closed eyelids, and her innocent open hands, 
 where she lay at the threshold of the tent, unconscious of 
 hardness and the sayings of the unjust. So he cried 
 fiercely, " No paltering, Eukrooth, my mother : and if not 
 to thy tent, then to mine ! " 
 
 When she heard him say that in the voice of his anger, 
 Eukrooth fixed her eyes on him sorrowfully, and sighed, 
 and went up to him and drew his head once against her 
 heart, and retreated into the tent, bidding the women that 
 were there bring in the body of the damsel. 
 
 It was the morning of another day when Bhanavar 
 awoke; and she awoke in a dream of Zoora, the mare of 
 Zurvan her betrothed, that was dead, and the name of Zoora- 
 was on her tongue as she started up. She was on a couch 
 of silk and leopard-skins ; at her feet a fair young girl with 
 a fan of pheasant feathers. She stared at the hangings of 
 the tent, which were richer than those of her own tribe ; the 
 cloths, and the cushions, and the embroideries ; and the 
 strangeness of all was pain to her, she knew not why. 
 Then wept she bitterly, and with her tears the memory of 
 what had been came back to her, and she opened her arms 
 
 P 
 
34 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 to take into them tlie little girl that fanned her, that she 
 might love something and he beloved awhile ; and the child 
 sobbed with her. After a time Bhanavar said, " Where 
 am I, and amongst whom, my child, my sister? " 
 
 And the child answered her, " Surely in the tent of the 
 mother of Euark, the chief, even chief of the Beni-Asser, 
 and he found thee in the desert, nigh dead. 'T is so ; and 
 this morning will Euark be gone to meet the challenge of 
 Ebn Asrae, and they will fight at the foot of the Snow 
 Mountains, and the shadow of yonder date-palm will be over 
 our tent here at the hour they fight, and I shall sing for 
 Euark, and kneel here in the darkness of the shadow." 
 
 While the child was speaking there entered to them a tall 
 aged woman, with one swathe of a tuiban across her long 
 level brows ; and she had hard black eyes, and close lips and 
 a square chin ; and it was the mother of Euark. She strode 
 forward toward Bhanavar to greet her, and folded her legs 
 before the damsel. Presently she said, " Tell me thy story, 
 and of thy coming into the hands of Euark my son." 
 
 Bhanavar shuddered, and was silent. So Eukrooth dis- 
 missed the little maiden from the chamber of the tent, and 
 laid her left hand on one arm of Bhanavar, and said, "I 
 would know whence comest thou, that we may deal weU by 
 thee and thy people that have lost thee.'' 
 
 The touch of a hand was as the touch of a corpse to 
 Bhanavar, and the damsel was constrained to speak by a power 
 she knew not of, and she told all to Eukrooth of what had 
 been, the great misery, and the wickedness that was hers. 
 Then Euark's mother took hold of Bhanavar a strong grasp, 
 and eyed her long, piteously, and with reproach, and rocked 
 forward and back, and kept rocking to and fro, crying 
 at intervals, " Euark ! my son ! my son ! this feared 
 I, and thou art not the first ! and I saw it, I saw it ! Well- 
 away ! why came she in thy way, —why, Euark, my son, my 
 fire-eye 1 Canst thou be saved by me, fated that thou art, 
 thou fair -face 1 And wUt thou be saved by me, mj son ere 
 
THE STOET OF BHANA.VAB. 33 
 
 tty story be told in tears as this one, that is as thine to me'! 
 And thou wilt seize a jewel, Euark, thou soul of wrath, 
 my son, my dazzling Chief, and seize it to wear it, and think 
 it bliss, this lovely jewel ; but 't is an anguish endless and 
 for ever, my son ! "Woe 's me ! an anguish is she without 
 end." 
 
 Eukrooth continued moaning, and the thought that was in 
 the mother of Euark struck Bhanavar like a light in the 
 land of despair that darkly iUumineth the dreaded gulfs and 
 abysses of the land, and she knew herself black in evilj 
 and the scourge of her guilt was upon her, and she cursed 
 herself before Eukrooth, and fawned before her, abasing her 
 body. So Eukrooth was drawn to the damsel by the 
 violence of her self-accusing and her abandonment to grief, 
 and lifted her, and comforted her, and after awhile they had 
 gentle speech together, and the two women opened their 
 hearts and wept. Then it was agreed between them that 
 Bhanavar should depart from the encampment of the tribe be- 
 fore the return of Euark, and seek shelter among her own 
 people again, and aid them and the tribe of Zurvan, her be- 
 trothed, by the might of the Jewel which was hers, fulfilling 
 the desire of Zurvan. The mind of the damsel was lowly, 
 and her soul yearned for the blessing of Eukrooth. 
 
 Darkness hung over the tent from the shadow of the date- 
 palm when Bhanavar departed, and the blessing of Eukrooth 
 was on her head. She went forth fairly mounted on a fresh 
 steed; beside her two warriors of them that were left to 
 guard the encampment of the tribe of Euark in his absence ; 
 and Eukrooth watched at the threshold of her tent for the 
 coming of Euark. 
 
 When it was middle night, and the splendour of the moon 
 was beaming on the edge of the desert, Bhanavar alighted 
 to rest by the twigs of a tamarisk that stood singly on the 
 sainds. The two warriors tied the fetlocks of their steeds, 
 and spread shawls for her, and watched over her while she 
 slept. And the damsel dreamed, and the roaring of the lion 
 
 D 2 
 
36 THE SEATING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 was hoarse in her dream, and it was to her as were she the 
 red whirlwind of the desert before whom all bowed in terror, 
 the Arab, the wild horsemen, and the caravans of pilgrimage ; 
 and none could stay her, neither could she stay herself, for 
 the curse of Allah was on men by reason of her guilt ; and 
 she went swinging great folds of darkness across kingdoms 
 and empires of earth where joy was and peace of spirit; and 
 in her track amazement and calamity, and the whitened 
 bones of noble youth?, valorous chieftains. In that horror 
 of her dream she stood up suddenly, and thrust forth, her 
 hands as to avert an evil, and advanced a step ; and with 
 the act her dream was cloven and she awoke, and lo ! it was 
 sunrise ; and where had been two warriors of the Beni-Asser, 
 were now five, and besides her own steed five others, one the 
 steed of Euark, and Kuark with them that watched- ay er her : 
 pale was the visage of the Chief. Euark eyed Bhacavar, 
 and signalled to his followers, and they, when they had 
 lifted the damsel to her steed and placed her in their front, 
 mounted likewise, and flourished their lances with cries, and 
 jerked their heels to the flanks of their steeds, and stretched 
 forward till their beards were mixed with the tossing manes, 
 and the dust rose after them crimson in the sun. So they 
 coursed away, speeding behind their Chief and Bhanavar; 
 sweet were the desert herbs under their crushing hooves ! 
 Ere the shadow of the acacia measured less than its height 
 they came upon a spring of silver water, and Euark leaped 
 from his steed, and Bhanavar from hers, and they performed 
 their ablutions by that spring, and ate and drank, and 
 watered their steeds. "While they were there Bhanavar 
 lifted her eyes to Euark, and said, "Whither takest thou me, 
 my Chief?" 
 
 His brow was stern, and he answered, " Surely to the 
 dwelling of thy tribe." 
 
 Then she wept, and pulled her veil close, murmuring, 
 ■ " 'Tis. well ! " 
 
 They spake no further, and pursued their journey towards 
 
THE STORY OF BHANAVAE. 31 
 
 the mountains and across the desert that was as a sea asleep 
 in the blazing heat, and the sun till his setting threw no 
 shade upon the sands bifrger than what was broad above 
 them. By the beams of the growing moon Ihey entered the 
 first gorge of the mountains. Here they relaxed the swift- 
 ness of their pace, picking their way over broken rocks and 
 stunted shrubs, and the mesh of spotted creeping plants ; all 
 around them in shadow a freshness of noisy rivulets and cool 
 scents of flowers, asphodel and rose blooming in plots from 
 the crevices of the crags. These, as the troop advanced, 
 wound and widened, gradually receding, and their summits, 
 ■which were silver in the moonlight, took in the distance a 
 robe of purple, and the sides of the mountains were rounded 
 away in purple beyond a space of emerald pasture. Now, 
 Buark beheld the heaviness of Bhanavar, and that she 
 drooped in her seat, and he halted her by a cave at the foot 
 of the mountains, browed with white broom. Before it, over 
 grass and cresses, ran a rill, a branch from others, larger 
 ones, that went hurrying from the heights to feed the 
 meadows below, and Bhanavar dipped her hand in the rill , 
 and thought, " I am no more as thou, rill of the mountain, 
 but a desert thing ! Thy way is forward, thy end before 
 thee ; but I go this way and that ; my end is dark to me ; 
 not a life is mine that will have its close kissing the cold 
 cheeks of the saffron-crocus. Cold art thou, and I — flames ! 
 They that lean to thee are refreshed, they that touch me 
 perish." Then she looked forth on the stars that were above 
 the purple heights, and the blushes of inner heaven that 
 streamed up the sky, and a fear of meeting the eyes of her 
 kindred possessed her, and she cried out to Euark, " Chief 
 of the Beni-Asser, must this be 1 and is there no help for it, 
 but that I return among them that look on me basely 1" 
 Kuark stooped to her and said, " Tell me thy name." 
 She answered, "Bhanavar is my name with that people." 
 And he whispered, " Surely when they speak of thee they 
 say not Bhanavar solely, but Bhanavar the Beautiful 1 " 
 
38 THE SHAYING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 She started and soiiglit the eye of the Chief, and it was 
 fixed on her face in a softened light, as if his soul had said 
 that thing. Then she sighed, and exclaimed, "Unhappy- 
 are the beautiful ! born to misery ! Allah dressed them in 
 his grace and favour for their certain wretchedness ! Lo, 
 their countenances are as the sun, their existence as the 
 desert ; barren are they in fruits and waters, a snare to 
 themselves and to others ! " 
 
 Now, the Chief leaned to her yet nearer, saying, " Show 
 me the Jewel." 
 
 Bhanavar caught up her hands and clenched them, and 
 she cried bitterly, " 'T is known to thee ! She told thee, 
 and there be none that know it not ! " 
 
 Arising, she thrust her hand into her bosom, and held 
 forth the Jewel in the palm of her white hand. When 
 Ruark beheld the marvel of the Jewel, and the redness 
 moving in it as of a panting heart, and the flashing eye of 
 fire that it was, and all its glory, he cried, " It was indeed a 
 Jewel for queens to covet from the Serpent, and a prize the 
 noblest might risk all to win as a gift for thee." 
 
 Then she said, " Thy voice is friendly with me, Kuark ! 
 and thou scornest not the creature that I am. Counsel me 
 as to my dealing with the Jewel." 
 
 Surely the eyes of the Chief met the eyes of Bhanavar as 
 when the briglitest stars of midnight are doubled in a clear 
 dark lake, and he sang in measured music : 
 
 Shall I counsel the moon in her ascending ? 
 Stay under that tall palm-tree through the night; 
 Rest on the mountain-slope 
 By the couching antelope, 
 O thou enthroned supremacy of light! 
 
 And for ever the lustre thou art lending, 
 Lean on the fair long brook that leaps and leaps, — 
 Silvery leaps and falls. 
 Hang by the mountain walls. 
 Moon ! and arise no more to crown the steeps. 
 For a danger and dolour is thy wending! 
 
THE STOKY OF BHANAVAR. 39 
 
 "And, Bhanavar, Bhanavar the Beautiful ! shall I counsel 
 thee, moon of loveliness, — bright, full, perfect moon! — counsel 
 thee not to ascend and be seen and worshipped of men, 
 sitting above them in majesty, thou that art thyself the 
 Jewel beyond price "i Wah ! what if thou cast it from thee 1 
 — thy beauty remaineth ! " 
 
 And Bhanavar smote her palms in the moonlight, and 
 exclaimed, " How then shall I escape this in me, which is a 
 curse to them that approach me ? " 
 
 And he replied : 
 
 Long we the less for the pearl of the sea 
 Because in its depths there 's the death we flee ? 
 LoDg we the less, the less, woe 's me ! 
 Because thou art deathly, — the less for thee ? 
 
 She sang aloud among the rocks and the caves and tlm 
 illumined waters : 
 
 Destiny ! Destiny ! why am I so dark ? 
 
 I that have beauty and love to he fair. 
 Destiny ! Destiny ! am I but a spark 
 
 Traek'd under heaven in flames and despair ? 
 Destiny ! Destiny ! why am I desired 
 
 Thus like a poisonous fruit, deadly sweet ? 
 Destiny ! Destiny ! lo, my soul is tired, 
 
 Make me thy plaything no more, I entreat ! 
 
 Euark laughed low, and said, "What is this dread of 
 Eukrooth my mother which weigheth on thee but silliness L 
 For she saw thee willing to do well by her ; and thou with 
 thy Jewel, Bhanavar, do thou but well by thyself, and, 
 there will be no woman such as thou in power and excellence 
 of endowments, as there is nowhere one such as thou in 
 beauty. " Then he sighed to her, " Dare I look up to thee, m y 
 Queen of Serpents 1 " And he breathed as one that is losing 
 breath, and the words came from him, " My soul is thine ! " 
 
 When she heard him say this, great trouble was on the 
 damsel, for his voice was not the voice of Zurvan her betrothed; , 
 
40 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 and she remembered the sorrow of Eukrooth. She would 
 have fled from him, but a dread of the displeasure of the 
 Chief restrained her, knowing Euark a soul of wrath. Her 
 eyelids dropped, and she was silent ; and the Chief gazed on 
 her eagerly, and sang in a passion of praises of her; and the 
 fires of his love had a tongue, and he told her of his torment ; 
 bis speech was a torrent of flame at the feet of the damsel. 
 And Bhanavar exclaimed, "Oh, what am I, what am I, who 
 have slain my love, my lover ! — that one should love me ami 
 call on me for love 1 My life is a. long weeping for him ! 
 Death is my wooer ! " 
 
 Euark still pleaded with her, and she said in fair gentleness, 
 " Speak not of it now in the freshness of my grief ! Other 
 times and seasons are there. My soul is but newly widowed ! " 
 
 Fierce was the eye of the Chief, and he sprang up, crying, 
 " By the life of my head, I know thy wiles and the reading 
 of these delays : but I'll never leave thee, nor lose sight of 
 thee, Bhanavar ! And think not to fly from me, thou subtle, 
 brilliant Serpent ! for thy track is my track, and thy con- 
 dition my condition, and thy fate my fate. By Allah ! this is so." 
 
 Then he strode from her swiftly, and called to his Arabs. 
 They had kindled a fire to roast the flesh of a buffalo, 
 slaughtered by them from among a herd, and were laughing 
 and singing beside the flames of the fire. So by the direction 
 of their Chief the Arabs brought slices of sweet buffalo-flesh 
 to Bhanavar, with cakes of grain : and Bhanavar ate alone, 
 and drank from the waters before her. Then they laid for 
 her a couch within the cave, and the aching of her spirit was 
 lulled, and she slept there a dreamless sleep till morning. 
 
 By the morning light Bhanavar looked abroad for the 
 Chief, and he was nowhere by. A pang of violent hope 
 struck through her, and she pressed her bosom, praying he 
 might have left her, and climbed the clei'ts and ledges of the 
 mountain to search over the fair expanse of pasture beyond, 
 for a trace of him departing. The sun was on the heads of 
 the heavy flowers, and a flood of gold down the gorges, and 
 
THE STOET OF BH AN AVAR. 41 
 
 a delicate rose hue on the distant peaks and upper dells of 
 snow, -which were as a crown to the scene she surveyed ; 
 but no sight of Ruark had she. And now she was beginning 
 to rejoice, but on a sudden her eye caught far to east a 
 glimpse of something in motion across an even slope of the 
 lower hills leaning to the valley ; and it was a herd that 
 rushed forward, like a black torrent of the mountains flinging 
 foam this way and that, and after the herd and at the sides 
 of the herd she distinguished the white cloaks and scarfs and 
 glittering steel of the Arabs of Ruark. Presently she saw a 
 horseman break from the rest, and race in a line toward her. 
 She knew this one for Ruark, and sighed and descended 
 slowly to meet him. The greeting of the Chief was sharp, 
 his manner wild, and he said little ere he said, "I will 
 see thee under the light of the Jewel, so tie it in a band and 
 set it on thy brow, Bhanavar ! " 
 
 Her mouth was open to intercede with his desire, but his 
 forehead became black as night, and he shouted in the thunder 
 of his lion-voice, " Do this 1 " 
 
 She shuddered, and took the Jewel from its warm bed in 
 her bosom, and held it, and got together a band of green 
 weeds, and set it in the middle of the band, and tied the 
 band on her brow, and lifted her countenance to the Chief. 
 Ruark stood back from her and gazed on her ; and he would 
 have veiled his sight from her, but his hand fell. Then the 
 might of her loveliness seized Bhanavar likewise, and the full 
 orbs of her eyes glowed on the Chief as on a mirror, and she 
 moved her serpent figure scornfully, and smiled, saying, " Is 
 it well]" 
 
 And he, when he could speak, replied, '"T is weU ! I 
 have seen thee ! for now can I die this day, if it be that I am 
 to die. And well it is ! for now know I there is truly 
 no place but the tomb can hold me from thee ! " 
 
 Bhanavar put the Jewel from her brow into her bosom, and 
 questioned him, "What is thy dread this day, my Chief!" 
 
 He answered her gravely, " I have seen Rukrooth my 
 
42 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 motlier while I slept; and she was weeping, weeping by 
 a stream, yea, a stream of blood ; and it was a stream that 
 flowed in a hundred gushes from her own veins. The sun of 
 this dawn now, seest thou not t 't is overcrimson ; the vulture 
 hangeth low down yonder valley." And he cried to her, 
 " Haste ! mount with me ; for I have told Eukrooth a thing ; 
 and I know that woman crafty in the thwarting of schemes ; 
 such a fox is she where aught accordeth not with her fore- 
 castings, and the judgement of her love for nie ! By Allah ! 
 't were well we clash not ; for that I will do I do, and that 
 she will do doth she." 
 
 So, the twain mounted their steeds, and Euark gathered 
 his Arabs and placed them, some in advance, some on either 
 side of Bhanavar ; and they rode forward to the head of the 
 valley, and across the meadows, through the blushing crowds- 
 of flowers, baths of freshest scents, cool breezes that awoke in 
 the nostrils of the mares neighings of delight; and these 
 pranced and curvetted and swung their tails, and gave ex- 
 pression to their joy in many graceful fashions ; but a gloom . 
 was on Euark, and a quick fire in his falcon-eye, and he rode 
 with heels alert on the flanks of his mare, dashing onward to 
 right and left, as do they that beat the jungle for the 
 crouching tiger. Once, when he was well-nigh half a league 
 in front, he wheeled his mare, and raced back full on 
 Bhanavar, grasping her biidle, and hissing between his 
 teeth, "Not a soul shall have thee save I: by the tomb of 
 my fathers, never, while life is with us ! " 
 
 And he taunted her with bitter names, and was as one in 
 the madness of intoxication, drunken with the aspect of her- 
 matchless beauty and with exceeding love for her. And 
 Bhanavar knew that the dread of a mishap was on the mind 
 of the Chief. 
 
 Now, the space of pasture was behind them a broad lake- 
 of gold and jasper, and they entered a region of hills, 
 heights, and fastnesses, robed in forests that rose in rounded 
 swells of leafage, each over each — above all points of snow 
 
THE STORY OF BHANAVAE. 43 
 
 that were as flickering silver flames in the farthest blue. 
 This was the country of Bhanavar, and she gazed mourn- 
 fully on the glades of golden green and the glens of iron 
 blackness, and the wild flowers, wild blossoms, and weeds 
 well known to her that would not let her memory rest, and 
 were wistful of what had been. And she thought, " My 
 sisters tend the flocks, my mother spinneth with the maidens 
 of the tribe, my father hunteth ; how shall I come among 
 them but strange I Coldly will they regard me ; I shall feel 
 them shudder when they take me to their bosoms.'' 
 
 She looked on Euark to speak with him, but the mouth of 
 the Chief was set and white; and even while she looked, 
 cries of treason and battle arose from the Arabs that were 
 ahead, hidden by a branching wind of the way round a 
 mountain slant. Then the eyes of the Chief reddened, his 
 nostrils grew wide, the darkness of his face was as flame 
 mixed with smoke, and he seized Bhanavar and hastened 
 onward, and lo ! yonder were his men over-matched, and 
 warriors of the mountains bursting on them from an ambush 
 on all sides. Euark leapt in his seat, and the light of 
 combat was on him, and he dug his knees into his mare, and 
 shouted the war-cry of his tribe, lifting his hands as it were 
 to draw down wrath from the very heavens, and rushed to 
 the encounter. Says the poet : 
 
 East thon seen the wild herd by the jnDgle galloping close ? 
 With a thunder of hooves they trample what heads may oppose ; 
 Terribly, crushiDgly, tempest-like, onward they sweep : 
 But a spring from the reeds, and the panther is sprawling in air, 
 And with muzzle to dust and black beards foam-lash'd, here and there, 
 Scatter'd they fly, crimson-eyed, track'd with blood to the deep. 
 
 Such was the onset of Euark, his stroke the stroke of 
 death ; and ere the echoes had ceased rolling from that cry 
 of his, the mountain-warriors weie scattered before him on 
 the narrow way, hurled down the scrub of the mountain, 
 even as dead leaves and loosened stones ;. so like an arm of 
 lightning was the Chief 1 
 
44 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 Now Euark pursued them, and was lost to Blianavar 
 lound a slope of the mountain. She quickened her pace 
 to mark him in the glory of the battle, and behold ! a 
 sudden darkness enveloped her, and she felt herself in the 
 swathe of tightened folds, clasped in an arm, and borne 
 rapidly she knew not whither, for she could hear and see 
 nothing. It was to her as were she speeding constantly down- 
 ward in darkness to the lower realms of the Genii of the 
 Caucasus, and every sense, and even that of fear, was 
 stunned in her. How long an interval had elapsed she 
 knew not, when the folds were unwound ; but it was light 
 of day, and the faces of men, and they were warriors that 
 were about her, warriors of the mountain ; but of Ruark 
 and his Arabs no voice. So she said to them, " What do 
 ye with me 1 " 
 
 And one among them, that was a youth of dignity and 
 grace, and a countenance like morning on the mountains, 
 answered, " The will of Eukrooth, lady 1 and it is the 
 plight of him we bow to with Eukrooth, mother of the 
 Desert-Chief." 
 
 She cried, " Is he here, the Prince, that I may speak with 
 himr' 
 
 The same young warrior made answer, " Not so ; fore- 
 warned was he, and well for him I " 
 
 Bhanavar drew her robe about her and was mute. Ere the 
 setting of the moon they journeyed on with her; and con- 
 tinued so three days and nights through the defiles and 
 ravines and matted growths of the mountains. On the 
 fourth dawn they were on the summit of a lofty mountain- 
 rise ; below them the sun, shooting a current of gold across 
 leagues of sea. Then he that had spoken with Bhanavar 
 said, " A sail will come," and a sail came from under the 
 sun. Scarce had the ship grated shore, when the warriors 
 lifted Bhanavar, and waded through the water with her, and 
 placed her unwetted in the ship, and one, the fair youth 
 among the warriors, sprang on board with her, remaining by 
 
THE STORY OF BHANAVAR. 45 
 
 her. So the captain pushed off, and the •vvinJ filled the 
 sails, and Bhanavar was borne over the lustre of the sea, 
 that was as a changing opal in its lustre, even as a melted 
 jewel flowing from the fingers of the maker, the Almighty 
 One. The ship ceased not sailing till they came to a narrow 
 strait, where the sea was hut a river between fair sloping 
 hills alight with towers and palaces, opening a way to a 
 great city that was in its radiance over the waters of the sea 
 as the aspect of myriad sheeny white doves breasting the 
 wave. Hitherto the young warrior had held aloof in cold- 
 ness of courtesy from Bhanavar ; but now he sat by her, and 
 said, " The bond between my prince and Eukrooth is accom- 
 plished, and it was to snatch thee from the Chief of the 
 Beni-Asser and bring thee even to this city." 
 
 Bhanavar exclaimed, "Allah be praised in all things, and 
 his will done ! " 
 
 The youth continued, "Thou art alone here, O lady, ex- 
 posed to the perils of loneliness ; surely it were well if I 
 linger with thee awhile, and see to thy welfare in this city, 
 even as a brother with a sister ; and I will deal honourably 
 by thee." 
 
 Bhanavar looked on the young warrior and blushed at his 
 exceeding sweetness with her; the soft freshness of his 
 voice was to her as the blossom-laden breeze in the valleys 
 of the mountains, and she breathed low the words of her 
 gratitude, saying, "If I am not a burden, let this he so." 
 
 Then said he, "Know me by my name, which is Almeryl ; 
 and that we seem indeed of one kin, make known unto me 
 thine." 
 
 She replied, " Ill-omened is it, this name of Bhanavar ! " 
 
 The youth among warriors gazed on her a moment with 
 the fluttering eye of hashfulness, and said, " Can they that 
 have marked thee call thee other than Bhanavar the 
 Beautiful 1 " 
 
 She remembered that Euark had spoken in like manner, 
 and the curse of her beauty smote her, and she thought. 
 
48 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 "This fair youth, he hath not a mother to watch over him 
 and ward off souls of evil. I dread there will come a mis- 
 hap to him through me ; Allah shield him from it ! " And 
 she sought to dissuade him from resting by her, but he 
 cried, '"T is but a choice to dwell with thee or with the 
 dogs in the street outside thy door, Bhanavar ! " 
 
 Now, the ship sailed close up to the quay, and cast anchor 
 there in the midst of other ships of merchandise. Almeryl 
 then threw a robe over liis mountain dress and spoke with 
 the captain apart, and he and Bhanavar took leave of the 
 captain, and landed on the quay among the porters, and of 
 these one stepped forward to them and shouted cheerily, 
 " Where be the burdens and the bales, O ye, fair couple 
 fashioned in the eye of elegant proportions 1 Ye twin palm- 
 trees, male and female ! Wullahy ! broad is the back of 
 your servant." 
 
 Almeryl beckoned to him that he should follow them, and 
 he followed them, blessing the wind that had brought them 
 to that city and the day. So they passed through the streets 
 and lanes of the city, and the porter pointed out this house 
 and that house wanting an occupant, and Almeryl fixed on 
 one in an open thoroughfare that had before it a grass-plot, 
 and behind a garden with fountains and flowers, and grass- 
 knolls shaded by trees; and he paid down the half of its 
 price, and had it furnished before nightfall sumptuously, 
 and women in it to wait on Bhanavar, and stuffs and goods, 
 and scents for the bath, — all luxuries whatsoever that trades- 
 men and merchants there could give in exchange for gold. 
 Then Almeryl dismissed the porter in Allah's name, and 
 gladdened his spirit with a gift over the due of his hire that 
 exalted him in the eyes of the porter, and the porter went 
 from him, exclaiming, "In extremity Ukleet is thy slave!" 
 and he sang : 
 
 Shouldafc thou see a slim youth with a damsel arriving. 
 Be sure 't is the hour when thy fortune is thriving; 
 A generous fee makes the members so supple 
 That over the world they could carry this couple. 
 
THE STOllY OF BHANAVAR. 47 
 
 Now, so it was that the youth Almeryl and the damsel 
 Bhanavar abode in the city they had come to weeks and 
 months, and life to either of them as the flowing of a gentle 
 stream, even as brother and sister lived they, chastely, and 
 with temperate feasting. Surely the youth loved her with a 
 great love, and the heart of Bhanavar turned not from him, 
 and was won utterly by his gentleness and nobleness and 
 devotion ; and they relied on each other's presence for any 
 joy, and were desolate in absence, as the poet says : 
 
 When we masfc part, love, 
 Such is my smart, love, 
 Sweetness is savourless, 
 Fairness is f avourless ! 
 But when in sight, love, 
 We two unite, love, 
 Earth has no sour to me ; 
 Life is a flower to me ! 
 
 And with the increase of every day their passion increased, 
 and the revealing light in their eyes brightened and was 
 humidj as is sung by him that luted to the rage of hearts : 
 
 Even's star yonder 
 
 Comes like a crown on us, 
 Larger and fonder 
 
 Grows its orb down on ns; 
 So, love, my love for thee 
 
 Blossoms increasingly; 
 So sinks it in the sea, 
 
 Waxing unceasingly. 
 
 On a night, when the singing-girls had left them, the 
 youth could contain himself mo more, and caught the two 
 hands of Bhanavar in his, saying, " This that is in my soul 
 for thee thou knowest, Bhanavar 1 and 't is spoken when I 
 move and when I breathe, my loved one ! TeU me then 
 the cause of thy shunning me whenever I would speak of it, 
 and be plain with thee." 
 
 Por a moment Bhanavar sought to release herself from his 
 hold, but the love in his eyes entangled her soul as in a net, 
 
43 TEE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 and slie sank forward to him, and sighed under his chin, "T 
 was indeed my very love of thee that made me." 
 
 The twain emhraoed and kissed a long kiss, and leaned 
 sideways together, and Bhanavar said, "Hear me, what I 
 am." 
 
 Then she related the story of the Serpent and the Jewel, 
 and of the death of her betrothed. "When it was ended, 
 Almeryl cried, " And was this all 1 — this that severed us 1 " 
 And he said, " Hear what I am." 
 
 So, he told Bhanavar how Rukrooth, the mother of Ruark, 
 had sent messengers to the Prince his father, warning him of 
 the passage of Ruark through the mountains with one a 
 Queen of Serpents, a sorceress, that had bewitched him and 
 enthralled him in a mighty love for her, to the ruin of 
 Ruark ; and how the Chief was on his way with her to 
 demand her in marriage at the hands of her parents ; and the 
 words of Rukrooth were, " By the service that was between 
 thee and my husband, and by the death he died, Prince, 
 rescue the Chief my son from this damsel, and entrap her 
 from him, and have her sent even to the city of the inland 
 sea, for no loss a distance than that keepeth Ruark from 
 her." 
 
 And Almeryl continued, " I questioned the messengers 
 myself, and they told me the marvel of thy loveliness and 
 the peril to him that looked on it, so I swore there was no 
 power should keep me from a sight of thee, my loved one! 
 my prize ! my life ! my sleek antelope of the hills ! Surely 
 when my father appointed the warriors to lay in wait for 
 thy coming, I slipped among them, so that they thought it 
 ordered by him 1 should head them. The rest is known to 
 theC; my fountain of blissfulness ! but the treachery 
 to Ruark was the treachery of Ebn Asrac, not of such 
 warriors as we ; and I would have fallen on Ebn Asrac, had 
 not Euark so routed that man without faith. 'T was all as I 
 have said, blessed be Allah and his decrees ! " 
 
 Bhanavar gazed on her beloved, and the bridal dew over- 
 
THE STOEY OP BHANATAE. 49 
 
 flowed her underlids, and she loosed her hair to let it flow, 
 part over her shoulders, part over his, and in sighs that were 
 the measure of music she sang : 
 
 I ttonglit not to love again ! 
 
 Bat now I love as I loved not before ; 
 I love not ; I adore ! 
 my beloved, kiss, kiss me ! waste thy kisses like a rain. 
 Are not thy red lips fain ? 
 Oh, and so softly they greet ! 
 Am I not sweet ? 
 Sweet must I be for thee, or sweet in vain : 
 
 Sweet to thee only, my dear love ! 
 The lamps and censers sink, but cannot cheat 
 These eyes of thine that shoot above, 
 Trembling lustres of the dove ! 
 A darkness drowns all lustres : still I see 
 
 Thee, my love, thee ! 
 Thee, my glory of gold, from head to feet ! 
 Oh, ho w the lids of the world close quite when our lips meet ! 
 
 Almeryl strained her to him, and responded : 
 
 My life was midnight on the mountain side ; 
 
 Cold stars were on the heights : 
 There, in my darkness, I had lived and died. 
 
 Content with nameless lights. 
 Sudden I saw the heavens flush with a beam, 
 
 And I ascended soon. 
 And evermore over mankind supreme. 
 
 Stood silver in the moon. 
 
 And he fell playfully into a new metre, singing : 
 
 Who will paint my beloved 
 In musical word or colour ? 
 
 Earth with an envy is moved : 
 Sea-shells and roses she brings, 
 Gems from the green ocean-springs, 
 bruits with the fairy bloom-dews, 
 Feathers of Paradise hues. 
 
50 THE SHAYING OF SHACPAT. 
 
 Waters with jewel -tright falls, 
 
 Ore from the Genii-halls : 
 All in their splendour approved ; 
 All s but, matoh'd with my beloved, 
 
 Darker, and denser, and duller. 
 
 Tben she kissed him for that song, and sang : 
 
 Once to be beautiful was my pride, 
 
 And I blush'd in love with my own bright brow : 
 Once, when a wooer was by my side, 
 
 I worshipp'd the object that had his vow : 
 Different, different, different now, 
 
 Different now is my beauty to me : 
 Diiferent, diHerent, different now ! 
 
 For I prize it alone because prized by thee. 
 
 Alraeryl stretched his arm to the lattice, and drew it open, 
 letting in the soft night wind, and the sound of the fountain 
 and the bulbul and the beam of the stars, and versed to her 
 in the languor of deep love : 
 
 Whether we die or we live. 
 
 Matters it now no more : 
 Life has nought further to give : 
 
 Love is its crown and its core. 
 Come to us either, we 're rite, — 
 Death or life ! 
 
 Death can take not away, 
 
 Darkness and light are the same : 
 
 We are beyond the pale ray. 
 Wrapt in a rosier flame : 
 
 Welcome which will to our breath, — 
 Life or death ! 
 
 So did these two lovers lute and sing in the stillness of the 
 night, pouring into each other's ears melodies from the new 
 sea of fancy and feeling that flowed through them. Ere they 
 ceased their sweet interchange of tenderness, which was but 
 one speech from one soul, a glow of light ran up the sky, and 
 
THE STOET OF BHANAVAE. 51 
 
 the edge of a cloud was fired ; and in the blooming of dawn 
 Almeryl hung over Bhanavar, and his heart ached to see the 
 freshness of her wondrous loveliness ; and he sang, looking 
 on her : 
 
 The rose is living in her cheeks, 
 The lily in her rounded chin ; 
 She speaks bat when her whole eonl speaks, 
 
 And then the two flow out and in, 
 And mix their red and white to make 
 The hue for which I 'd Paradise forsake. 
 
 Her brow from her black falling hair 
 
 Ascends like morn : her nose is clear 
 As morning hills, and finely fair 
 
 With pearly nostrils curving near 
 The red bow of her upper lip ; 
 Her bosom 's the white wave beneath the ship. 
 
 The fair full earth, the enraptured skies, 
 
 She images in constant play : 
 Night and the stars are in her eyes. 
 
 But her sweet face is beaming day, 
 A bounteous interblush of flowers : 
 A dewy brilliance in a dale of bowers. 
 
 Then he said, "And this morning shall our contract of 
 marriage be written and witnessed t " 
 
 She answered, " As my lord willeth ; I am his.'' 
 
 Said he, " And it is thy desire ? " 
 
 She nestled to him and dinted his bare arm with the 
 pearls of her mouth for a reply. 
 
 So, that morning their contract of marriage was written, 
 and witnessed by the legal number of witnesses in the 
 presence of the Cadi, with his license on it endorsed ; and 
 Bhanavar was the bride of Almeryl, he her husband. Never 
 was youth blessed in a bride like that youth ! 
 
 Now, the twain lived together the circle of a full year of 
 delightful marriage, and love lessened not in them, but was 
 as the love of the first day. Little cared they, having each 
 
 E 2 
 
E2 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 other, for the loneliness of their dwelling in that city, where 
 they knew none save the porter Ukleet, who went ahout 
 their commissions. Sometimes to amuse themselves with his 
 drolleries, they sent for him, and were bountiful with him, 
 and made him drink with them on the lawn of their garden 
 leaning to an inlet of the sea ; and then he would entertain 
 them with all the scandal and gossip of the city, and its little 
 folk and great. When he was outrageously extravagant in 
 these stories of his, Bhanavar exclaimed, " Are such things, 
 now 1 can it be true 1 " 
 
 And he nodded in his conceit, and replied loftily, " 'T is 
 certain, my Prince and Princess ! ye be from the moun- 
 tains, unused to the follies and dissipations of men when 
 they herd ; and ye know them not, men ! " 
 
 The lamps being lit in the garden to the edges of the 
 water, where they lay one evening, Ukleet, who had been in 
 his briskest mood, became grave, and put his forefinger to 
 the side of his nose and began, " Hear ye aught of the great 
 tidings ? Wullahy ! no other than the departure of the wife 
 of Boolp, the broker, into darkness. 'T is of Boolp ye hire 
 this house, and had ye a hundred houses in this city ye 
 might have had them from Boolp the broker, he that 's rich ; 
 and glory to them whom Allah prospereth, say I ! And I 
 mention this matter, for 't is certain now Boolp will take 
 another wife to him to comfort him, for there be two thiugs 
 beloved of Boolp, and therein manifesteth he taste and the 
 discernment of excellence, and what is approved ; and of 
 these two things let the love of his hoards of the yellow- 
 skinned treasure go first, and after that attachment to the 
 silver-skiuned of creation, the fair, the rapturous; even to 
 them ! So by this see ye not Boolp will yearn in his soul for 
 another spouse ? 'Sow, ye well-matched pair ! what a 
 chance were this, knew ye but a damsel of the mountains, 
 exquisite in symmetry, a moon to enrapture the imagination 
 of Boolp, and in the nature of things herit his possessions I 
 for Boolp is an old man, even very old." 
 
THE STORY OF BHANAVAE. 53 
 
 They laughed, and cried, " "We know not of such a damsel, 
 and the hroker must go unmarried for us." 
 
 When next Ukleet sat before them, Almeryl took occasion 
 to speak of Boolp again, and said, " This broker, Ukleet, 
 is he also a lender of money ? " 
 
 Ukleet replied, " my Prince, he is or he is not : 't is of 
 the maybes. I wot truly Boolp is one that baiteth the hook 
 of an emergency." 
 
 The brows of the Prince were downcast, and he said no 
 more ; but on the following morning he left Bhanavar early 
 under a pretext, and sallied forth from the house of their 
 abode alone. 
 
 Since their union in that city they had not been once 
 apart, and Bhanavar grieved and thought, "Waneth his love 
 for me 1 " and she called her women to her, and dressed in 
 this dress and that dress, and was satisfied with none. The 
 dews of the bath stood cold upon her, and she trembled, and 
 fled from mirror to mirror, and in each she was the same 
 surpassing vision of loveliness. Then her women held a 
 glass to her, and she examined herself closely, if there might 
 be a fleck upon her anywhere, and all was as the snow 
 of the mountains on her round limbs sloping in the curves 
 of harmony, and the faint rose of the dawn on slants of 
 snow was their hue. Twining her fingers and sighing, she 
 thought, " It is not that ! he cannot but think me beau- 
 tiful." She smiled a melancholy smile at her image in the 
 glass, exclaiming, " "What availeth it, thy beauty 1 for he is 
 away and looketh not on thee, thou vain thing ! And what 
 of thy loveliness if the light illumine it not, for he is the 
 light to thee, and it is darkness when he 's away.'' 
 
 Suddenly she thought, " What 's that which needeth to 
 light it no other light ] I had well-nigh forgotten it in my 
 bliss, the Jewel ! " Then she went to a case of ebony-wood, 
 where she kept the Jewel, and drew it forth, and shone in 
 the beam of a pleasant imagination, thinking, " 'T will sur- 
 prise him ! " And she robed herself in a robe of saffron, and 
 
54 THE SHAVING OP SHAGPAT. 
 
 set lesser gems of the diamond and the emerald in the braid 
 of her hair, and knotted the Serpent Jewel firmly in a hand 
 of gold-threaded tissue, and had it woven in her hair among 
 the braids. In this array she awaited his coming, and 
 pleased her mind with picturing his astonishment and the 
 joy that would be his. Mute were the women who waited 
 on her, for in their lives they had seen no such sight as 
 Bhanavar beneath the beams of the Jewel, and the whole 
 chamber was aglow with her. 
 
 Now, iji her anxiety she sent them one and one repeatedly 
 to look forth at the window for the coming of the Prince. 
 So, when he came not she went herself to look forth, and 
 stretched her white neck beyond the casement. While her 
 head was exposed, she heard a cry of some one from the 
 house in the street opposite, and Bhanavar beheld in the 
 house of the broker an old wrinkled fellow that gesticulated 
 to her in a frenzy. She snatched her veil down and drew in 
 her head in anger at him, calling to her maids, " What is 
 yonder hideous old dotard 1 " 
 
 And they answered, laughing, " 'T is indeed Boolp the 
 broker, fair mistress and mighty ! " 
 
 To divert herself she made them tell her of Boolp, and 
 they told her a thousand anecdotes of the broker, and verses 
 of him, and the constancy of his amorous condition, and his 
 greediness. And Bhanavar was beguiled of her impatience 
 till it was evening, and the Prince returned to her. So they 
 embraced, and she greeted him as usual, wailing what he 
 would say, searching his countenance for a token of wonder- 
 ment ; but the youth knew not that aught was added to her 
 beauty, for he looked nowhere save in her eyes. Bhanavar 
 was nigh weeping with vexation, and pushed him from her, 
 and chid him with lack of love and weariness of her ; and 
 the eye of the Prince rose to her brow to read it, and he saw 
 the Jewel. Almeryl clapped his hands, crying, " Wondrous ! 
 And this thy surprise for me, my fond one? beloved of 
 mine ! " Then he gazed on her a space, and said, " Knowest 
 
THE STORY OF BHANAVAR. 55 
 
 thou, thou art terrible in thy beauty, Bhanavar, and hast the 
 face of lightning under that Jewel of the Serpent ? " 
 
 She kissed him, whispering, " Not lightning to thee ! 
 Yet lovest thou Bhanavar 1 " 
 
 He replied, " Surely so ; and all save Bhanavar in this 
 world is the darkness of oblivion to me." 
 
 When it was the next morning, Almeryl rose to go forth 
 again. Ere he had passed the curtain of the chamber, Bha- 
 navar caught him by the arm, and she was trembling vio- 
 lently. Her visage was a wild inquiry : " Thou goest ] — and 
 again ? There is something hidden from me ! " 
 
 Almeryl took her to his heart, and caressed her with fond 
 flatteries, saying, " Ask but what is beating under these two 
 pomegranates, and thou learnest all of me." 
 
 But she stamped her foot, crying, "^o ! no ! I will hear it! 
 There's a mystery.'' 
 
 So, he said, " "Well, then, it is this only ; small matter 
 enough. I have a business with the captain of the vessel that 
 brought us hither, and I must see him ere he setteth sail ; no 
 other than that, thou jealous, watchful star ! Pierce me with 
 thine eyes ; it is no other than that." 
 
 She levelled her lids at him till her lustrous black eyelashes 
 were as arrows, and mimicked himsof tly, "No other than that?" 
 
 And he replied, "Even so." 
 
 Then she clung to him like a hungry creature, repeating, 
 " Even so," and let him go. Alone, she summoned a slave, 
 a black, and bade him fetch to her without delay Ukleet the 
 porter : and the porter was presently ushered in to her, pro- 
 testing service and devotion. So, she questioned him of 
 Almeryl, and the Prince's business abroad, what he knew of 
 it. Ukleet commenced reciting verses on the ills of jealousy, 
 but Bhanavar checked him with an eye that Ukleet had seen 
 never before in woman or in man, and he gaped at her help- 
 lessly, as one that has swallowed a bone. She laughed, 
 crying, " Learn, thou fellow, to answer my like by the letter." 
 
 'Sow, what she heard from Ukleet when he had recovered 
 
56 THE, SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 his wits, was that the Prince had a business with none save 
 the lenders of money. So she spake to Ukleet in a kindly- 
 tone, " Thou art mine, to serve me 1 " 
 
 He was as one fascinated, and delivered himself, "Yea, 
 my mistress ! with tongue-serviee, toe-service, hack-service, 
 train-service, whatso pleaseth thy sweet presence." 
 
 Said she, " Hie over to the broker opposite, and bring him. 
 hither to me." 
 
 Ukleet departed, saying, "To hear is to obey." 
 
 She sat gazing on the Jewel and its couuterchanging splen- 
 dours in her hand, and the thought of Almeryl and his 
 necessity was her only thought. Not ten minutes of the hour 
 had passed before the women waiting on her announced Ukleet 
 and the broker Boolp. Bhanavar gave little heed to the old 
 fellow's grimaces, and the compliments he addressed her, but 
 handed him the Jewel and desired his valuation of its worth. 
 The face of Boolp was a keen edge when he regarded Bhanavar, 
 but the sight of the Jewel sharpened it tenfold, and he tossed 
 his arms, exclaiming. " A jewel, this ! " 
 
 So,'Bhanavar cried to him, " Fix a price for it, thou 
 broker ! " 
 
 And Boolp, the old miser, debated^ and began prating, " 
 lady ! the soul of thy slave is abashed by a double beam, this 
 the jewel of jewels, thou truly of thy sex ; and saving thee 
 there 's no jewel of worth like this one, and together ye he — 
 wullahy ! never felt I aught like this since my espousal of 
 Soolka that 's gone, and 't was' nothing like it then ! Now, 
 my Princess, confess it freely— this is but a pretext, this 
 valuation of the Jewel, and Ukleet our go-between ; and leave 
 the rewarding of him to me. Wullahy ! I can be generous, 
 and my days of favour with fair ladies be not yet over. 
 Blessed be Allah for this day ! And thinkest thou those eyes 
 feU on me with discriminating observation ere my sense of 
 perception was struck by thee? Not so, for I had noted thee, 
 moon of hearts, from my window yonder." 
 
 In this fashion Boolp the broker went on prating, and 
 
THE STORY OF BHANAVAR. 57 
 
 bowing, and screwing the corners of his little acid eyes to 
 wink the wink of commonaccordbetweenhimselfand Bhanavar. 
 Meantime she had spoken aside to one of her women, and a 
 second black slave entered the chamber, bearing in his hand 
 a twisted scourge, and that slave laid it on the back of Boolp 
 the broker, and by this means he was brought quickly to the 
 valuation of the Jewel. Then he named a sum that was a 
 great sum, but not the value of the Jewel to the fiftieth part, 
 nay nor the five-hundredth part, of its value; and Ukleet 
 remonstrated with him, but he was resolute, saying, "Even 
 that sum leaves me a beggar.'' 
 
 So, Bhanavar said, " My desire is for immediate payment 
 of the money, and the Jewel is thine for that sum." 
 
 Now the broker went to fetch the money, and returned 
 ■with it in bags of gold one-half the amount, and bags of 
 silver one-third, and the remainder in writing made due at a 
 certain period for payment. And he groaned and handed 
 her the money, and took the Jewel in his hands, ejaculating, 
 " In the name of Allah ! " 
 
 That evening, when it was dark and the lamps lit in the 
 chamber, and the wines set and the nosegay, Almeryl asked 
 of Bhanavar to see her under the light of the Jewel. She 
 warded him with an excuse, but he was earnest with her. So 
 she feigned that he teased her, saying, " 'T is that thou art 
 no longer content with me as I am, my husband ! " Then 
 she said, "Wert thou successful in thy dealings this day?" 
 
 His arm slackened round her, and he answered nothing. 
 So she cried, " Fie on thee, thou foolish one ! and what is 
 thy need of running over this city 1 Know I not thy case 
 and thine occasion, my beloved ? Surely I am Queen of 
 Serpents, a mistress of enchantments, a diviner of things 
 hidden, and I know thee. Here, then, is what thou re- 
 quirest, and conceal not from me thy necessity another time, 
 my husband ! " 
 
 Upon that she pointed his eye to the money-bags of gold 
 and of silver. Almeryl was amazed, and asked her, " How 
 
53 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 came these ? for I was at the last extremity, without coin of 
 any Ivind." 
 
 She answered, " How, but hy the Serpents ! " 
 And he exclaimed, "Would that I might work as that 
 porter worketh, rather than this ! " 
 
 Now', seeing he bewailed her use of the powers of the 
 Jewel, Bhanavar fell between his arms, and related to him 
 her discovery of his condition, and how she disposed of the 
 Jewel to the broker, and of the scourging of Boolp ; and he 
 praised her, and clave to her, and they laughed and delighted 
 their souls in plenteousness, and bliss was their portion ; as 
 the poet says, 
 
 Bliss that is born of mutual esteem 
 
 And tried companionship, I truly deem 
 
 A well-based palace, wherein fountains rise 
 
 From springs that have their sources in the skies. 
 
 So were they for awhile. It happened that one day, that 
 was the last day of the year since her wearing of the Jewel, 
 Ukleot said to them, " Be wary ! the Vizier Aswarak hath 
 his eye on you, and it is no cool one. I say nothing : the 
 wise are discreet in their tellings of the great. 'T is certain 
 the broker Boolp forgetteth not his treatment here." 
 
 They smiled, turning to each other, and said, ""We live 
 innocently, we harm no one, what should we fear ? " 
 
 During the night of that day Bhanavar awoke and kissed 
 the Prince ; and lo ! he shuddered in his sleep as with the 
 grave-cold. A second time she was awakened on the breast 
 of Almeryl by a dream of the Serpents of the Lake Karatis — 
 the lake of the Jewel ; and she stood up, and there was in 
 the street a hum of voices, and she saw there before the 
 house armed men with naked steel in their hands. Scarce 
 had she called Almeryl to her, when the outer door of their 
 house was forced, and she shrieked to him, "'T is thou they 
 come for : fly, my Prince, my husband 1 the way of the 
 garden is clear." 
 
THE STOET OF BHANAVAE. 6i> 
 
 But he said sadly, " Nay, what am I ? it is thou they 
 •would win from me. I '11 leave thee not in this life." 
 
 So, she cried, " my soul, then together ! — hut I shall 
 hinder thee, and he a burden to thy flight." 
 
 And she called on the All-powerful for aid, and ran with 
 him into the garden of the house, and lo ! by the water-side 
 at the end of the garden a heat full of armed soldiers with 
 scimitars. So these fell upon them, and bound them, and 
 haled them into the house again, where was the dark Vizier 
 Aswarak, and certain officers of the night-watch with a force. 
 The Vizier cried when he saw them, " I accuse thee. Prince 
 Almeryl, of being here in the city of our lord the King, to 
 conspire against him and his authority." 
 
 Almeryl faced the Vizier firmly, and replied, " I knew not 
 in my life I had made an enemy; but there is one here whO' 
 telleth that of me." 
 
 The Vizier frowned, saying, " Thou deniest this 1 And thou 
 here, and thy father at war with the sovereignty of our lord 
 the King!" 
 
 Almeryl beheld his danger, and he said, " Is this so t " 
 
 Then cried the Vizier, " Hear him ! is not that a fair 
 simulation ] " So he called to the guard, "Shackle him ! " 
 When that was done, he ordered the house to be sacked, and 
 the women and the slaves he divided for a spoil, but he re- 
 served Bhanavar to himself : and lo ! twice she burst away 
 from them that held her to hang upon the lips of Almeryl, 
 and twice was she torn from him as a grape-bunch is torn 
 from the streaming vine, and the third time she swooned and 
 the anguish of life left her. 
 
 Now, Bhanavar was borne to the harem of the Vizier, and 
 for days she suffered no morsel of food to enter her mouth, 
 and was dying, had not the Vizier in the cunning of his 
 dissimulation fed her with distant glimpses of Almeryl, to 
 show her he yet lived. Then she thought, "While my 
 beloved liveth, life is due to me ;" and she ate and drank 
 and reassumed her fair fulness and the queenliness that was 
 
60 TEE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 hers ; but tlie Vizier had no love of her, and respected her, 
 considering in his mind, " Time will exhaust the fury of 
 this tigress, and she is a fruit worth the waiting for. 
 Wullahy ! I shall have possessed her ere the days of over- 
 lipening." 
 
 There was in the harem of the Vizier a mountain-girl that 
 had been brought there in her childhood, and trained to play 
 upon the lute and accompany her voice with the instrument. 
 To this little damsel Bhanavar gave her heart, and would 
 listen all day, as in a trance, to her luting, till the desire to 
 escape from that bondage and gather tidings of Almeryl 
 mastered her, and she persuaded one of the blacks _ of the 
 harem with a bribe to procure her an interview with the 
 porter Ukleet. So at a certain hour of the night Ukleet 
 was introduced into the garden of the harem, and he was in 
 the darkness of that garden a white-faced porter with knees 
 that knocked the dread-march together ; but Bhanavar 
 strengthened his soul, and he said to her, " 'T was the doing 
 of Boolp the broker : and he whispered the Vizier of thee and 
 thy beauty, my mistress ! Surely thy punishment and 
 this ruin is but part payment to Boolp of the price of the 
 Jewel, the great Jewel that's in the hands of the Vizier." 
 
 Then she questioned him : " And Almeryl, the Prince, 
 my husband, what of him 1 " 
 
 Ukleet was silent, and Bhanavar asked to hear no more. 
 Surely she was at the gates of pale spirits v.-ithin an hour of 
 her interview with Ukleet, and there was no blessedness for 
 her save in death, the stifler of ills, the drag that is infallible. 
 As is said : 
 
 Dark is that last stage of sorrow 
 Which from Death alone can borrow 
 Comfort : — 
 
 Bhanavar would have died then, but in a certain pause of 
 her fever the Vizier stood by her. She looked at him long 
 as she lay, and the life in her large eyes was ebbing away 
 slowly ; but there seemed presently a check, as an eddy 
 
THE STORY OF BHANAVAR. 61 
 
 comes in the stream, and the light of intelligence flowed 
 like a reviving fire into her eyes, and her heart quickened 
 ■with desire of life -while she loolied on the Vizier. So she 
 passed the pitch of that fever, and bloomed anew in her 
 beauty, and cherished it, for she had a purpose. 
 
 Now, there was rejoicing in the harem of the Vizier 
 Aswarak when Bhanavar arose from the couch ; and the 
 Vizier exulted, thinking, " I have tamed this wild beauty, 
 or she had reached death in that extremity.'' So he allowed 
 Bhanavar greater freedom and indulgences, and Bhanavar 
 feigned to give her soul to the pleasures women delight in, 
 and the Vizier buried her in gems and trinkets and costly 
 raiment, robes of exquisite silks, the choicest of Samarcand 
 and China ; and he permitted her to make purchases among 
 certain of the ■warehouses of the city and the shops of the 
 tradesmen, jewellers and others, so that she -went about as 
 she would, but for the slaves that attended her and the over- 
 seer of the harem. This continued, and Aswarak became 
 iirgent with her, and to remove suspicion from him she 
 named a day from that period when she would be his. 
 Meantime she contrived to see Ukleet the porter frequently, 
 and within a week of her engac^ement with the Vizier she 
 gazed from a lattice-window of the harem, and beheld in the 
 garden, by the beams of the moon, Ukleet, and he was look- 
 ing as on the watch for her. So she sent to him the little 
 mountain-girl she loved, but Ukleet would tell her nothing ; 
 then went she herself, greeting him graciously, for his 
 service was other than that of self-seeking. 
 
 Ukleet said, " Lady, mistress of hearts, moon of the 
 tides of will ! 't is certain I was thy slave from the hour I 
 beheld thee first, and of the Prince, thy husband ; Allah 
 rest his soul ! Now these be my tidings. Wullahy ! the 
 King is one maddened with the reports I 've spread about 
 of thy beauty, yea ! raging. And I have a friend in his 
 palace, even an under-cook, acute in the interpreting of 
 wishes. There was he always gabbling of thy case, my 
 
€2 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 Princess, till the head-oo»k seized hold on it, and so it went 
 "to the chamberlain, thenos to the chief of the eunuchs, and 
 from him in a natural course, to the King. !N"ow from the 
 King the tracking of this tale went to the under-cook down 
 again, and from him to me. So was I summoned to the 
 King, and the King discoursed with me — I with him, in fair 
 fluency ; he in ejaculations of desire to have sight of thee, I 
 in expatiation on that he would see when he had his desire. 
 Now in this have I not done thee a service, sovereign of 
 fancies ? " 
 
 Bhanavar mused and said, " On the after-morrow I pass 
 through the city to make a selection of goods, and I shall 
 pass at noon hy the great mosque, on my way to the shop of 
 Ebn Eoulchook, the King's jeweller, beyond the meat-market. 
 ■Of a surety, I know not how my lord the King may see 
 me." 
 
 Said the porter, " ' T is enough ! on my head be it." And 
 he went from her, singing the song : 
 
 How little a thing serves Fortune's turn 
 
 When she 's intent on doing ! 
 How easily the world may bum 
 
 When kings come ont a- wooing ! 
 
 Now, ere she set forth on the after-morrow to make her 
 purchases, Bhanavar sent word to the Vizier Aswarak that 
 she would see him, and he came to ber drunken with 
 alacrity, for he augured favourably that her reluctance was 
 melting toward him : so she said, " my master, my time 
 of mourning is at an end, and I would look well before thee, 
 «ven as one worthy of being thy bride ; so bestow on me, I 
 pray thee, for my wearing that day, the jewels that be in 
 thy treasury, the brightest and clearest of them, and the 
 largest." 
 
 The Vizier Aswarak replied, and he was one in great 
 satisfaction of soul, " All that I have are thine. Wullahy ! 
 and one, a marvel, that I bought of Boolp the broker, that 
 
THE STORY OF BHANAVAR. 63 
 
 had it from an African merchant." So he commanded the 
 hox wherein he had deposited the jewel to be brought to 
 him there in the chamber of Bhanavar, and took forth the 
 Serpent Jewel between his forefinger and thumb, and laughed 
 at the eager eyes of Bhanavar when she beheld it, saying, 
 " 'T is thine ! thy bridal gift the day I possess thee." 
 
 Bhanavar trembled at the sight of the Jewel, and its 
 redness was to her as the blood of Zurvan and Almeryl. 
 She stretched her hand out for it, and cried, " This day, 
 my lord, make it mine." 
 
 So, the Vizier said, " Nay, what I have spoken will I keep 
 to ; it has cost me much." 
 
 Bhanavar looked at him, and uttered in a soft tone, 
 "Truly it has cost thee much." 
 
 Then she exclaimed, as in play, " See me, how I look by 
 its beam." And in her guile she snatched the Jewel from 
 him, and held it to her brow. Then Aswarak started from 
 her and feared her, for the red light of the Jewel glowed, and 
 darkened the chamber with its beam, darkening all save the 
 lustre that was on the visage of Bhanavar. He shouted, 
 ■" What 's this ! Art thou a sorceress ? " 
 
 She removed the Jewel, and ceased glaring on him, and 
 said, " Nothing but thy poor slave ! " 
 
 Then he coaxed her to give him the Jewel, and she would 
 not ; he commanded her peremptorily, and she hesitated ; so 
 he grasped her tightened hand, aiid his face loured with 
 wrath ; yet she withheld the Jewel from him laughing ; and 
 he was stirred to extreme wrath, and drew from his girdle 
 the naked scimitar, and menaced her with it. And he looked 
 mighty ; but she dreaded him little, and stood her full height 
 before him, daring him, and she was as the tigress defending 
 a cub from a wilder beast. Now when he was about to call 
 in the armed slaves of the palace, she said, " I warn thee, 
 Yizier Aswarak ! tempt me not to match them that serve me 
 with them that serve thee." 
 
 He ground his teeth in fury, crying, " A conspiracy ! and 
 
64 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 in the harem ! Now, thou traitress ! the logic of the lash 
 shall be tried upon thee.'' And he roared, " Ho ! ye without 
 there !— ho ! " 
 
 But ere the slaves had entered Bhanavar ruhhed the 
 Jewel on her bosom, muttering, " I have forborne till now ! 
 Now wUl I have a sacrifice, though I be it." And rubbing 
 the Jewel, she sang,— 
 
 Either ! hither ! 
 
 Come to your Qneen ; 
 Come through the gray -wall, 
 Come through the green ! 
 
 There was heard a noise like the noise of a wind coming 
 down a narrow gorge above falling waters, a hissing and a 
 rushing of wings, and behold ! Bhanavar was circled by rings 
 and rings of serpent-folds that glowed round her, twisted 
 each in each, with the fierceness of iire, she like a flame 
 rising up white in the midst of them. The black slaves, 
 when they had lifted the curtain of the harem-chamber, 
 shrieked to see her, and Aswarak crouched at her feet with 
 the aspect of an angry beast carved in stone. Then Bhanavar 
 loosed on either of the slaves a serpent, saying, " What these 
 have seen they shall not say." And while the sweat dropped 
 heavily from the forehead of Aswarak, she stepped out of 
 the circle of serpents, singing, — 
 
 Over ! over ! 
 
 Hie to the lake ! 
 Sleep with the left eye, 
 
 Keep the right awake. 
 
 Then the serpents spread with a great whirr, and flew 
 through the high window and the walls as they had come, 
 and she said to the Vizier, "What now ? Fearest thou? I 
 have spared thee, thou that madest me desolate I and thy 
 slaves are a sacrifice for thee. Now this I ask : Where lies 
 my beloved, the Prince my husband? Speak nothing of 
 him, save the place of his burial 1 " 
 
THE STOET OF BHANAVAE. 65 
 
 So, he told her, '• In the burial-ground of the great prison." 
 
 She rolled her eyes on the Vizier darkly, exclaiming, 
 
 " Even where the felons lie entombed, he lieth ! " And she 
 
 began to pant, pale with what she had done, and leaned to 
 
 the floor, and called, — 
 
 Yellow stripe, •with freckle red, 
 
 Coil and curl,' and watch, by my head. 
 
 And a serpent with yellow stripes and red freckles came 
 like a javelin down to her, and coiled and curled round her 
 head, and she slept an hour. When she arose the Vizier 
 was yet there, sitting with folded knees. So she sped the 
 serpent to the Lake Karatis, and called her women to her, 
 and went to an inner room, and drew an outer robe and 
 a vest over that she had on, and passed the Vizier, and said, 
 " Art thou not rejoiced in thy bride, O Aswarak ? 'T was a 
 wondrous clemency, hers 1 Now but four more days and 
 thou claimest her. Say nothing of what thou hast seen, or 
 thou wilt shortly see nothing further to say, my master." 
 
 So, she left the Vizier sitting still in that chamber, and 
 mounted a mule, attended by slaves on foot before and 
 behind her, and passed through the streets till she came to 
 the shop of Ebn Koulchook. The King was in disguise at 
 the extremity of the shop, and while she examined this and 
 that of the precious stones, Bhanavar for a moment made 
 bare the beauty of her face, and love's fires took fast hold of 
 the King, and he cried, " I marvel not at the eloquence of 
 the porter." 
 
 Now, she made Ebn Eoulchook bring to her a circlet of 
 gold, with a hoUow in the frontal centre, and fit into that 
 hollow the Serpent JeweL So, while she laughed and chatted 
 with her women Bhanavar lifted the circlet, and made her 
 countenance wholly bare even to the neck and the beginning 
 slope of the bosom, and fixed the circlet to her head with the 
 Jewel burning on her brow. Then when he beheld the glory 
 of excelling loveliness that she was, and the splendour in her 
 
.66 THE SHAVI2sra OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 eyes under the Jewel, the King shouted and parted with his 
 disguise, and Ebn Eoulchook and the women and slaves with 
 Bhanavar fled to the courtyard that was behind the shop, 
 leaving Bhanavar alone with the King. Surely Bhanavar 
 returned not to the dwelling of the Vizier. 
 
 Now, the King Mashalleed espoused Bhanavar, and she 
 became his queen and ruled him, and her word was the dictate 
 of the land. Then caused she the body of Almeryl, with 
 the severed head of the Prince, to be disinterred, and entombed 
 secretly in the palace ; and she had lamps lit in the vault, 
 and the pall spread, and the readers of the Koran to read by 
 the tomb ; and then stole to the tomb hourly, in the day and 
 in the night, wailing of him and her utter misery, repeating 
 verses at the side of the tomb, and they were, — 
 
 Take me to thee ! 
 Like the deep-rooted tree, 
 My life is half in earth, and draws 
 Thence all sweetness ; oh may my being pause 
 Soon beside thee ! 
 
 Welcome me soon ! 
 As to the queenly moon, 
 Man's homage to my beauty sets ; 
 Yet am I a rose- shrub budding regrets : 
 Welcome me soon. 
 Soul of my soul! 
 Have me not half, but whole. 
 Dear dust, thou art my eyes, my breath ! 
 Draw me to thee down the dark sea of death. 
 Soul of my soul ! 
 
 And she sang : 
 
 Sad are they who drink life's cup 
 
 Till they have come to the bitter-sweet : 
 Better at once to toss it up, 
 
 And trample it beneath the feet ; 
 For venom-charged as serpents' eggs 
 'T is then, and knows not other char o-e. 
 Early, early, early, have I reached the dregs 
 Of life, and loathe and love the bitter-sweet, revenge! 
 
THE STOET OF BHA.NAVAE. 67 
 
 Then turned she aside, and sang musingly : 
 
 I came to his arms like the flower of the sprinj,', 
 And he was my bird of the radiant wing : 
 He flutter'd above me a moment, and won 
 The bliss of my breast as a beam of the sun, 
 Untouoh'd and untasted till then — 
 
 The voice in her throat was like a drowning creature, and she 
 rose up, and chanted wildly : 
 
 I weep again ? 
 What play is this ? for the thing is dead in me long since : 
 Will all the reviving rain 
 Of heaven bring me back my Prince ? 
 But I, when I weep, when I weep, 
 Blood will I weep ! 
 And when I weep. 
 Sons for fathers shall weep ; 
 Mothers for sons shall weep j 
 Wives for husbands shall weep ! 
 Earth shall complain of floods red and deep, 
 When I weep ! 
 
 Upon that she ran up a secret passage to her chamber and 
 rubbed the Jewel, and called the serpents, to delight her soul 
 ■with the sight of her power, and rolled and sported madly 
 among them, clutching them by the necks till their little thin 
 red tongues hung out, and their eyes were as discoloured 
 blisters of venom. Then she arose, and her arms and neck 
 and lips were glazed with the slime of the serpents, and she 
 flung oflf her robes to the close-fitting silken inner vest looped 
 across her bosom with pearls, and whirled in a mazy dance- 
 measure among them, and sang melancholy melodies, making 
 them delirious, fascinating them ; and they followed her round 
 .and round, in twines and twists and curves, with arched heads 
 and stiffened tails; and the chamber swam like an undulating 
 sea of shifting sapphire lit by the moon of midnight. Not 
 before the moon of midnight was in the sky ceased £hanavar 
 
 F 2 
 
63 THE SHATING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 sporting with, the serpents, and she sank to sleep exhausted 
 in their midst. 
 
 Such was the occupation of the Queen of Mashalleed when 
 he came not to her. The women and slaves of the palace 
 dreaded her, and the King himself was her very slave. 
 
 Meanwhile the plot of her unforgivingness against Aswarak 
 ripened : and the Vizier beholding the bride he had lost 
 Queen of Mashalleed his master, it was as she conceived, 
 that his heart was eaten with jealousy and fierce rage. 
 Bhanavar as she came across him spake mildly, and gave him 
 gentle looks, sad glances, suffering not his fires to abate, the 
 torment of his love to cool. Each night he awoke with a 
 serpent in his bed; the beam of her beauty was as the 
 constant bite of a serpent, poisoning his blood, and he deluded 
 his soul with the belief that Bhanavar loved him notwith- 
 standing, and that she was seized forcibly from him by the 
 King. "Otherwise," thought he, "why loosed she not a 
 serpent from the host to strangle me even as yonder black 
 slaves 1 " Bhanavar know the mind of Aswarak, and con- 
 sidered, " The King is cunning and weak, a slave to his 
 desires, and in the bondage of the jewel, my beauty. The 
 Vizier is unscrupulous, a hatcher of intrigues ; but that he 
 dreads me and hopes a favour of me, he would have wrought 
 against me ere now. 'T is then a combat 'twixt him and me. 
 my soul, art thou dreaming of a fair youth that was the 
 bliss of thy bosom night and day, night and day? The 
 Vizier shall die ! " 
 
 One morning, and it was a year from the day she had 
 become Queen of Mashalleed, Bhanavar sprang up quickly 
 from the side of the King ; and he was gazing on her in 
 amazement and loathing. She flew to her chamber, chasing 
 forth her women, and ran to a mirror. Therein she saw 
 three lines that were on her brow, lines of age, and at the 
 corners of her mouth and about her throat a slackness of skin, 
 the skin no longer its soft rosy white, but withered brown 
 as leaves of the forest. She shrieked, and fell back in a 
 
THE STOEY OF BHANAVAE. 69 
 
 Bwoon of horror. When she recovered, she ran to the mirror 
 again, and it was the same sight. And she. rose from swoon- 
 ing a third time, and still she heheld the visage of a hag ; 
 nothing of heauty there save the hair and the brilliant eyes. 
 Then summoned she the serpents in a circle, and the number 
 of them was that of the days in the year : and she bared her 
 wrist and seized one, a grey-silver with sapphire spots, and 
 hissed at him till he hissed, and foam whitened the lips of 
 each. Thereupon she cried : 
 
 Treble-tongue and throat of hell, 
 What is come upon me, tell 1 
 
 And the Serpent replied, 
 
 Jewel Queen ! beauty's price ! 
 'T is the time for sacrifice ! 
 
 She grasped another, one of leaden colour, with yellonr 
 bars and silver crescents, and cried : 
 
 Treble-tongne and throat of fire, 
 Name the creature ye require ! 
 
 And the Serpent replied : 
 
 Enby lip ! poison tooth ! 
 We are hungry for a youth. 
 
 She grasped another that writhed in her fingers like liquid 
 emerald, and cried : 
 
 Treble-tongue and throat of glue ! 
 How to know the one that 'a due ? 
 
 And the Serpent replied : 
 
 Breast of snow ! baleful bliss ! 
 He that wooing wins a kiss. 
 
 She clutched one at her elbow, a hairy serpent with yellow 
 languid eyes in flame-sockets and livid-lustrous length — a 
 disease to look on, and cried : 
 
 Treble-tongue and throat of gaU ! 
 There 's a youth beneath the pall. 
 
70 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 And iJie Serpent replied : 
 
 Brilliant eye ! bloody tear ! 
 He has fed us for a year. 
 
 She squeezed that hairy serpent till her finger-points 
 ■whitened in his neck, and he dropped lifelessly, crying : 
 
 Treble-tongues and things of mud ! 
 Sprang my beauty from his blood ? 
 
 And the Serpents rose erect, replying : 
 
 Yearly one of us must die ; 
 
 Yearly for us dieth one ; 
 Else the Queen an ugly lie 
 
 Lives till all our lives be done! 
 
 Bhanavar stood up, and hurried them to Karatis. When 
 she was alone she fell towards the floor, repeating, " 'T is the 
 Curse ! " Suddenly she thought, " Yet another year my 
 beauty shall be nourished by my vengeance, yet another ! 
 And, Vizier, the kiss shall be thine, the kiss of doom ; for 
 I have doomed thee ere now. Thou, thou shalt restore me 
 to my beauty : that only love I now my Prince is lost." 
 
 So, she veiled her face in the close veil of the virtuous, 
 and despatched Ukleet, whom she exalted in the palace of 
 the King, to the Vizier ; and Ukleet stood before Aswarak, 
 and said, " Vizier, my mistress truly is longing for you 
 with excessive longing, and in what she now undergoeth is 
 forgotten an evil done by you to her ; and she bids you come 
 and concert with her a scheme deliberately as to the getting 
 rid of this tyrant who is an affliction to her, and her life is 
 lessened by him." 
 
 The Vizier was deceived by his passion, and he chuckled 
 and exclaimed, " My very dream ! and to mind me of her, 
 then, she sent the serpents ! Wullahy, in the matter of 
 women, wait ! Por, as the poet declareth : 
 
 "T, is vanity our souls for saoh to vex j 
 Patience is a harvest of the sex.' 
 
THE STORY OF BHANAVAR. 71 
 
 And they fret themselves not overlong for husbands that are 
 gone, these j'oimg beauties. I know them. Tell the Queen 
 of Serpents I am even hers to the sole of my foot." 
 
 So, it was understood between them that the Vizier should 
 be at the gate of the garden of the palace that night, dis- 
 guised ; and the Vizier rejoiced, thinking, " If she have not 
 the Jewel with her, it shall go ill with me, and I foiled this 
 time!" 
 
 Ukleet then proceeded to the house of Boolp the broker, 
 fronting the gutted ruins where Bhanavar had been happy in 
 her innocence with Almeryl, the mountain prince, her hus- 
 band. Boolp was engaged haggling with a slave-merchant 
 the price of a fair slave, and Ukleet said to him, "Yet 
 awhile delay, Boolp, ere you expend a fraction of treasure, 
 for truly a mighty bargain of jewels is waiting for you at the 
 palace of my lord the King. So come thither with all your 
 money-bags of gold and silver, and your securities, and your 
 bonds and dues in writing, for 't is the favourite of the King 
 requireth you to complete a bargain with her, and the price 
 of her jewels is the price of a kingdom." 
 
 Said Boolp, "Hearing is compliance in such a case." 
 
 And Ukleet continued, " What a fortune is yours, 
 Boolp ! truly the tide of fortune setteth into your lap. Fail 
 not, wullahy ! to come with all you possess, or if you have 
 not enough when she requireth it to complete the bargain, 
 my mistress will break off with you. I know not if she 
 intend even other game for you, lucky one ! " 
 
 Boolp hitched his girdle and shrugged, saying, " 'T is 
 she will fail, I wot, — she, in having therewith to complete 
 the bargain between us. Wa ! wa ! — there ! I 've done 
 this before now. Wullahy ! if she have not enough of her 
 rubies and pearls to outweigh me and my gold, go to, Boolp 
 will school her ! What says the poet 3 — 
 
 ' Earth and ocean search, East, West, and North, to the South, 
 None will match the bright rubies and pearls of her mouth.' 
 
72 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 " Aha ! what ? Ukleet ! And he says : 
 
 ' The lovely ones a bargain made 
 With me, and I renounced my trade, 
 Half -rained ; " Ah ! " said they, "return and win ! 
 To even scales ourselves we will throw in ! '" 
 
 How SO 1 But let discreetness reign and security flou- 
 risheth ! " 
 
 Ukleet nodded at him, and repeated the distich : 
 
 Men of worth and men of wits 
 
 Shoot with two arrows, and make two bits. 
 
 So, he arranged with Boolp the same appointment as with 
 the Vizier, and returned to Queen Bhanavar. 
 
 Now, in the dark of night Aswarak stood within the gate 
 of the palace-garden of Mashalleed that was ajar, and a hand 
 from a veiled figure reached to him, and he caught it, in the 
 fulness of his delusion, crying, "Thou, my Queen?" But 
 the hand signified silence, and drew him past the tank of 
 the garden and through a court of the palace into a passage 
 lit with lamps, and on into a close-curtained chamber, 
 and beyond a heavy curtain into another, a circular passage 
 descending between black hangings, and at the bottom a 
 square vault draped with black, and in it precious woods 
 burning, oils in censers, and the odour of ambergris and 
 myrrh and musk floating in clouds, and the sight of the 
 Vizier was for a time obscured by the thickness of the 
 incenses floating. As he became familiar with the place, he 
 saw marked therein a board spread at one end with viands 
 and wines, and the nosegay in a water-vase, and cups of 
 gold and a service of gold, — ^every preparation for feasting 
 mightily. So the soul of Aswarak leapt, and he cried, " Now 
 unveil thyself, moon of our meeting, my mistress ! " 
 
 The voice of Bhanavar answered him, " Not till we have 
 feasted and drunken, and it seemeth little in our eyes. 
 Surely the chamber is secure : could I have chosen one 
 better for our meeting, Aswarak ] " 
 
THE STORY OF BHANAVAR. 73 
 
 Upon that he entreated her to sit with him to the feast, 
 but she cried, " Nay 1 delay till the other is come." 
 
 Cried he, " Another 1 " 
 
 But she exclaimed, " Hush ! " and saying thus went 
 forward to the foot of the passage, and Boolp was there, 
 following Ukleet, both of them under a weight of bags and 
 boxes. So she welcomed the broker, and led him to the 
 feast, he coughing and wheezing and blinking, unwitting the 
 vexation of the Vizier, nor that one other than himself was 
 there. When Boolp heard the voice of the Yizier, in 
 astonishment, addressing him, he started back and fell upon 
 his bags, and the task of coaxing him to the board was as 
 that of haling a distempered beast to the water. Then they 
 sat and feasted together, and Ukleet with them; and i£ 
 Aswarak or Boolp waxed impatient of each other's presence, 
 he whispered to them, " Only wait ! see what she reserveth 
 for you." And Bhanavar mused with herself, " Truly that 
 reserved shall be not long coming 1 " So they drank, and 
 wine got the mastery of Aswarak, so that he made no secret 
 of his passion, and began to lean to her and verse 
 extemporaneously in her ear ; and she stinted not in her 
 replies, answering to his urgency in girlish guise, sighing 
 behind the veil, as if under love's influence. And the 
 Vizier pressed close, and sang : 
 
 'T is said that love brings beauty to the cheeks 
 Of thetn that love and meet, bat mine are pale ; 
 
 For merciless disdain on me she wreaks, 
 
 And hides her visage from my passionate tale : 
 
 I have her only, only when she speaks. 
 
 Bhanavar, unveil ! 
 
 I have thee, and I have thee not ! Like one 
 
 Lifted by spirits to a shining dale 
 In Paradise, who seeks to leap and run 
 
 And clasp the beauty, but his foot doth fail, 
 For he is blind : ah ! then more wof al none ! 
 Bhanavar, unveil! 
 
'7i THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 lie thrust the wine-oup to her, and she lifted it under her 
 veil, and then sang, in answer to him ; 
 
 My beauty ! for thy worth 
 
 Thank the Vizier ! 
 He gives thee second birth : 
 
 Thank the Vizier ! 
 His blooming life without a fault: 
 
 Thank the Vizier! 
 Is at thy foot in this blest vault : 
 
 Thank the Vizier ! 
 He knoweth not he telleth such a truth, 
 
 Thank the Vizier ! 
 That thou, thro' him, spring'st fresh in blushing youth : 
 
 Thank the Vizier ! 
 He knoweth little now, but he shall soon be wise : 
 
 Thank the Vizif r ! 
 This meeting bringeth bloom to cheeks and lips and eyes : 
 
 Thank the Vizier ! 
 O my beloved in this blest vault, if I love thee for aye. 
 
 Thank the Vizier ! 
 Thine am I, thine ' and learns his soul what it has taught — to die : 
 
 Thank the Vizier ! 
 
 Now, Aswarak divined not her meaning, and was en- 
 raptured with her, and cried, " Wullahy ! so and such thy 
 love ! Thine am I, thine ! And what a music is thy voice, 
 my mistress ! 'T were a bliss to Eblis in his torment 
 could he hear it. Life of my head ! and is thy beauty 
 increased by me 1 Nay, thou flatterer ! " Then he said to 
 her, " Away with these importunate dogs ! 't is the very 
 hour of tenderness ! Wullahy ! they offend my nostril : 
 stung am I at the sight of them." 
 
 She rejoined, — 
 
 Aswarak ! star of the mom ! 
 Thou that wakenest my beauty from night and scorn. 
 
 Thy time is near, and when 't is come, 
 Iiong will a jackal howl that this thy request had been dumb. 
 
 Aswarak ! star of the morn ! 
 
THE STORY OF BHANAVAR. 75 
 
 So, the Vizier imaged in tis mind the neglect of Mashalleed 
 from these words, and said, " Leave the King to my care, 
 Queen of Serpents, and expend no portion of thy power on 
 him ; but hasten now the going of these fellows ; my heart 
 is straitened hy them, and I, wullahy ! would gladly see 
 a serpent round the necks of either.'' 
 
 She continued, — 
 
 Aawarak ! star of the mom ! 
 Lo ! the star must die when spleudider light is born ; 
 
 In stronger floods the beam will drown : 
 Shrink, thou puny orb, and dread to bring me my crown, 
 
 Aswarak ! star of the mom ! 
 
 Then said she, " Hark awhile at those two ! There 's a 
 disputation between them." 
 
 So, they hearkened, and Ukleet was pledging Boolp, and 
 passing the cup to him ; but a sullenness had seized the 
 broker, and he refused it, and Ukleet shouted, " Out, boon- 
 fellow ! and what a company art thou, that thou ref usest the 
 pledge of friendliness 1 Plague on all sulkers ! " 
 
 And the broker, the old miser, obstinate as are the half- 
 fuddled, began to mumble, " I came not here to drink, 
 Ukleet, but to make a bargain; and my bags be here, and I 
 like not yonder veil, nor the presence of yonder Vizier, nor 
 the secresy of this. Now, by the Prophet and that interdict 
 of his, rU drink no further." 
 
 And Ukleet said, " Let her not mark your want of fellow- 
 ship, or 't wUl go ill with you. Here be fine wines, spirited 
 wines ! choice flavours ! and you drink not ! Where 's the 
 soul in you, Boolp, and where 's the life in you, that you 
 yield her to the Vizier utterly 1 Surely she waiteth a gaUant 
 sign from you, so challenge her cheerily.'' 
 
 Quoth Boolp, " I care not. Shall I leave my wealth and 
 all I possess void of eyes 1 and she so that I recognise her 
 not behind the veil 1 " 
 
 Ukleet pushed the old miser jeeringly : " You not recognise 
 
76 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 her ] Oh, Boolp, a pretty dissimulation ! Pledge her now a 
 cup to the snatching of the veil, and bethink you of a fitting 
 verse, a seemly compliment, — something sugary." 
 
 Then Boolp smoothed his head, and was bothered; and 
 tapped it, and commenced repeating to Bhanavar : 
 
 I saw the moon behind a cloud. 
 And I was cold as one that 's in his shrond : 
 And I cried, Moon ! — 
 
 Here Ukleet chorused him, " Moon ! " and Boolp was 
 deranged in what he had to say, and gasped, — 
 
 Moon ! I cried, Moon ! — and I cried, Moon ! 
 
 Then the Yizier and TJkleet laughed till they fell on their 
 backs ; so Bhanavar took up his verse where he left it, 
 singing,— 
 
 And to the cry 
 The Moon made fair the following reply : 
 'Dotard, be still ! for thy desire 
 Is to embrace the fierce consuming fire.' 
 
 Then said Boolp, " my mistress, the laws of conviviality 
 have till now restrained me ; but my coming here was on a 
 business, and with me my bags, in good faith. So let us 
 transact this matter of the jewels, and after that the song 
 of— 
 
 ' Thou and I 
 A cup will try,' 
 even as thou wilt." 
 
 Bhanavar threw aside her outer robe and veil, and 
 appeared in a dress of sumptuous blue, spotted with gold 
 bees ; her face veiled with a veil of gauzy silver, and she 
 was as the moon in summer heavens, and strode majestically 
 forward, saying, " The jewels ? 't is but one. Behold ! " 
 
 The lamps were extinguished, and in her hand was the 
 glory of the Serpent Jewel, no other light save it in the 
 vaulted chamber. 
 
THE STOET OF BHANAVAE. 77 
 
 So, tlie old miser perked his chin and brows, and cried 
 wondering, " I know it, this Jewel, my mistress." 
 
 She turned to the Vizier, and said, lifting the red gloom 
 of the Jewel on him, "And thoul" 
 
 Aswarak ate his under-lip, and answered nothing. 
 
 Then she cried, " There 's much ye know in common, ye 
 two." 
 
 Thereupon Bhanavar passed from the feast on to the 
 centre of the vault, and stood before the tomh of Almeryl, 
 and drew the cloth from it ; and they saw by the glow of 
 the Jewel that it was a tomb. When she had mounted 
 some steps at the side of the tomb, she beckoned them to 
 come, crying, in a voice of sobs, "This which is here, like- 
 wise ye may Icnow." 
 
 So, they came with the coldness of a mystery in their 
 blood, and looked as she looked intently over the tomb. 
 The lid was of glass, and through the glass of the lid the 
 Jewel flung a dark rosy ray on the features of Almeryl lying 
 beneath it. 
 
 Ifow, the miser was perplexed at the sight ; but Aswarak 
 stepped backward in defiance, bellowing, " 'T was for this I 
 •was tricked to come here ! Is 't fooling me a second time ? 
 By Allah ! look to it ; not a second time will Aswarak be 
 fooled." 
 
 Then she ran to him and exclaimed, " Fooled 1 For what 
 €am'st thou to me 1 " 
 
 And he, foaming and grinding his breath, " Thou woman 
 of wiles ! thou serpent ! but I '11 be gone from here." 
 
 So, she faltered in blandishing sweetness, knowing him 
 doomed, and loving to dally with him in her wickedness, 
 " Indeed if thou cam'st not for my kiss — " 
 
 Then said the Vizier, " Yet a further guile ! Was 't not 
 an outrage to bring me here 1 " 
 
 She faltered again, leaning the fair length of her limbs on 
 a couch, " 'T is ill that we are not alone, else could these 
 lips convince thee well : else indeed ! " 
 
78 THE SHAVING 0¥ SHAGPAT. 
 
 And the Vizier cried, " Chase then these intruders from 
 us, thou sorceress, and above all serpents in power ! for 
 thou poisonest with a touch ; and the eye and the ear alike- 
 take in thy poisons greedily. Thou overcomest the senses, 
 the reason, the judgement ; yea vindictiveness, 'wrath,, 
 suspicions ; leading the soul captive with a breath of thine, 
 as 't were a breeze from the gardens of bliss." 
 
 Bhanavar changed her manner a little, lisping, " And why 
 that starting from the tomb of a dead harmless youth % 
 And that abuse of me 1 " 
 
 So, he peered at her inquiringly, echoing " Why 1 " 
 
 And she repeated, as a child might repeat it, " Why 
 that?" 
 
 Then the Vizier smote his forehead in the madness of 
 utter perplexity, changing his eye from Bhanavar to the 
 tomb of Almeryl, doubting her truth, yet dreading to 
 disbelieve it. So she saw him fast enmeshed in her 
 subtleties, and clapped her hands crying, " Come again with 
 me to the tomb, and note if there be aught I am to blame 
 in, Aswarak, and plight thyself to me beside it." 
 
 He did nothing save to widen his eye at her sQi]iewhat; 
 and she said, " The two are yonside the tomb, and they liear 
 us not, and see us not by this light of the Jewel 3' so come up 
 to it boldly with nie ; free thy mind of its doubt, and for a 
 reconcilement kiss me on the way." 
 
 Aswarak moved not forward ; but as Bhanavar laid the 
 Jewel in her bosom he tore the veil from her darkened head, 
 and caught her to him and kissed her. Then Bhanavar laughed 
 and shouted, "How is it with thee. Vizier Aswarak?" 
 
 He was tottering, and muttered, '"T is a death-chill hath 
 struck me even to my marrow.'' 
 
 So, she drew the Jewel forth once more, and rubbed it 
 ablaze, and the noise of the Serpents neared ; and they streamed 
 into the vault and under it in fiery jets, surrounding Bhanavar, 
 and whizzing about her till in their velocity they were indi- 
 visible ; and she stood as a fountain of fire clothed in flashes 
 
THE STOEY OF BHANAVAE. T!> 
 
 of the underworld, the new loveliness of her face growing 
 vivid violet like an incessant lightning above them. Then 
 stretched she her two hands, and sang to the Serpents : — - 
 
 Hither, hither, to the feast 1 
 Hither to the sacrifice ! 
 Virtue for my sake hath ceased : 
 Now to make an end of Vice ! 
 
 Twiated-tail and treble-tongue, 
 Swelling length and greedy maw ! 
 I have had a horrid wrong ; 
 Retribution is the law ! 
 
 Te that suck'd my youthful lord, 
 Now shall make another meal : 
 Seize the black Vizier abhorr'd ; 
 Seize him ! seize him throat and heel ! 
 
 Set your serpent wits to find 
 Tortures of a new device ; 
 Hare him ! have him heart and mind ! 
 Hither to the sacrifice ! 
 
 Then she whirled with them round and round as a tempest- 
 whirls ; and when she had wound them to a fury, lo, she burst 
 from the hissing circle and dragged Ukleet from the vault 
 into the passage, and blocked the entrance to the vault. So 
 was Queen Bhanavar avenged. 
 
 l^ow, she said to Ukleet, " Eansom presently the broker, — 
 him they will not harm," and hastened to the King that he 
 might see her in herT)eauty. The King reclined on cushions 
 in the harem with a fair slave-girl, newly from the mountains, 
 toying with the pearls in her locks. Then thought Bhanavar, 
 " Let him not slight me ! " So she drew a rose-coloured veil 
 over her face and sat beside Mashalleed. The King continued 
 his fondling with the girl, saying to her, "Was there no 
 destiny foretold of thy coming to the palace of the King ta 
 rule it, Nashta, starbeam in the waters ! and hadst thou no 
 dream of it 1 " 
 
80 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 Bhanavar struck tlie King's arm, but lie noticed her not, 
 and N aslita laughed. Then Bhanavar controlled her tremhling 
 and said, "A word, King ! and vouchsafe me a hearing." 
 
 The King replied languidly, still looking on Nashta, " 'T is 
 a command that the voice of none that are crabbed and hideous 
 be heard in the harem, and I find comfort in it, Nashta ! 
 but speak thou, my fountain of sweet-dropping lute-notes !" 
 
 Bhanavar caught the King's hand and said, "I have to 
 speak with thee ; 't is the Queen. Chase from us this little 
 wax puppet a space." 
 
 The King disengaged his hand and leaned it over to Nashta, 
 who began playing with it, and fitting on it a ring, giggling. 
 Then, as he answered nothing, Bhanavar came nearer and 
 slapped him on the cheek. Mashalleed started to his feet, 
 and his hand grasped his girdle ; but that wrathfulness was 
 stayed when he beheld the veil slide from her visage. So he 
 cried, " My Queen ! my soul ! " 
 
 She pointed to Nashta, and the King chid the girl, and sent 
 her forth lean with his shifted displeasure, as a kitten slinks 
 wet from a fish-pond where it had thought to catch a great 
 fish. Then Bhanavar exclaimed, " There was a change in thy 
 manner to me before that creature." 
 
 He sought to dissimulate with her, but at last he con- 
 fessed, " I was truly this morning the victim of a sorcery." 
 
 Thereupon she cried, " And thou wert angered to find me 
 not by thee on the couch, but one in my place, a hag of 
 ugliness. Hear then the case, Mashalleed ! . Surely that 
 old crone had a dream, and it was that if she slept one night 
 by the King she would arise fresh in health from her ills, and 
 with powers lasting a year to heal others of all maladies with 
 a touch. So she came to me, petitioning me to bring this 
 about. my lord the King, did I well in being privy to her 
 desire?" 
 
 The King could not doubt this story of Bhanavar, seeing 
 her constant loveliness, and the arch of her flashing brow, 
 and the oval of her cheek and chin smooth as milk. So 
 
THE STORY OF BHANAVAR. 81 
 
 he said, " my Queen ! I had thought to go, as I must, 
 gladly; but how shall I go, knowing thy truth, thy beauty 
 unchanged ; thee faithful, a follower of the injunctions of 
 the Prophet in charitable deeds 1 " 
 
 Cried she, " And whither goeth my lord, and on what 
 errand 1 " 
 
 He answered, " The people of a province southward have 
 raised the standard of revolt and mocked my authority ; they 
 have been joined by certain of the Arab chiefs subject to my 
 dominion, and have defeated my armies. 'T is to subdue 
 them I go ; yea, to crush them. Yet, wullahy ! I know not. 
 Care I it kingdoms fall away, and nations, so that I have 
 thee 1 Nay, let all pass, so that thou remain by me." 
 
 Bhanavar paced from him to a mirror, and frowned at the 
 reflection of her fairness, thinking, " Such had he spoken to 
 the girl Nashta, or another, this King ! " And she thought, 
 '• I have been beloved by the noblest three on earlh ; I will 
 ask no more of love ; vengeance I have had. 'T is time that 
 I demand of my beauty nothing save power, and 1 will make 
 this King my stepping-stone to power, rejoicing my soul with 
 the shock of armies." 
 
 Now, she persuaded Mashalleed to take her with him on 
 his expedition against the Arabs ; and they set forth, heading 
 a great assemblage of warriors, southward to the land 
 bordering the Desert. The King credited the suggestions of 
 Bhanavar, that Aswarak had disappeared to join the rebels, 
 and pressed forward in his eagerness to inflict a chastisement 
 signal in swiftness upon them and that traitor ; so eagerly 
 Mashalleed journeyed to his army in advance, that the main 
 body, with Bhanavar, was left by him long behind. She had 
 encouraged him, saying, " I shall love thee much if thou art 
 speedy in vyinning success." The Queen was housed on an 
 elephant, harnessed with gold, and -with silken purple trap- 
 pings; from the rose-hued curtains of her palanquin she 
 looked on a mighty march of warriors, filling the extent of 
 the plains ; all day she fed her sight on them. Surely the 
 
 a 
 
82 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 story of lier beauty became noised among tlie guards of ber 
 person tbat rode and ran beneath the royal elephant, till the 
 soldiers of Mashalleed spake but of the beauty of the Queen, 
 and Bhanavar was as a moon shining over that sea of 
 men. 
 
 Now, they had passed the cultivated fields, and were 
 halting by the ford of a river bordering the Desert, when lo ! 
 a warrior on the yonside, riding in a cloud of dust, and his 
 shout was, " The King Mashalleed is defeated, and flying.'' 
 Then the Captains of the host witnessed to the greatness of 
 Allah, and were troubled with a dread, fearing to advance ; 
 but Bhanavar commanded a horse to be saddled for her, and 
 mounted it, and plunged through the ford singly ; so they 
 followed her, and all day she rode forward on horseback, 
 touching neither food nor drink. By night she was a league 
 beyond the foremost of them, and fell upon the King en- 
 camped in the Desert, with the loose remnant of his forces. 
 Mashalleed, when he had looked on her, forgot his affliction, 
 and stood up to embrace her, but Bhanavar spurned him, 
 crying, " A time for this in the time of disgrace f " Then 
 she said, " How came it 1 " 
 
 He answered, "There was a Chief among the enemy, an 
 Arab, before the terror of whom my people fled." 
 
 Cried she, " Conquer him on the morrow, and till then 
 I eat not, drink not, sleep not." 
 
 On the morrow Mashalleed again encountered the rebels, 
 and Bhanavar, seated on her elephant, from a sand-hillock 
 under a palm, beheld the prowess of the Arab Chief and the 
 tempest of battle that he was. She thought, "I have seen 
 but one mighty in combat like that one, — Euark, the Chief 
 of the Beni-Asser." Thereupon she coursed toward the 
 King, even where the arrows gloomed like locusts, thick and 
 dark in the air aloof, and said, " The victory is with yonder 
 Chief ! Hurl on him three of thy sons of valour." 
 
 The three were selected, and made onslaught on this 
 Chief, and perished under his arm. 
 
THE STOET OF BHANAVAR. 83 
 
 Bhanavar saw them fall, and exclaimed, " Anotter attack 
 on him, and with thrice three ! " 
 
 Her will was the mandate of Mashalleed, and these like- 
 wise were ordered forth, and closed on the Chief, hut he 
 darted from their toils and wheeled ahout them, spearing 
 them one by one till the nine were in the dust. Bhanavar 
 compressed her dry lips and muttered to the King, " Head 
 thou a body against him." 
 
 Mashalleed gathered round his standard the chosen of his 
 warriors, and smoothed his beard, and headed them. Then 
 the Chief struck his lance behind him, and stretched rapidly 
 a half-circle across the sand, and halted on a knoll. AVhen 
 they neared him he retreated in a further half-circle, and 
 continued this wise, wasting the fury of Mashalleed, till he 
 stood among his followers. There, as the King hesitated and 
 prepared to retreat, he and the others of the tribe levelled 
 their lances and hung upon his rear, fretting them, slaughter- 
 ing captains of the troop. When Mashalleed turned to face 
 his pursuer, the Chief was alone, immovable on his mare, 
 fronting the ranks. Then Bhanavar taunted the King, and 
 he essayed the capture of that Chief a second time and a 
 third, and it was each time as the first. Bhanavar looked 
 about her with rapid eyes, murmuring, " Oh, what a Chief 
 is he ! Oh that a cloud would fall, a smoke arise, to blind 
 these hosts, that I might sling my serpents on him unseen, 
 for I will not be vanquished, though it be by Euark ! " So 
 she drew to the King, and the altercation between them was 
 fierce in the fury of the battle, he saying, " 'T is a feint of 
 the Chief, this challenge ; and I must succour the left of my 
 army by the well, that he is overmatching with numbers ; " 
 and she, "If thou head them not, then will I, and thou 
 shalt behold a woman do what thou durst not, and lose her 
 love and win her scorn." While they spake the Arabs they 
 looked on seemed to flutter and waver, and the Chief was 
 backing to them, calling to them as 't were words of shame 
 to rally them. Seeing this, Mashalleed charged against the 
 
 G 2 
 
8'i TllE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 Chief once more, and lo ! the Arabs opened to receive him, 
 closing on his band of warriors like waters whitened by the- 
 storm on a fleet of swift-scudding vessels, and there was a 
 dust and a tumult visible, such as is seen in the darkness 
 when a vessel struck by the ligbtning-bolt is sinking, — flashes 
 of steel, lifting of hands, rolling of horsemen and horses. 
 Then Bhanavar groaned aloud, " They are lost ! Shame to 
 us ! only one bope is left — that 't is Euark, this Chief ! " 
 Now, the view of the plain cleared, and with it she beheld 
 the army of Mashalleed broken, the King borne down by a 
 dust of Arabs ; so she unveiled her face and rode on the host 
 with the horsemen that guarded her, glorious with a crown 
 of gold and the glowing Jewel on her brow. "When she was 
 a javelin's flight from them the Arabs shouted and paused in 
 terror, for the light of her head was as the sun setting 
 between clouds of thunder ; but that Chief dashed forward 
 like a flame beaten level by the wind, crying, " Bhanavar ; 
 Bhanavar ! " and she knew the features of Euark ; so she 
 said, "Even I!" And he cried again, "Bhanavar! Bhanavar!" 
 and was as one stricken by a shaft of magic. Then Bhanavar 
 threw on him certain of the horsemen with her, and he 
 suffered them without a sign to surround him and grasp his 
 mare by the bridle-rein, and bring him, disarmed, before the 
 Queen. At sight of Euark a captive the Arabs fell into, 
 confusion, and lost heart, and were speedily chased and 
 scattered from the scene like a loose spray before the wind ; 
 but Mashalleed the King rejoiced mightily and praised 
 Bhanavar, and the whole army of the King praised her, 
 magnifying her. 
 
 Now, with Euark she interchanged no syllable, and said 
 not farewell to him when she departed with Mashalleed, to 
 encounter other tribes ; and the Chief was bound and con- 
 ducted a prisoner to the city of the inland sea, and cast into 
 prison, in expectation of Death the releaser, and continued 
 there wellnigh a year, eating the bitter bread of captivity. 
 In the evening of every seventh day there came to him a 
 
THE STORY OF BHANAVAH. S5 
 
 little mountain girl, that sat by him and leaned a lute to her 
 bosom, singing of the mountain and the desert, but he 
 turned his face from her to the wall. One day she sang of 
 Death the releaser, and Euark thought, " 'T is come 1 she 
 warneth me ! Merciful is Allah ! " On the morning that 
 followed XJkleet entered the cell, and with him three slaves, 
 blacks, armed with scimitars. So Euark stood up and bore 
 witness to his faith, saying, " Swift with the stroke ! " but 
 Ukleet exclaimed, " Fear not ! the end is not yet.'' 
 
 Then said he, "Peace with thee ! These slaves, O Chief, 
 excelling in martial qualities ! surely they 're my retinue, and 
 the retinue of them of my rank in the palace ; and where I 
 go they go ; for the exalted have more shadows than one ! 
 yea, three have they in my case, even very grimly black 
 shadows, whereon the idle expend not laughter, and whoso 
 joketh in their hearing, 't is, wullahy ! the last joke of that 
 person. In such-wise are the powerful known among men, 
 they that stand very prominent in the beams of prosperity ! 
 jS'ow this of myself ; but for thee — of a surety the Queen 
 Bhanavar, my mistress, will be here by the time of the 
 rising of the moon. In the name of Allah ! " Saying that 
 he departed in his greatness, and Euark watched for her 
 ttiat rose in his soul as the moon in the heavens. 
 
 Meanwhile Bhanavar had mused, " 'I is this day, the day 
 when the Serpents desire their due, and the King 
 Mashalleed they shall have ; fer what is life to him but a 
 treachery and a dalliance, and what is my hold on him but 
 this Jewel of the Serpents" He has had the profit of 
 beauty, and he shall yield the penalty : my kiss is for him, 
 my serpent-kiss. And I will release Euark, and espouse 
 him, and war with kings, sultans, emperors, infidels, 
 subduing them till they worship me.'' 
 
 She flashed her figure in the glass, and was lovely therein 
 as one in the light of Paradise ; but ere she reached the 
 King Mashalleed, lo ! the hour of the Serpents had struck, 
 and her beauty melted from her as snow melts from oif the 
 
86 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 rock ; and slie was suddenly haggard in utter unoomeliness, 
 and knew it not, but marched, smiling a grand smile, on to 
 the King. Now as Mashalleed lifted his eyes to her he 
 started amazed, crying, " The hag again ! " and she said, 
 " What of the hag, my lord the King 1 " Thereat he was 
 yet more amazed, and exclaimed, " The hag of ugliness with 
 the voice of Bhanavar ! Has then the Queen lent that 
 loathsomeness her voice also ? " 
 
 Bhanavar chilled a moment, and looked on the faces of the 
 women present, and they were staring at her, the younger 
 ones tittering, and among them Nashta, whom she hated. 
 So she cried, " Away with ye ! " But the King commanded 
 them, " Stay ! " Then the Queen leaned to him, saying, " I 
 will speak with my lord alone ; " whereat he shrank from 
 her, and spat. Ice and flame shivered through the blood of 
 Bhanavar, yet such was her eagerness to give the kiss to 
 Mashalleed, that she leaned to him, still wooing him to her 
 with smiles. Then the King seized her violently, and flung 
 her over the marble floor to the very basin of the fountain, 
 and the crown that was on her brow fell and rolled to the 
 feet of ISTashta. The girl lifted it, laughing, and was in the 
 act of fitting it to her fair head amid the chuckles of her 
 companions, when a slap from the hand of Bhanavar spun 
 her twice round, and she dropped to the marble insensible. 
 The King bellowed in wrath, and ran to Nashta, crying to 
 the Queen, " Surrender that crown to her, foul hag ! " But 
 Bhanavar had bent over the basin of the fountain, and 
 beheld the image of her change therein, and was hurrying 
 from the hall and down the corridors of the palace to the 
 private chamber. So he made bare the steel by his side, 
 and followed her with a number of the harem guard, 
 menacing her, and commanding her to surrender the crown 
 with the Jewel. Ere she could lay hand on a veil, he was 
 beside her, and she was encompassed. In that extremity 
 Blianavar plucked the Jewel from her crown, and rubbed it, 
 calling the Serpents to her. One came, one only, and that 
 
THE STORY OF BHANAVAE. 87 
 
 one would not move from lier to sling himself about tlie neck 
 of Mashalleed, but whirled round her, hissing : 
 
 Every hour a serpent dies, 
 Till we have the sacrifice : 
 Sweeten, sweeten, with thy kiss, 
 Quick ! a soul for Karatis. 
 
 Surely the King bit his breath, marvelling, and his fury 
 became an awful fear, and he fell back from her, molesting 
 her no further. Then she squeezed the serpent till his body 
 writhed in knots, and veiled herself, and sprang down a 
 secret passage to the garden, and it was the time of the 
 rising of the moon. Coolness and soothingness dropped on 
 her as a balm from the great light, and she gazed on it 
 murmuring, as in a memory ; 
 
 Shall I counsel the moon in her ascending ? — 
 Stay under that dark palm-tree through the night, 
 Kest on the mountain slope, 
 By the couching antelope, 
 thou enthroned supremacy of light ! 
 
 And for ever the lustre thou art lending 
 Lean on the fair long brook that leaps and leaps, 
 Silvery leaps and falls : 
 Hang by the mountain-walls. 
 Moon ! and arise no more to crown the steeps. 
 For a danger and dolonr is thy wending ! 
 
 And she panted and sighed, and wept, crying, " Who, 
 who will kiss me or have my kiss now, that I may indeed 
 be as yonder beam 1 "Who, that I may be avenged on this 
 King^ And who sang that song of the ascending of the 
 moon, that comes to me as a part of me from old times ? " 
 As she gazed on the circled radiance swimming under a plume 
 of palm leaves, she exclaimed, " Euark ! Euark the Chief ! " 
 So she clasped her hands to her bosom, and crouched under 
 the shadows of the garden, and fled through the garden gates 
 and the streets of the city, heavily veiled, to the prison 
 where Euark awaited her within the walls and Ukleet 
 
88 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 Avilhout. The Governor of tlie prison had been warned by 
 Ukleet of her coming, and the doors and bars opened before 
 her unchallenged, till she stood in the cell of Euark ; her 
 eyes, that were alone unveiled, scanned the countenance of 
 the Chief, the fevered lustre-jet of his looks, and by the 
 little moonliglit in the cell she saw with a glance the straw- 
 heap and the fetters, and the black-bread and water untasted 
 on the bench, — signs of his misery and desire for her coming. 
 So she greeted him with the word of peace, and he replied 
 with the name of the All-Merciful. Then said she, " 
 Euark, of Eukrooth thy mother tell me somewhat.'' 
 
 He answered, "I know nought of her since that day. 
 Allah have her in his keeping ! " 
 
 So, she cried, " How 1 What say'st thou, Euark ; 't is a 
 riddle." 
 
 Then he, " The oath of Euark is no rope of sand ! He 
 swore to see her not till he had set eyes on Bhanavar." 
 
 She knelt by the Chief, saying in a soft voice, " Very 
 greatly the Chief of the Beni-Asser loved Bhanavar." And 
 she thought, " Yea ! greatly and verily love I him ; and he 
 shall be no victim of the Serpents, for I 'Jl defy them and 
 give them other prey.'' So she said in deeper notes, " Euark ! 
 the Queen is come hither to release thee. my Chief ! 
 thou soul of wrath ! Euark, my fire-eye ! my eagle of the 
 desert ! where is one on earth beloved as thou art by Bhan- 
 avar?" The dark light in his eyes kindled as light in the 
 eyes of a lion, and she continued, " Euark, what a yoke is 
 hers who weareth this crown I He that is my lord, how am 
 I mated to him save in loathing 1 O my Chief, my lion 1 
 hadst thou no dream of Bhanavar, that she would come 
 hither to unbind thee and lift thee beside her, and live with 
 thee in love and veilless loveliness, — thine ? Yea ! and in 
 power over lands and nations and armies, lording the Infidel, 
 taming them to submission, exulting in defiance and assaults 
 and victories and magnanimities — thou and she 1 " Then 
 while his breast heaved like a broad wave, the Queen 
 
THE STORY OF BHANAVAR. S9 
 
 started to her feet, crying, " Lo, slie is liere ! and this she 
 oflfereth thee, Euaik ! " 
 
 A shrill cry parted from her lips, and to the clapping of 
 her hands slaves entered the cell with lamps, and instruments 
 to strike oft' the fetters from the Chief ; and they released 
 him, and Euark leaned on their shoulders to bear the weight 
 of a limb, so was he weakened by captivity ; but Bhanavar 
 thrust them from the Chief, and took the pressure of his 
 elbow on her own shoulder, and walked with him thus to the 
 door of the cell, he sighing as one in a dream that dreameth 
 the bliss of bliss. Now they had gone three paces onward, 
 and were in the light of many lamps, when behold ! the veil 
 of Bhanavar caught in the sleeve of Ruark as he lifted it, and 
 her visage became bare. She shrieked, and caught up her 
 two hands to her brow, but the slaves had a glimpse of her, 
 and said among themselves, "This is not the Queen." And 
 they murmured, " 'T is an impostor ! one in league with the 
 Chief." Bhanavar heard them say, " Arrest her with him at 
 the Governor's gate," and summoned her soul, thinking, " He 
 loveth me, the Chief ! he will look into my eyes and mark 
 not the change. What need I then to dread his scorn when 
 1 ask of him the kiss : now must it be given, or we are lost, 
 both of us ! " and she raised her head on Kuark, and said to 
 him, " my Chief, ere we leave these walls and join our 
 fates, wilt thou plight thyself to me with a kiss 1 " 
 
 Kuark leapt to her like the bounding leopard, and gave 
 her the kiss, as were it his -whole soul he gave. Then in 
 a moment Bhanavar felt the blush of beauty burn over her, 
 and drew the veil down on her face, and suffered the slaves 
 to arrest her with Euark, and bring her before the Governor, 
 and from the Governor to the King in his council-chamber, 
 with the Chief of the Beni-Asser. 
 
 Now, the King Mashalleed called to her, "Thou traitress I 
 thou sorceress ! thou serpent ! " 
 
 And she answered under the veil, " What, my lord the 
 Kins? ! and wherefore these evil names of me ? " 
 
CO THE SHAVING OF SHAG PAT. 
 
 Cried hp, "Thou thing of guile! and thou hast pleaded 
 with me for the life of the Chief thus long to visit him 
 in secret ! Life of my head ! but Mashalleed is not one to 
 he fooled." 
 
 So, she said, '"T is Bhanavar ! hast thou forgotten her 1 " 
 
 Then he waxed white with rage, exclaiming, " Yea, 't 
 is she ! a serpent in the slough ! and Ukleet in the torture 
 hath told of thee what is known to him. Unveil ! unveil ! " 
 
 She threw the veil from her figure, and smiled, for 
 Mashalleed was mute, the torrent of invective frozen on his 
 mouth when he behold the miracle of beauty that she was, 
 the splendid jewel of tlirobbing loveliness. So to scourge 
 him with the bitter lash of jealousy, Bhanavar turned her 
 eyes on Euark, and said sweetly, " Yet shalt thou live to 
 taste again the bliss of the Desert. Pleasant was our time 
 in it, my Chief ! " The King glared and choked, and she 
 said again, "Nor he conquered thee, but I; and I that 
 conquered tliee, little will it be for me to conquer him : his 
 threats are the winds of idleness." 
 
 Surely the world darkened before the eyes of Mashalleed, 
 and he arose and called to his guard hoarsely, " Have off 
 their heads ! " They hesitated, dreading the Queen, and he 
 roared, " Slay them ! " 
 
 Bhanavar beheld the winking of the steel, but ere the 
 scimitars descended, she seized Euark, and they stood in 
 a whizzing ring of serpents, the sound of whom was as the 
 hum of a thousand wires struck by storm-winds. Then she 
 glowed, towering over them with the Chief clasped to her, 
 
 and crying : 
 
 King of vileness ! match thy slaves 
 With my creatures of the caves. 
 
 And she sang to the Serpents : 
 
 Seize upon him ! sting him thro'! 
 Thrice thig day shall pay your due. 
 
 Instead of obeying her injunction, they made narrower 
 
TUB STOET OP BHANAVAR. 01 
 
 their circle round Bhanavar and the Chief. She j-ellowcd. 
 and took hold of the nearest Serpent horribly, crying : 
 
 Dare against me to rebel, 
 Te, the bitter brood of liell ? 
 
 And the Serpent gasped in reply : 
 
 One the kiss to us secures : 
 Give lis ours, and we are yours. 
 
 Thereupon another of the Serpents swung round the feet of 
 Euark, -winding his length upward round the body of the 
 Chief; so she tugged at that one, tearing it from him violently, 
 and crying: 
 
 Him ye shall not have, I swear ! 
 
 Seize the King that's crouohing there. 
 
 And that Serjjent hissed : 
 
 This is he the kiss ensures : 
 Give us ours, and we are yours. 
 
 Another and another Serpent she ilung from the Chief, and 
 they began to swarm venomously, answering her no more. 
 Then Euark bore witness to his faith, and folded his arms 
 with, the grave smile she had known in the desert; and 
 Bhanavar struggled and tussled with the Serpents in fierceness, 
 strangling and tossing them to right and left. " Great is 
 Allah ! " cried all present, and the King trembled, for never 
 was sight like that seen, the hall flashing with the serpents, 
 and a woman-serpent, their Queen, raging to save one from 
 their fury, shrieking at intervals : 
 
 Never, never shall ye fold. 
 Save with me the man I hold. 
 
 But now the hiss and scream of the Serpents and the noise 
 of their circling was quickened to a slurred savage sound and 
 they closed on Euark, and she felt him stifling and that they 
 were relentless. So in the height of the tempest Bhanavar 
 
i,2 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 seized the Jewel in the gold circlet on her brow and cast it from 
 her. Lo ! the Serpents instantly abated their frenzy, and flew 
 all of them to pluck the Jewel, chasing the one that had it in 
 liis fangs through the casement, and the hall breathed empty 
 of them. Then in the silence that was, Bhanavar veiled her 
 face and said to the Chief, " Pass from the hall while they yet 
 dread me. No longer am I Queen of Serpents." 
 
 But he replied, " Nay ! said I not my soul is thine?" 
 She cried to him, " Seest thou not the change in me ? I was 
 bound to those Serpents for my beauty, and 't is gone ! Now 
 am I powerless, hateful to look on, Euark mj Chief ! '' 
 He remained still, saying, " What thou hast been thou art." 
 She exclaimed, " true soul, the light is hateful to me as I 
 to the light ; but I will yet save thee to comfort Rukrooth, thy 
 mother." 
 
 So, she drew him with her swiftly from the hall of the King 
 tre the King had recovered his voice of command 3 but now 
 the wrath of the All powerful was upon her and hirn ! Surely 
 within an hour from the flight of the Serpents, the slaves and 
 soldiers of Jlashalleed laid at his feet two heads that were the 
 heads of Ruark and Bhanavar; and they said, "0 great King, 
 we tracked them to her chamber and through to a passage and 
 a vault hung with black, wherein were two corpses, one in a 
 tomb and one unburied, and we slew them there, clasping each 
 other, King of the age ! " 
 
 Mashalleed gazed upon the head of Bhanavar and sighed, 
 for death had made the head again fair with a wondrous beauty, 
 a loveliness never before seen on earth. 
 
THE BBTEOTHAL. 
 
 Now, when Shibli Bagarag had ceased speaking, the Vizier 
 smiled gravely, and shook his beard with satisfaction, and 
 said to the Eclipser of Eeason, " What opinest thou of this 
 nephew of the barber, Noorna bin Noorka?" 
 
 She answered, " Feshnavat, my father, truly I am con- 
 tent with the bargain of my betrothal. ' He, "WuUahy, is a 
 fair youth of flowing speech." Then she said, " Ask thou 
 him what he opineth of me, his betrothed 1 " 
 
 So, the Vizier put that interrogation to Shibli Bagarag, and 
 the youth was in perplexity ; thinking, " Is it possible to be 
 joyful in the embrace of one that hath brought thwackings 
 upon us, serious blows 1 " Thinking, " Yet hath she, when 
 the mood cometh, kindly looks ; and I marked her eye 
 dwelling on me admiringly ! " And he thought, " Mayhap 
 she that groweth younger and counteth nature backwards, 
 hath a history that would affect me ; or, it may be, my 
 kisses — wah ! I like not to give them, and it is said, 
 
 ' Love is witlier'd by the wifcher'd lip ; ' 
 and that, 
 
 ' On bones become too prominent he '11 trip.' 
 
 Yet put the case, that my kisses — I shower them not, Allah 
 the all-seeing is my witness ! and they be given daintily as 
 't were to the leaf of a nettle, or over-hot pilau. Yet haply 
 kisses repeated might restore her to a bloom, and it is certain 
 
■94 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 youth, is somehow stolen from her, if the Vizier Feshnavat 
 went before her, and his hlood be her blood ; and he is 
 powerful, she wise. I '11 decide to act the part of a rejoicer, 
 and express of her opinions honeyed to the soul of that 
 sex." 
 
 ISTow, while he was thus debating he hung his head, and 
 the Yizier awaited his response, knitting his brows angrily 
 at the delay, and at the last he cried, " What ! no answer? 
 how 's this 1 Shall thy like dare hold debate when questioned 
 of my like 1 And is my daughter ISToorna bin Noorka, 
 thinkest thou, a slave-girl in the market, — thou haggling at 
 her price, thou nephew of the barber?" 
 
 So, Shibli Bagarag exclaimed, " exalted one, bestower 
 of the bride ! surely I debated with myself but for appro- 
 priate terms ; and I delayed to select the metre of the verse 
 fitting my thoughts of her, and my wondrous good fortune, 
 and the honour done me." 
 
 Then the Vizier, " Let us hear : we listen.'' 
 
 And Shibli Bagarag was advised to deal with illustrations 
 in his dilemma, by-ways of expression, and spake in extem- 
 poraneous verse, and with a full voice : 
 
 The pupils of the Sage for living Beauty songht ; 
 
 And one a Vision clasped, and one a Model wrought. 
 
 " I have it ! " each exclaimed, and rivalry arose : 
 
 " Paint me thy Maid of air ! " " Thy Grace of clay disclose." 
 
 " What ! limbs that cannot move ! " " What ! lips that melt away ! " 
 
 " Keep thoa thy Maid of air ! " " Shroud up thy Grace of clay ! " 
 
 'T was thus, contending hot, they went before the Sage, 
 
 And knelt at the wise wells of cold ascetic age. 
 
 " The fairest of the twain, father, thou record :" 
 
 He answered, " Fairest she who's likest to her lord." 
 
 Said they, " What fairer thing matched with them might prevail ? " 
 
 The Sage austerely smiled, and said, " Yon monkey's tail." 
 
 'T is left for after-time his wisdom to declare : 
 
 That's loveliest we best love, and to ourselves compare. 
 
 Yet lovelier than all hands shape or fancies build, 
 
 The meanest thing of earth God with his fire hath filled. 
 
THE BETEOTHA.L. 93 
 
 Now, -when Shibli Bagarag ceased, Nooma bin Noorka 
 cried, " Enough, wondrous turner of verse, thou that art 
 honest ! " And she laughed loudly, rustling like a bag of 
 shavings, and rolling in her laughter. 
 
 Then said she, " my betrothed, is not the thing thou 
 ■vvouldst say no other than — 
 
 ' Each to his mind doth the fairest enfold, 
 For broken long since was Beauty's mould ; 
 
 and, ' Thou that art old, withered, I cannot flatter thee, as I 
 can in no way pay compliments to the monkey's tail of high 
 design; nevertheless the Sage would do thee honour?' So 
 lead I thy illustration, keen of wit ! and thou art forgiven 
 its boldness, my betrothed, — Wullahy ! utterly so." 
 
 Now, the youth was abashed at her discernment, and the 
 kindliness of her manner won him to say : 
 
 There 's many a flower of sweetness, there's many a gem of earth 
 Would thrill with bliss our being, could we perceive its worth, 
 beauteous is creation, in fashion and device ! 
 If I have fail'd to think thee fair, 't is blindness is my vice. 
 
 And she answered him : 
 
 I've proved thy wit and power of verse, 
 That is at will difOuae and terse : 
 Lest thou commence to lie — be dumb ! 
 I am content : the time will come ! 
 
 Then she said to the Vizier Feshnavafc, " my father, 
 there is all in this youth, the nephew of the barber, that's 
 desireable for the undertaking; and his feet will be on a level 
 with the task we propose for him, he the height of man 
 above it. 'T is clear that vanity will trip him, but honesty 
 is a strong upholder; and he is one that hath the spirit 
 of enterprise and the mask of dissimulation : gratitude I 
 observe in him ; and it is as I thought when I came upon 
 him on the sand-hill outside the city, that his star is clearly in 
 a web with our star, he destined for the Shaving of Shagpat." 
 
96 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 So, the Vizier replied, " He liath had thwaokings, yet is 
 he not deterred from making further attempt on Shagpat. I 
 think well of him, and I augur hopefully. "Wullahy ! the 
 Cadi shall he sent for ; I can sleep in his secresy ; and he 
 shall perform the ceremonies of hetrothal, even now and 
 where we sit, and it shall be for him to write the terms 
 of contract : so shall we bind the youth firmly to us, and he 
 will be one of us as we are, devoted to the undertaking by 
 three bonds — the bond of vengeance, the bond of ambition, 
 and that of love.'' 
 
 Now, so it was that the Vizier despatched a summons for 
 the attendance of the Cadi, and he came and performed 
 between Shibli Bagarag and Noorna bin ISToorka ceremonies 
 of betrothal, and wrote terms of contract ; and they were 
 witnessed duly by the legal number of witnesses, and so 
 worded that he had no claim on her as wife till such time as 
 the Event to which he bound himself was mastered. Then 
 the fees being paid, and compliments interchanged, the 
 Vizier exclaimed, " Be ye happy ! and let the weak cling to 
 the strong; and be ye two to one in this world, and no 
 split halves that betray division and stick not together when 
 the gum is heated." Then he made a sign to the Cadi and 
 them that had witnessed the contract to follow him, leaving 
 the betrothed ones to their own company. 
 
 So, when they were alone Noorna gazed on the youth 
 wistfully, and said in a soft tone, " Thou art dazed with the 
 adventure, youth ! Surely there is one kiss owing me : 
 art thou willing ? Am I reduced to beg it of thee 1 Or 
 dream'st thouV 
 
 He lifted his head and replied, "Even so." 
 
 Thereat he stood up languidly, and went to her and kissed 
 her. And she smiled and said, " I wot it will be otherwise, 
 and thou wilt learn swiftness of limb, brightness of eye, and 
 the longing for earthly beatitude, when next I ask thee, 
 my betrothed ! " 
 
 Lo ! while she spake, new light seemed in her; and it 
 
THE BETROTHAL. 97 
 
 was as if a splendid jewel were struggling to cast its beams 
 througli the sides of a crystal vase smeared with dust and 
 old dirt and spinnings of the damp spider. He was amazed, 
 and cried, " How 's this ? What change is passing in 
 thee ] » 
 
 She said, "Joy in thy kiss, and that I have 'scaped 
 Shagpat." 
 
 Then he : " Shagpat? How? had that wretch claim over 
 thee ere I came ? " 
 
 But she looked fearfully at the comers of the room and 
 exclaimed, " Hush, my betrothed ! speak not of him in that 
 fashion, 't is dangerous ; and my power cannot keep off his 
 emissaries at all times." Then she said, " my betrothed, 
 know me a sorceress ensorcelled ; not that I seem, but that I 
 shall be ! Wait thou for the time and it will reward thee. 
 What ! thou think'st to have plucked a wrinkled o'erripe 
 fruit, — a mouldy pomegranate under the branches, a sour 
 tamarind ? 'T is well ! I say nought, save that time will 
 come, and be thou content. It is truly as I said, that I have 
 thee between me and Shagpat ; and that honoured one of 
 this city thought fit in his presumption to demand me in 
 marriage at the hands of my father, knowing me wise, and 
 knowing the thing that transformed me to this, the abomin- 
 able fellow ! Surely my father entertained not his proposal 
 save with scorn ; but the King looked favourably on it, and 
 it is even now matter of reproach to Feshnavat, my father, 
 that he withholdeth me from Shagpat." 
 
 Quoth Shibli Bagarag, " A clothier, Noorna, control the 
 Vizier ! and demand of him his daughter in marriage ! and a 
 clothier influence the King against his Vizier ! — 't is, wullahy ! 
 a riddle." 
 
 She replied, " 'T is even so, eyes of mine, my betrothed ! 
 but thou know'st not Shagpat, and that he is. Lo ! the 
 King, and all of this city save we three, are held in enchant- 
 ment by him, and made foolish by one hair that 's in his 
 head." 
 
 H 
 
98 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 Shibli Bagarag started in his seat like one that shineth 
 with a discovery, and cried, " The Identical ! " 
 
 Then she, sighing, '"T is that indeed! but the Identical 
 of Identicals, the chief and head of them, and I, woe 's me ! 
 I, the planter of it." 
 
 So he said, « How so ? " 
 
 But she cried, " I'll tell thee not here, nor anght of myself 
 and him, and the Genie held in bondage by me, till thou art 
 proved by adventure, and we float peacefully on the sea of 
 the Bright Lily : there shalt thou see me as I am, and hear 
 my story, and marvel at it ; for 't is wondrous, and a mani- 
 festation of the Power that dwelleth unseen." 
 
 So, Shibli Bagarag pondered awhile on the strange nature 
 of the things she hinted, and laughter seized him as he 
 reflected on Shagpat, and the whole city enchanted by one 
 hair in his head ; and he exclaimed, " Noorna, knoweth 
 he, Shagpat, of the might in him ? " 
 
 She answered, " Enough for his vain soul that homage i» 
 paid to him, and he careth not for the wherefore ! " 
 
 Shibli Bagarag fixed his eyes on the deep-flowered carpets 
 of the floor, as if reading there a matter quaintly virritten, and 
 smiled, saying, " What boldness was mine — the making 
 offer to shear Shagpat, the lion in his lair, he that holdeth a 
 whole city in enchantment ! Wah ! 't was an instance of 
 daring ! " 
 
 And Noorna said, "Not only an entire city, but other 
 cities affected by him, as witness Oolb, whither thou wilt 
 go ; and there be governments and states, and conditions of 
 men remote, that hang upon him, Shagpat. 'T is even so ; 
 I swell not his size. When thou hast mastered the Event, 
 and sent him forth shivering from thy blade like the shorn 
 lamb, 't wiU be known how great a thing has been achieved, 
 and a record for the generations to come ; choice is that 
 historian destined to record it ! " 
 
 Quoth he, looking eagerly at her, " Noorna, what is it- 
 in thy speech aflecteth me 1 Surely it infuseth the vigour of 
 
THE BETROTHAL. 09 
 
 wine, old wine ; and I sliiver with desire to shave Shagpat, 
 and spin, threads for the historian to weave in order. I, 
 wuUahy ! had but dry visions of the greatness destined for 
 me till now, my betrothed ! Shall I master an Event in 
 shaving him, and be told of to future ages ? By Allah and 
 his Prophet (praise be to that name !), this is greatness ! Say, 
 Noorna, hadst thou foreknowledge of me and my coming to 
 this city?" 
 
 So, she said, " I was on the roofs one night among the 
 stars ere moonrise, my betrothed, and 't was close on the 
 rise of this very month's moon. The star of our enemy, 
 Shagpat, was large and red, mine as it were menaced by its 
 proximity, nigh swallowed in its haughty beams and the 
 steady overbearings of its effulgence. 'T was so as it had 
 long been, when suddenly, lo ! a star from the upper 
 heaven that shot down between them wildly, and my star 
 took lustre from it ; and the star of Shagpat trembled like 
 a ring on a tightened rope, and waved and flickered, and 
 seemed to come forward and to retire ; and 't was presently 
 as a comet in the sky, bright, — a tadpole, with large head 
 and lengthy tail, in the assembly of the planets. This saw 
 I : and that the stranger star was stationed by my star, 
 shielding it, and that it drew nearer to my star, and entered 
 its circle, and that the two stars seemed mixing the 
 splendour that was theirs. Now, that sight amazed me, and 
 my heart in its beating quickened with the expectation of 
 things approaching. Surely I rendered praise, and pressed 
 both hands on my bosom, and watched, and behold ! the 
 comet, the illumined tadpole, was becoming restless beneath 
 the joint rays of the twain that were dominating him ; and 
 he diminished, and lashed his tail uneasily, half madly, 
 darting as do captured beasts from the fetters that constrain 
 them. Then went there from thy star — for I know now 't 
 was thine — a momentary flash across the head of the tadpole, 
 and again another and another, rapidly, pertinaciously. 
 And from thy star there passed repeated flashes across the 
 
 H 2 
 
100 THE SnAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 head of the tadpole, till his brilliance was as 't were severed 
 from him, and he, like di'ossy silver, a dead shape in the 
 conspicuous heavens. And he became yellow as the rolling 
 eyes of sick wretches in pain, and shrank in his place like 
 pale parchment at the touch of flame ; dull was he as an 
 animal fascinated by fear, and deprived of all power to make 
 head against the foe, darkness, that now beset him, and 
 usurped part of his yet lively tail, and settled on his head, 
 and coated part of his body. So when this tadpole, that 
 was once terrible to me, became turbaned, shoed, and 
 shawled with darkness, and there was little of him remaining 
 visible, lo ! a concluding flash shot from thy star, and he fell 
 heavily down the sky and below the hills, into the sea, that 
 is, the Enchanted Sea, whose Queen is Eabesqurat, 
 Mistress of Illusions. Now when my soul recovered from 
 amazement at the marvels seen, I arose and went from the 
 starry roofs to consult my books of magic, and 't was 
 revealed to me that one was wandering to a junction with 
 my destiny, and that by his means the great aim would of a 
 surety be accomplished — Shagpat Shaved ! So my purpose 
 was to discover him ; and I made caloialations, and 
 summoned them that serve me to search for such a youth as 
 thou art ; fairly, my betrothed, did I preconceive thee. 
 And so it was that I traced a magic line from the sand-hills 
 to the city, and from the outer hills to the sand-hills ; and 
 whoso approached by that line I knew was he marked out 
 as my champion, my betrothed, — a youth destined for great 
 things. Was I right? The egg hatcheth. Thou art 
 already proved by thwackings, seasoned to the undertaking, 
 and I doubt not thou art he that will finish with that 
 tadpole Shagpat, and sit in the high seat, thy name an odour 
 in distant lands, a joy to the historian, the Compiler of 
 Events, thou Master of an Event, and of the greatest which 
 time will witness for ages to come." 
 
 "When she had spoken Shibli Bagarag considered her 
 
THE BETROTHAL. 101 
 
 ■vi'orcis, and the knowlcdgo that he was selected by destiny 
 as Master of an Event inflated him ; and he was a hawk in 
 eagerness, a peacock in pride, an ostrich in fulness of chest, 
 crying, " Xoorna bin ISi oorka ! is't really so'! Truly it 
 must be, for the readers of planets were also busy with me 
 at the time of my birth, interpreting of me in excessive 
 agitation ; and the thing they foretold is as thou foretellest. 
 I am, wullahy 1 marked : I walk manifest in the eye of 
 Providence.' 
 
 Thereupon he exulted, and his mind strutted through the 
 future of his days, and down the ladder of all time, exacting 
 homage from men, his brethren ; and 't was beyond the art of 
 Xoorna to fix him to the present duties of the enterprise : he 
 was as feathered seed before the breath of vanity. 
 
 Now, while the twain discoursed, she of the preparations 
 for shaving Shagpat, he of his completion of the deed, and 
 the honours due to him as Master of the Event, Feshnavat 
 the Vizier returned to them from his entertainment of the 
 Cadi ; and he had bribed him to silence with a mighty bribe. 
 So he called to them — 
 
 " Ho ! be ye ready to commence the work 1 and have ye 
 advised together as to the beginning ? True is that triplet : 
 
 'Whatever enterprize man hath, 
 For waking love or curbing wrath, 
 'T is the first step that makes a path.' 
 
 And how have ye determined as to that first step 1 " 
 
 Noorna replied, " my father ! we have not decided, and 
 there hath been yet no deliberation between us as to that." 
 
 Then he said, " All this while have ye talked, and no 
 deliberation as to that ! Lo, I have drawn the Cadi to our 
 plot, and bribed him witha mighty bribe ; and I have pre- 
 pared possible di^-uises for this nephew of the barber ; and 
 I have had the witnesses of thy betrothal despatched to 
 foreign parts, far kingdoms in the land of Eoum, to prevent 
 
103 THE SHAVING OF SHAG PAT. 
 
 tattling aud gabbling ; and ye that were left alone for 
 debating as to the great deed, ye have not yet deliberated as 
 to that ! Is 't known to ye, gabblers, aught of the punish- 
 ment inflicted by Shahpesh, the Persian, on Khipil, the 
 Builder ? — a punishment that, by Allah ! " 
 
 So, Shibli Bagarag said, " How of that punishment, 
 Vizier?" 
 
 And the Vizier narrated as followeth. 
 
AND THIS IS THE PUNISHMENT OF 
 SHAHPESH, THE PERSIAN, ON 
 KHIPIL, THE BUILDER. 
 
 Thbt relate that Shahpesh, the Persian, commanded the 
 building of a palace, and Khipil was his builder. The work 
 lingered from the first year of the reign of Shahpesh even to 
 his fourteenth. One day Shahpesh went to the river-side 
 where it stood, to inspect it. Khipil was sitting on a marble 
 slab among the stones and blocks ; round him stretched 
 lazily the masons and stonecutters and slaves of burden ; 
 and they with the curve of humorous enjoyment on their 
 lips, for he was reciting to them adventures, interspersed 
 with anecdotes and recitations and poetic instances, as was 
 his wont. They were like pleased flocks whom the shepherd 
 hath led to a pasture freshened with brooks, there to feed 
 indolently ; he, the shepherd, in the midst. 
 
 Now, the King said to him, "0 Khipil, show me my 
 palace where it standeth, for I desire to gratify my sight 
 with its fairness.'' 
 
 Khipil abased himself before Shahpesh, and answered, 
 " 'T is even here, King of the age, v/here thou delightest 
 the earth with thy foot and the ear of thy slave with sweet- 
 ness. Surely a site of vantage, one that dominateth earth, 
 air, and water, which is the builder's first and chief requi- 
 sition for a noble palace, a palace to fill foreign kings and 
 
104 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 sultans with the distraction of envy ; and it is, Sovereign 
 of the time, a site, this site I have chosen, to occupy the 
 tongues of travellers and awaken the flights of poets !" 
 
 Shahpesh smiled and said, " The site is good ! I laud the 
 site ! Likewise I laud the -wisdoni of Ebn Basrac, where he 
 exclaims : 
 
 ' Be sure, whero Virtue faileth to appear, 
 For her a gorgeous mansiou men will rear ; 
 And day and night her praises will be heard, 
 Where never yet she spake a single word." " 
 
 Then said he, "0 Khipil, my builder, there was once a farm- 
 servant that, having neglected in the seed-time to sow, took to- 
 singing the richness of his soil when it was harvest, in proof 
 of which he displayed the abundance of weeds that coloured 
 the land everywhere. Discover to me now the completeness 
 of my halls and apartments, I pray tliee, Khipil, and be the 
 excellence of thy construction made visible to me ! " 
 
 Quoth Khipil, "To hear is to obej'.'' 
 
 He conducted Shahpesh among the unfinished saloons and 
 imperfect courts and roofless rooms, andby half-erectedobelisks, 
 and columns pierced and chipped, of the palace of his building. 
 And he was bewildered at the words spoken by Shahpesh ; 
 but now the King exalted him, and admired the perfection 
 of his craft, the greatness of his labour, the speediness of his 
 construction, his assiduity; feigning not to behold his 
 negligence. 
 
 Presently they went up winding balusters to a marble terrace, 
 and the King said, " Such is thy devotion and constancy in 
 toil, Khipil, that thou shalt walk before me here." 
 
 He then commanded Khipil to precede him, and Khipil was 
 heightened with the honour. "When Khipil had paraded a 
 short space he stopped quickly, and said to Shahpesh, " Here 
 is, as it chanceth, a gap, King ! and we can go no further 
 this way.'' 
 
 Shahpesh said, "All is perfect, and it is my will thoa 
 delay not to advance." 
 
THE PUNISHMENT OF KHIPIL. 105 
 
 Khipil cried, "The gap is wide, miglity King, and mani- 
 fest, and it is the one incomplete part of thy palace.'' 
 
 Then said Shahpesh, " Khipil, I see no distinction be- 
 tween one part and another; excellent are all parts in beauty 
 and proportion, and there can he no part incomplete in this 
 palace that occupieth the builder fourteen years in its build- 
 ing : so advance, and do my bidding." 
 
 Khipil yet hesitated, for the gap was of many strides, and 
 at the bottom of the gap was a deep water, and he one that 
 knew not the motion of swimming. But Shahpesh ordered 
 his guard to point their arrows in the direction of Khipil, and 
 Khipil stepped forward hurriedly, and fell in the gap, and 
 was swallowed by the water below. "When he rose the second 
 time, succour reached him, and he was drawn to land trem- 
 bling, his teeth chattering. And Shahpesh praised him, and 
 said, " This is an apt contrivance for a bath, Khipil my 
 builder ! well conceived; one that taketh by surprise ; and it 
 shall be thy reward daily when much talking hath fatigued 
 thee." 
 
 Then he bade Khipil lead him to the hall of state. And 
 when they were there Shahpesh said, " For a privilege, and as 
 a mark of my approbation, I give thoe permission to sit in the 
 marble chair of yonder throne, even in my presence, Khipil." 
 
 Khipil said, " Surely, King, the chair is not yet 
 executed." 
 
 And Shahpesh exclaimed, "If this be so, thou art but the 
 length of thy measure on the ground, talkative one ! " 
 
 Khipil said, " Nay, 't is not so, O King of splendours ! blind 
 that I am ! yonder 's indeed the chair." 
 
 And Khipil feared the King, and went to the place where 
 the chair should be, and bent his body in a sitting posture, 
 eyeing the King, and made pretence to sit in the chair of 
 Shahpesh, as in conspiracy to amuse his master. 
 
 Then said Shahpesh, "For a token that I approve thy exe- 
 cution of the chair, thou shalt be honoured by remaining seated 
 in it one day and one night ; but move thou to the right or 
 
lOG THE SHAYING Oi' SHAGPAT. 
 
 to the left, showing thy soul insensible of the honour done 
 thee, transfixed thou shalt be with twenty arrows and five." 
 
 The King tiien left him with a guard of twenty-five of his 
 body-guard ; and they stood around him with bent bows, so 
 that Khipil dared not move from his sitting posture. And 
 the masons and the people crowded to see Khipil sitting on 
 his master's chair, for it became rumoured about. When 
 they beheld him sitting upon nothing, and he trembling to 
 stir for fear of the loosening of the arrows, they laughed 
 so that they rolled upon the floor of the hall, and the echoes 
 of laughter were a thousandfold. Surely the arrows of the 
 guards swayed with the laughter that shook them. 
 
 Now, when the time had expired for his sitting in the 
 chair, Shahpesh returned to him, and he was cramped, 
 l)itiable to see ; and Shahpesh said, " Thou hast been 
 exalted above men, Khipil ! for that thou didst execute 
 for thy master has been found fitting for thee." 
 
 Then he bade Khipil lead the way to the noble gardens of 
 dalliance and pleasure that he had planted and contrived. 
 jVnd Khipil went in that state described by the poet, when 
 -\ve go draggingly, with remonstrating members, 
 
 Knowing a dreadful strength behind, 
 And a dark fate before. 
 
 They came to the gardens, and behold, these were full of 
 weeds and nettles, the fountains dry, no tree to be seen — a 
 desert. And Shahpesh cried, "This is indeed of admirable 
 design, Khipil ! Feelest thou not the coolness of the 
 fountains ? — their refreshingness ? Truly I am grateful to 
 thee ! And these flowers, pluck me now a handful, and tell 
 me of their perfume." 
 
 Khipil plucked a handful of the nettles that were there in 
 the place of flowers, and put his nose to them before Shah- 
 pesh, till his nose was reddened ; and desire to rub it waxed 
 in him, and possessed him, and became a passion, so that he 
 fiould scarce refrain from rubbing it even in the King's 
 
THE PUNISHMENT OP KHIPIL. 107 
 
 presence. And the King encouraged him to sniff and enjoy 
 their fragrance, repeating the poet's words : 
 
 Methints I am a lover and a child, 
 
 A little child and happy lover, both ! 
 
 When hj the breath of flowers I am beguiled 
 
 From sense of pain, and lulled in odorous sloth. 
 
 So I adore them, that no mistress sweet 
 
 Seems worthier of the love which they awate : 
 
 In innocence and beauty more complete, 
 
 Was never maiden cheek in morning lake. 
 
 Oh, while I live, surround me with fresh flowers ! 
 
 Oh, when I die, then bury me in their bowers ! 
 
 And the King said, " "What sayest thou, my builder 1 
 that is a fair quotation, applicable to thy feelings, one that 
 expresseth them t " 
 
 Khipil answered, " 'T is eloquent, great King ! compre- 
 hensiveness would be its portion, but that it alludeth not to 
 the delight of chafing." 
 
 Then Shahpesh laughed, and cried, " Chafe not ! it is an 
 ill thing and a hideous ! This nosegay, Khipil, it is for 
 thee to present to thy mistress. Truly she will receive thee 
 well after its presentation ! I will have it now sent in thy 
 name, with word that thou followest quickly. And for thy 
 nettled nose, surely if the whim seize thee that thou desirest 
 its chafing, to thy neighbour is permitted what to thy hand 
 is refused." 
 
 So, the King set a guard upon Khipil to see that his 
 orders were executed, and appointed a time for him to return 
 to the gardens. 
 
 At the hour indicated Khipil stood before Shahpesh again. 
 He was pale, saddened ; his tongue drooped like the tongue 
 of a heavy bell, that when it soundeth giveth forth mourn- 
 ful sounds only : he had also the look of one battered with 
 many beatings. So the King said, "How of the presen- 
 tation of the flowers of thy culture, Khipil T' 
 
 He answered, " Surely, King, she received me with 
 wrath, and I am shamed by her." 
 
108 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 And the King said, " How of my clemency in the matter 
 of the chafing r' 
 
 Khipil answered, " King of splendours ! I made peti- 
 tion to my neighbours whom I met, accosting them civilly 
 and with imploring, for I ached to chafe, and it was the very 
 raging thirst of desire to chafe that was mine, devouring 
 intensity of eagerness for solace of chafing. And they 
 chafed me, King ; yet not in those parts which throhhed 
 for the chafing, but in those which abhorred it." 
 
 Then Shahpesh smiled and said, " 'T is certain that the 
 magnanimity of monarchs is as the rain that falleth, the sun 
 that shineth : and in this spot it fertilizeth richness ; in that 
 enoourageth lankness. So art thou but a weed, Khipil ! 
 and my graoe is thy chastisement." 
 
 Now, the King ceased not persecuting Khipil, under pre- 
 tence of doing him honour and heaping favours on him. 
 Three days and three nights was Khipil gasping without 
 water, compelled to drink of the drought of the fountain, as 
 an honour at the hands of the King. And he was seven 
 days and seven nights made to stand with stretched arms, as 
 they were the branches of a tree, in each hand a pomegranate. 
 And Shahpesh brought the people of his court to regard the 
 wondrous pomegranate-shoot planted by Khipil, very won- 
 drous, and a new sort, worthy the gardens of a King. So 
 the wisdom of the King was applauded, and men wotted he 
 knew how to punish offences in coin, by the punishment 
 inflicted on Khipil the builder. Before that time his affairs 
 had languished, and the currents of business instead of 
 flowing had become stagnant pools. It was the fashion to 
 do as did Khipil, and fancy the tongue a constructor rather 
 than a commentator ; and there is a doom upon that people 
 and that man which runneth to seed in gabble, as the poet 
 says in his wisdom : 
 
 If thou wouldsb be famous, and rich in splendid fruits, 
 Leave to bloom the flower of things, and dig among the roots. 
 
THE PUNISHMEKT OE KHIPIL. 109 
 
 Truly alter Kliipil's punishment there were few in the 
 dominions of Shahpesh who sought to win the honours 
 Lestowed by him on gabblers and idlers : as again the 
 jioet : 
 
 When to loquacious fools with patience rare 
 I listen, I have thoughts of Khipil's chair : 
 His bath, his nosegay, and his fount I see, — 
 Himself stretoh'd out as a pomegranate-tree. 
 And that I am not Shahpesh I regret, 
 So to inmesh the babbler in his net. 
 Well is that wisdom worthy to be sntig. 
 Which raised the Palace of the Wagging Tongue ! 
 
 And whoso is punished after the fashion of Shahpesh, the 
 Persian, on Khipil the Euilder, is said to be one " in the 
 Palace of the "Wagging Tongue" to this time. 
 
THE GENIE KARAZ. 
 
 iN'ow, when the voice of theViziei had ceased, Shibli Bagarag- 
 exclaimed, "0 Vizier, this night, no later, I'll surprise 
 Shagpat, and shave him while he sleepeth : and he shall 
 wake shorn beside his spouse. "Wullahy ! I '11 delay no 
 longer, I, Shibli Bagarag." 
 
 Said the Vizier, " Thoal" 
 
 And he replied, " Surely, Vizier ! thou knowest littl& 
 of my dexterity.'' 
 
 So the Vizier laughed, and Noorna bin Noorka laughed,, 
 and he was at a loss to interpret the cause of their laughter. 
 Then said JSToorna, " my betrothed, there 's not a doubt 
 among us of thy dexterity, nor question of thy willingness ; 
 but this shaving of Shagpat, wullahy 1 't is longer work than 
 what thou makeat of it." 
 
 And he cried, " How 1 because of the Chief of Identicals 
 planted by thee in his head 1 " 
 
 She answered, " Because of that ; but 't is the smallest 
 opposer, that." 
 
 Then the Vizier said, "Let us consult." 
 
 So, Shibli Bagarag gave ear, and the Vizier continued, 
 " There 's first, the Chief of Identicals planted by thee in 
 the head of that presumptuous fellow, my daughter ! By 
 what means .=ihall that be overcome 1 " 
 
 She said, " I rank not that first, Fcshnavat, my father ; 
 
THE GENIE KAKAZ. Ill 
 
 surely I rank first the illusions -with which Eabesqurat hath 
 surrounded him, and made it difficult to Icnow him from his 
 semblances, -whenever real danger threateneth him." 
 
 The Vizier assented, saying, " Second, then, the Chief of 
 Identicals 1 " 
 
 She answered, " Nay, my father ; second, the weakness 
 that 's in man, and the little probability of his finishing with 
 Shagpat at one efl'ort ; and there is but a sole chance for 
 whoso attempteth, and if he faileth, 't is for ever he faileth.'' 
 
 So, the Vizier said, " Even I knew not 't was so grave ! 
 Third, then, the Chief of Identicals 1 " 
 
 She replied, " Third ! which showeth the difficulty of the 
 task. Eead ye not, first, now the barber must come upon 
 Shagpat and fix him for his operation ; second, how the 
 barber must be possessed of more than mortal strength to 
 master him in so many strokes ; third, how the barber must 
 have a blade like no other blade in this world in sharpness, 
 in temper, in velocity of sweep, that he may reap this crop 
 which flourisheth on Shagpat, and with it the magic hair 
 which defieth edge of mortal blades 1 " 
 
 Now, the Vizier sighed at the words, saying, " Powerful is 
 Shagpat ! I knew not the thing I undertook. I fear his 
 mastery of us, and we shall be contemned — objects for the 
 red finger of scorn.'' 
 
 So, Nooma turned to Shibli Bagarag and asked, " Do the 
 three bonds of enterprise — vengeance, ambition, and love — 
 shrink in thee from this great contest 1 " 
 
 Shibli Bagarag said, " 'T is terrible ! on my head be it ! "" 
 
 She gazed at him a moment tenderly, and said, " Thou art 
 worthy of what is in store for thee, my betrothed ! and I 
 think little of the dangers, in contemplation of the courage in 
 thee. Lo, if vengeance and ambition spur thee so, how will 
 not love when added to the two 1 " 
 
 Then said she, "As to the enchantments and spells that 
 shall overreach him, and as to the blade wherewith to shear 
 him?" 
 
112 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT, 
 
 Peshnavat exclaimed, " Yonder 's indeed where we stumble 
 and are tripped at starting." 
 
 But she cried, " What if I know of a sword that nought on 
 earth or under resisteth, and hefore the keen edge of which 
 all Illusions and Identicals are as summer grass to the 
 scythe." 
 
 They both shouted, "The whereabout of this sword, 
 Noorna ! " 
 
 So, she said, " 'T is in Aklis, in the mountains of the Koosh; 
 and the seven sons of Aklis sharpen it day and night till the 
 adventurer cometh to claim it for his occasion. Whoso suc- 
 ceedeth in coming to them they know to have power over the 
 sword, and 't is then holiday for them. Many are the im- 
 pediments, and they are as holes where the fox haunteth. So, 
 they deliver to his hand the sword till his object is attained, 
 his Event mastered, smitten through with it ; and 't is called 
 the Sword of Events. Surely, with it the father of the Seven 
 vanquished the mighty Eoc, Kroojis, that threatened mankind 
 with ruin, and a stain of the Koc's blood is yet on the hilt of 
 the sword. How sayest thou, Feshnavat, — shall we devote 
 ourselves to get possession of this Sword ? " 
 
 So, the Vizier brightened at her words, and said, " excel- 
 lent in wisdom and star of counsel ! speak further, and as to 
 the means." 
 
 Noorna bin Noorka continued, "Thou knowest, my father, 
 I am proficient in the arts of magic, and I am what I am, and 
 what I shall be, by its uses. 'T is known to thee also that I 
 hold a Genie in bondage, and can utter ten spells and one spell 
 I'n a breath. Surely my services to the youth in his attainment 
 of the Sword will be beyond price ! Now to reach Aklis and 
 the Sword there are three things needed — charms : and one is 
 a phial full of the waters of Paravid from the wells in the 
 mountain yonside the desert; and one, certain hairs that grow 
 in the tail of the horse Garraveen, he that roameth wild in the 
 meadows of Melistan ; and one, that the youth gather and bear 
 to Aklis for the white antelope Gulrevaz, the Lily of the Lovely 
 
THE GENIE KABAZ. 113 
 
 Light, that groweth in the hollow of the crags over tlie En- 
 chanted Sea : ■with these spells he will command the Sword 
 of Aklis, and nothing can bar him passage. Moreover I will 
 expend in his aid all my subtleties, my transformations, the 
 stores of my wisdom. Many seek this Sword, and people the 
 realms of Eabesqurat, or are beasts in Aklis, or crowned Apes, 
 or go to feed the Koc, Kioojis, in the abyss beneath the Eoc's- 
 egg bridge ; but there 's virtue in Shibli Bagarag : wullahy ! I 
 am wistful in him of the hand of Destiny, and he will succeed 
 in this undertaking if he dareth it." 
 
 Shibli Bagarag cried, " At thy bidding, Noorna ! Care 
 I for dangers 1 I 'm on fire to wield the Sword, and master 
 the Event." 
 
 Thereupon, Noorna bin Noorka arose instantly, and took him 
 by the cheeks a tender pinch, and praised him. Then drew 
 .she round him a circle with her forefinger that left a mark like 
 the shimmering of evanescent green flame, saying, ''"White 
 was the day I set eyes on thee !" Eound the Vizier, her father, 
 she drew a like circle ; and she took an unguent, and traced 
 with it characters on the two circles, and letters of strange 
 form, arrowy, lance-like, like leaning sheaves, and crouching 
 baboons, and kicking jackasses, and cocks a-crow, and lutes 
 slack-strung; and she knelt and mumbled over and over words 
 of magic, like the drone of a bee to hear, and as a roU of 
 water, nothing distinguishable. After that she sought for 
 an unguent of a red colour, and smeared it on a part of the 
 floor by the corner of the room, and wrote on it in silver fluid 
 a word that was the word " Eblis," and over that likewise 
 she droned awhile. Presently she arose with a white-heated 
 face, the sweat on her brow, and said to Shibli Bagarag and 
 Eeshnavat hurriedly and in a harsh tone, "Huw? have ye 
 fearr' 
 
 They answered, " Our faith is in Allah, our confidence in 
 
 thee." 
 
 Said she then, " I summon the Genie I hold in bondage. 
 
 He will be wrathful ; but ye are secure from him. He 's this 
 \ 
 
 I 
 
114 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 moment in the farthest region of earth, doing ill, as is his wont, 
 and the wont of the stock of Eblis.'' 
 
 So the Vizier said. " He '11 be no true helper, this Genie, 
 and I care not for his company." 
 
 She answered, " my father ! leave thou that to me. 
 Wliat says the poet ? — 
 
 ' It is the sapiency of fools, 
 To shrink from handling evil tools.' " 
 
 Now, while she was speaking she suddenly inclined her 
 ear as to a distant noise ; but they heard nothing. Then, 
 after again listening, she cried in a sharp voice, "Ho! 
 muffle your mouths with both hands, and stir not from the 
 ring of the circles, as ye value life and its blessings." 
 
 So, they did as she bade them, and watched her curiously. 
 Lo ! she swathed the upper and lower part of her face in 
 linen, leaving the lips and eyes exposed ; and she took 
 water from an ewer, and sprinkled it on her head, and on 
 her arms and her feet, muttering incantations. Then she 
 listened a third time, and stooped to the floor, and put her 
 lips to it, and called the name, " Karaz ! " And she called 
 this name seven times loudly, sneezing betweenwhiles. 
 Then, as it were in answer to her summons, there was a 
 deep growl of thunder, and the palace rocked — tottering; 
 and the air became smoky and full of curling vapours. 
 Presently they were aware of the cry of a Cat, and its 
 miaulings ; and the patch of red unguent on the floor parted 
 and they beheld a tawny Cat with an arched back. So, Noorna 
 bin Noorka frowned fiercely at the Cat, and cried, " This is 
 thy shape, Karaz ; change ! for it serves not the purpose." 
 
 The Cat changed, and was a Leopard with glowing yellow 
 eyes, crouched for the spring. So, Noorna bin K"oorka 
 stamped, and cried again, " This is thy shape, Karaz ; 
 change ! for it serves not the purpose." 
 
 And the Leopard changed, and was a Serpent with many 
 folds, sleek, curled, venomous, hissing. 
 
THE GENIE KARAZ.. 115 
 
 So, Noorna bin Noorka cried in wrath, " This is thy shape, 
 O Ivaraz ; change ! or thou 'It be no other till Eblis is ac- 
 septed in Paradise," 
 
 And the Serpent vanished. Lo ! in its place a Genie of 
 terrible aspect, black as a solitary tree seared by lightning ; 
 his forehead ridged and cloven with red streaks ; his hair 
 and ears reddened ; his eyes like two hollow pits dug by the 
 shepherd for the wolf, and the wolf in them. He shouted, 
 ■" What work is it now, thou accursed traitress 1 " 
 
 Noorna replied, " I 've need of thee ! '' 
 
 So, he said, " What shape ? " 
 
 She answered, " The shape of an Ass that will carry two 
 on its back, thou Perversity ! " 
 
 Upon that, he cried, " faithless woman, how long shall 
 I be the slave of thy plotting? Now, but for that hair of 
 my head, plucked by thy 'hand while I slept, I were free, 
 no doer of thy tasks. Say, who be these that mark 
 us?" 
 
 She answered, " One, the Vizier Feshnavat ; and one, 
 Shibli Bagarag of Shiraz, he that's destined to shave 
 Shagpat, the son of Shimpoor, the son of Shoolpi, the son of 
 ShuUum j and the youth is my betrothed." 
 
 Now, at her words the whole Genie became as live coal 
 with anger, and he panted black and bright, and made a 
 stride toward Shibli Bagarag, and stretched his arm out to 
 seize him ; but Noorna blew quickly on the circles she had 
 ■drawn, and the circles rose up in a white ilame high as the 
 heads of those present, and the Genie shrank hastily back 
 from the flame, and was seized with fits of sneezing. Then 
 she said in scorn, " Easily, Karaz, is a woman outwitted ! 
 Not so ! Surely I could not guess what would be thy action ! 
 and I was wanting in foresight and insight ! and I am a 
 woman bearing the weight of my power as a woodman 
 staggereth under the logs he hath felled ! " 
 
 So, she taunted him, and he still sneezing and bent double 
 with the might of the sneeze. Then said Noorna in a stern 
 
 I 2 
 
116 THE SHAVING 01^ SHAGPAT. 
 
 voice, " No more altercation between us ! "'.Yait thou here 
 till I re-appear, Karaz ! " 
 
 Thereupon, she went from them ; and the Wo, Feshnavaf 
 and Shibli Bagarag, feared greatly being left with the Genie, 
 for he became all colours, and loured on them each time that 
 he ceased sneezing. He was clearly menacing them when 
 Noorna returned, and in her hand a saddle made of hide, 
 traced over with mystic characters and gold stripes. 
 
 So, she cried, "Take this!" Then, seeing he hesitated, 
 she unclosed from her left palm a powder, and scattered it 
 over him ; and he grew meek, and the bending knee of 
 obedience was his, and he took the saddle. So she said, 
 " 'T is well ! Go now, and wait outside the city in the 
 shape of an Ass, with this saddle on thy back." 
 
 The Genie groaned, and said, " To hear is to obey ! " 
 And he departed with those words, for she held him in 
 bondage. Then she calmed down the white flames of the 
 circles that enclosed Shibli Bagarag and the Vizier Teshnavat, 
 and they stepped forth, marvelling at the greatness of her 
 sorceries that held a Genie in bondage. 
 
THE WELL OF PAEAVID. 
 
 Now, there was haste in the movements of Noorna bin 
 Noorka, and she arrayed herself and clutched Shibli Bag- 
 arag by the arm, and the twain departed from Feshnavat the 
 Vizier, and came to the outside of the city, and lo ! there 
 was the Genie by a well under a palm, and he standing iit 
 the shape of an Ass, saddled. So, they mounted him, and 
 in a moment they were in the midst of the desert, and 
 nought round them save the hot glimmer of the sands and 
 the strong grey of the sky. Surely, the Ass went at such a 
 pace as never Ass went before in this world, resting not by 
 the rivulets, nor under the palms, nor beside the date- 
 boughs ; it was as if the Ass scurried without motion of his 
 legs, so swiftly went he. At last the desert gave signs of a 
 border on the low line of the distance, and this, grew rapidly 
 higher as they- advanced, revealing a country of hiUs and 
 rocks, and at the base of these the Ass rested. 
 
 So, Noorna said, " This desert that we have passed, my 
 betrothed, many are they that perish in it, and reach not the 
 well ; but give thanks to Allah that it is passed." 
 
 Then said she, " Dismount, and be wary of moving to the 
 front or to the rear of this Ass, and measure thy distance 
 from the lash of his tail." 
 
 So Shibli Bagarag dismounted, and followed her up the 
 hUls and the rocks, through ravines and gorges of the rocks, 
 and by tumbling torrents, among hanging woods, over peri- 
 lous precipices, where no sun hath pierced, and the bones of 
 
118 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 travellers wliiten in loneliness ; and they continued mounting 
 upward by -winding paths, now closed in by coverts, now 
 upon open heights having great views, and presently a 
 mountain was disclosed to them, green at the sides high up 
 it as they could see ; and Koorna bin Noorka said to Shibli 
 Bagarag, "Mount here, for the cunning of this Ass can 
 furnish him no excuse further for making thee food for the 
 birds of prey." 
 
 So, Shibli Bagarag mounted, and they ceased not to ascend 
 the green slopes till the grass became scanty and darkness 
 fell, and they were in a region of snow and cold. Then 
 JSTooma bin Noorka tethered the Ass to a stump of a tree 
 and breathed in his ear, and the Ass became as a creature 
 carved in stone ; and she drew from her bosom two bags of 
 silk, and blew in one and entered it, bidding Shibli Bagarag 
 do likewise with the other bag ; and he obeyed her, drawing 
 it up to his neck, and the delightfulness of warmth came 
 over him. Then said she, "To-morrow, at noon, we shall 
 reach the summit of the mountain and the Well of Paravid, 
 if my power last over this Ass ; and from that time thou 
 wilt be on the high road to greatness, so fail not to remember 
 what I have done for thee, and be not guilty of ingratitude 
 when thy hand is the stronger.'' 
 
 So, he promised her, and they lay and slept. "When he 
 awoke the sun was half-risen, and he looked at JSToorna bin 
 Noorka in the silken bag, and she was yet in the peaceful- 
 ness of pleasant dreams ; but for the Ass, surely his eyes 
 rolled, and his head and fore legs were endued with life, while 
 his latter half seemed of stone. And he called to Noorua 
 bin Noorka, and pointed to her the strangeness of the condi- 
 tion of the Ass. As she cast eyes on him she cried out, and 
 rushed to him, and took him by the ears and blew up his 
 nostrils, and the animal was quiet. Then she and Shibli 
 Bagarag mounted him again, and she said to him, " It is well 
 thou wert more vigilant than I, and that the sun rose not on 
 this Ass while I slept, or my enchantment would have 
 thawed on him, and he would have 'scaped us." 
 
THE WELL OF PAEAVID. 119 
 
 She gave her heel to the Ass, and the Ass hung his tail 
 in suUenness and drooped his head ; and she laughed, crying, 
 " Karaz, silly fellow ! do thy work willingly, and take 
 wisely thine outwitting." 
 
 She jeered him as they journeyed, and made the soul of 
 Shibli Bagarag merry, so that he jerked in his seat upon the 
 Ass. Now, as they ascended the mountain they came to the 
 opening of a cavern, and Noorna bin Noorka halted the Ass, 
 and said to Shibli Eagarag, ""We part here, and I wait for 
 thee in this place. Take this phial, and fill it with the 
 waters of the well, after thy bath. The way is before thee — 
 speed on it." 
 
 So, he climbed the sides of the mountain, and wa.s soon 
 hidden in the clefts and beyond the highest perches of the 
 vulture. She kept her eyes on the rocky point when ho 
 disappeared, awaiting his return ; and the sun went over her 
 head and sank on the yonside of the mountain, and it was by 
 the beams of the moon that she beheld Shibli Bagarag 
 dropping from the crags and ledges of rock, sliding and 
 steadying himself downward till he reached her with the 
 phial in his hand, filled ; and he was radiant, as it were 
 divine with freshness, so that Nooma, before she spoke 
 welcome to him, was lost in contemplating the warm sliino 
 of his visage, calling to mind the poet's words : 
 
 The wealth of light in sun and moon, 
 
 All nature's wealth, 
 Hath mortal beauty for a boon 
 
 When match'd with health. 
 
 Then said she, " Shibli Bagarag, 't is achieved, this 
 first of thy tasks ; for mutely on the fresh red of thy mouth, 
 my betrothed, speaketh the honey of persuasiveness, and the 
 children of Aklis will not resist thee." So she took the 
 phial from him and led forth the Ass, and the twain mounted 
 the Ass and descended the slopes of the mountain in moon- 
 light ; and Shibli Bagarag said, " Lo ! I have markc I 
 ■wonders, and lived a life since our parting ; and this well, 't 
 
120 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 is a miracle to dip in it, and by it sit many maide is weeping 
 and old men babbling, and youths that were idle youths 
 striking bubbles from the surface of the water. The well is 
 rounded with marble, and the sky is clear in it, cool in it, 
 the whole earth imaged therein." 
 
 Then Noorna said, " Hadst thou a difficulty in obtaining 
 the waters of the well ? " 
 
 He answered, " Surely, all was made smooth for me by thy 
 aid. Now when I came to the well I marked not them by 
 it, but plunged, and the depth of that well seemed to me the 
 very depth of the earth itself, so went I ever downward ; 
 and when I was near the bottom of the well I had forgotten 
 life above, and lo ! no sooner had I touched the bottom of 
 the well when my head emerged from the surface : 't was 
 wondrous ! But for a sign that I touched the bottom of the 
 well, see, Noorna bin Noorka, the Jewel, the one of myriads 
 that glitter at the bottom, and I plucked it for a gift to thee." 
 
 So, Noorna took the Jewel from his hand that was torn 
 and crimson, and she cried, " Thou fair youth, thou bleedest 
 with the plucking of it, and it was written, no hand shall 
 pluck a jewel at the bottom of that well without letting of 
 blood. Even so is it ! Worthy art tliou, and I was not 
 mistaken in thee." 
 
 At her words Shibli Bagarag burst forth into praises of her, 
 and he sang : 
 
 What is my worthiness 
 
 Match'd with thy worth ? 
 Darkness and earthiness, 
 Dust and dearth ! 
 
 Noorna, thou art wise above women : great and glorious 
 over them." 
 
 In this fashion the youth lauded her that was his betrothed, 
 but she exclaimed, "Hush ! or the jealousy of this Ass will 
 be aroused, and of a surety he '11 spill us." 
 
 Then he laughed and she laughed till the tail of Karaz 
 trembled. 
 
THE HOESE GAERAVEEN. 
 
 Xow, they descended leisurely the slopes of the mountain, 
 and when they were again in the green of its base, Noorna 
 called to the Ass, " Ho ! Karaz ! sniff now the breezes, for 
 the end of our journey by night is the meadows of Melistan. 
 Forward in thy might, and bray not when we are in them, 
 for thy comfort's sake ! " 
 
 The Ass sniffed, turning to the four quarters, and chose a 
 certain direction, and bore them swiftly over hills and streams 
 eddying in silver; over huge mounds of sand, where the 
 tents of Bedouins stood in white clusters ; over lakes smooth 
 as the cheeks of sleeping loveliness ; by walls of cities, 
 mosques, and 'palaces; under towers that rose as an armed 
 man with the steel on his brows and the frown of battle ; by 
 shores of the pale foaming sea it bore them, going at a pace that 
 the Arab on his steed outstrippeth not. So when the sun 
 was red and the dews were blushing with new light, they 
 struggled from a wilderness of barren broken ground, and 
 saw beneath them, in the warm beams, green, peaceful, deep, 
 the meadows of Melistan. They were meadows dancing 
 with flowers, as it had been fresh damsels of the mountain, 
 fair with variety of colours that were so many gleams of 
 changing light as the breezes of the morn swept over them ; 
 lavish of hues, of sweetness, of pleasantness, fit garden for 
 the souls of the blest. Then, after they had gazed awhile, 
 Noorna bin Noorka said, "In these meadows the Horse 
 
123 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 Gairaveen roameth at will. Heroes of bliss bestride him on 
 great days. He is black to look on; speed quivers in his 
 flanks like the lightning ; Ms nostrils are wide with flame ; 
 there is that in his eye which is settled fire, and that in his 
 hooves which is ready thunder ; when he paws the earth 
 kingdoms quake : no animal liveth with blood like the Horse 
 Garraveen. He is under a curse, for that he bore on his- 
 back one who defied the Prophet. ISTow, to make him come 
 to thee thou must blow the call of battle, and to catch liim 
 thou must contrive to strike him on the fetlock as he runs 
 with this musk-ball which I give thee; and to tame him 
 thou must trace between his eyes a figure of the crescent 
 with thy forenail. "When that is done, bring him to me 
 here, where I await thee, and I will advise thee further." 
 
 So, she said, " Go ! " and Shibli Bagarag showed her the 
 breadth of his shoulders, and stepped briskly toward the 
 meadows, and was soon brushing among the flowers and soft 
 mosses of the meadows, lifting his nostrils to the joyful 
 smells, looking about him with, the broad eye of one that 
 hungereth for a coming thing. The birds went up above 
 liini, and the trees shook and sparkled, and the waters of 
 brooks and broad rivers flashed like waving mirrors waved 
 by the slave-girls in sport when the beauties of the harem 
 riot and dip their gleaming shoulders in the bath. He 
 wandered on, lost in the gladness that lived, till the loud 
 neigh of a steed startled him, and by the banks of a river 
 before him he beheld the Horse Garraveen stooping to drink 
 of the river; glorious was the look of the creature, — silver- 
 hoofed, fashioned in the curves of beauty and swiftness. So 
 Shibli Bagarag put up his two hands and blew the call of 
 battle, and the Horse Garraveen arched his neck at the call,, 
 and swung upon his haunches, and sought the call, answering 
 it, and tossing his mane as he advanced swiftly. Then, as 
 he neared, Shibli Bagarag held the musk-ball in his fingers, 
 and aimed at the fetlock of the Horse Garraveen, and flung it, 
 and struck him so that he stumbled and fell. He snorted. 
 
THE HORSE GA.KEAVEEN. 123 
 
 fiercely as he bent to the grass, but Shibli Bagarag ran to 
 him, and grasped strongly the tuft of hair hanging forward 
 between his ears, and traced between his fine eyes a figure of 
 the crescent with his forenail, and the Horse ceased plunging, 
 and was gentle as a colt by its mother's side, and suffered 
 Shibli Bagarag to bestride him, and spurn him with his 
 heel to speed, and bore him fleetly across the fair length of 
 the golden meadows to where Noorna bin Noorka sat await- 
 ing him. She uttered a cry of welcome, saying, " This is 
 achieved with diligence and skill, my betrothed ! and on 
 thy right wrist I mark strength like a sleeping leopard, and 
 the children of Aklis will not resist thee." 
 
 So, she bade him alight from the Horse, but he said, 
 " Nay." And she called to him again to alight, but he cried, 
 " I will not alight from him ! By Allah ! such a bounding 
 wave of bliss have I never yet had beneath me, and I will 
 give him rein once again ; as the poet says : 
 
 'Divinely rings the rushing air 
 When I am on nay mettled mare : 
 When fast along the plains we flv, 
 A creature of the heavens am 1.' " 
 
 Then she levelled her brows at him, and said gravelj-, 
 " This is the temptation thou art falling into, as have thou- 
 sands before thy time. Give him the rein a second time, 
 and he will bear thee to the red pit, and halt upon the brink, 
 and pitch thee into it among bleeding masses and skeletons 
 of thy kind, where they lie who were men like to thee, and 
 were borne away by the Horse Garraveen." 
 
 He gave no heed to her words, taunting her, and making 
 the animal prance up and prove its spirit. 
 
 And she cried reproachfully, " O fool ! is it thus our great 
 aim will be defeated by thy silly conceit? Lo, now, the 
 greatness and the happiness thou art losing for this idle 
 vanity is to be as a dunghill cock matched with an ostrich ; 
 
121 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 and think not to escape the calamities thou bringest on thy- 
 self, for as is said, 
 
 No runner can outstrip his fate ; 
 
 and it will overtake thee, though thou part like an arrow 
 from the bxjw." 
 
 He still made a jest of her remonstrance, trying the temper 
 of the animal, and rejoicing in its dark flushes of ireful 
 vigour. 
 
 And she cried out furiously, " How ! art thou past counsel ? 
 then will we match strength with strength ere 't is too late, 
 though it weaken both.'' 
 
 Upon that, she turned quickly to the Ass and stroked it 
 from one extremity to the other, crying, " Karaz ! Karaz ! " 
 shouting, " Come forth in thy power ! " And the Ass 
 vanished, and the Genie stood in his place, tall, dark, 
 terrible as a pillar of storm to travellers ranging the desert 
 He exclaimed, "What is it, woman? Charge me with 
 thy command ! " 
 
 And she said, " "Wrestle with him thou seest on the Horse 
 Garraveen, and fling him from his seat." 
 
 Then he yelled a glad yell, and stooped to Shibli Bagarag 
 on the horse and enveloped him, and seized him, and 
 plucked him from the Horse, and whirled him round, and 
 flung him off. The youth went circling in the air, high in 
 it, and descended, circling, at a distance in the deep meadow- 
 waters. When he crept up the banks he saw the Genie 
 astride the Hor.^e Garraveen, with a black flame round his 
 head ; and the Genie urged him to speed and put him to the 
 gallop, and was soon lost to sight, as he had been a thunder- 
 beam passing over a still lake at midnight. And Shibli 
 Bagarag was smitten with the wrong and the folly of his act, 
 and sought to hide his sight from Noorna; but she called to 
 him, " Look up, youth I and face the calamity. Lo, we 
 have now lost the service of Karaz ! for though I utter ten 
 speUs and one spell in a breath, the Horse Garraveen will ere 
 
THE HORSE GAREAVEEN. 125 
 
 that have stretched heyond the circle of my magic, and the 
 G enie will be . free to do his ill deeds and plot against us. 
 Sad is it ! but profit thou by a knowledge of thy weakness." 
 Then said she, "See, I have not failed to possess myself of 
 the three hairs of Garraveen, and there is that to rejoice in." 
 
 She displayed them, and they were sapphire hairs, and 
 had a flickering light; and they seemed to live, wriggling 
 their lengths, and were as snakes with sapphire skins. 
 Then she said, " Thy right wrist, my betrothed ! " 
 
 He gave her his right wrist, aAd she tied round it the' 
 three hairs of Garraveen, exclaiming, " Thus do skilful 
 carpenters make stronger what has broken and indicated 
 disaster. Surely, I confide in thy star ? I have faith in my 
 foresight 'i " 
 
 And she cried, " Eyes of mine, what sayest thou to me ? 
 Lo, we must part awhile : it is written." 
 
 Said he, " Leave me not, my betrothed ; what am I with- 
 out thy counsel 1 And go not from me, or this adventure 
 will come to miserable issue.'' 
 
 So, she said, " Thou beginnest to feel my worth 1 " 
 
 He answered, " Nooma ! was woman like thee before 
 in this world t Surely 't is a mask I mark thee under ; yet 
 art thou perforce of sheer wisdom and sweet manners lovely 
 in my sight ; and I have a thirst to hear thee and look on 
 thee." 
 
 While he spake, a beam of struggling splendour burst 
 from her, and she said, " thou dear youth, yes ! I must 
 even go. But I go glad of heart, knowing thee prepared to 
 love me. I must go to counteract the machinations of 
 Karaz, for he 's at once busy, vindictive, and cunning, and 
 there 's no time for us to lose ; so farewell, my betrothed, 
 and make thy wits keen to know me when we next meet." 
 
 So, he said, " And I — whither go IV 
 
 She answered, " To the City of Oolb straightway," 
 
 Then he, "But I know not its bearing from this spot: 
 how reach it t " 
 
126 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 She answered, "Wliat ! thou with the phial of Paravid 
 in thy vest, that endoweth, a single drop of it, the flowers, 
 the herhage, the very stones and desert sands, with a tongue 
 to articulate intelligible talk ? " 
 
 Said he, " Is it so 'J " 
 
 She answered, "Even so." 
 
 Ere Shibli Bagarag could question her further she 
 embraced him, and blew upon his eyes, and he was blinded 
 by her breath, and saw not her departure, groping for a seat 
 •on the rooks, and thinking her still by him. Sight returned 
 not to him till long after weariness had brought the balm of 
 sleep upon his eyelids. 
 
THE TALKING HAWK. 
 
 'Nov, when he awoke he found himself alone in that place, 
 the moon shining over the low meadows and flower-cups fair 
 with nightdew. Odours of night-flowers were abroad, filling 
 the cool air with deliciousness, and he heard in the gardens 
 below songs of the bulbul : it was like a dream to his soul, 
 and he lay somewhile contemplating the rich loveliness of the 
 scene, that showed no moving thing. Then rose he and 
 bethought him of the words of Noorna, aiid of the City of 
 Oolb, and the phial of the waters of Paravid in his vest ; and 
 he drew it forth, and dropped a drop of it on the rock where 
 he had reclined. A deep harmony seemed suddenly to 
 awake inside the rook, and to his interrogation as to the 
 ■direction of Oolb, he heard, " The path of the shadows of 
 the moon." 
 
 Thereupon he advanced to a prominent part of the rocks 
 above the meadows, and beheld the shadows of the moon 
 thrown forward into dimness across a waste of sand. And he 
 stepped downward to the level of sand, and went the way of 
 the shadows till it was dawn. Then dropped he a drop of 
 the waters of the phial on a spike of lavender, and there was 
 a voice said to him in reply to what he questioned, " The 
 path of the shadows of the sun." 
 
 The shadows of the sun were thrown forward across the 
 same waste of sand, and he turned and pursued his way, 
 resting at noon beneath a date-tree, and refreshing himself 
 
128 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 at a clear spring beside it. Surely he was joyful as lie 
 journeyed, and elated with high prospects, singing : 
 
 Sun and moon wifcB their bright fingers 
 
 Point the hero's path ; 
 If in his great work he lingers, 
 
 Well may they be wroth. 
 
 Now, the extent of the duration of his travel was four days 
 and an equal number of nights ; and it was on the fifth mom 
 that he entered the gates of a city by the sea, even at that 
 hour when the inhabitants were rising from sleep : fair was 
 the sea beyond it, and the harbour was crowded with vessels, 
 ships stored with merchandise — silks, dates, diamonds, 
 Damascus steel, huge bales piled on the decks for the land 
 of Eoum and other lands. Shibli Bagarag thought, " There 's 
 scarce a doubt but that one of those sails will set for Oolb 
 shortly. WuUaby ! if I knew which, I 'd board her and win 
 a berth in her." Presently he thought, "I'll go to the 
 public fountain and question it with the speech-winning 
 waters." Thereupon he passed down the streets of the city 
 and came to an open space, where stood the fountain, and 
 sprinkled it with Paravid ; and the fountain spake, saying, 
 " Where men are, question not dumb things." 
 
 Cried he, " Faileth Paravid in its power 1 Have I done 
 ought to baffle myself 1 " 
 
 Then he thought, " 'T were nevertheless well to do as th& 
 fountain directeth, and question men while I see them." 
 And he walked about among the people, and came to the 
 quays of the harbour where the ships lay close in, many of 
 them an easy leap from shore, and considered whom to- 
 • address. So, as he loitered about the quays, meditating on 
 tlie means at the disposal of the All-Wise, and marking the 
 vessels wistfully, behold, there advanced to him one at a 
 quick pace, in the garb of a sailor. He observed Shibli 
 Bagarag attentively a moment, and exclaimed as it were in 
 the plenitude of respect and with the manner of one that is- 
 
THE TALKING HAWK. 129 
 
 abashed, " Surely, thou art Shibli Bagarag, the nephew of 
 the barber, him we watch for." 
 
 So, Shibli Bagarag marvelled at this recognition, and an- 
 swered, " Even so ; am I then already famous to that 
 extent?" 
 
 And he that accosted him said, " 'T is certain the trumpet 
 was blown before thy steps, and there is not a man in this 
 city but knoweth of thy destination to the City of Oolb, and 
 that thou art upon the track of great things, one chosen to 
 bring about imminent changes." 
 
 Then said Shibli Bagarag, " Por this I praise Noorna bin 
 Noorka, daughter of Feshnavat, Vizier of the King that ruleth 
 in the city of Shagpat ! She saw me, that I was marked for 
 greatness. Wullahy, the eagle knoweth me from afar, and 
 proclaimeth me ; the antelope of the hills scenteth the coming 
 of one not as other men, and telleth his tidings ; the wind of 
 the desert shapeth its gust to a meaning, so that the stranger 
 may wot Shibli Bagarag is at hand ! " 
 
 So, he puffed his chest, and straightened his legs like the 
 cock, and was as a man upon whom the Sultan has bestowed 
 a dress of honour, even as the plumed peacock. Then the 
 other said : 
 
 " Know that I am captain of yonder vessel, that stands 
 farthest out from the harbour with her sails slackened ; and 
 she is laden with figs and fruits which I exchange for silks, 
 spices, and other merchandise, with the people of Oolb. Now, 
 what says the poet ? — 
 
 ' Delay ia thine undertaking 
 Is disaster of thy own making j ' 
 
 and he says also : 
 
 * Greatness is solely for them that succeed ; 
 'T is a rotten applause that gives earlier meed.' 
 
 Therefore it is advisable for thee to follow me on board with- 
 out loss of time, and we will sail this very night for the Cily 
 of Oolb." 
 
 K 
 
130 THE SHA7ING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 Now, Shibli Bagarag was ruled by the words of the cap- 
 tain albeit he desired to stay awhile and receive the homage 
 of the people of that city. So, he followed him into a boat, 
 that was by, and the twain were rowed by sailors to the ship. 
 Then, when they were aboard the captain set sail, and they 
 were soon in the hollows of deep waters. Now, there was a 
 berth in the ship set apart for Shibli Bagarag, and one for 
 the captain. Shibli Bagarag, when he entered his berth, 
 beheld at the head of his couch a hawk ; its eyes red as rubies, 
 its beak sharp as the curve of a scimitar. So he called out 
 to the captain, and the captain came to him ; but when he 
 saw the hawk, he plucked his turban from his head, and 
 dashed it at the hawk, and afterwards ran to it, trying to 
 catch it ; and the hawk flitted from corner to corner of the 
 berth, he after it with open arms. Then he took a sword,, 
 but the hawk flew past him, and fixed on the back part of his 
 head, tearing up his hair by the talons, and pecking over his 
 forehead at his eyes. And Shibli Bagarag heard the hawk 
 scream the name " Karaz," and he looked closely at the captain 
 of the vessel, and knew him for the Genie Karaz. Then 
 trembled he with exceeding terror, cursing his credulities, 
 for he saw himself in the hands of the Genie, and nothing 
 but this hawk friendly to him on the fearful waters. Now, 
 when the hawk had torn up a certain hair, the Genie 
 stiifened, and glowed like copper in the furnace, the whole 
 ■ length of him ; and he descended heavily through the bottom 
 of the ship, and sank into the waters beneath, which hissed 
 and smoked as at a bar of heated iron. Then, Shibli Bagarag 
 gave thanks to the Prophet, and praised the hawk, but the 
 hawk darted out of the cabin, and he followed it on deck, 
 and, lo ! the vessel was in flames, and the hawk in a circle 
 of the flames ; and the flames soared with it, and left it no- 
 outlet. Now, as Shibli Bagarag watched the hawk, the 
 flames stretched out towards him and took hold of his 
 vestments. So, he delayed not to commend his soul to the 
 All-merciful, and bore witness to his faith, and plunged into 
 
THE TALKING HAWK. 131 
 
 tlie sea headlong. When he rose, the vessel had vanished, 
 and all was darkness vrhere it had been ; so he buffeted with 
 the billows, thinking his last hour had come, and there was no 
 help for him in this world ; and the spray shaken from the 
 billows blinded him, the great walls of water crumbled over 
 him ; strength failed him, and his memory ceased to picture 
 images of the old time — his heart to beat with ambition; and 
 to keep the weight of his head above the surface was becom- 
 ing a difficulty, a thing worth the ransom of kings. So, as 
 he was sinking and turning his eyes upward, he heard a 
 flutter as of fledgling's wings, and the two red ruby eyes of 
 the hawk were visible above him, like steady fires in the 
 gloom. And the hawk perched on him, and buried itself 
 among the wet hairs of his head, and presently taking the 
 Identical in its beak, the hawk lifted him half out of water, 
 and bore him a distance, and dropped him. This the hawk 
 did many times, and at the last, Shibli Bagarag felt land 
 beneath him, and could wade through the surges to the 
 shore. So, he gave thanks to the Supreme Disposer, kneeling 
 prostrate on the shore, and fell into a sleep deep in peaceful- 
 ness as a fathomless well, unruffled by a breath. 
 
 Wow, when it was dawn Shibli Bagarag awoke and looked 
 inland, and saw plainly the minarets of a city shining in the 
 first beams, and the front of yellow mountains, and people 
 moving about the walls and on the towers and among the 
 pastures round the city ; so he made toward them, and in- 
 quired of them the name of their city. And they stared at 
 him, crying, " What ! know'st thou not the City of Oolb 1 
 the hawk on thy shoulder could tell thee that much." He 
 looked and saw that the hawk was on his shoulder ; and its 
 left wing was scorched, the plumage blackened. So he said 
 to the hawk, " Is it profitable, preserving bird, to ask of 
 thee questions t " 
 
 The hawk shook its wings and closed an eye. 
 
 So, he said, " Do I well in entering this city 1 " 
 
 The hawk shook its wings again and closed an eye. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 So, lie said, " To what house shall I direct my steps in this 
 strange city for the attainment of the purpose I have ? " 
 
 The hawk flew, and soared, and alighted on the topmost 
 of the towers of Oolb. So when it returned he said, " 
 bird ! rare bird ! my counsellor ! it is an indication, this 
 alighting on the highest tower, that thou advisest me to go 
 straight to the palace of the King 1 " 
 
 The hawk flapped its wings and winked both eyes 
 violently ; so Shibli Bagarag took forth the phial from his 
 breast, remembering the virtues of the waters of the "Well of 
 Paravid, and touched his lips with them, that he might be 
 endowed with flowing speech before the King of Oolb. Now, 
 as he did this the phial was open, and the hawk leaned to it 
 and dipped its beak into the water ; and he entered the city 
 and passed through the long streets towards the palace of the 
 King, and craved audience of him as one that had a thing 
 marvellous to tell. So, the King commanded that Shibli 
 Bagarag should be brought before him, for he was a lover of 
 marvels. As he went into the presence of the King, Shibli 
 Bagarag listened to the hawk, for the hawk spake his 
 language, and it said, " Proclaim to the King a new wonder — 
 'the talking hawk.'" 
 
 So, when he had bent his body to the King, he proclaimed 
 the new wonder ; and the King seemed not to observe the 
 hawk, and said, " From what city art thou 1 " 
 
 He answered, " Native, King, to Shiraz ; newly from 
 the City of Shagpat.'' 
 
 And the King asked, "How is it with that hairy wonder?" 
 ■ He answered, " The dark forest flourisheth about him." 
 
 And the King said, " That is well ! We of the City of 
 Oolb take our fashions from them of the City of Shagpat, 
 and it is but yesterday that I bastinadoed a barber that 
 strayed among us." 
 
 Shibli Bagarag sighed when he heard the King, and 
 thought to himself, " How unfortunate is the race of barbers, 
 once honourable and in esteem ! Surely it will not be other- 
 
THE TALKING HAWK. 133 
 
 wise till Shagpat is shaved ! " And the King called out to 
 him for the cause of his sighing ; so he said, " I sigh, 
 King of the age, considering how like may be the case of the 
 barber bastinadoed but yesterday, in his worth and value, to 
 that of Eumdrum, the reader of planets, that was a barber.'' 
 
 And the King cried, " What of that case 1 let us hear 
 it!" 
 
 So, Shibli Bagarag said : 
 
AND THIS IS THE CASE OF EUM- 
 DRUM, A READER OF PLANETS, 
 THAT WAS A BARBER. 
 
 It is told of Eumdrnm, King, that he was a barber, and a 
 reader of planets : by day he operated on the heads of men, 
 and at night interpreted the stars. Now, Eumdrum talked 
 and had enemies, and they were active with the King of the 
 city where Eumdrum dwelt. The King was at war with 
 the armies of a neighbouring nation, and the enemies of 
 Eumdrum declared to the King that Eumdrum had an 
 understanding with the Chiefs of those armies. So, the 
 displeasure of the King fell upon Eumdrum, and he walked 
 with the eye of abasement, even under a cloud full of direful 
 bolts, as is said of them that arouse the wrath of kings : and 
 the coolness of the barber forsook him, the firmness of 
 glance, the steadiness of hand. He was in this condition 
 when one day the King sent for him to the palace, to exert 
 his craft. So, Eumdrum went armed with his tackle. At 
 the palace-gates he was greeted by the cook of the palace, 
 the head- cook, that was his friend ; and the head-cook 
 warned Eumdrum of the doings of his enemies. And 
 Eumdrum said, " I have seen all this by my science and my 
 foresight, but there is that upon the head of the King which 
 cleareth a mystery, one concerning himself, and for his sake 
 I will go.'' 
 
 So, Eumdrum went and kissed the ground of obedience 
 
THE CASE OF EUMDEUM. 135 
 
 Tsefore the King, and arranged his tackle, and commenced 
 shaving the King, for this time was before the time of Shag- 
 pat, when kings were shaved, and men ; wuliahy ! it was 
 ■a time not without its glory, and there was one art the more 
 exercised ! 
 
 Now, while Eumdrum shaved the King, the King 
 questioned him as to future occurrences, and he said, 
 " How is it, Eumdrum ; will mine enemies succeed in 
 what they undertake 1 " 
 
 And Eumdrum gave the King an answer pleasant in ex- 
 pression, but unsavoury to swallow. 
 
 Now, the King thought, " This fellow is beguiling me 
 with double meanings, and the sweet concealeth the sour in 
 what he says." So, while the blade of Eumdrum swept 
 over him like a gleam across the water, he made a signal to 
 his guard for the guard to close upon Eumdrum. As they 
 closed upon him Eumdrum shrieked, and struggled to get 
 back to the King, and offered the guard bribes of money, 
 rare gifts, to let him peer once more upon the head of the 
 King ; and the King was confirmed in his suspicions of 
 Eumdrum. So, he had the bow slung about the neck of 
 Eumdrum, and accused him of the crime of a traitor. And 
 Eumdrum said, " King, there is nought like to confidence 
 in thy kind ; and he that dishonoureth the barber is in turn 
 dishonoured, seeing that it is a craft made familiar with the 
 noblest part of man, and a craft intimate with occurrences, 
 charged with foretellings. Now, that I may prove my 
 words, grant me one day and one night further of life, and 
 on the morrow let me die." 
 
 So, the King granted him a day and a night to live, and 
 on the morrow Eumdrum handed a sealed paper to the 
 King, and died by the tightening of the bow round his neck. 
 Then the King opened the packet, and in it was traced the 
 figure of a barber crowned and in the robes of a King on his 
 throne ; under it were written the words, " Let him that 
 marketh this figure of the barber, acknowledge his repent- 
 
130 THE SEATING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 ance ! " And the King, when he had seen that, said, 
 "There was wisdom in Eumdrum, and by kilh'ng him I 
 have made him potent to shame me and insult me, he that 
 was in life my slave, so of a surety I repent.'' 
 
 The King turned to a second leaf of the packet, and there 
 was traced a figure of the King, the harber, and the Angel 
 of Death ; and the barber was shielding the head of the 
 King from the stroke of Azrael ; under it were the words, 
 " Let him that marketh the figure of the King, the barber, 
 and the Angel of Death, acknowledge the faithfulness of 
 Eumdrum." And the King, when he had seen that, said, 
 " There was faithfulness in Eumdrum, for his opportunities 
 were many of delivering me over to the Angel of Death, yet 
 he shielded me." 
 
 The King turned to a third leaf of the packet, and there 
 was traced a tomb beside a cypress ; under it were the words, 
 " Let him that marketh this tomb beside the cypress come 
 to it by night, and acknowledge the privilege of the dead." 
 So, the King went by night to the tomb of the barber, and 
 stood beside the tomb ; and a voice as from the hollow of 
 the tomb called to him for the reason of his coming. The 
 King said, " I come hither to learn the privilege of the dead." 
 
 And the Voice answered, " It is the privilege of the dead 
 to speak truth when they speak, without fear of kings.'' 
 
 The King said, " Tell me then, am I well served, secure 
 from traitors, beloved by my wives, my courtiers, and my 
 people?" 
 
 And the Voice answered, " It is the privilege of the dead 
 to be silent when they please, without fear of kings." 
 
 The King reflected, and his heart smote him for his con- 
 duct to the barber. He said, " If thou be Eumdrum en- 
 closed in this tomb, listen to my praises of him and my 
 sorrow for his loss ; he that was wise, faithful, a reader of 
 planets; whose tongue went much, but whose heart beat 
 true; who has filled with remorse and regret the Kind's 
 breast, his eyes with tears, his thoughts with bitterness." 
 
THE CASE OF RUMDRUM. 137 
 
 And the Voice answered, " It is the privilege of the dead 
 to scorn flatteries, even from the mouths of kings." 
 
 Then the King cried aloud, " Oh, how great is the privilege 
 of the dead ! There is no privilege like to that they possess ! 
 Strong are they ! He that punisheth the innocent is but an 
 instrument to exalt them, scourged for his pains." 
 
 Now, -while the King was lost in self-abasement, the Voice 
 said, "Know, great King, that the restlessness of an un- 
 completed work is on the tomb of Kumdrum the barber, and 
 if thou wouldst appease him, call hither one to shave thee, 
 and lay upon his tomb the hairs of thy head." 
 
 So, the King did this, and was shaved and laid the hairs 
 upon the tomb. Then the Voice said, " King, the calcu- 
 lations of Eumdrum were cut short, and in the tomb he can- 
 not take them up, for no science availeth in the tomb, as is 
 written : 
 
 ' The thoughts of heads, 
 The works of hands, 
 Are severed threads, 
 And broken bands.' 
 
 K^ow, he calculated thy nativity, and was summing the 
 number of thy hairs when he was torn from thee, and the 
 thing he would have foretold is dumb ; so if thou wouldst 
 know it, set thyself to count the number of thy hairs upon 
 this tomb diligently, counting two for the hair of fortune, 
 which is the Identical. And cease not to coimt, for when 
 thou boldest off from counting it is the end of thy days." 
 
 So, the King saw what he had lost in Eumdrum the 
 barber, for he knew not the Identical, which is the hair of 
 fortune, to count two for it ; and his days were given to the 
 counting these hairs upon the tomb, he fearing to hold off 
 from counting lest death should surprise him. Wah ! it is 
 an ill thing to do an injustice, which springeth from suspicion, 
 as the poet has said ! 
 
 So, the King saw what he had lost in Rumdrum the 
 barber. 
 
GOORELKA OP OOLB. 
 
 "When Shiljli Bagarag liad finished his narration of the case 
 of Eumdrum the harber, the King of Oolb said, " thou, 
 native of Shiraz, there is persuasion and sweetness and 
 fascination on thy tongue, and I am touched with compassion 
 for the soles of Baba Mustapha, that I bastinadoed but 
 yesterday, and he was from Shiraz likewise." 
 
 Now, the heart of Shibli Bagarag leapt when he heard 
 mention of Baba Mustapha ; and he knew him for his uncle 
 that was searching him. He would have cried aloud his 
 Telationship, but the hawk whispered " Silence ! " in his ear. 
 Then the hawk said to him, "There is danger in the King's 
 muteness respecting me, for I am visible to him. Proclaim 
 therefore the spirit of prophecy." 
 
 So, he proclaimed the spirit of prophecy, and the King 
 said, " Prophecy to me of barbercraft." 
 
 And he cried, " King of the age, the barber is abased, 
 trodden underfoot, given over to the sneers and the gibes of 
 them that flatter the powerful ones ; he is as the winter 
 worm, as the crocodile in the slime of his sleep by the bank, 
 as the sick eagle before moulting. But I say, O King, that 
 he will come forth like the serpent in a new skin, shaming 
 the old one ; he slept a caterpillar, and will come forth a 
 butterfly ; he sank a star, and lo ! he riseth a constellation." 
 
 Now, while he was speaking in the fervour of his soul, the 
 King said something to one of the court officers surrounding 
 
GOORELKA OF OOLB. 139 
 
 liim, and there was brought to the King a basin, a soap-bow], 
 and barber's tackle. When Shibli Bagarag saw these, the 
 wses of the barber rushed upon his mind, and desire to sway 
 the tackle pushed him forward and agitated him, so that he 
 could not keep his hand from them. 
 
 Then, the King exclaimed, " It is as I thought. Our pas- 
 sions betray themselves, and our habits ; so is it written. 
 By Allah ! I swear thou art thyself none other than a barber, 
 O youth." 
 
 Shibli Bagarag was nigh fainting with terror at this dis- 
 covery of the King, but the hawk said in his ear, " Proclaim 
 speech in the tackle." So he proclaimed speech in the 
 tackle ; and the King smiled doubtingly, and said, " If this 
 be a cheat, Shiraz will not see thy face more." 
 
 Then, the hawk whispered in his ear, " Drop on the tackle 
 secretly a drop from the phial.'' This he did, spreading his 
 garments, and commanded the tackle to speak. And the 
 tackle spake, each portion of it, confusedly as the noise of 
 Babel. So the King marvelled greatly, and said, " 'T is a 
 greater wonder than the talking hawk, the talking tackle. 
 Wullahy ! it ennobleth barbercraft 1 Yet it were well to 
 comprehend the saying of the tackle.'' 
 
 Then, the hawk flew to the tackle and fluttered about it, 
 and lo ! the blade and the brush stood up and said in a shrill 
 tone, " It is ordained that Shagpat shall be shaved, and that 
 Shibli Bagarag shall shave him." 
 
 The King bit the forefinger of amazement, and said, 
 ■"What then ensueth, talking tackle i" 
 
 And the brush and the blade stood up, and said in a shrill 
 tone, "Honour to Shibli Bagarag and barbers ! Shame unto 
 Shagpat and his fellows ! " 
 
 Upon that, the King cried, "Enough, talking tackle; I 
 will forestal the coming thing. I will be shaved ! wullahy, 
 that will I ! " 
 
 Then the hawk whispered to Shibli Bagarag, "Forward 
 and shear him ! " So he stepped forth and seized the tackle, 
 
140 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 and addressed himself keenly to the shaving of the King of 
 Oolb, lathering him and performing his task with perfect skill. 
 And the courtiers crowded to follow the example of the 
 King, and Sliibli Bagarag shaved them, all of them. Now, 
 when they were shaved, fear smote them, the fear of ridicule, 
 and each laughed at the change that was in the other ; but 
 the King cried, " See that order is issued for the people of 
 Oolb to be as we before to-morrow's sun. So is laughter 
 taken in reverse." And the King said aside to Shibli 
 Bagarag, " Say now, what may be thy price for yonder 
 hawk 1 " 
 
 And the hawk bade him say, " The loan of thy 
 cockle-shell." 
 
 The King mused, and said, " That is much to ask, for it is 
 that which beareth the Princess my daughter to the Lily of 
 the Enchanted Sea, which she nourisheth ; and if 't is 
 harmed, she will be stricken with ugliness, as was the 
 daughter of the Vizier Peshnavat, who tended it before her. 
 Yet is this hawk a bird of price. What be its qualities, 
 beside speech 1 " 
 
 Shibli Bagarag answered, " To counsel in extremity ; to 
 forewarn ; to counteract enchantments and foul magic." 
 
 So, upon that the King said, " Follow me ! " 
 
 And the King led the way from the hall, through many 
 spacious chambers fair with mirrors and silks and precious 
 woods, and smooth marble floors, down into a vault lit by a 
 lamp that was shaped like an eye. Round the vault were 
 hung helm-pieces, and swords, and rich-studded housings; 
 and there were silken dresses, and costly shawls, and tall vases 
 and jars of China, tapestries, and gold services. And the 
 King said, " Take thy choice of these in exchange for the 
 hawk." 
 
 But Shibli Bagarag said, " Nought save a loan of the 
 cockle-shell, King ! " 
 
 Then the King threatened him, saying, " There is a 
 virtue in each of the things thou seest : the China jar is 
 
GOOKELKA OF OOLB. 141 
 
 Tirimmed with ■wine, and remaiueth so though a thousand 
 drink of it ; the dress of Samarcand rendereth the wearer 
 invisible ; yet thou refusest to exchange them for thy 
 hawk ! " 
 
 And the King swore hy the beard of his father he would 
 seize perforce the hawk and shut up Shibli Bagarag in the 
 vault, if he fell not into his bargain. Shibli Bagarag was 
 advised by the hawk to accept the China jar and the dress 
 of Samarcand, and handed the hawk to the King in 
 exchange for these things. So the King took the hawk 
 upon his wrist and departed with it to the apartments of 
 his daughter, and Shibli Bagarag went to the chamber pre- 
 pared for him in the palace. 
 
 Jfow, when it was night, Shibli Bagarag heard a noise at 
 his lattice, and he arose and peered through it, and lo ! the 
 hawk was fluttering without ; so he let it in, and caressed it, 
 and the hawk bade him put on his silken dress and carry 
 forth his China jar, and go the round of the palace, and offer 
 drink to the sentinels and the slaves. So he did as the hawk 
 directed, and the sentinels and slaves were aware of a China 
 jar brimmed with wine that was lifted to their lips, but he 
 that lifted it they saw not : surely, they drank deep of the 
 draught of astonishment. 
 
 Then, the hawk flew before him, and he followed it to a 
 chamber lit with golden lamps, gorgeously hung, and full of 
 a dusky splendour and the faint sparkle of gems, ruby, 
 amethyst, topaz, and beryl ; in it there was the hush of 
 sleep, and the heart of Shibli Bagarag told him that one 
 beautiful was near. So, he approached on tiptoe a couch of 
 blue silk, bordered with gold-wire, and inwoven with stars 
 of blue turquoise stones, as it had been the heavens of mid- 
 night. On the couch lay one, a woman, pure in loveliness ; 
 the dark fringes of her closed lids like living flashes of dark- 
 ness, her mouth like an unstrung bow and as a double rose- 
 bud, even as two isles of coral between which in the clear 
 transparent watery beds the pearls shine freshly. 
 
142 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 And the hawk said to Shihli Bagarag, "This is the- 
 Princess Goorelka, the daughter of the King of Oolh, a 
 sorceress, the Guardian of the Lily of the Enchanted Sea. 
 Beneath her pillow is the cockle-shell ; grasp it, but gaze not 
 upon her." 
 
 So, he approached and slid his arm beneath the pillow of 
 the Princess, and grasped the cockle-shell ; but ere he drew 
 it forth he gazed upon her, and the lustre of her countenance 
 transfixed him as with a javelin, so that he could not stir, 
 nor move his eyes from the contemplation of her sweetness; 
 of feature. The hawk darted at him fiercely, and pecked at 
 him to draw his attention from her, yet he continued im- 
 movable, taking fatal draughts from the magic cup of her 
 beauty. Then, the hawk screamed a loud scream of anguish, 
 and the Princess awoke, and started half-way from the couch, 
 and stared about her, and saw the bird in agitation. Now,, 
 as she looked at the bird a shudder passed over her, and she 
 snatched a veil and drew it over her face, murmuring, "I 
 dream, or I am under the eye of a man." Then, she felt 
 beneath the pillow, and knew that the cockle-shell had been, 
 touched ; and in a moment she leapt from the couch, and 
 ran to a mirror and saw herself as she was, a full-moon made 
 to snare the wariest and sit singly high on a throne in the 
 hearts of men. So, at the sight of her beauty she smiled and- 
 seemed at peace, murmuring still, " I am under the eye of a 
 man, or I dream." Now, while she so murmured she arrayed 
 herself, and took the cockle-shell, and passed through the- 
 ante-room among her women sleeping ; and Shibli Bagarag 
 tracked her till she came to the vault ; and she entered it and 
 walked to the corner from which had hung the dress of Samar- 
 cand. When she saw it gone her face waxed pale, and she gazed 
 slowly at all points, muttering, " There is no further doubt 
 but that I am under the eye of a man ! " Thereupon she ran 
 hastily from the vault, and passed between the sentinels of 
 the palace, and saw them where they lay drowsy -with in- 
 toxication : so, she knew that the China jar and the dress of 
 
GOORELKA OF OOLB. US- 
 
 Samarcand had been used that night, and for no purpose 
 friendly to her wishes. Then she passed down the palace- 
 steps, and through the gates of the palace and the city, till 
 she came to the shore of the sea; there she launched the 
 cockle-shell and took the wind in her garment^i, and sat in it, 
 filling it to overflowing, yet it floated. And Shibli Bagarag 
 waded to the cockle-shell and took hold of it, and was drawn 
 along by its motion swiftly through the waters, so that a f oanr 
 swept after him ; and Goorelka marked the foam. 'Now,. 
 they had passage over the billows smoothly, and soon the 
 length of the sea was darkened with two high rocks, and 
 between them there was a narrow channel of the sea, 
 roughened with moonlight. So, they sped between the rocks, 
 and came upon a purple sea, dark-blue overhead, with large 
 stars leaning to the waves. There was a soft whisperingness 
 in the breath of the breezes that swung there, and many sails 
 of charmed ships were seen in momentary gleams, flapping 
 the mast idly far away. Warm as new milk from the full 
 udders were the waters of that sea, and figures of fair womeu 
 stretched lengthwise with the current, and lifted a head as- 
 they rushed rolling by. Truly it was enchanted even to the 
 very bed ! 
 
THE LILY OF THE ENCHANTED SEA. 
 
 Now, after the coolde-sliell had skimmed calmly awhile, it 
 began to pitch and gre^y unquiet, and came upon a surging 
 foam, pale, and with scintillating bubbles. The surges in- 
 creased in volume, and boiled, hissing as with anger, like 
 savage animals. Presently, the cockle-shell rose upon one 
 very lofty swell, and Shibli Bagarag lost hold of it, and lo ! 
 it was overturned and engulfed in the descent of the great 
 mountain of water, and the Princess Goorelka was immersed 
 in the depths. She would have sunk, but Shibli Bagarag 
 caught hold of her, and supported her to the shore by the 
 strength of his right arm. The shore was one of sand and 
 shells, their wet cheeks sparkling in the moonlight ; over it 
 hung a promontory, a huge jut of black rock. Now, the 
 Princess when she landed, seeing not him that supported 
 her, delayed not to run beneath the rook, and ascended by 
 steps cut from the base of the rock. And Shibli Bagarag 
 followed her by winding paths round the rock, till she came 
 to the highest peak commanding the circle of the Enchanted 
 Sea, and glimpses of enthralled vessels, and mariners be- 
 witched on board ; long paths of starlight rippled into the 
 distant gloom, and the reflection of the moon opposite was as 
 a wide nuptial sheet of silver on the waters : islands, green 
 and white, and with soft music floating from their foliage, 
 sailed slowly to and fro. Surely, to dwell reclining among 
 the slopes of those islands a man would forfeit Paradise ! 
 
THE LILY OF THE ENCHAKTED SEA. 145 
 
 Now, the Princess, as slie stood upon the peak, knew that 
 she was not alone, and pretended to slip from her footing, 
 and Shibli Bagarag called ont and ran to her ; but she 
 turned in the direction of his voice and laughed, and he 
 knew he was outwitted. Then, to deceive her, he dropped 
 from the phial twenty drops round her on the rock, and those 
 twenty drops became twenty voices, so that she was be- 
 wildered with their calls, and stopped her ears, and ran from 
 them, and descended from the eminence nimbly, slipping over 
 ledges and leaping the abysses. And Shibli Bagarag followed 
 her, clutching at the trailers and tearing them with him, 
 letting loose a torrent of stones and earth, till on a sudden 
 they stood together above a greenswarded basin of the rock 
 opening to the sea ; and in the middle of the basin, lo ! in 
 stature like a maiden of the mountains, and one that droopeth 
 her head pensively thinking of her absent lover, the Enchanted 
 Lily. Wonder knocked at the breast of Shibli Bagarag when 
 he saw that queenly flower waving its illumined head to the 
 breeze : he could not retain a cry of rapture. Now, as he 
 did this the Princess stretched her hand to where he was 
 and groped a moment, and caught him by the silken dress 
 and tore in it a great rent, and by the rent he stood revealed 
 to her. Then said she, " youth, thou hast done ill to 
 follow me here, and the danger of it is past computing ; 
 surely, the motive was a deep one, nought other than the 
 love of me." 
 
 She spoke winningly, sweet words to a luted voice, and 
 the youth fell upon his knees before her, smitten by her 
 beauty; and he said, "I followed thee here as I would 
 follow such loveliness to the gates of doom, Princess of 
 Oolb." 
 
 So, she smiled and said playfully, " I will read by thy 
 hand whether thou be one faithful in love." 
 
 Then, she took his hand and sprinkled on it earth and 
 gravel, and commenced scanning it curiously. As she scanned 
 it her forehead wrinkled up, and a shot like black lightning 
 
 L 
 
146 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 travelled across her countenance, -withering its beauty : she- 
 cried in a forced voice, " Aha ! it is "vvell, youth, for 
 thee and for me that thou lovest me, and art faithful in 
 love." 
 
 ISTo-w, the look of the Princess of Oolb and her voice 
 affrighted the soul of Shibli Bagarag, and he -would have 
 turned from her; but she held him, and -went to the Lily, 
 and emptied into the palm of her hand the de-w that -was in 
 the Lily, and raised it to the lips of Shibli Bagarag, bidding 
 him drink as a pledge for her sake and her love, and to 
 appease his thirst. As he -was about to drink, there fell into 
 the palm of the Princess from above -what seemed a bolt of 
 storm scattering the de-w ; and after he had blinked -with the 
 suddenness of the action he looked and beheld the hawk, its- 
 red eyes inflamed -with -wrath. And the ha-wk screamed 
 into the ear of Shibli Bagarag, " Pluck up the Lily ere it is 
 too late, fool ! — the de^Y -was poison ! Pluck it by the 
 root -with thy right hand ! " 
 
 So, thereat he strode to the Lily, and grasped it, and 
 pulled -with his strength ; and the Lily -was loosened, and 
 yielded, and came forth streaming with blood from the bulh 
 of the root ; surely the bulb of the root was a palpitating 
 heart, yet warm, even as that we have within our bosoms. 
 
 Now, from the terror of that sight the Princess hid her 
 eyes, and shrank away. And the lines of malice, avarice, 
 and envy seemed aging her at every breath. Then, the 
 hawk pecked at her three pecks, and perched on a corner 
 of rock, and called shrilly the name " Karaz ! " And the 
 Genie Karaz came slanting down the night air, like a preying 
 bird, and stood among them. So, the hawk cried, " See, 
 Ivaraz, the freshness of thy Princess of Oolb ; " and the Genie 
 regarded her till loathing curled his lip, for she grew in ghast- 
 liness to the colour of a frog, and a frog's face was hers, a 
 camel's back, a pelican's throat, the legs of a peacock. 
 
 Then the hawk cried, " Is this how ye meet, ye lovers, — 
 ye that will be wedded t " And the hawk made his tongu& 
 
THE LILT OF THE EKCHANTED SEA. 117 
 
 as a thorn to them. At the last it exclaimed, " Now let us 
 fight our hattle, Karaz ! " 
 
 But the Genie said, "Nay, there ■will come a time for 
 that, traitress ! " 
 
 So, the hawk cried, "Thou delayest, till the phial of 
 Paravid, the hairs of Garraveen, and this Lily, my three helps, 
 are expended, thinking Aklis, for which we barter them, 
 striketh but a single hlow ? That is well ! Go, then, and 
 take thy Princess, and obtain permission of the King of Oolb, 
 her father, to wed her, Karaz ! " 
 
 The hawk whistled with laughter, and the Genie was 
 stung with its mockeries, and clutched the Princess of Oolb 
 in a hunch, and arose from the ground with her, slanting up 
 the night-air like fire, till he was seen high up even as an 
 angry star reddening the seas beneath. 
 
 Now, when he was lost to the eye, Shibli Bagarag drew 
 a long breath and cried aloud, " The likeness of that Princess 
 of Oolb in her ugliness to Noorna, my betrothed, is a thing 
 marvellous, if it be not she herself." And he reflected, " Yet 
 she seemed not to recognise and claim me ; " and thought, 
 " I am bound to her by gratitude, and I should have rescued 
 her from Karaz, but I know not if it be she. WuUahy ! I 
 am bewildered; I will ask counsel of the hawk." He 
 looked to the corner of the rock where the hawk had perched, 
 but the hawk was gone ; so, as he searched for it, his eyes 
 fell upon the bed of earth where the Lily stood ere he 
 plucked it, and lo ! in the place of the Lily, there was a 
 damsel dressed in white shining sOks, fairer than the en- 
 chanted flower, straighter than its stalk ; her head slightly 
 drooping, like the moon on a border of the night ; her bosom 
 like the swell of the sea in moonlight ; her eyes dark, under 
 a low arch of darker lashes, like stars on the skirts of storm; 
 and she was the very dream of loveliness, formed to freeze 
 with awe, and to inflame with passion. So Shibli Bagarag 
 gazed at her with adoration, his hands stretched half-way to 
 her as if to clasp her, fearing she was a vision and woiild 
 
 L 2 
 
148 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 fade; and the damsel smiled a sweet smile, and lifted her 
 antelope eyes, and said, " Who am I, and to whom might I 
 be likened, youth V' 
 
 And he answered, "Who thou art, young perfection, 
 I know not, if not a Houri of Paradise ; but thou art like the 
 Princess of Oolb, yet lovelier, oh lovelier ! And thy voice 
 is the voice of Noorna, my betrothed; yet purer, sweeter, 
 younger." 
 
 So, the damsel laughed a laugh like a sudden sweeping of 
 wild chords of music, and said, " youth, saw'st thou not 
 the ascent of Noorna, thy betrothed, gathered in a bunch by 
 Karaz?" 
 
 And he answered, " I saw her ; but I knew not, 
 damsel of beauty ; surely I was bewildered, amazed, without 
 power to contend with the Genie." 
 
 Then, she said, '• Wouldst thou release her 1 So kiss me 
 on the lips, on the eyes, and on the forehead, three kisses 
 each time ; and with the first say, ' By the well of Paravid ; ' 
 and with the second, ' By the strength of Garraveen ! ' and 
 with the third, ' By the Lily of the Sea !'" 
 
 Now, the heart of the youth bounded at her words, and 
 he went to her, and trembling kissed her all bashfully on 
 the lips, on the eyes, and on the forehead, saying each time 
 as she directed. Then, she took him by the hand, and 
 stepped from the bed of earth, crying joyfully, " Thanks 
 be to Allah and the Prophet ! Noorna is released from the 
 ' sorceries that held her, and powerful." 
 
 So, while he was wondering, she said, " Knowest thou 
 not the woman, thy betrothed ? " 
 
 He answered, " damsel of beauty, I am charged with 
 many feelings; doubts and hopes are mixed in me. Say 
 first who thou art, and fill my two ears with bliss." 
 
 And she said, " I will leave my name to other lips ; 
 surely I am the daughter of the Vizier Feshnavat, betrothed 
 to a wandering youth, — a barber, who sickened at the 
 betrothal, and consoled himself with a proverb when he 
 
THE LILY OF THE ENCHANTED SEA. 149 
 
 gave me the kiss of contract, and knew not how with "trutli 
 to pay me a compliment." 
 
 J^Iow, Shibli Bagarag saw this was indeed Noorna bin 
 Noorka, his betrothed, and he fell before her in love and 
 astonishment ; but she lifted him to her neck, and embraced 
 him, saying, " Said I not truly when I said ' I am that I 
 shall be ' t My youth is not as that of Bhanavar the 
 Beautiful, gained at another's cost, but my own, and 
 stolen from me by wicked sorceries." And he cried, " Tell 
 me, Koorna, my betrothed, how this matter came to 
 pass ? " 
 
 She said, " On our way to Aklis." 
 
 So, she bade him grasp the Lily, and follow her ; and he 
 followed her down the rock and over the bright shells upon 
 the sand, admiring her stateliness, her willowy lightness, her 
 slimness as of the palm-tree. Then, she waded in the water, 
 and began to strike out with her arms, and swim boldly, — 
 he likewise ; and presently they came to a current that 
 hurried them off in its course, and carried them as weeds, 
 streaming rapidly. He was bearing witness to his faith as a 
 man that has lost hope of life, when a strong eddy stayed 
 him, and whirled him from the current into the calm water. 
 So, he looked for Noorna, and saw her safe beside him 
 flinging back the wet tresses from her face, that was like the 
 full moon growing radiant behind a dispersing cloud. And 
 she said, " Ask not for the interpretation of wonders in this 
 sea, for they cluster like dates on a date branch. Surely, to 
 be with me is enough ? " 
 
 And she bewitched him in the midst of the waters, 
 making him oblivious of all save her, so that he thought her 
 an enchantress, and hugged the golden net of her smiles and 
 fair flatteries, and swam with an exulting stroke, giving his 
 breast broadly to the low billows, and shouting verses of 
 love and delight to her. So while they swam sweetly, 
 behold, there was seen a pearly shell of flashing crimson, 
 amethyst, and emerald, that came scudding over the waves 
 
150 THE SHAVINa OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 toward them, raised to the -wind, fan-shaped, and in its front 
 two silver seats. When she saw it, JSToorna cried, " She has 
 sent me this, Eabesqurat ! Perchance is she favourable to my 
 wishes, and this were well ! " 
 
 Then she swayed in the water sideways, and drew the shell 
 to her, and the twain climbed into it, and sat each on one of 
 the silver seats, folded together. In its lightness it was as a 
 foam-bubble before the wind on the blue water, and bore 
 them onward airily. At his feet Shibli Bagarag beheld a 
 stool of carved topaz, and above his head the arch of the 
 shell was inlaid with wreaths of gems : never was vessel 
 fairer than that. 
 
 Now, while they were speeding over the water, ISTooma 
 said, "The end of this sea is Aklis, and beyond it is the 
 Koosh. So, while the wind is our helmsman, and we go 
 circled by the quiet of this sea, I '11 tell thee of myself, if 
 thou carest to hear." 
 
 And he cried with the ardour of love, " Surely, I would 
 hear of nought save thyself, I\'"oorna, and the music of the 
 happy garden compareth not in sweetness with it. I lou'^' 
 for the freshness of thy voice as the desert camel for the 
 green spring, my betrothed ! " 
 
 So, she said, "And now give ear to the following : " — 
 
AND THIS IS THE STORY OF NOORNA 
 BIN NOORKA, THE GENIE KARAZ, 
 AND THE PRINCESS OF OOLB. 
 
 Know, that wiien I was a babe, I lay on my mother's bosom 
 in the wilderness, and it was the bosom of death. Surely, I 
 slept and smiled, and dreamed the infant's dream, and knew 
 not the coldnes^ of the thing I touched. So, were we even 
 as two dead creatures lying the; e ; but life was in me, and I 
 awoke with hunger at the time of feeding, and turned to my 
 mother, and put up my little mouth to her for nourishment, 
 and sucked her, but nothing came. So, I cried, and commenced 
 ■chiding her, and after a whUe it was as decreed, that 
 ■certain horsemen of a troop passing through the wilderness 
 beheld me, and seeing my distress and the helpless being I 
 was, their hearts were stirred, and they were mindful of what 
 the poet says concerning 'succour given to the poor, helpless, 
 and innocent of this world, and took me up, and mixed for 
 me camel's milk and water from the bags, and comforted me, 
 and bore me with them, after they had paid funeral rites to 
 the body of my mother. 
 
 Now, the rose-bud showeth if the rose-tree be of the wilds 
 or of the garden, and the chief of that troop seeing me born 
 to the uses of gentleness, carried me in his arms with him to 
 his wife, and persuaded her that was childless to make me 
 the child of their adoption. So I abode with them during 
 
152 THE SHAVING OF SHAGFAT. 
 
 tliG period of infancy and cliildliood, caressed and cared for, 
 as is said : 
 
 The flower a stranger's hand may gather, 
 Strikes root into the stranger's breast j 
 Affection is our mother, father. 
 Friend, and of oherishers the best. 
 
 And I loved them as their own child, witting not but that I 
 was their child, till on a day while I played among sonie 
 children of my years, the daughter of the King of Oolb 
 passed hy us on a mule, with her slaves and drawn swords, 
 and called to me, " Thou little castaway ! " and had me 
 brought to her, and peered upon my face in a manner that 
 frightened me, for I was young. Then she put me down 
 from the neck of her mule where she had seated me, saying, 
 " Child of a dead mother and a runaway father, what need I 
 fear from thy like, and the dreams of a love-sick Genie ? " 
 So she departed, but I forgot not her words, and dwelt upon 
 them, and grew fevered with them, and drooped. Now, when 
 lie saw my bloom of health gone, heaviness on my feet, the 
 light hollowed from my eyes, my benefactor, Eavaloke — he 
 tliat I had thought my father — took me between his knees, 
 and asked me what it was and the cause of my ailing ; and 
 I told him. 
 
 Then, said he, " This is so : thou art not my child ; but I 
 love thee as mine, my little Desert-flower ; and why the 
 Princess should fancy fear of thee I like not to think ; but 
 fear thou her, for she is a mask of wiles and a vine trailing 
 over pitfalls ; such a sorceress the world knoweth not as 
 Goorelka of Oolb." 
 
 Now, I was penetrated by what he said, and ceased to be 
 a companion to them that loved childish games and romps, 
 and meditated by myself in gardens and closets, feigning 
 sleep when the elder ones discoursed, that I might learn 
 something of this mystery, and all that was spoken perplexed 
 me more, as the sage declareth : 
 
 Who in a labyrinth wandereth without clue, 
 More that he wandereth doth himself undo. 
 
KOORNA AND THE GENiE KAEAZ. 153 
 
 Though. I was quick as the quiok-e/ed falcon, I discovered 
 nought, flying ever at false game, — 
 
 A follower of misleadiDg beams, 
 
 A cheated soul, the mook of dreams. 
 
 At times I thought that it was the Eing of Oolb was my 
 father, and plotted to come in his path ; and there were kings 
 and princes of far countries whom I sought to encounter, 
 that they might claim me ; hut none claimed me. my 
 betrothed, few gave me love beside Kavaloke, and when the 
 wife that he cherished died, he solely, for I was lost in way- 
 wardness and the slave of moody imaginings. 'T is said : 
 
 If thou the love of the world for thyself wouldst gain, mould thy 
 
 breast 
 Liker the world to become, for its like the world loreth best ; 
 
 and this was not I then. 
 
 Now, the sons and daughters of men are used to celebrate 
 the days of their birth with gifts and rejoicings, but I could 
 only celebrate that day which delivered me from death into 
 the hands of Eavaloke, as none knew my birth-hour. Wlien 
 it was the twelfth return of this event, Eavaloke, my heart's 
 father, called me to him and pressed in my hand a glittering 
 coin, telling me to buy with it in the bazaars what I would. 
 So I went forth, attended by a black slave, after the mid- 
 noon, for I was eager to expend my store, and cared not for 
 the great heat. Scarcely had wo passed the cheese-market 
 and were hurrying on to shops of the goldsmiths and 
 jewellers, when I saw an old man, a beggar, in a dirty yellow 
 turban and pieced particoloured cloth-stufl', and linen in rags 
 his other gear. So lean was he, and looked so weak that I 
 wondered he did other than lay his length on the ground ; 
 and as he asked me for alms his voice had a piteousness that 
 made me to weep, and I punished my slave for seeking to 
 drive him away, and gave my one piece of gold into his 
 hand. Then he asked me what I required of him in ex- 
 change, and I said, " What can a poor old man that is a 
 
151 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 beggar give ? " He laughed, and asked me then what I had 
 intended to buy with that piece of money. So, beginning to 
 regret the power that was gone from me of commanding with 
 my gold piece this and that fine thing, I mused, and said, 
 "Truly, a blue dress embroidered with gold, and a gold 
 crown, and gold bracelets set with turquoise stones, — these, 
 and toys ; but could I buy in this city a book of magic, that 
 were my purchase." 
 
 The old fellow smiled, and said to my black slave, " And 
 thou, hadst thou this coin, what were thy purchase there- 
 with 1 " 
 
 Pie, scoffing the old beggar, answered, "A plaister for 
 sores as broad as my back, and a camel's hump, thou old 
 villain ! " 
 
 The old man grunted in his chest, and said, ' Thou art 
 but a camel thyself, to hinder a true Mussulman from passing 
 in peace down a street of Oolb ; so 't were a good purchase 
 and a fitting : know'st thou what is said of the blessing given 
 by them that receive a charity? 
 
 "T is the fertilizing dew that streameth after the sun, 
 Strong as the breath of Allah to bleas life well begun.' 
 
 So is my blessing on the little damsel, and she shall have her 
 wish, wuUahy, thou black face ! and thou thine." 
 
 This spake the old man, and hobbled off while my slave 
 was jeering him. So, I strolled through the bazaars and 
 thought no more of the old man's words, and longed to 
 purchase a hundred fineries, and came to the confectioner's, 
 and smelt the smell of his musk-scented sweetmeats and 
 lemon sweets and sugared pistachios that are delicious to 
 crunch between the teeth. My mouth watered, and I said 
 to my slave, " Eadrab, a coin, though 't were small, would 
 give us privilege in yonder shop to select, and feast, and' 
 approve the skill of the confectioner." 
 
 He grinned, and displayed in his black fist a petty coin 
 of exchange, but would not let me have it tiU I had sworn 
 
NOOSNA AND THE GEXIE KAKAZ. 1E5 
 
 to give no more away to beggars. So even as we were 
 hurrying into the shop, another old heggar wretcheder than 
 the first fronted me, and I was moved, and forgot my promise 
 to Kadrab, and gave him the money. Then was Kadrab 
 wroth, and kicked the old beggar with his fore-foot, lifting 
 him high in air, and lo ! he did not alight, but rose over the 
 roofs of the houses and beyond the city, till he was but a 
 speck in the blue of the sky above. So, Kadrab bit his fore- 
 finger amazed, and glanced at his foot, and at what was visible 
 ■of the old beggar-man, and again at his foot, thinking but of 
 what he had done with it, and the might manifested in that 
 kick, fool that he was ! All the way homeward he kept 
 scanning the sky and lifting his foot aloft, and I saw him 
 bewildered with a strange conceit, as the poet has exclaimed 
 in his scorn : 
 
 Oh, world diseased! oh, race empirical ! 
 Where fools are the fathers of every miracle ! " 
 
 Now, when I was in my chamber, what saw I there but 
 •a dress of very costly blue raiment with gold-work broidery 
 and a lovely circlet of gold, and gold bracelets set with stones 
 ■of turquoise, and a basket of gold woven wire, wherein were 
 toys, wondrous ones — soldiers that cut off each other's heads 
 and put them on again, springing antelopes, palm-trees that 
 turned to fountains, and others; and lo ! a book in red bind- 
 ing, with figures on it and clasps of gold, a great book ! So, 
 I clapped my hands joyfully, crying, " The old beggar has 
 •done it ! " and robed myself in the dress, and ran forth to tell 
 Eavaloke. As I ran by a window looking on tlio inner court, 
 I saw below a crowd of all the slaves of Eavaloke round one 
 that was seeking to escape from them, and 't was Kadrab with 
 a camel's hump on his back, and a broad brown plaister over 
 it, the wretch howling, peering across his shoulder, and trying 
 to bolt from his burden, as a horse that would run from his 
 rider. Then I saw that Kadrab also had his wish, his camel's 
 hump, and thought, " The old beggar, what was he but a 
 
150 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 Genie?" Surely Eavaloke caressed me when he heard of the 
 adventure, and what had befallen Kadrab was the jest of the 
 city; but for me I spared little time away from that book, and 
 studied in it incessantly the ways and windings of magic, till 
 I could hold communication with Genii, and wield charms to 
 summon them, and utter spells that subdue them, discovering 
 the haunts of talismans that enthral Af rites and are powerful 
 among men. There was that Kadrab coming to me daily 
 to call out in the air for the old beggarman to rid him of 
 his hump ; and he would waste hours looking up into the 
 sky moodily for him, and cursing the five toes of his foot, 
 for he doubted not the two beggars were one, and that he was 
 punished for the kick, and lamented it diroly, saying in the 
 thick of his whimperings, " I'd give the foot that did it to be 
 released from my hump, my fair mistress." So, I pitied 
 him, and made a powder and a spell, and my first experiment 
 in magic was to relieve Kadrab of his hump, and I succeeded 
 in loosening it, and it came away from him, and sank into 
 the ground of the garden where we stood. So, I told 
 Kadrab to say nothing of this, but the idle-pated fellow 
 blabbed it over the city, and it came to the ears of Goorelka. 
 Then, she sent for me to visit her, and by the advice of 
 Eavaloke I went, and she fondled me, and sought to get 
 at the depth of my knowledge by a spell that tieth every 
 faculty save the tongue, and it is the spell of vain longing. 
 Kow, because I bafiled her arts she knew me more cunning 
 than I seemed, and as night advanced she affected to be 
 possessed with pleasure in me, and took me in her arms 
 and sought to fascinate me, and I heard her mutter once, 
 " Shall I doubt the warning of Karaz 1 " So, presently she 
 said, " Come with me ; " and I went with her under the 
 curtain of that apartment into another, a long saloon, 
 wherein were couches round a fountain, and beyond it 
 an aviary lit with lamps : when we were there she whistled, 
 and immediately there was a concert of birds, a wondrous 
 accord of exq^uisite piping, and she leaned on a couch 
 
NOOBNA AND THE GENIE KAEAZ. 157 
 
 and took me by her to listen ; sweet and passionate a^ aa 
 the harmony of the birds ; but I let not my faculties lull, 
 and observed that round the throat of every bird wa? 
 a ringed mark of gold and stamps of divers gems similar 
 in colour to a ring on the forefinger of her right hand, which 
 she dazzled my sight with as she flashed it. When we had 
 listened a long hour to this music, the Princess gazed 
 •on me as if to mark the effect of a charm, and I saw dis- 
 appointment on her lovely face, and she bit her lip and 
 looked spiteful, saying, "Thou art' far gone in the use of 
 magic, and wary, O girl I " Then she laughed unnaturally, 
 and called slaves to bring in sweet drinks to us, and I drank 
 with her, and became less wary, and she fondled me more, 
 calling me tender names, heaping endearments on me ; and 
 as the hour of the middle-night approached I was losing 
 all suspicion in deep languor, and sighed at the song of 
 the birds, the long love-song, and dozed awake with eyes 
 half shut. I felt her steal from me, and continued still 
 motionless without alarm : so was I mastered. What hour 
 it was or what time had passed I cannot say, when a bird 
 that was chained on a perch before me — a very quaiat bird, 
 with a topknot awry, and black, heavy bill, and ragged 
 gorgeousness of plumage — the only object between my 
 lids and darkness, suddenly, in the midst of the singing, 
 let loose a hoarse laugh that was followed by peals of 
 laughter from the other birds. Thereat I started np, 
 and beheld the Princess standing over a brazier, and 
 she seized a slipper from her foot and flung it at the 
 bird that had first laughed, and struck him off his perch, 
 and went to him and seized him and shook him, crying, 
 ■" Dare to laugh again I " and he kept clearing his throat and 
 trying to catch the tune he had lost, pitching a high note 
 and a low note ; but the marvel of this laughter of the 
 bird wakened me thoroughly, and I thanked the bird in my 
 soul, and said to Goorelka, " More wondrous than their 
 singing, this laughter, Princess ! " 
 
153 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 She would not speak till she had beaten every bird itt 
 the aviary, and then said in the words of the poet : 
 
 Shall they that deal in magic match degrees of wonder ? 
 
 From the hosom of one cloud comes the lightning and the thunder. 
 
 Then said she, " Noorna ! I '11 tell thee truly my intent,. 
 ■\vhich was to enchant thee ; but I find thee wise, so let us 
 join our powers, and thou shalt become mighty as a 
 sorceress." 
 
 Now, Eavaloke had said to me, " Her friendship is fire, 
 hor enmity frost; so be cold to the former, to the latter hot," 
 and I dissembled and replied, " Teach me, Princess ! " 
 
 So, she asked me what I could do. Could I plant a 
 mountain in the sea and people if! could I anchor a purple 
 cloud under the sun and live there a year with them I de- 
 lighted in? could I fix the eyes of the world upon one head 
 and make the nations bow to it ; change men to birds, fishes 
 to men ; and so on — a hundred sorceries that I had never 
 attempted and dreamed not of. my betrothed ! I had 
 never offended Allah by a misuse of my powers. "When I 
 told her, she cried, "Thou art then of a surety she that '& 
 fitted for the custody of the Lily of the Light, so come with 
 me." 
 
 Now, I had heard of the Lily, even this thou boldest — 
 may its influence be unwithering !— and desired to see it. 
 So, she led me from the palace to the shore of the sea, and 
 flung a cockle-shell on the waters, and seated herself in it 
 with me in her lap ; and we scudded over the waters, and 
 entered this Enchanted Sea, and stood by the Lily. Then, I 
 that loved flowers undertook the custody of this one, knowing 
 not the consequences and the depth of her wEes. 'T is truly 
 said : 
 
 The overwise themselves hoodwint, 
 For simple eyesight is a modest thing : 
 
 They on the black abysm's brink 
 Smile, and but when they fall bitterly think. 
 What difference 'twixt the fool and me. Creation's King ? 
 
NOOKNA AND THE GEKIE KAEAZ. IZJ 
 
 Nevertheless for awhile nothing evil resulted, and I had 
 great joy in the flower, and tended it with exceeding ^^'atch- 
 fulness, and loved it, so that I was brought in my heart to 
 thank the Princess and think well of her. 
 
 Now, one summer eve as Eavaloke rested under the shade- 
 of his garden palm, and I studied beside him great volumes 
 of magic, it happened that after I had read certain pages I 
 closed one of the books marked on the cover " Alif," and 
 shut the clasp louder than I intended, so that he who was 
 dozing started up, and his head was in the sloped sun in an 
 instant, and I observed the shadow of his head lengthen out 
 along the grass-plot towards the mossed wall, and it shot up 
 the wall, darkening it — then drawing back and lessening, 
 then darting forth like a beast of darkness irritable for prey. 
 I was troubled, for whatso is seen while the volume Alif is 
 in use hath a portent ; but the discovery of what this might 
 be baffled me. So, I determined to watch events, and it was 
 not many days ere Eavaloke, who was the leader of the 
 armies of the King of Oolb, was called forth to subdue 
 certain revolted tributaries of the King, and at my entreaty 
 took me with him, and I saw battles and encounters lasting 
 a day's length. Once we were encamped in a fruitful country 
 by a brook running with a bright eye between green banks, 
 and I that had freedom and the password of the camp 
 wandered down to it, and refreshed my forehead with its 
 coolness. So, as I looked under the falling drops, lo ! on th& 
 opposite bank the old beggar that had given me such fair 
 return for my alms and Kadrab his hump ! I heard him 
 call, "This night is the key to the mystery," and he was- 
 gone. Every incantation I uttered was insufficient to bring 
 him back. Surely, I hurried to the tents and took no sleep, 
 watching zealously by the tent of Eavaloke, crouched in its 
 shadow. About the time of the setting of the moon I heard 
 footsteps approach the tent within the circle of the guard, 
 and it was a youth that held in his hand naked steel. T\Tiett 
 . he was by the threshold of the tent, I rose before him and 
 
160 THE SHATTNG OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 beheld the favourite of Ravaloke, even the youth he had 
 destined to espouse me ; so I reproached him, and he wept, 
 denying not the intention he had to assassinate Eavaloke, 
 and when his soul was softened he confessed to me, " 'T was 
 that I might win the Princess Goorelka, and she urged me to 
 it, promising the King would promote me to the vacant post 
 of Ravaloke.'' 
 
 Then, I said to him, "Lov'st thou Goorelka V 
 
 And he answered, " Yea, though I know my doom in 
 loving her; and that it will be the doom of them now piping 
 to her pleasure and denied the privilege of laughter." 
 
 So, I thought, " Oh, cruel sorceress ! the birds are men ! " 
 And as I mused, my breast melted with pity at their desire 
 to laugh, and the little restraint they had upon themselves 
 notwithstanding her harshness ; for could they think of their 
 changed condition and folly without laughter 1 and the folly 
 that sent them fresh mates in misery was indeed matter for 
 laughter, fed to fulness by constant meditation on the perch. 
 Meantime, I uncharmed the youth and bade him retire 
 quickly ; but as he was going, he said, "Beware of the Genie 
 Karaz ! " Then I held him back, and after a parley he told 
 me what he had heard the Princess say, and it was that Karaz 
 ha<l seen me and sworn to possess me for my beauty. 
 " Strangely smiled Goorelka when she spake that," said he. 
 
 Now, the City of Oolb fronts the sea, and behind it is a 
 mountain and a wood, where the King met Ravaloke on his 
 return victorious over the rebels. So, to escape the eye of 
 tho King I parted with Ravaloke, and sought to enter the 
 city by a circuitous way ; but the paths wound about and 
 zigzagged, and my slaves suffered nightfall to surprise us in 
 the entanglements of the wood. I sent them in different 
 directions to strike into the main path, retaining Kadrab at 
 the bridle of my mule ; but that creature now began to 
 address me in a familiar tone, and he said something of love 
 for me that enraged me, so that I hit him a blow. Then 
 came from him sounds like the neighing of mares, and lo ! 
 
NOOENA AND THE GENIE KAEAZ. 161 
 
 lie seized me and rose witli me in the air, and I thougkt the 
 very heavens were opening to that black beast, when on a 
 sudden he paused, and shot down with me from heights of 
 the stars to the mouth of a cavern by the Putrid Sea, and 
 dragged me into a cavern greatly illuminated, hung like a 
 palace chamber, and supported on pillars of shining jasper. 
 Then, I fell upon the floor in a swoon, and awaking saw 
 Kadrab no longer, but in his place a Genie. O my soul, thou 
 hast seen him ! — I thought at once, " 't is Karaz ! " and when 
 he said to me, "This is thy abode, lady ! and I he that 
 have sworn to possess thee from the hour I saw thee in the 
 chamber of Goorelka,'' then was I certain 't was Karaz. So, 
 collecting the strength of my soul, I said, in the words of 
 the poet : 
 
 " Woo not a heart preoccupied ! 
 What thorn is like a loathing bride ? 
 Mark ye the shrubs how they turn from the sea, 
 
 The sea's rough whispers shun ? 
 But like the sun of heaven be, 
 And every flower will open wide. 
 Woo with the shining patience we 
 
 Beheld in heaven's sun." 
 
 Then, he sang : 
 
 Exquisite lady ! name the smart 
 
 That fills thy heart. 
 Thou art the foot and I the worm : 
 
 Prescribe the Term. 
 
 Finding him compliant, I said, " great Genie, truly th« 
 search of my life has been to discover him that is my father, 
 and how I was left in the wilderness. There 's no peace for 
 me, nor understanding the word of love, till I hear by whom 
 I was left a babe on the bosom of a dead mother.'' 
 
 He exclaimed, and his eyes twinkled, " 'T is that ? that 
 shalt thou know in a span of time. my mistress, hast thou 
 seen the birds of Goorelka 1 Thy father Feshnavat is among 
 them, perched like a bird." 
 
 u 
 
163 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 So, I cried, "And tell me how he maybe disenchanted." 
 . He said, " Swear first to be mine unreluotantly." 
 Then, I said, " What is thy oath? " 
 
 He answered, "I swear, when I swear, by the Identical." 
 Thereupon, I questioned him concerning the Identical, 
 what it was ; and he, not suspecting, revealed to me the 
 mighty hair in his head now in the head of Shagpat, even 
 that. So I swore by that to give myself to the possessor of 
 the Identical, and flattered him. Then said he, " lovely 
 damsel, I am truly one of the most powerful of the Genii ; 
 yet am I in bondage to that sorceress Goorelka by reason of 
 a ring she holdeth ; and could I get that ring from her and 
 be slave to nothing mortal an hour, I could light creation as 
 a torch, and broil the inhabitants of earth at one fire." 
 
 I thought, "That ring is known to me!" And he con- 
 tinued, " Surely I cannot assist thee in this work othf^r than 
 by revealing the means of disenchantment, and it is fco keep 
 the birds laughing uninterruptedly an hour ; then ,'are they 
 men again, and take the forms of men that are laughers — I 
 know not why." j 
 
 So, I cried, "'T is well ! carry mo back to Oolb." 
 Then, the Genie lifted me into the air, and ceased not 
 speeding rapidly througli it, till I was on the roof of the 
 house of Eavaloke. sweet youth i moon of my soul ! from 
 that time to the disenchantment of Feshnavat, I pored over 
 my books trying experiments in magic, dreadful ones, hunting 
 for talismans to countervail Goorelka; but her power was 
 great, and 't was not in me to get her away from the birds 
 one hour to free them. On a certain occasion I had stolen 
 to them, and kept them laughing with stories of man to 
 within an instant of the hour ; and they were lau^hin"- 
 exultingly with the easy happy laugh of them that perceive 
 deliverance sure, when she burst in and beat them even to 
 the door of death. I saw too in her eyes, that glowed like 
 the eyes of wild cats in the dark, she suspected me and I 
 
NOORNA AND THE GKNIE KAEAZ. 163 
 
 called Allah to aid the just cause against the sinful, and 
 prepared to ■war with her. 
 l^ovf, the poet says truly, — 
 
 The battle of the righteous is battle half gain'd, 
 For Allah's the cause with no fleck of Self stain'd. 
 
 And my desire, which was to liberate my father and his 
 fellows in tribulation, I knew pure, and had no fear of the 
 sequel, as is again declared : 
 
 Fear uought so much as Fear itself ; tor arm'd with Fear the Foe 
 Finds passage to the vital part, and strikes a double blow. 
 
 So, one day as I leaned from my casement looking on the 
 ■garden seaward, I saw a strange red and yellow-feathered bird 
 that flew to the branch of a citron-tree opposite, with a ring 
 in its beak ; and the bird was singing, and with every note 
 the ring dropped from its bill, and it descended swiftly in an 
 arrowy slant downward, and seized it ere it reached the 
 ■ground, and commenced singing afresh. When I had marked 
 this to happen many times, I thought, "How like is this bird 
 to an innocent soul possessed of magic and using its powers ! 
 Lo, it seeketh still to sing as one of the careless, and cannot 
 relinquish the ring and be as the careless, and between 
 the two there is neither peace for it nor pleasure." Now, 
 while my eyes were on the pretty bird, dwelling on it, I saw 
 it struck suddenly by an arrow beneath the left wing, and 
 the bird fluttered to my bosom and dropped in it the ring 
 from its beak. Then it sprang weakly, and sought to fly and 
 soar, and fluttered ; but a blue film lodged over its eyes, and 
 its panting was quickly ended. So, I looked at the ring and 
 knew it for that one I had noted on the finger of Goorelka. 
 Bed blushed my bliss, and 't was revealed to me that the 
 bird was of the birds of the Princess that had escaped from 
 her with the ring. I buried the bird, weeping for it, and 
 flew to my books, and as I read a glow stole over me. my 
 
 M 2 
 
164 THE SEATING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 betrothed, eyes of my soul ! I read that the possessor of that 
 ring was mistress of the marvellous hair which is a magnet 
 to the homage of men, so that they crowd and crush and 
 hunger to adore it, even the Identical ! This was the power 
 that peopled the aviary of Goorelka, and had well-nigh con- 
 quered all the resistance of my craft. 
 
 Now, while I read there arose a hubbub and noise in the 
 outer court, and shrieks of slaves. The noise approached with 
 rapid strides, and before I could close my books Goorelka 
 burst in upon me, crying, " Noorna ! Noorna ! " Wild and 
 haggard was her head, and she rushed to my books and saw 
 them open at the sign of the ring : then began our combat. 
 She menaced me as never mortal was menaced. Eapid light- 
 ning-flashes were her transformations, and she was a serpent, 
 a scorpion, a lizard, a lioness in succession, but I leapt perpetu- 
 ally into fresh rings of fire and of witched water; and. at 
 the fiftieth transformation, she fell on the floor exhausted, a 
 shuddering heap. Seeing that, I ran from her to the aviary 
 in her palace, and hurried over a story of men to the birds, 
 that rocked them on their perches with chestquakes of irre- 
 sistible laughter. Then fl.ew I back to the Princess, and she 
 still puffing on the floor, commenced wheedling and begging 
 the ring of me, stinting no promises. At last she cried, 
 "Girl! what is this ring to thee without beauty? Thy beauty 
 is in my keeping." 
 
 And I exclaimed, " How 1 how 1 " smitten to the soul. 
 
 She answered, "Tea; and I can wear it as my own, add- 
 ing it to my own, when thou 'rt a hag ! " 
 
 My betrothed ! I was on the verge of giving her the ring, 
 for this secret, when a violent remote laughter filled the inner 
 hollow of my ears, and it increased, till the Princess heard 
 it; and now the light of my casement was darkened with 
 birds, the birds of Goorelka, laughing as on a wind of laughter. 
 So, I opened to them, and they darted in, laughing all of 
 them, till I could hold out no longer, and the infection of 
 laughter seized me, and I rolled with it; and the Princess, 
 
NOORNA AND THE GENIE ZAEAZ. 165 
 
 she too laughed a hyoena-laugh under a cat's grin, and we all 
 of us remained in this wise some minutes, laughing the breath 
 out of our bodies, as if death would take us. Whoso in tho 
 City of Oolb heard us, the slaves, the people, and the King, 
 laughed, knowing not the cause. This day is still remembered 
 in Oolb as the day of laughter. Now, at a stroke of the hour 
 the laughter ceased, and I saw in the chamber a crowd of 
 youths and elders of various ranks; but their visages were 
 become long and solemn as that of them that have seen a dark 
 experience. 'T is certain they laughed little in their lives 
 from that time, and the muscles of their cheeks had rest. So, 
 I caught down my veil, and cried to the Princess, "My father 
 is among these; point him out to me." 
 
 Ere she replied one stepped forth, even Feshnavat, my 
 father, and called me by name, and knew me by a spot on 
 the left arm, and made himself known to me, and told me the 
 story of my dead mother, how she had missed her way from 
 the caravan in the desert, and he searching her was set upon 
 by robbers, and borne on their expeditions. i!Tothing said 
 he of the sorceries of Goorelka, and I, not wishing to provoke 
 the Princess, suffered his dread to exist. So, I kissed him, 
 and bowed my head to him, and she fled from the sight of 
 innocent happiness. Then took I the ring, and summoned 
 Karaz, and ordered him to reinstate all those princes and chiefs 
 and officers in their possessions and powers, on what part of 
 earth soever that might be. Never tUl I stood as the Lily 
 and thy voice sweetened the name of love in my ears, heard 
 I aught of delicate delightfulness, like the sound of their 
 gratitude. Many wooed me to let them stay by me and gu.ard 
 me, and do service all their lives to me; but this I would not 
 allow, and though they were fair as moons, some of them, I 
 responded not to their soft glances, speaking calmly the word 
 of farewell, for I was burdened with other thoughts. 
 
 Now, when the Genie had done my bidding, he returned 
 to me joyfully. My soul sickened to think myself his by 
 promise; but I revolved the words of my promise, and 
 
166 THE SHAVING 0¥ SHAGPAT. 
 
 in' tliem a loophole of escape. So, when he claimed me, I 
 said, "Ay! ay! lay thy head in my lap," as if my mind 
 treasured it. Then, he lay there, and re-vealed to me his plans 
 for the destruction of men. " Or," said he, "they shall be 
 our slaves and burden-beasts, for there 's now no restraint on 
 me, now thou art mistress of the ring, and mine." There- 
 upon his imagination swelled, and he saw his evil will 
 enthroned, and the hopes of men beneath his heel, crying, 
 " And the more I crush them the thicker they crowd, for the 
 Identical compelleth their very souls to adore in spite of 
 distaste." 
 
 Then, said I, " Tell me, Genie ! is the Identical subser- 
 vient to me in another head save thine 1 " 
 
 He answered, " Nay ! in another head 't is a counteraction 
 to the power of the Ring, the Ring powerless over it." 
 
 And I said, " Must it live in a head, the Identical ? " 
 
 Cried he, " "Woe to what else holdeth it ! " 
 
 So, I whispered in his hairy, pointed, red ear, " Sleep ! 
 sleep ! " and lulled him with a song, and he slept, being 
 weary with my commissioning. Then, I bade Feshnavat, my 
 father, fetch me one of my books of magic, and read in it of 
 the discovery of the Identical by means of the Ring ; and I 
 took the Ring and hung it on a hair of my own head over 
 the head of the Genie, and saw one of the thin lengths begin, 
 to twist and dart and writhe, and shift lustres as a creature 
 in anguish. So, I put the Ring on my forefinger, and turned 
 the hair round and round it, and tugged. Lo, with a noise 
 that stunned me, the hair came out I my betrothed, what 
 shrieks and roars were those with which the Genie awoke, 
 finding himself bare of the Identical ! Oolb heard them, and 
 the sea foamed like the mouth of madness, as the Genie sped 
 thunder-like over it, following me in mid-air. Such a ilight 
 was that ! Now, I found it not possible to hold the Identical, 
 for it twisted and stung, and was nigh slipping from me while 
 I flew. I saw white on a corner of the Desert, a city, and I 
 descended on it by the shop' of a clothier that sat quietly by 
 
NOOENA AND THE GENIE KARAZ. 167 
 
 his goods and stuffs, thinking of fate less than of kahobs and 
 stews and rare seasonings. That city hath now his name. 
 "VVuUahy, had I not then sown in his head that hair which 
 lie weareth yet, how had I escaped Karaz, and met thee'! 
 Wondrous are the decrees of Providence! Praise he to Allah 
 for them ! So the Genie, when he found himself haffled by 
 me, and Shagpat with the mighty hair in his head, the 
 Identical, he yelled, and fetched Shagpat a slap that sent him 
 into the middle of the street ; but Kadza screamed after him, 
 and there was immediately such lamentation in the city about 
 Shagpat, and such tearing of hair about him, that I perceised 
 at once the virtue that was in the Identical.. As foE Elaraz, 
 finding his claim as possessor of the Identical no more valid, 
 he vanished, and has been my rebellious slave since, tilL thou, 
 
 my betrothed, mad'st me spend him in curing thy folly on 
 the horse Garraveen, and he escaped from my circles; beyond: 
 the dominion of the Eing ; yet had he hia revenge, for I that 
 was keeper of the Lily, had, I now learned ruefully, a bond 
 of beauty with it, and whatever was a stain to one withered 
 the other. Then that sorceress Goorelka stole myr beauty 
 from me by sprinkling a blight on the petals of tlie fair 
 flower, and I became as thou first saw'st me. But what am 
 
 1 as I now am ? Blissful !. blissfiil !. Surely I grew humble 
 with the loss of beauty, and by~ humility wise, so that I 
 assisted Feshnavat to become Vizier by the Ring, and watched 
 for thy coming to shave Shagpat, as a star watcheth ; for 't is 
 written, "A barber alone shall be shearer of the Identical; " 
 and he only, my betrothed, hath power to plant it in Aklis-, 
 where it groweth as a pUlar, bringing due reverence, to 
 Aklis. 
 
THE WILES OF EABESQURAT. 
 
 Now, when jSToorna bin is'^oorka had made an end of her nar- 
 ration, she folded her hands and was mute awhile; and to 
 the ear of Shihli Bagarag it seemed as if a sweet instrument 
 had on a sudden ceased luting. So, as he leaned, listening 
 for her voice to recommence, she said quickly, " See yonder 
 fire on the mountain's height ! " 
 
 He looked, and saw a great light on the summit of a lofty 
 mountain hefore them. 
 
 Then said she, "That is Aklis ! and it is ablaze, knowing 
 a visitant near. Tighten now the hairs of Garraveen about 
 ihy wrist ; touch thy lips with the waters of Paravid ; hold 
 before thee the Lily, and make ready to enter the mountain. 
 Lo, my betrothed, thou art in possession of the three means 
 that melt opposition, and the fault is thine if thou fail." 
 
 He did as she directed ; and they were taken on a tide and 
 advanced rapidly to the mountain, so that the waters smacked 
 and crackled beneath the shell, covering it with silver shower- 
 ing arches of glittering spray. Then the fair beams of the 
 moon became obscured, and the twain reddened with the re- 
 flection of the fire, and the billows waxed like riotous flames ; 
 and presently the shell rose upon the peak of many waves 
 swollen to one, and looking below, they saw in the scarlet 
 abyss of waters at their feet a monstrous fish, with open jaws 
 and one baleful eye ; and the fish was lengthy as a caravan 
 winding through the desert, and covered with fiery scales. 
 Shibli Bagarag heard the voice of Noorna shriek affrightedly. 
 
THE "WILES OF EABESQURAT. 169 
 
 " Karaz ! " and as they were sliding on tlie down slope, she 
 stood upright in the shell, pronouncing rapidly some words 
 in magic ; and the shell closed upon them both, pressing 
 them together, and writing darkness on their very eyeballs. 
 So, while they were thus, they felt themselves gulped in, and 
 borne forward with terrible swiftness, they knew not where, 
 like one that hath a dream of sinking ; and outside the shell 
 a rushing, gurgling noise, and a noise as of shouting 
 multitudes, and muffled multitudes muttering complaints and 
 yells and querulous cries, told them they were yet speeding 
 through the body of the depths in the belly of the fish. 
 Then, there came a shock, and the shell was struck with 
 light, and they were sensible of stillness without motion. 
 Then, a blow on the shell shivered it to fragments, and they 
 were blinded with seas of brilliancy on all sides from lamps 
 and tapers and crystals, cornelians and gems of fiery lustre, 
 liquid lights and flashing mirrors, and eyes of crowding 
 damsels, bright ones. So, when they had risen, and could 
 bear to gaze on the insufi'erable splendour, they saw sitting 
 on a throne of coral and surrounded by slaves with scimitars, 
 a fair Queen, with black eyes, kindlers of storms, torches in 
 the tempest, and with floating tresses, crowned with a circlet 
 of green-spiked precious stones and masses of crimson weed 
 with flaps of pearl ; and she was robed with a robe of amber, 
 and had saffron sandals, loose silvery-silken trousers tied in at 
 the ankle, the ankle white as silver; wonderful was the 
 quivering of rays from the jewels upon her when she but 
 moved a finger ! Now, as they stood with their hands across 
 their brows, she cried out, " ye traversers of my sea ! how 
 is this, that I am made to thank Karaz for a sight of ye 1 " 
 
 And Woorna bin Noorka answered, " Surely, Queen 
 Kabesqurat, the haven of our voyage was Aklis, and we feared 
 delay, seeing the fire of the mountain ablaze with expectations 
 of us." 
 
 Then, the Queen cried angrily, " 'Tis well thou hadst wit 
 to close the shell, Noorna, or there would have been delay 
 
170 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 indeed. Say, is not the road to Aklis througli my palace ? 
 And it is the road thousands travel." 
 
 So, l:^"oorna bin Noorka said, " Queen, this do they ; 
 hut are they of them that reach Aklis 1 " 
 
 And the Queen cried violently, purpling with pass-ion, 
 " This to me ! when I helped ye to the plucking of the Lily 1 
 
 E"ow, the Queen muttered an imprecation, and called the- 
 name " Abarak ! " and lo, a door opened in one of the pillars- 
 of jasper leading from the throne, and there came forth a 
 little man, humped, with legs like hows, and arms reaching 
 to his feet ; in his hand a net weighted with leaden weights; 
 So the Queen levelled her finger at Noorna, and he spun 
 the net above her head, and dropped it on her shoulder, and 
 dragged her with him to the pillar. When Shibli Bagarag 
 saw that, the world darkened to him, and he rushed upon- 
 Abarak; but Noorna called swiftly in his ear, "Wait! wait I 
 Thou by thy spells art stronger than all here save Abarak. 
 Be true ! Eemember the seventh pillar ! " Then, with a 
 spurn from the hand of Abarak, the youth fell back senseless, 
 at the feet of the Queen. 
 
 ISTow, with the return of consciousness his hearing was 
 bewitched with strange delicious melodies, the touch of 
 stringed instruments, and others breathed into softly as by 
 the breath of love, delicate, tender, alive with enamoured 
 bashfulness. Surely, the soul that heard them dissolved 
 like a sweet in the goblet, mingling with so much ecstasy of 
 sound ; and those melodies filling the white cave of the ear 
 were even at once to drown the soul in delightfulness and 
 buoy it with bliss, as a heavy-leaved flower is withered and 
 refreshed by sun and dews. Surely, the youth ceased not to- 
 listen, and oblivion of cares and aught other in this life, save 
 that hidden luting and piping, pillowed his drowsy head- 
 At last there was a pause, and it seemed every maze of 
 music had been wandered through. Opening his eyes 
 hurriedly, as with the loss of the music his own breath had 
 gone likewise, he beheld a garden golden with the light of 
 
THE WILES OE EABESQUEAT. 171 
 
 lamps hung profusely from branclies and twigs of trees by 
 tlie glowing cheeks of fruits, apple and grape, pomegranate 
 and quince ; and he was reclining on a bank piled with 
 purple cushions, his limbs clad in the richest figured silks, 
 fringed like the ends of clouds round the sun, with amber 
 fringes. He started' up, striving to recall the confused 
 memory of his adventures and what evil had befallen him, 
 and he would have struggled with the vision of these glories, 
 but it mastered him with the strength of a potent drug, so- 
 that the very name of his betrothed was forgotten by him, 
 and he knew not whither he' would; or the thing he wished 
 for. 'Now, when he had risen, from the soft green bank 
 that was his couch, lo, at his feet a damsel weeping! So, he 
 lifted her by the haind', and she- arose and looked at him, amd 
 began plaining- of love' and' its tyrannies, softening him, 
 already softened. Then said she, " "What I suffer there' is 
 another, lovelier than I, suffering ; thou the ca-use of it, 
 cruel youth ! " 
 
 So, he said, "How, damsel I' what of my cruelty? 
 Surely, I know nothing of it.'" 
 
 But she exclaimed, " Ah, worse to- feign forgetfulness ! " 
 
 Now, he was bewildered at the words of the damsel, and 
 followed her leading till they entered a dell in the garden 
 canopied with foliage, and beyond it a green rise, and on the 
 rise a throne. So he looked earnestly, and beheld thereon 
 Queen Eabesqurat, she sobbing, her dark hair pouring in 
 streams from the crown on her head. Seeing him, she 
 cleared her eyes, and advanced to meet him timidly and 
 with hesitating steps ; but he shrank from her, and the 
 Queen shrieked with grief, crying, " Is there in this cold 
 heart no relenting ? " 
 
 Then she said to him winningly, and in a low voice, ""0- 
 youth, my husband, to whom I am a, bride ! " 
 
 So he marvelled, saying; " This is a game, for indeed I am 
 no husband, neither have I a bride .... yet have I con- 
 fused memory of some betrothal . . ." 
 
172 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 Thereupon, she cried, " Said I not so ? and I the betrothed." 
 
 Still, he exclaimed, "I cannot think it! 'VVullahy, it 
 were a wonder ! " 
 
 So, she said, " Consider how a poor youth of excellent 
 proportions came to a flourishing Court before one, a 
 widowed Queen, and she cast eyes of love on him, and gave 
 him rule over her and all that was hers when he had achieved 
 a task, and they were wedded. Oh, the bliss of it i. Knit 
 together with bond and a writing ; and these were the 
 dominions, I the Queen, woe's me ! — thou the youth ! " 
 
 Now, he was wiled by the enchantments of the Queen, 
 caught in the snare of her beguilings ; and he let her lead 
 him to a seat beside her on the throne, and sat there awhile 
 in the midst of feastings, mazed, thinking, " What life have 
 I lived before this, if the matter be as I behold 1 " thinking, 
 " 'T is true I have had visions of a widowed queen, and I a 
 poor youth that came to her court, and espoused her, sitting 
 in the vacant seat beside her, ruling a realm ; but it was a 
 dream, a dream, — yet, wah ! here is she, here am I, yonder 
 my dominions ! " Then he thought, " I will solve it ! " So, 
 on a sudden he said to her beside him, " Queen, sovereign 
 of hearts ! enlighten me as to a perplexity." 
 
 She answered, "The voice of my lord is music in the ear 
 of the bride." 
 
 Then said he, in the tone of one doubting realities, " 
 fair Queen, is there truly now such a one as Shagpat in the 
 world r' 
 
 She laughed at his speech and the puzzled appearance of 
 his visage, replying, " Surely there liveth one, Shagpat by 
 name in the world ; strange is the history of him, his friends, 
 and enemies ; and it would bear recital." 
 
 Then he said, "And one, the daughter of a Vizier, Vizier 
 to the King in the City of Shagpat 1 " 
 
 Thereat, she shook her head, saying, " I know nought of 
 that one." 
 
 ISTow, Shibli Bagarag was mindful of his thwackings ; and 
 
THE WILES OF KABESQUEAT: 173 
 
 in this the wisdom of Koorna is manifest, that the sting of 
 them yet chased away doubts of illusion regarding their 
 having been, as the poet says, 
 
 If thou wonldst fix remembrance — thwack ! 
 
 'T ia that ohliviou controls, 
 I care not if 't be on the back, 
 
 Or on the soles. 
 
 He thought, " "VVah ! yet feel I the thong, and the hiss of it 
 as of the serpent in the descent, and the smack of it as of the 
 mouth of satisfaction in its contact with tender regions. 
 This, wullahy ! was no dream." Nevertheless, he was 
 ashamed to allude thereto before the Queen, and he said, " 
 my mistress, another question, one only ! This Shagpat — is 
 he shaved r' 
 
 So, she said, " Clean shorn ! " 
 
 Quoth he, astonished, grief-stricken, with drawn lips, " By 
 which hand, chosen above men ? " 
 
 And she exclaimed, " thou witty one that feignest not 
 to know ! "Wullahy ! by this hand of thine, my lord and 
 king, daring that it is ; dexterous ! surely so ! And the 
 shaving of Shagpat was the task achieved, — I the dower of 
 it, and the rich reward." 
 
 Now, he was meshed yet deeper in the net of her 
 subtleties, and by her calling him " lord and king ; " and she 
 gave a signal for fresh entertainments, exhausting the re- 
 sources of her art, the mines of her wealth, to fascinate him. 
 Eavishments of design and taste were on every side, and he 
 was in the lap of abundance, beguiled by magic, caressed by 
 beauty and a Queen. Marvel not that he was dazzled, and 
 imagined himself already come to the great things foretold of 
 him by the readers of planets and the casters of nativities in 
 Shiraz. He assisted in beguOing himself, trusting wUfully 
 to the two witnesses of things visible ; as is declared by him 
 of wise sayings : 
 
 There is in every wizard-net a hole, 
 
 So the entangler first'mnst blind the sonl. 
 
174 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 And it is again said by that same teacher : 
 
 Te that the inner spirit's eight -would seal, 
 Nought credit but what outward orbs reveal. 
 
 And the soul of Shibli Bagarag was blinded by Rabesqurat 
 in the depths of the Enchanted Sea. She sang to him, luting 
 deliriously ; and he was intoxicated with the blissfulness of 
 his fortune, and took a lute and sang to her love-verses in 
 praise of her, rhyming his rapture. Then, they handed the 
 goblet to each other, and drank till they were on fire with 
 the joy of things, and life blushed beauteousness. Surely, 
 Eabesqurat was becoming forgetful of her arts through the 
 strength of those draughts, till her eye marked the Lily by 
 his side, which he grasped constantly, the bright flower, 
 and she started and said, " One grant, my King, my 
 husband ! " 
 
 So, he said courteously, "All grants are granted to the 
 lovely, the fascinating ; and their grief will be lack of aught 
 to ask for t " 
 
 Then said she, " my husband, my King, I am jealous 
 of that silly flower : laugh at my weakness, but fling it from 
 thee." 
 
 K"ow, he was about to cast it from him, when a vanity 
 possessed his mind, and he exclaimed, " See first the thing I 
 will do, a wonder." 
 
 She cried, " No wonders, my life ! I am sated with 
 them." 
 
 And he said, " I am oblivious, Queen, of how I came 
 by this flower and this phial ; but thou shalt hear a thing 
 beyond the power of common magic, and see that I am 
 something." 
 
 'Sovr, she plucked at him to abstain from his action, but 
 he held the phial to the flower. She signed imperiously to 
 some slaves to stay his right wrist, and they seized on it; but 
 not all of them together could withhold him from dropping 
 a drop into the petals of the flowen, and lo, the Lily spake, a 
 
THE WILES OP UABESQUEAT. 175 
 
 voice from it like the voice of Noorna, saying, " Remember 
 tke Seveitth. Pillar." Thereat, Jhe lifted his eyes to his brows 
 ■and frowned back memory to his aid, and the scene of Karaz, 
 Rabesqurat, Abavak, and his betrothed was present to him. 
 So perceiving that, the Queen delayed not while he grasped 
 the phial to take in her hands some water from a basin near, 
 And flung it over him, crying, "Oblivion !" And while his 
 mind was straining to bring back images of what had hap- 
 pened, he fell forward once more at the feet of Rabesqurat, 
 senseless as a stone falls ; such was the force of her enchant- 
 ments. 
 
 Now, when he a-woke the second time he was in the bosom 
 
 of darkness, and the Lily gone from his hand ; so, he lifted 
 
 the phial to make certain of that, and groped about till he 
 
 came to what seemed an urn to the touch, and into this he 
 
 dropped a drop, and asked for the Lily; and a voice said, " I 
 
 caught a light from it in passing.'' And he came in tlie 
 
 •darkness to a tree, and a, bejewelled bank, and other urns, 
 
 and swinging lamps without light, and a running water, and a 
 
 grassy bank, and flowers, and a silver seat, sprinkling each ; 
 
 and they said all in answer to his question of the Lily, " I 
 
 -caught a light from it in passing." At the last he stumbled 
 
 upon the steps of a palace, and ascended them, endowing the 
 
 eteps with speech as he went, and they said, " The light of it 
 
 went over us." He groped at the porch of the palace, and 
 
 gave the door a voice, and it opened on jasper hinges, 
 
 shrieking, "The light of it went through me." Then he 
 
 entered a spacious hall, scattering drops, and voices exclaimed, 
 
 " Wc glow with the light of it." He passed, groping his 
 
 ■way through other halls and dusk chambers, scattering drops, 
 
 and as he advanced the voices increased in the fervour of 
 
 their replies, saying, " We blush with the light of it ; " " We 
 
 beam with the light of it ; " " We bum with the light of it." 
 
 So, presently he found himself in a long low room, sombrely 
 
 lit, aoofed with crystals ; and in a corner of the room, lo ! a 
 
 damsel on a couch of purple, she trhite as silver, spreading 
 
ITe THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 radiance. Of suoli lustrous beauty was she that beside her, 
 in. sleep the Princess Goorelka as Shibli Bagarag first beheld 
 her, would have paled like a morning moon ; even Nooma 
 had waned as doth a flower in fierce heat ; and the Queen of 
 Enchantments was but the sun behind a sand-storm, in com- 
 parison with that effulgent damsel on the length of the purple 
 couch. Well for him he wist of the magic which floated 
 through that palace ; as is said. 
 
 Tempted by extremes, 
 
 The soul is moat secure ; 
 Too vivid loveliness blinds with its beams, 
 And eyes turned inward soon perceive the lure. 
 
 Pulling down his turban hastily, he stepped on tiptoe to 
 within arm's reach of her, and, looking another way, 
 inclined over her soft vermeil mouth the phial slowly till it 
 brimmed the neck, and dropped a drop of Paravid between 
 the bow of those sweet lips. Still not daring to gaze on her, 
 he said then, " My question is of the Lily, the Lily of the 
 Sea, and where is it, marvel 1 " 
 
 And he heard a voice answer in the tones of a silver bell, 
 clear as a wind in strung wires, " Where I lie, lies the LUy, 
 the Lily of the Sea ; I with it, it with me." 
 
 Said he, " breather of music, tell me how I may lay 
 hand on the flower of beauty to bear it forth." 
 
 And he heard the voice, "An equal space betwixt my 
 right side and my left, and from the shoulder one span and 
 half a span downward." 
 
 Still without power to eye her, he measured the space and 
 the spans, his hand beneath the coverlids of the couch, and 
 at a spot of the bosom his hand sank in, and he felt a 
 fluttering thing, fluttering like a frighted bird in the midst 
 of the fire. And the voice said, " Quick, seize it, and draw 
 it out, and tie it to my feet by the twines of red silk about it." 
 
 He seized it and drew it out, and it was a heart — a heart 
 of blood — streaming with crimson, palpitating. Tears 
 
THE WILES OF RABBSQURAT. Vj>r 
 
 flashed on his sight beholding it, and pity took the seat of 
 fear, and he turned his eyes full on her, crying, " O sad fair 
 thing ! creature of anguish ! painful beauty ! Oh, what 
 have I done to thee ? " 
 
 But she panted, and gasped short and shorter gasps, point- 
 ing with one finger to her feet. Then, he took the warm, 
 living heart while it yet leapt and quivered and sobbed ; and 
 he held it with a trembling hand, and tied it by the red twines 
 of silk about it to her feet, staining their whiteness. "When 
 that was done, his whole soul melted with pity and swelled 
 with sorrow, and ere he could meet her eyes a swoon overcame 
 him. Surely, when the world dawned to him a third time in 
 those regions the damsel was no longer there, but in her place 
 the Lily of Light, He thought, "It was a vision, that 
 damsel 1 a terrible one ; one to terrify and bewilder ! a bitter 
 sweetness 1 Oh, the heart, the heart ! " Eeflecting on the 
 heart brought to his lids an overcharging of tears, and he 
 wept violently awhile. Then was he warned by the thought 
 of his betrothed to take the Lily and speed with it from the 
 realms of Eabesqurat; and he stole along the halls of the 
 palace, and by the plashing fountains, and across the magic 
 courts, passing chambers of sleepers, fair dreamers, and 
 through ante-rooms crowded with thick-lipped slaves. Lo, 
 as he held the Lily to light him on, and the light of the 
 Lily fell on them that were asleep, they paled and shrank, 
 and were such as the death-chill maketh of us. So, he called 
 iipon his head the protection of Allah, and went swifter, to 
 chase from his limbs the shudder of awe ; and there were some 
 that slept not, but stared at him with fixed eyes, eyes frozen 
 by the light of the Lily, and he shunned those, for they were 
 like spectres, haunting spirits. Now, after he had coursed the 
 length of the palace, he came to a steep place outside it, a 
 rock with steps cut in stairs, and up these he went till he came 
 to a small door in the rock, and lying by it a bar ; so he 
 seized the bar and smote the door, and the door shivered, for 
 on his right wrist were the hairs of Garraveen. Bending his 
 
178' THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 body, he slipped through the opening, and behold, an orchard 
 dropping blossoms and ripe golden fruits, streams flowing 
 through it over sands, and brooks bounding above glittering 
 gems, and long dewy grasses, profusion of scented flowers, 
 shade and sweetness. So, he let himself down to the ground, 
 which was an easy leap from the aperture, and walked through 
 the garden, holding the Lily behind him, for here it darkened 
 all, and the glowing orchard was a desert by its light. Pre- 
 sently, his eye fell on a couch swinging between two almond 
 trees, and advancing to it he beheld the black-eyed Queen 
 gathered up, folded temptingly, like a swaying fruit ; she 
 with the gold circlet on her head, and she was fair as blossom 
 of the almond in a breeze of the wafted rose-leaf. Sweetly 
 was she gathered up, folded temptingly, and Shibli Bagarag 
 refrained from using the Lily, thinking, " 'T is like the great 
 things foretold of me, this having of Queens within the very 
 grasp, swinging to and fro as if to taunt backwardness ! " 
 Then, he thought, " 'T is an enchantress ! I will yet try her." 
 So, he made a motion of flourishing the Lily once or twice, 
 but forbore, fascinated, for she had on her fair face the soft- 
 ness of sleep, her lips closed in dimples, and the wicked fire 
 shut from beneath her lids. Mastering his mind, the youth 
 at last held the Lily to her, and saw a sight to blacken the 
 world and all bright things with its hideousness. Scarce had 
 he time to thrust the Lily in his robes, -when the Queen 
 started up and clapped her hands, crying hurriedly, " Abarak ! 
 Abarak ! " and the little man appeared in a moment at the^ 
 door by which Shibli Bagarag had entered the orchard. So, 
 she cried still, " Abarak ! " and he moved toward her. Then 
 she said, "How came this youth here, prying in my private 
 walks, my bowers t Speak ! " 
 
 He answered, " By the aid of Garraveen only, Queen ! 
 and there is no force resisteth the bar so wielded." 
 
 Rabesqurat looked under her brows at Shibli Bagarag and 
 saw the horror on his face, and she cried out to Abarak in an 
 agony, " Fetch me the mirror 1" Then, Abarak ran, and. 
 
THE WILES'- OF BABESQUEAT. lib 
 
 returned ere the Queen had drawn seven impatient breaths, 
 and in one hand he bore a sack, in the other a tray : so, he 
 emptied the contents of the sack on the surface of the tray ; 
 surely they were human eyes ! and the Queen flung aside her 
 tresses, and stood over them. The youth saw her smile at 
 them, and assume tender and taunting manners before them^ 
 and imperious manners, killing glances, till in each of the 
 eyes there was a sparkle. Then she flung back her head as 
 one that feedeth on a mighty triumph, exclaiming, " Yet am 
 I Eabesqurat ! wide is my sovereignty." Sideways then she 
 regarded Shibli Bagarag, and it seemed she was urging Abarak 
 to do a deed beyond his powers, he frowning and pointing to 
 the right wrist of the youth. So, she clenched her hands an 
 instant with that feeling which knocketh a nail in the coffin 
 of a desire not dead, and controlled herself, and went to the 
 youth, breaking into beams of beauty; and an enchanting 
 sumptuousness breathed round her, so that in spite of him- 
 self he suffered her to take him by the hand and lead him 
 from that orchard through the shivered door and into the 
 palace and the hall of the jasper pfllars. Strange thrills 
 went up his arm from the touch of that Queen, and they 
 were as little snakes twisting and darting up, biting poison- 
 bites of irritating blissf ulness. 
 
 Now, the hall was spread for a feast, and it was hung with 
 lamps of silver, strewn with great golden goblets, and viands, 
 coloured meats, and ordered fruits on shining platters. Then 
 said she to Shibli Bagarag, " youth ! there shall be no 
 deceit, no guile between us. Thou art but my guest, I no 
 bride to thee, so take the place of the guest beside me." 
 
 So, he took his seat beside her, Abarak standing by, and 
 she helped the youth to this dish and that dish, from the 
 serving of slaves, caressing him with flattering looks to 
 starve aversion and nourish tender fellowship. And he was 
 like one that slideth down a hill and can arrest his descent 
 with a foot, yet faileth that freewill. When he had eaten 
 and drunk with her, the Queen said, "0 youth, no other 
 
 N 2 
 
ISO THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 than my guest ! ai't thou not a prince in the country thou 
 comest from 1 " 
 
 In a moment the pride of the barter forsook him, and he 
 equivocated, saying, "0 Queen! there is among the stars 
 somewhere, as was divined by the readers of planets, a crown 
 hanging for me, and I search a point of earth to intercept 
 its fall." 
 
 She marked him beguiled by vanity, and put sweetmeats 
 to his mouth, exclaiming, " Thy manners be those of a 
 prince ! " Then she sang to him of the loneliness of her life, 
 and of one with whom she wished to share her state, — such 
 as he. And at her signal came troops of damsels that stood 
 in rings and luted sweetly on the same theme — the Queen's 
 loneliness, her love. And he said to the Queen, "Is this sol" 
 
 She answered, " Too truly so ! " 
 
 ITow, he thought, "She shall at least speak the thing 
 that is, if she look it not." So, he took the goblet, and con- 
 trived to drop a drop from the phial of Paravid therein with- 
 out her observing him ; and he handed her the goblet, she 
 him ; and they drank. Surely, the change that came over 
 the Queen was an enchantment, and her eyes shot lustre, her 
 tongue was loosed, and she laughed like one intosicated, loll- 
 ing in her seat, lost to majesty and the sway of her magic, 
 crying, " Abarak ! Abarak ! little man, long my slave and 
 my tool ; ugly little man ! And Shibli Bagarag ! nephew 
 of the barber ! weak youth ! small prince of the tackle ! have 
 I not nigh fascinated thee ? And thou wilt forfeit those two 
 silly eyes of thine to the sack. And, O Abarak, Abarak ! 
 little man, have I flattered thee 'i So fetter I the strong with 
 my allurements ! and I stay the arrow in its flight I and I 
 blunt the barb of high intents ! Wah ! I have drunk a potent 
 stuff; I talk ! Wullahy ! I know there is a danger menacing 
 Shagpat, and the eyes of all Genii are fixed on him. And if 
 he be shaved, what changes will follow ! But 't is in me to 
 delude the barber, wullahy ! and I will avert the calamity. I 
 wiU save Shagpat ! " 
 
THE WILES OP EABESQUEAT. 181 
 
 Now, while the Queen Eabesqurat prated in this wise with 
 flushed face, Shibli Bagarag was smitten with the greatness of 
 his task, and reproached his soul with neglect of it. And he 
 thought, " I am powerful by spells as none before me have 
 been, and 't was by my weakness the Queen sought to tangle 
 me. I will clasp the Seventh Pillar and make an end of it, 
 by Allah and his Prophet (praised be the name !), and I will 
 reach Aklis by a short path and shave Shagpat with the 
 sword." 
 
 So, he looked up, and Abarak was before him, the lifte-d 
 nostrils of the little man wide with the flame of anger. And 
 Abarak said, "0 youth, regard me with the eyes of judgement! 
 Now, is it not frightful to rate me little?— an instigation of 
 the evil one to repute me ugly 1 " 
 
 The promptings of wisdom counselled Shibli Bagarag to 
 say, " Frightful beyond contemplation, Abarak ! one to 
 shame our species ! Surely, there is a moon between thy legs, 
 a pear upon thy shoulders, and the cock that croweth is no 
 match for thee in measure." 
 
 So Abarak cried, "We be aggrieved, we two! youth, son 
 of my uncle, I will give thee means of vengeance ; give thou 
 me means." 
 
 Shibli Bagarag felt scorn at the Queen, and her hollowness, 
 and he said, '"T is well; take this lily and hold it to her." 
 
 Now, the Queen jeered Abarak, and as he approached her 
 she shouted, " What ! thou small of build ! mite of creation ! 
 sour mixture ! thou puppet of mine ! thou ! comest thou to 
 seek a second kiss against the compact, knowing that I give 
 not the well-favoured of mortals beyond one, a second 1" 
 
 Little delayed Abarak at this to put her to the test of the 
 Lily, and he held the flower to her, and saw the sight, and 
 staggered back like one stricken with a shaft. When he could 
 get a breath he uttered such a howl that Eabesqurat in her 
 drunkenness was fain to save her ears, and the hall echoed 
 as with the bellows of a thousand beasts of the forest. Then, 
 to glut his revenge he ran for the sack, and emptied the 
 
182 THE SHAVING ,0F SHAGPAT. 
 
 contents of it, the Queen's mirror, tefore her ; and the sack- 
 full of ejes, they saw the sight, and sickened, rolling tlieir 
 whites. So, that done, Aharak gave SJiibli Bagarag the bar 
 of iron, and bade him smite the pillars, all save the seventh ; 
 irnd he smote them atrengthily, crumbling them at a blow, 
 and bringing down the great haU and its groves, and glasses 
 and gems, lamps, traceries, devices, a heap of ruin, the seventh 
 pillar alone standing. Then, while he pumped back breath 
 into his body, Abarak said, "There 's no delaying in this 
 place now, youth ! say, hast thou spells for the entering of 
 Aklisr' 
 
 He answered, " Three ! " 
 
 Then said Abarak, " 'Tis well ! Surely now, if thou 
 takest me in thy service, I '11 help thee to master the Event, 
 and serve thee faithfully, requiring nought from thee save a 
 sight of the Event, and 'tis I that myself missed one, wiled 
 by Eabesqurat." 
 
 Quoth Shibli Bagarag, "Thou?" 
 
 He answered, " No word of it now. Is 't agreed? " 
 
 So Shibli Bagarag cried, " Even so." 
 
 Thereupon, the twain entered the pillar, leaving Eabesqurat 
 prone, and the waves of the sea bounding toward her where 
 she lay. Now, they descended and ascended flights of 
 slippery steps, and sped togetlier along murky passages, in 
 which light never was, and under arches of caves with 
 hanging crystals, groping and tumbling on hurriedly, till 
 they came to an obstruction, and felt an iron door, frosty to 
 the touch. Then, Abarak said to Shibli Bagarag, " Smite ! " 
 And the youth lifted the bar to his right shoulder, and 
 smote ; and the door obeyed the blow, and discovered an 
 opening into a strange dusky land, as it seemed a valley, on 
 one side of which was a ragged copper sun setting low, large 
 as a warrior's battered shield, giving deep red lights to a brook 
 that fell, and over a flat stream a red reflection, and to the 
 sides of the hills a dark red glow. The sky was a brown 
 colour ; the earth a deeper brown, like the skins of tawny 
 lions. Trees with reddened stems stood about the valley, 
 
THE WILES OF EABESQURAT. 183 
 
 scattered and in groups, showing between their leaves the 
 cheeks of melancholy fruits swarthUy tinged, and toward 
 the centre of the valley a shining palace was visible, 
 supported by massive columns of marble reddened by that 
 <5opper sun. Shibli Bagarag was awed at the stillness that 
 hung everywhere, and said to Abarak, " Where am I, 
 Abarak ? the look of this place is fearful ! " 
 
 And the little man answered, "Where, but beneath the 
 mountains in Aklis ? WuUahy ! I should know it, I that 
 keep the passage of the seventh pillar ! " 
 
 Then, the thought of his betrothed Nooma, and her 
 beauty, and the words, "Eemember the seventh pUlar,'' 
 struck the heart of Shibli Bagarag, and he exclaimed, 
 passionately, " Is she in safety 1 Noorna, my companion, 
 my betrothed, netted by thee, Abarak ! " 
 
 Abarak answered sharply, " Speak not of betrothals in 
 this place, or the sword of Aklis wUl move without a hand ! " 
 
 But Shibli Bagarag waxed the colour of the sun that was 
 over them, and cried, " By Allah ! I will smite thee with 
 the bar, if thou swear not to her safety, and point not out 
 to me where she now is." 
 
 Then said Abarak, " Thou wilt make a better use of the 
 bar by lifting it to my shoulder, and poising it, and peering 
 through it." 
 
 So, Shibli Bagarag lifted the bar to the shoulder of Abarak, 
 and poised it, and peered through the length of it, and lo ! 
 there was a sea tossing in tumult, and one pillar standing 
 erect in the midst of the sea ; and on the piUar, above the 
 washing waves, with hair blown back and flapping raiment, 
 pale but smiling still, Noorna, his betrothed ! Now, when he 
 saw her, he made a rush to the door of the passage; but 
 Abarak blocked the way, crying, " Fo.ol ! a step backward in 
 Aklis is death ! " 
 
 And when he had wrestled with him and reined him, 
 Abarak said, " Haste to reach the Sword from the sons of 
 Aklis, if thou wouldst save her." 
 
 So, he drew him to the bjiink of the stream, and whistled 
 
184 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 a parrot's -whistle ; and Sliibli Bagarag beheld a hoat draped 
 with drooping white lotuses that floated slowly toward them ; 
 and when it was near, he and Abarak entered it, and saw one, 
 a veiled figure, sitting in the stern, who neither moved to 
 them nor spake, but steered the boat to a certain point 
 of land across the stream, where stood an elephant ready 
 girt for travellers to mount him ; and the elephant kneeled 
 among the reeds as they approached, that they might 
 mount him, and when they had each taken a seat, moved 
 off, waving his trunk. Presently the elephant came to 
 a halt, and went upon his knees again, and the two slid 
 off his back, and were among black slaves that bowed to the 
 ground before them, and led them to the shining gates of the 
 palace in silence. Now, on the first marble step of the 
 palace there sat an old white-headed man dressed like 
 a dervish, who held out at arm's length a branch of gold 
 with golden singing-birds between its leaves, saying, " This 
 for the strongest of ye ! " 
 
 So, Abarak exclaimed, " I am that one ; " and he held 
 forth his hand for the branch. 
 
 But Shibli Bagarag cried, "Nay, 't is mine. Wullahy, 
 what has not the strength of this hand overthrown ? " 
 
 Then the brows of Abarak twisted ; his limbs twitched, 
 and he bawled, " To the proof ! " waking all the echoes 
 of Aklis. Shibli Bagarag was tempted in his desire for 
 the golden branch to lift the iron bar upon Abarak, 
 when lo ! the phial of Paravid fell from his vest, and he 
 took it and sprinkled a portion of the waters over the 
 singing-birds, and in a moment they burst into a sweet 
 union of voices, singing, in the words of the poet : 
 
 When for one serpent were two asses match ? 
 
 How shall one foe but with wiles master double ? 
 
 So let the strong keep for ever good watoh, 
 
 Lest their strength prove a snare, and themselves a mere bubble ; 
 
 For vanity maketh the strongest most weak, — 
 
 As lions and men totter after the straggle. 
 
 Ye heroes, be modest ! while combats ye seek, 
 
 The cunning one trippeth ye both with a juggle. 
 
THE WILES OF EABESQUHAT. 185 
 
 Now, at this verse of the birds Shibli Bagarag fixed 
 liis eye on the old man, and the beard of the old man 
 shrivelled ; he waxed in size, and flew up in a blaze and 
 with a baffled shout bearing the branch ; surely, his features 
 were those of Karaz, and Shibli Bagarag knew him by 
 the length of liis limbs, his stiff ears, and copper skin. 
 Then he laughed a loud laugh, but Abarak sobbed, saying, 
 " By this know I that I never should have seized the 
 Sword, even though I had vanquished the illusions of 
 Eabesqurat, which held me fast half-way." 
 
 So, Shibli Bagarag stared at him, and said, "Wert thou 
 also a searcher, Abarak 1 " 
 
 But Abarak cried, " Eouse not the talkative tongue of the 
 past, youth ! "Wullahy ! relinquish the bar that is my 
 bar, won by me, for the sword is within thy gripe, and they 
 await thee up yonder steps. Go ! go ! and look for me here 
 on thy return." 
 
THE PALACE OF AKLIS. 
 
 Ifow, Shibli Bagarag assured himself of his three spells, and 
 made his heart resolute, and hastened up the reddened 
 marble steps of the Palace; and when he was on the topmost 
 step, lo ! one with a man's body and the head of a buffalo, 
 that prostrated himself, and prayed the youth obsequiously 
 to enter the palace with the title of King. So, Shibli 
 Bagarag held his head erect, and followed him with the 
 footing of a Sultan, and passed into a great hall, with foun- 
 tains in it that were fountains of gems, pearls, chrysolites, 
 thousand-hued jewels, and by the margin of the fountains were 
 shapes of mea with the heads of beasts — wolves, foxes, lions, 
 bears, oxen, sheep, serpents, asses, — that stretched their 
 hands to the falls, and loaded their vestments with brilliants, 
 loading them without cessation, so that from the vestments 
 of each there was another pouring of the strong liquid lights. 
 Then he with the buffalo's head bade Shibli Bagarag help 
 himself from the falls ; but Shibli Bagarag refused, for his 
 soul was with Noorna, his betrothed ; and he saw her pale 
 ■on that solitary pillar in the tumult of the sea, and knew her 
 safety depended on his faithfulness. 
 
 He cried, " The Sword of Aklis ! nought save the Sword !" 
 
 Now, at these words the fox-heads and the sheep-heads 
 
 and the ass-heads and the other heads of beasts were lifted 
 
 up, and lo ! they put their hands to their ears, and tapped 
 
 their foreheads with the finger of reflection, as creatures 
 
THE PALACE OF AKLIS. 187 
 
 seeking to bring to mind a serious matter. Then the 
 fountains rose higher, and flimg jets of radiant jewels, and a 
 drenching spray of gems upon them, and new thirst aroused 
 "them to renew their gulping of the falls, and a look of 
 ■eagerness was even in the eyes of the ass-heads and the silly 
 sheep-heads ; surely, Shibli Bagarag laughed to see them 1 
 Now, when he had pressed his lips to recover his sight from 
 the dazzling of those wondrous fountains, he heard himself 
 again addressed by the title of King, and there was before 
 liim a lofty cock with a man's head. So, he resumed the 
 majesty of his march, and followed the fine-stepping cock 
 into another hall, spacious, and clouded with heavy scents 
 and perfumes burning in censers and urns, musk, myrrh, 
 .ambergris, and livelier odours, gladdening the nostril like 
 wine, making the soul reel as with a draught of the for- 
 bidden drink. Here, before a feast that would prick the 
 •dead with appetite, were shapes of beasts with heads of men, 
 asses, elephants, bulls, horses, swine, foxes, river-horses, 
 dromedarie's ; and they ate and drank as do the famished 
 with munch and gurgle, clacking their lips joyfully. Shibli 
 Bagarag remembered the condition of his frame when first 
 he looked upon the City of Shagpat, and was incited to 
 ■eat and accede to the invitation of the cock with the man's 
 head, and sit among these merry feeders and pickers of 
 mouth-watering morsels, when, with the City of Shagpat, lo ! 
 he had a vision of Shngpat, hairier than at their interview 
 arrogant in hairiness ; his head remote in contemptuous 
 waves and curls and frizzes, and bushy protuberances of hair, 
 lost in it, like an idolatrous temple in impenetrable thickets. 
 Then the yearning of the Barber seized Shibli Bagarag, and 
 ■desire to shear Shagpat was as a mighty overwhelming wave 
 in his bosom, and he shouted, " The Sword of Aklis ! nought 
 ■save the sword ! " 
 
 Now, at these words the beaets with men's heads wagged 
 their tails, all of them, from right to left, and kept their 
 jaws from motion, staring stupidly at the dishes but 
 
188 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 the dishes began to send forth stealthy steams, insidious 
 whispers to the nose, silver intimations of savouriness, so- 
 that they on a sudden set up a howl, and Shibli Bagarag 
 puckered his garments from them as from devouring dogs, 
 and hastened from that hall to a third, where at the entrance 
 stood a damsel that smiled to him, and led him into a vast 
 marbled chamber, forty cubits high, hung with draperies, and 
 in it a hundred doors ; and he was in the midst of a very 
 rose-garden of young beauties, such as the Blest behold in 
 Paradise, robed in the colours of the rising and setting sun ; 
 plump, with long, black, languishing, almond-shaped eyes, 
 and undulating figures. So, they cried to him, "What 
 greeting, our King 1 " 
 
 Now, he counted twenty and seven of them, and, fitting 
 his gallantry to verse, answered ; 
 
 Poor are the heavens that have not ye 
 
 To swell their glowing plenty ; 
 Up there but one bright moon I see. 
 
 Here mark I seven-and-twenty. 
 
 The damsels laughed and flung back their locks at his 
 flattery, sporting with him ; and he thought, " These be sweet 
 maidens ! I will know if they be illusions like Rabesqurat;" 
 so, as they were romping, he slung his right arm round one, 
 and held the Lily to her, but there was no change in her save 
 that she winked somewhat and her eyes watered ; and it was 
 so with the others, for when they saw him hold the Lily to 
 one they made him do so to them likewise. Then he took 
 the phial, and touched their lips with the waters, and lo ! 
 they commenced luting and laughing, and singing verses, and 
 prattling, laughing betweenwhiles at each other ; and one, a 
 noisy one, with long, black, unquiet tresses, and a curved 
 foot and roguish ankle, sang as she twirled : 
 
 My heart ia another's, I cannot be tender ; 
 Tet if thou storm it, I fain must surrender. 
 
 And another, a fresh-cheeked, fair-haired, full-eyed damsel, 
 
THE PALACE OF AKLIS. 189 
 
 strong upon her instep and stately in the bearing of her 
 shoulders, sang shrilly : 
 
 I'm of the mountains, and he that comes to me 
 Like eagle must win, and like hurricane woo me. 
 
 And another, reclining on a couch buried in dusky silks, like 
 a butterfly under the leaves, a soft ball of beauty, sang moan- 
 
 ingly : 
 
 Here like a fruit on the branch am I swaying ; 
 Snatoh ere I fall, love ! there 's death in delaying. 
 
 And another, light as an antelope on the hills, with antelope 
 eyes edged with kohl, and timid, graceful movements, and 
 small, white, rounded ears, sang clearly : 
 
 Swiftness is mine, and I fly from the sordid ; 
 Follow me, follow ! and you '11 be rewarded. 
 
 And another, with large limbs and massive mould, that 
 •stepped like a cow leisurely cropping the pasture, and shook 
 with jewels amid her black hair and above her brown eyes, 
 and round her white neck and her wrists, and on her waist, 
 •even to her ankle, sang as with a kiss upon every word : 
 
 Sweet 't is in stilluBSS and bliss to be basking ! 
 He who would have me, may have for the asking. 
 
 And another, with eyebrows like a bow, and arrows of fire in 
 her eyes, and two rosebuds her full moist parted pouting lips, 
 sang, clasping her hands, and voiced like the tremulous pas- 
 sionate bulbul in the shadows of the moon : 
 
 Love is my life, and with love I live only ; 
 Give me life, lover, and leave me not lonely. 
 
 And a seventh, a very beam of beauty, and the perfection of 
 all that is imagined in fairness and ample grace of expression 
 and proportion, lo ! she came straight to Shibli Bagarag, and 
 took him by the hand and pierced him with lightning glances, 
 singing : 
 
 Were we not destined to meet by one planet ? 
 
 Can a fate sever us ?— can it, ah ! can it ? 
 
190 THE SHAVING OP SHAGPAT. 
 
 And she sang tender songs to him, mazing him with blandish- 
 ments, so that the aim of existence and the summit of ambi- 
 tion now seemed to him the life of a king in that palace 
 among the damsels ; and he thought, " Wah ! these be no 
 illusions, and they speak the thing that is in them. Wullaby, 
 loveliness is their portion ; they call me King." 
 
 Then she that had sung to him said, "Surely we have 
 been waiting thee long to crown thee our King 1 Thou hast 
 been in some way delayed, glorious one ! " 
 
 And he answered, " fair ones, transcending in affability, 
 I have stumbled upon obstructions in my journey hither, and 
 I have met with adventures, but of this crowning that was to 
 follow them I knew nought. Wullahy, thrice have I been 
 saluted King ; I whom fate selecteth for the Shaving of 
 Shagpat, and till now it was a beguilement, all emptiness." 
 
 Now, they marked his bewildered state, and some knelt 
 before him, some held their arms out adoringly, some leaned 
 to him with glistening looks, and he was fast falling a slave 
 to their flatteries, succumbing to them ; imagination fired him 
 with the splendours due to one that was a king, and the 
 thought of wearing a crown again took possession of his soul, 
 and he cried, " Crown me, my handmaidens, and delay not 
 to crown mo ; for, as the poet says : 
 
 ' The king without his crown 
 llath a forehead like the clown ;,' 
 
 and the circle of my head itcheth for the symbols of majesty." 
 So, at these words of Shibli Bagarag they arose quickly and 
 clapped their hands, and danced with the nimble step of 
 gladness, exclaiming, "0 our King! pleasant will be the time 
 with him ! " And one smoothed his head and poured oil 
 upon it ; one brought him garments of gold and silk inwoven ; 
 one fetched him slippers like the sun's beam in brightness ; 
 others stood together in clusters, and with lutes and wood- 
 instruments, low-toned, singing odes to him ; and lo ! one took 
 a needle and threaded it, and gave the thread into the hands 
 
THE PALACE OP AKLIS. 191 
 
 of Shibli Bagarng, and ■with the point of the needle she pricked 
 certain letters on his right wrist, and afterwards pricked the 
 same letters on a door in the wall. Then she said to him, 
 " Is it in thy power to make those letters speak 1 " 
 Ho answered, " "We will prove how that may be." 
 So, he ilung some drops from the phial over the letters, and 
 they glowed the colour of blood and flashed with a report, and 
 it was as if a fiery forked-tongue had darted before them and 
 spake the words written, and they were, " This is the Crown 
 of him who hath achieved his aim and resteth here." There- 
 upon, she stuck the needle in the door, and he pulled the 
 thread, and the door drew apart, and lo ! a small chamber, and 
 on a raised cushion of blue satin a glittering crown, thick with 
 jewels as a frost, such as Ambition pineth to wear, and the 
 knees of men weaken and bend beholding, and it lanced lights 
 about it like a living sun. Beside the cushion was a vacant 
 throne, radiant as morning in the East, ablaze with devices in 
 gold and gems, a seat to fill the meanest soul with sensations 
 of majesty and tempt dervishes to the sitting posture. Shibli 
 Bagarag was intoxicated at the sight, and he thought, " VT&h. I 
 but if I sit on this throne and am a king, with that crown I 
 can command men and things ! and I have but to say, Fetch 
 If oorna, my betrothed, from yonder pillar in the midst of the 
 uproarious sea ! — Let the hairy Shagpat be shaved ! and be- 
 hold, slaves, thousands of them, do my bidding ! WuUahy, 
 this is greatness ! " Now, he made a rush to the throne, but 
 the damsels held him back, crying, "Xot for thy life tUl we 
 have crowned thee, our master and lord ! " 
 
 Then they took the crown and crowned him with it ; and 
 he sat upon the throne calmly, serenely, like a Sultan of the 
 great race accustomed to sovereignty, tempering the awfulness 
 of his brows with benignant glances. So, while he sat the 
 damsels hid their faces and started some paces from him, as 
 unable to bear the splendour of his presence, and in a moment, 
 lo ! the door closed between him and them, and he was in 
 darkness. Then he heard a voice of the damsels cry in the 
 
192 THE SEATING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 hall, "The ninety and ninth! Peace now for us and blissful- 
 ness with our lords, for now all are filled save the door of the 
 Sword, which maketh the hundredth." After that he heard 
 the same voice say, " Leave them, my sisters ! " 
 
 So, he listened to the noise of their departing, and knew he 
 had heen duped. Surely his soul cursed him as he sat crowned 
 and throned in that darkness ! He seized the crown to dash 
 it to the earth, hut the crown fixed on his forehead and would 
 not come off ; neither had he force to rise from the throne. 
 Now, the thought of Noorna, his betrothed, where she rested 
 waiting for him to deliver her, filled Shibli Bagarag with the 
 extremes of anguish ; and he lifted his right arm and dashed 
 it above his head in the violence of his grief, striking in the 
 motion a hidden gong that gave forth a burst of thunder and 
 a roll of bellowings, and lo ! the door opened before him, and 
 the throne as he sat on it moved out of the chamber into the 
 hall where he had seen the damsels that duped him, and on 
 every side of the hall doors opened ; and he marvelled to see 
 men, old and young, beardless and venerable, sitting upon 
 thrones and crowned with crowns, motionless, with eyes like 
 stones in the recesses. He thought, " These be other dupes ! 
 "WuUahy ! a drop of the waters of Paravid upon their lips 
 might reveal mysteries, and guide me to the sword of my 
 seeking." So, as he considered how to get at them from the 
 seat of his throne, his gaze fell on a mirror, and he beheld the 
 cro'^ATL on his forehead what it was, bejewelled asses' ears 
 stiffened upright, and skulls of monkeys grinning with gems ! 
 The sight of that crowning his head convulsed Shibli Baga- 
 rag with laughter, and, as he laughed, his seat upon the throne 
 was loosened, and he pitched from it, but the crown stuck to 
 him and was tenacious of its hold as the lion that pounceth 
 upon a victim. So, he bowed to the burden of necessity, and 
 took the phial, and touched the lips of one that sat crowned 
 on a throne with the waters in the phial ; and it was a man of 
 exceeding age, whitened with time, and in the long sweep of 
 his beard like a mountain clad with snow from the peak that 
 
THE PALACE OF AKLIS. 193 
 
 is in the sky to the base that slopeth to the valley. Then he 
 addressed the old man on his throne, saying, "Tell me, 
 King ! how earnest thou here ? and in search of what ? " 
 
 The old man's lips moved, and he muttered in deep tones, 
 " When Cometh he of the ninety-and-ninth door V 
 
 So, Shibli Bagarag cried, " Surely he is before thee, in 
 Aklis." 
 
 And the old man said, "Let him ask no secrets • but when 
 he hath reached the Sword forget not to flash it in this hall, 
 for the sake of brotherhood in adventure.'' 
 
 After that he was silent, and answered no word to any 
 questioning. 
 
THE SONS OF AKLIS. 
 
 Now, Shibli Bagarag thought, "The poet is right in Aklis 
 as elsewhere, in his words : 
 
 ' The cunning of our offc-negleoted wit 
 Doth best the keyhole of occasion fit ; ' 
 
 and whoso looketh for help from others looketh the wrong 
 way in an undertaking. "VVah ! I will be bold and batter at 
 the hundredth door, which is the door of the Sword." So, 
 he advanced straightway to the door, which was one of 
 solid silver, charactered with silver letters, and knocked 
 against it three knocks ; and a voice within said, " What 
 spells 1 " 
 
 He answered, "Paravid; Garraveen; and the Lily of the 
 Sea ! " 
 
 Upon that the voice said, " Enter by virtue of the spells ! " 
 and the silver door swung open, discovering a deep pit, light- 
 en ned by a torch, and across it, bridging it, a string of enor- 
 mous eggs, rocs' eggs, hollowed, and so large that a man 
 might walk through them without stooping. At the side of 
 each egg three lamps were suspended from a claw, and the 
 shell passage was illumined with them from end to end. 
 Shibli Bagarag thought, " These eggs are of a surety the eggs 
 of the Roc mastered by Aklis with his sword ! " Now, as 
 the sight of Shibli Bagarag grew familiar to the place, he 
 beheld at the bottom of the pit a fluttering mass of blackness 
 
THE SONS OF AKLIS. 195 
 
 and two sickly eyes that glittered below. Then thought he, 
 " Wah ! if that be the Roc, and it not dead, will the bird 
 suffer one to defile its eggs with other than the sole of the 
 foot, naked 1 " So, he undid his sandals and kicked off the 
 slippers given him by the damsels that had duped him, and went 
 into the first egg over the abyss, and into the second, and 
 into the third, and into the fourth, and into the fifth. Surely 
 the eggs swung with him, and bent ; and the fear of their 
 breaking and he falling into the maw of the terrible bird 
 made him walk unevenly. Now, when he had come to the 
 seventh egg, which was the last, it shook and swung violently, 
 and he heard underneath the flapping of the wings of the 
 Hoc as with eagerness expecting a victim to prey upon. He 
 sustained his soul with the firmness of resolve and darted 
 himself lengthwise to the landing, clutching a hold with his 
 right hand ; as he did so, the bridge of eggs broke, and he 
 heard the .feathers of the bird in agitation, and the bird 
 screaming a scream of disappointment as he scrambled up the 
 sides of the pit. Now, Shibli Bagarag failed not to perform 
 two prostrations to Allah, and raised the song of gratitude 
 for his preservation when he found himself in safety. Then 
 he looked up, and lo ! behind a curtain, steps leading to an 
 anteroom, and beyond that a chamber like the chamber of 
 kings where they sit in state dispensing judgements, like the 
 sun at noon in splendour ; and in the chamber seven youths, 
 tall and comely young men, calm as princes in their port, each 
 one dressed in flowing robes, and with a large glowing pearl 
 in the ' front of their turbans. So, they advanced to meet 
 him, saying, " Welcome to Aklis, thou that art proved 
 worthy ! 'T is holiday now with us ; '' and they took him 
 by the hand and led him with them in silence past fountain- 
 jets and porphyry pillars to where a service with refreshments 
 was spread, — meats, fowls with rice, sweetmeats, preserves, 
 palateable mixtures, and monuments of the cook's art, goblets 
 of wine like liquid rubies. Then one of the youths said to 
 Shibli Bagarag, "Thou hast come to us crowned, our 
 
 o 2 
 
196 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 guest ! Now, it is not our custom to pay homage, but thou 
 shalt presently behold them that will, so lot not thy kingli- 
 ness droop with us, but feast royally." 
 
 And Shibli Bagarag said, " my princes, surely it is a 
 silly matter to crown a mouse ! Humility hath depressed 
 my stature ! "WuUahy, I have had warning in the sticking of 
 this crown to my brows, and it stioketh like an abomination." 
 
 So, they laughed at him, saying, " It was the heaviness 
 of that crown which overweighted thee in the bridge of 
 the abyss, and few be they that bear it and go not to feed 
 the Eoc." 
 
 Now, they feasted together, interchangeing civilities, 
 offering to each other choice morsels, dainties. And the 
 anecdotes of Shibli Bagarag, his simplicity and his honesty, 
 and his vanity and his airiness, and the betraying tongue of 
 the barber, diverted the youths ; and they plied him with 
 old wine till his stores of merriment broke forth and were 
 as a river swollen by torrents of the mountain ; and the 
 seven youths laughed at him, spluttering with laughter, 
 lurching with it. Surely, he described to them the loquacity 
 of Baba Mustapha his uncle, and they laughed so that their 
 chins were uppermost ; but at his mention of Shagpat 
 greater gravity was theirs, and they smoothed their faces 
 solemnly, and the sun of their merriment was darkened for 
 awhile. Then they took to flinging about pellets of a 
 sugared preparation, and reciting verses in praise of jovial 
 living, challenging to drink this one and that one, passing 
 the cup with a stanza. Shibli Bagarag thought, " What a 
 life is this led by these youths ! a fair one ! 'T is they 
 that be the sons of Aklis that sharpen the Sword of Events ; 
 yet live they in jollity, skimming from the profusion of 
 abundance that which floateth ! " 
 
 Now, marking him contemplative; one of the youths 
 shouted, "The King lacketh homage ! " 
 
 And another called, " Admittance for his people ! " 
 
 Then the seven arose and placed Shibli Bagarag on an 
 
THE SONS OF AKLIS. 197 
 
 elevation in the midst of them, and lo ! a troop of black 
 slaves leading by the collar, asses, and by a string, monkeys. 
 'Now, for the asses they brayed to the Evil One, and the 
 monkeys were prankish, pulling against the string, till they 
 caught sight of Shibli Bagarag. Then was it as if they 
 had been awe-stricken ; and they came forward to him with 
 docile steps, eyeing the crown on his head, and prostrated 
 themselves, the asses and the monkeys, like creatures in 
 whom glowed the lamp of reason and the gift of intelligence. 
 So, Shibli Bagarag drooped his jaw and was ashamed, and he 
 cried, '■' my princes ! am I a King of these? " 
 
 They answered, " A King in mightiness ! Sultan of a 
 race ! " 
 
 So, he said, " It is certain I shall need physic to support 
 such a sovereignty ! And I must be excused liberal allow- 
 ances of old wine to sit in state among them. "Wullahy ! 
 they were best gone for awhile. Send them from me, my 
 princes ! I sicken.'' 
 
 And he called to the animals, "Away! begone!" frowning. 
 
 Then said the youths, " Well commanded ! and like a 
 King ! See, they troop from thy presence obediently." 
 
 Now the animals fled from before the brows of Shibli 
 Bagarag, and when the chamber was empty of them the 
 seven young men said, " Of a surety thou wert flattered to 
 observe the aspect of these animals at beholding thee.'' 
 
 But he cried, " Not so, my princes ; there is nought 
 flattering in the homage of asses and monkeys." 
 
 Then they said, " Sultan of asses, ruler of monkeys, 
 better that than thyself an ass and an ape ! As was said by 
 Shah Kasirwan, ' I prefer being king of beasts worshipped 
 by beasts, rather than a crowned beast worshipped by 
 men ; ' and it was well said. Wullahy ! the kings of Eoum 
 quote it." 
 
 Now Shibli Bagarag was not rendered oblivious of the 
 Sword of his quest by the humour of these youths, or the 
 wine-bihbings, and he exclaimed while they were turning up 
 
198 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 the heels of their cups, " ye sons of Aklis, know that I 
 have come hither for the Sword sharpened by your hands, 
 for the releasing of my betrothed, ISToorna bin Noorka, 
 daughter of the Vizier Feshnavat, and for the Shaving of 
 Shagpat." 
 
 So, while he was proceeding to recount the story of his 
 search for the Sword, they said, " Enough, potentate of 
 the braying class and of the scratching tribe ! we have seen 
 thee through the eye of Aklis since the time of thy first 
 thwacking. "What says the poet ? — 
 
 ' A day for toil and a day for rest 
 Gives labour zeal, and pleasure zest.' 
 
 So, of thy seeking let us hear to-morrow; but now drink with 
 lis, and make merry, and touch the springs of memory; spout 
 forth verses, quaint ones, suitable to the hour and the enter- 
 tainment. Wullahy ! drink with us ! taste life ! Let the 
 humours flow." 
 
 Then they made a motion to some slaves, and presently a 
 clattering of anklets struck theear of Shibli Bagarag : look- 
 ing, he beheld dancing-girls, moons of beauty and elegance, 
 and they danced wild dances, and dances graceful and leopard- 
 like and serpent-like in movement; and the youths flung 
 flowers at them, applauding them. Then came other sets of 
 dancers even lovelier, more languishing; and again others 
 with tambourines and musical instruments, that sang ravish- 
 ingly. So, the senses of Shibli Bagarag were all taken with 
 what he saw and heard, and ate and drank ; and by degrees 
 a mist came before his eyes, and the sweet sounds and voices 
 of the girls grew distant, and it was with difficulty he 
 kept his back from the length of the cushions that were about 
 him. Then he thought of Noorna, and that she sang to him 
 and danced, and when he rose to embrace her she was 
 Eabesqurat by the light of the Lily ! And he thought of 
 Shagpat, and that in shaving him the blade was checked in 
 its rapid sweep, and blunted by a stumpy twine of hair that 
 
THE SONS OP AKLIS. 199 
 
 ■waxed in size and became the head of Karaz that gulped at 
 him a wide devouring gulp, and took him in, and flew lip 
 ■with him, leaving Shagpat half sheared. Then he thought 
 himself struggling halfway down the throat of the monstrous 
 Eoc, and that, when he was wholly inside the Hoc, he was 
 in a wide-arched passage crowded with lamps, and at the end 
 of the passage Noorna in the clutch of Karaz, she shouting, 
 "The Sword, the Sword!" Now while he felt for the Sword 
 wherewith to release her from the Genie, his eyes opened, 
 and he saw day through a casement, and that ho had reposed 
 on an embroidered couch in the corner of a stately room 
 ornamented with carvings of blue and gold. So, while he 
 wondered and yawned, gaping, slaves started up from the 
 floor and led him to a bath of coloured marble, and bathed 
 him in perfumed waters, and dressed him in a dress of yellow 
 silk, rich and ample. Then they paraded before him through 
 lesser apartments and across terraces, till they came to a great 
 hall, loftier and more spacious than any he had yet beheld, 
 with fountains at the two ends, and in the centre a tree with 
 golden spreading branches and leaves of gold; among the 
 leaves gold-feathered birds, and fruits of all seasons and every 
 description — the drooping grape and the pleasant-smelling 
 quince, and the blood-red pomegranate, and the apricot, and 
 the green and rosy apple, and the gummy date, and the oily 
 pistachio-nut, and peaches, and citrons, and oranges, and the 
 plum, and the fig. Surely, they were countless in number, 
 melting with ripeness, soft, full to bursting ; and the birds 
 darted among them like sun-flashes. Now, Shibli Bagarag 
 thought, " This is a wondrous tree ! "WuUahy ! there is 
 nought like it save the tree in the hall of the Prophet in 
 Paradise, feeding the faithful ! " As he regarded it he heard 
 his name spoken in the hall, and turning he beheld seven 
 youths in royal garments, that were like the youths he had 
 feasted with, and yet unlike them, pale, and stem in their 
 manners, their courtesy as the courtesy of kings. They said, 
 " Sit with us and eat the morning's meal, our guest ! " 
 
200 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 So, he sat with them under the low branches of the tree ; 
 and they whistled the tune of one hird and of another bird, 
 and of another, and lo ! those different birds flew down with 
 golden baskets hanging from their bills, and in the baskets 
 fruits and viands and sweetmeats, and cool drinks. And 
 Shibli Bagarag ate from the baskets of the birds, watching 
 the action of the seven youths and the difference that was in 
 them. He sought to make them recognize him and acknow- 
 ledge their carouse of the evening that was past, but they 
 stared at him strangely and seemed offended at the allusion, 
 neither would they hear mention of the Sword of his seeking. 
 Presently, one of the youths stood upon his feet and cried, 
 " The time for kings to sit in judgement ! " 
 
 And the youths arose and led Shibli Bagarag to a hall of 
 ebony, and seated him on the upper seat, themselves standing 
 about him ; and lo ! asses and monkeys came before him, 
 complaining of the injustice of men and their fellows, in 
 brays and bellows and hoots. Now, at the sight of them 
 again Shibli Bagarag was enraged, and he said to the youths, 
 '' How ! do ye not mock me, masters of Aklis ! " 
 
 But they said only, " The burden of his crown is for the 
 King." 
 
 He cooled, thinking, "I will use a spell." So, he touched 
 the lips of an animal with the waters of Paravid, and the 
 animal prated volubly in our language of the kick this ass 
 had given him, and the jibe of that monkey, and of his desire 
 of litigation with such and such a beast for pasture ; and the 
 others when they spake had the same complaints to make. 
 Shibli Bagarag listened to them gravely, and it was revealed 
 to him that he who ruleth over men hath a labour and duties 
 of hearing and judging and dispensing judgement similar to 
 those of him who ruleth over apes and asses. Then said he, 
 " youths, my princes ! methinks the sitting in this seat 
 giveth a key to secret sources of wisdom ; and I see what it 
 is, the glory and the exaltation coveted by men." Now, he 
 took from the asses and the monkeys one, and said to it, "Be 
 
THE SONS OP AKLIS. 201 
 
 my chief vizier," and to another, "Be my chamberlain!" 
 and to another, "Be my treasurer ! " and so on, till a dispute 
 arose between the animals, and jealousy of each other was 
 visible in their glances, and they appealed to him clamorously. 
 So, he said, " What am I to ye ? " 
 
 They answered, " Our King !" 
 
 And he said, "How soV 
 
 They answered, " By the crowning of the brides of Aklis." 
 
 Then he said, "What be ye, my subjects'?" 
 
 They answered, " Men that were searchers of the Sword 
 and plunged into the tank of temptation." 
 
 And he said, "How thati" 
 
 They answered, " By the lures of vanity, the blinding of 
 ambition, and tasting the gall of the Eoc." 
 
 So, Shibli Bagarag leaned to the seven youths, saying, " 
 my princes, but for not tasting the gall of the Eoc I might be 
 as one of these. WuUahy ! I the King am warned by base 
 creatures." Then he said to the animals, " Have ye still a 
 longing for the crown 1 " 
 
 And they cried, all of them, " light of the astonished 
 earth, we care for nought other than it." 
 
 So, he said, " And is it known to ye how to dispossess the 
 wearer of his burden ? " 
 
 They answered, " By a touch of the gall of the Eoc on his 
 forehead." 
 
 Then, he lifted his arms, crying, " Hie out of my presence ! 
 and whoso of ye fetcheth a drop of the gall, with that one 
 will I exchange the crown.'' 
 
 At these words some moved hastily, but the most faltered, 
 as doubting and incredulous that he would propose such an 
 exchange ; and one, an old monkey, sat down and crossed his 
 legs, and made a study of Shibli Bagarag, as of a sovereign 
 that held forth a deceiving bargain. But he cried again, 
 " Hie and haste ! as my head is now cased I think it not the 
 honoured part." 
 
 Then, the old monkey arose with a puzzled look, half 
 
202 THE SHAVIXa OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 scornful, and made for the door slowly, turning Ins head 
 toward Shibli Bagarag betweenwhiles as he went, and 
 scratching his lower limhs with the mute reflectiveness of 
 age" and extreme caution. 
 
 Now, when they were gone, Shibli Bagarag looked in the 
 eyes of the seven youths, and saw they were content with him, 
 and his countenance was brightened with approval. So, he 
 descended from his seat, and went with them from the hall 
 of ebony to a court were horses were waiting saddled, and 
 slaves with hawks on their wrists stood in readiness ; and 
 they mounted each a horse, but he loitered. The seven 
 youths divined his feeling, and cried impatiently, " Come ! 
 no lingering in Aklis ! " So, he mounted likewise, and they 
 emerged from the palace, and entered the hills that glowed 
 under the copper sun, and started a milk-white antelope with 
 ruby spots, and chased it from its cover over the sandhills, a 
 hawk being let loose to worry it and distress its timid 
 beaming eyes. When the creature was quite overcome, one 
 of the youths struck his heel into his horse's side and flung 
 a noose over the head of the quarry, and [drew it with them, 
 gently petting it the way home to the palace. At the gates 
 of the palace it was released, and lo ! it went up the steps, 
 and passed through the halls as one familiar with them. 
 Now, when they were all assembled in the anteroom of the 
 hall, where Shibli Bagarag liad first seen the seven youths, 
 sons of Aklis, in their jollity, one of them said to the 
 Antelope, " We have need of thee to speak a word with 
 Aklis, our sister ! " 
 
 So, the same youth requested the use of the phial of 
 Paravid, and Shibli Bagarag applied it carefully, tenderly, to 
 the mouth of the Antelope. Then, the Antelope spake in a 
 silver- ringing voice, saying, " What is it, my brothers] " 
 
 They answered, "Thou knowest we dare not attempt 
 interchange of speech with Aklis, seeing that we disobeyed 
 him in visiting the kingdoms of the earth : so it is for thee 
 
THE SONS OF AKLIS. 203 
 
 to question him as to the object of this youth, and it is the 
 Shaving of Shagpat." 
 
 So she said, " 'T is well ; I wot of it." 
 
 Then, she advanced to the curtain concealing the abyss of 
 the Roc and the bridge of its eggs, and went behind it. 
 There was a pause, and they heard her say presently in a 
 grave voice, toned with reverence, " How is it, our father? 
 is it a good thing that thy Sword be in use at this 
 season ? " 
 
 And they heard the Voice answer from a depth, " 'T were 
 well it rust not ! " 
 
 They heard her say, " our father Aklis, and wo wish 
 to know if the Shaving of Shagpat be held in favour by 
 thee, and thou sanction it with thy Sword.'' 
 
 And they heard the Voice answer, " The Shaving of 
 Shagpat is my Sword alone equal to, and he that shaveth 
 him performeth a service to mankind ranking next my 
 vanquishing of the Eoc." 
 
 Then, they heard her say, " And it is thy will we teach 
 him the mysteries of the sword, and that which may be done 
 with it 1 " 
 
 And they heard the Voice answer, " Even so ! " 
 
 After that the Voice was still, and soon the Antelope 
 returned from behind the curtain, and the youths caressed 
 her with brotherly caresses, and took a circle of hands about 
 her, and so moved to the great Hall of the gorgeous Tree, 
 and fed her from the branches. Now, while they were 
 there, Shibli Bagarag advanced to the Antelope, and knelt 
 at her feet, and said, " Princess of Aklis, surely I am 
 betrothed to one constant as a fixed star, and brighter j a 
 mistress of magic, and innocent as the bleating lamb ; and 
 she is now on a pillar, chained there, in the midst of the 
 white wrathful sea, wailing for me to deliver her with this 
 Sword of my seeking. So, now, I pray thee help me to the 
 Sword swiftly, that I may deliver her." 
 
201 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 The youths, her brothers, clamoured and interposed, 
 saying, "Take thy shape ere that, Gulrevaz, our sister !" 
 
 But she cried, " He is betrothed ! not till he graspeth the 
 Sword. Tell him, the youth, our conditions, and for what 
 exchange the Sword is yielded." 
 
 So, they said, " The conditions are, thou part with thy 
 spells, all of them, youth ! " 
 
 And he said, " There is no condition harsh that exchangeth 
 the Sword; ye seven, I agree !" 
 
 Then she said, " 'T is well ! nobility is in the soul of this 
 youth. Go before us now to the Cave of Chrysolites, my 
 brothers." 
 
 So, these departed before, and she in her antelope form 
 followed footing gracefully, and made Shibli Bagarag repeat 
 the story of his betrothal as they went. 
 
THE SWORD OF AKLIS. 
 
 Xow, when they had made the passage of many halls, built of 
 diflferent woods, filled with divers wonders, they descended a 
 sloping vault, and came to a narrow way in the earth, hung 
 with black, at the end of it a steadfast blaze like a sun, that 
 grew larger as they advanced, and they heard the sea above 
 them. The noise of it, and its plunging and weltering and 
 its pitilessness, struck on the heart of Shibli Bagarag as with 
 a blow, and he cried, " Haste, haste, Princess ! perchance 
 she is even now calling to me with her tongue, and I not aid- 
 ing her, delayed by the temptation of this crown and the 
 guile of the Brides." 
 
 She checked him, and said, " In Aklis no haste ! " Then, 
 she said, " Look ! " And lo, fronting them the single blaze 
 became two fires ; and drawing nigh, Shibli Bagarag beheld 
 them what they were, angry eyes in the head of a great lion, 
 a model of majesty, and passion was in his mane and power 
 was in his forepaws ; so while he lashed his tail as a tempest 
 whippeth the tawny billows at night, and was lifting himself 
 for a roar, she said, "A hair of Garraveen, and touch him 
 with it ! " 
 
 So, Shibli Bagarag pushed up his sleeve and broke one of 
 the three sapphire hairs and stepped forward to the lion, 
 holding in his right hand the hair of vivid light. The lion 
 crouched, and was in the vigour of the spring when that hair 
 touched him, and he trembled, tumbling on his knees and 
 
206 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 letting the twain pass. So, they advanced beyond him, and 
 lo ! the Cave of Chrysolites irradiate with heams, breaks of 
 brilliance, confluences of lively hues, restless rays, meeting, 
 vanishing, ilooding splendours, now scattered in dazzling 
 joints and spars, now uniting in momentary disks of radiance. 
 Ill the centre of the cave glowed a furnace, and round it 
 he distinguished the seven youths, swarthier and sterner than 
 before, dark sweat standing on the brows of each. Their 
 words were brief, and they wore each a terrible frown, saying 
 to him, without further salutation, "Thrust in the flame of 
 this furnace thy right wrist." 
 
 At the same moment, the Antelope said in his ear, " Do 
 their bidding, and be not backward ! In Aklis fear is ruin 
 and hesitation a destroyer.'' 
 
 So, he fixed his mind on the devotedness of Noorna, and 
 held his nether lip tightly between his teeth, and thrust his 
 right wrist in the flame of the furnace. The wrist reddened, 
 and became transparent with heat, but he felt no pain, only that 
 his whole arm was thrice its natural weight. Then, the flame 
 of the furnace fell, and the seven youths made him kneel by 
 a brook of golden waters and dip his forehead up to his'cyes 
 in the waters. Then, they took him to the other side of the 
 cave, and his sight was strengthened to mark the glory of the 
 Sword, where it hung in slings, a little way from the wall, 
 outshining the lights of the cave, and throwing them back 
 with its superior force and steadfastness of lustre. Lo ! the 
 length of it was as the length of crimson across the sea when 
 the sun is sideways on the wave, and it seemed full a mile 
 long, the whole blade sheening like an arrested lightning 
 from the end to the hilt ; the hilt two large live serpents 
 twined together, with eyes like sombre jewels and sparkling 
 spotted skins, points of fire in their folds, and reflections of 
 the emerald and topaz and ruby stones, studded in the blood- 
 stained haft. Then, the seven young men, sons of Akhs, 
 said to Shibli Bagaragj " Surrender the Lily ! " And when 
 he had given into their hands the Lily, they said, " Grasp 
 the handle of the Sword ! " 
 
THE SWORD OF AKLIS. 207 
 
 Now, lie beheld the Sword and the ripples of violet heat 
 that were breathing down it, and those two venomous serpents 
 twined together, and the size of it, its ponderousness ; and to 
 essay lifting it appeared to him a madness, but he concealed 
 his thought, and, setting his soul on the safety of Noorna, 
 "went forward to it boldly, and piercing his right arm between 
 the twists of the serpents, grasped the jewelled haft. Surely, 
 the Sword moved from the slings as if a giant had swayed 
 it ! But what amazed him was the marvel of the blade, for 
 its sharpness was such that nothing stood in its way, and it 
 slipped through everything as we pass through still water, — 
 the stone columns, blocks of granite by the walls, the walls of 
 earth, and the thick solidity of the ground beneath his feet. 
 They bade him say t) the Sword, "Sleep !" and it was no 
 longer than a knife in the girdle. Likewise, they bade him 
 hiss on the heads of the serpents, and say, " Wake ! " 
 and while he held it lengthwise it shot lengthening out. 
 Then, they bade him hold in one hand the sapphire hair 
 that conquered the lion, and with the edge of the Sword 
 touch one point of it. So, he did that, and it split in half, 
 aiid the two halves he also split ; and he split those four, and 
 those eight, till the hairs were thin as light and not dis- 
 tinguishable from it. When Shibli Bagarag saw the power 
 of the Sword, he exulted and cried, " Praise be to the science 
 of them that forecast events and the haps of life ! " Now, 
 in the meantime he marked the youths take those hairs of 
 Garraveen that he had split, and tie them round the neck of 
 the Antelope, and empty the contents of the phial down her 
 throat ; and they put the bulb of the Lily, that was a heart, 
 in her mouth, and she swallowed it till the flour covered her 
 face. Then, they took each a handful of the golden waters 
 of the brook flowing through the cave, and flung the waters 
 over her, exclaiming, " By the three spells that have power 
 in Aklis, and by which these waters are a blessing ! " 
 
 In the passing of a flash she took her shape, and was a 
 damsel taller than the tallest of them that descend from the 
 
208 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 mountains, a vision of loveliness, with queenly brows, closed 
 red lips, and large full black eyes ; her hair black, and on it 
 a net of amber strung with pearls. To look upon her was to 
 feel the tyranny of love, love's pangs of alarm and hope and 
 anguish ; and she was dressed in a dress of white silk, threaded 
 with gold and sapphire, showing in shadowy beams her rounded 
 figure and the stateliness that was hers. So, she ran to her 
 brothers and embraced them, calling them by their names, 
 catching their hands, caressing them as one that had been 
 long parted, Then, seeing Shibli Bagarag as he stood trans- 
 fixed with the javelins of loveliness that flew from her on all 
 sides, she cried : " Wliat, Master of the Event ! hast thou 
 nought for the Sword but to gaze before thee in silliness t " 
 
 Then, ho said, " rare in beauty ! marvel of Aklis and the 
 world ! surely the paradise of the eye is thy figure and the 
 glory of thy face ! " 
 
 But she shouted, " To work with the Sword ! Shame on 
 thee ! is there not one, a bright one, a miracle in faithfulness, 
 that awaiteth thy rescue on the pillar]" 
 
 And she repeated the praises he had spoken of Noorna bin 
 Noorka, his betrothed. Then, he grasped the Sword firmly, 
 remembering the love of Noorna, and crying, " Lead me from 
 this, ye sons of Aklis, and thou, Princess Gulrevaz, lead 
 me, that I may come to her." 
 
 So, they said, " Follow us ! " and he sheathed the Sword 
 in his girdle with the word " Sleep ! " and followed them, 
 his heart beating violently. 
 
KOOROOKH. 
 
 Now, they sped from the Cave of Chrysolites by another 
 passage than that hy which they entered it, and nothing but 
 the light of the Sword to guide them. By that light Shibli 
 Bagarag could distinguish glimmering shapes, silent and 
 statue-like, to the right and the left of them, their visages 
 hidden in a veil of heavy webs ; and he saw what seemed in 
 the dusk broad halls, halls of council, and again black pools 
 and black groves, and columns of crowded porticoes, — all 
 signs of an underground kingdom. Then, they came to some 
 steps and mounted these severally, coming to a platform, in 
 the middle of which leapt a fountain, the top spray of it 
 touched with a beam of earth and the air breathed by men. 
 Here he heard the youths dabble with the dark waters, 
 and he discerned Gulrevaz tossing it in her two hands, 
 ■calling, " Koorookh ! Koorookh ! " Then, they said to him, 
 "Stir this fountain with the Sword, Master of the Event!" 
 So, he stirred the fountain, and the whole body of it took a 
 leap toward the light that was like the shoot of a lono- 
 lance of silver in the moon's rays, and lo ! in its place the 
 ruffled feathers of a bird. Then, the seven youths and the 
 Princess and Shibli Bagarag got up under its feathers like a 
 brood of water-fowl; and the bird winged straight up as 
 doth a blinded bee, ascending, and passing in the ascent a 
 widening succession of winding terraces, till he observed the 
 copper sun of Aklis and the red lands below it. Thrice, in 
 
 p 
 
210 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 the exuberance of his gladness, he waved the Sword, 
 and the sun lost that dulness on its disk and took a 
 bright flame, and threw golden arrows everywhere; and 
 the pastures were green, the streams clear, the sands 
 sparkling. Then, the bird flew, and circled, and hung 
 poised a moment, presently descending on the roof of the 
 palace. Now, there was here a piece of solid glass, propped 
 on two crossed bars of gold, and it was shaped like an eye, 
 and might have been taken for one of the eyes inhabiting 
 the head of some monstrous Genie. Shibli Bagarag ran to it 
 ■when he was afoot, and peered through it. Surely, it was 
 the first object of his heart that he beheld — Noorna, his 
 betrothed, pale on the pillar ; she with her head between her 
 hands and her hair scattered by the storm, as one despairing. 
 Still he looked, and he saw swimming round the pillar that 
 monstrous fish, with its sole baleful eye, which had gulped 
 them both in the closed shell of magic pearl ; and he knew 
 the fish for Karaz, the Genie, their enemy. Then, he turned 
 to the Princess with an imploring voice for counsel how to 
 reach her and bring her rescue; but she said, "The Sword 
 is in thy hands, none of us dare wield it ; " and the seven 
 youths answered likewise. So, left to himself, he drew the 
 Sword from his girdle, and hissed on the heads of the 
 serpents, at the same time holding it so that it might 
 lengthen out illimitably. Then, he leaned it over the eye of 
 the glass, in the direction of the pillar besieged by the 
 billows, and lo ! with one cut, even at that distance, he 
 divided the fishy monster, and with another severed the 
 chains that had fettered Noorna ; and she arose and smiled 
 blissfully to the sky, and stood upright, and signalled him to 
 lay the point of the blade on the pillar. Now, when he had 
 done this, knowing her wisdom, she put a foot boldly upon the 
 blade and ran up it toward him, and she was half-way up the 
 blade, when suddenly a kite darted down upon her, pecking 
 at her eyes, to confuse her. Then, she waxed unsteady and 
 swayed this way and that, balancing with one arm and 
 
KOOROOKH. 211 
 
 defending herself from the attacks of the kite with another. 
 It seemed to Shibli Bagarag she must fall and be lost ; and 
 the sweat started on his forehead in great drops as big as 
 nuts. Seeing that and the agitation of his limbs, Gulrevaz 
 cried, " O Master of the Event, let us hear it ! " 
 
 But he shrieked, " The kite ! the kite ! she is running up 
 the blade, and the kite is at her eyes ! and she is swaying, 
 swaying ! falling, falling ! " 
 
 So, the Princess exclaimed, " A kite ! Koorookh is match 
 for a kite ! " 
 
 Then she smoothed the throat of Koorookh, and clasped 
 round it a collar of bright steel, roughened with secret charac- 
 ters ; and she took a hoop of gold, and passed the bird 
 through it, urging it all the while with one strange syllable ; 
 and the bird went up with a strong whirr of the wing till he 
 was over the sea, and caught sight of Noorna tottering be- 
 neath him on the blade, and the kite pecking fiercely at her. 
 Thereat, he fluttered eagerly a twinkle of time, and the next 
 was down with his beak in the neck of the kite, crimsoned in 
 it. Ifow, by the shouts and exclamations of Shibli Bagarag, 
 the Princess and the seven youths, her brothers, knew that 
 the bird had performed well his task, and that the fight was 
 between Koorookh and the kite. Then, he cried gladly to 
 them, " Joy for us, and Allah be praised ! The kite is 
 dropping, and she leaneth on one wing of Koorookh ! " 
 
 And he cried in anguish, " What see 1 1 The kite is 
 become a white ball, rolling down the blade toward her; and 
 it will of a surety destroy her." And he called to her, 
 thinking vainly his voice might reach her. So, the Princess 
 said, "A white ball? 't is I that am match for a white 
 ball!" 
 
 Now, she seized from the corner of the palace-roof a bow 
 and an arrow, and her brothers lifted her to a level with 
 the hilt of the Sword, leaning on the eye of glass. Then, 
 she planted one foot on the shoulder of Shibli Bagarag as 
 he bent peering through tho eye, and fitted the arrow to a 
 
 p 2 
 
212 THE SHAVINa OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 level of tke Sword, slanting its slant, and lot it fly, doubling 
 the bow. Sbibli Bagarag saw the ball roll to within a 
 foot of Noorna, when it was as if stricken by a gleam of 
 light, and burst, and was a black cloud veined with fire, 
 swathing her in folds. Then, he lost all sight of Noorna ; 
 and where she had been were vivid flashes, and then a great 
 flame, and in the midst a red serpent and a green serpent 
 twisted as in the death-struggle. So he cried, " A red 
 serpent and a green serpent ! " 
 
 And the sons of Aklis exclaimed, " A red serpent 1 'T is 
 we that are match for a red serpent ! " 
 
 Thereupon, they descended steps through the palace-roof, 
 and while the fight between those two serpents was raging, 
 Shibli Bagarag beheld seven small bright birds, bee-catchers, 
 that entered the flame, bearing in their bills slips of a herb, 
 and hovering about the head of the red serpent, distracting 
 it. Then, he saw the red serpent hiss and snap at one, 
 darting out its tongue, and lo ! on the fork of its tongue the 
 little bird let fall the slip of herb in its bill, and in an 
 instant the serpent changed from red to yellow and from 
 yellow to pale-spotted blue, and from that to a speckled 
 indigo-colour, writhing at every change, and hissing fire from 
 its open jaws. Meantime, the green serpent was released 
 and was making circles round the flame, seeking to complete 
 some enchantment, when suddenly the whole scene vanished, 
 and Shibli Bagarag again beheld Noorna steadying her steps 
 on the blade, and leaning on one wing of Koorookh, She 
 advanced up the blade, coming nearer and nearer ; and he 
 thought her close, and breathed quick and ceased looking 
 through the glass. When he gazed abroad, lo ! she was with 
 Koorookh, on a far hill beyond the stream in outer Aklis ! 
 So, he said to the Princess Gulrevaz, " Princess, comes she 
 not to me here in the palace t " 
 
 But the Princess shook her head, and said, " She hath not 
 a spell ! She waiteth for thee yonder with Koorookh. Now, 
 look through the glass once more.'' 
 
KOOEOOKH. 213 
 
 So, lie looked through, the glass, and there on a plain, as he 
 had first seen it when Noorna appeared to him, was the City 
 of Shagpat, and in the streets of the city a vast assembly, and 
 a procession passing on, in its front banners surmounted by 
 the Crescent, and bands with curled and curved instruments 
 playing, and slaves scattering gold and clashing cymbals, 
 every demonstration and evidence of a great day and a high 
 occasion in the City of Shagpat 1 So, he peered yet keenlier 
 through the glass, and behold, the Yizier Feshnavat, father 
 of Noorna, walking in fetters, subject to the jibes and evil- 
 speaking of the crowds of people, his turban off, and he in a 
 robe of drab-coloured stuff, in the scorned condition of an 
 unbeliever, villanously low ! So, Shibli Bagarag peered 
 yet more earnestly through the glass eye, and in the centre 
 of the procession, clad gorgeously in silks and stuffs, woven 
 with gold and gems, a crown upon his head, and the ap- 
 panages of supremacy and majesty about him, lo Shagpat ! 
 He paced upon a yellow flooring that was unrolled before 
 him from a mighty roll ; and there were slaves that 
 swarmed on all sides of him, supporting upon gold 
 pans and platters the masses of hair that spread bushily 
 before and behind, and to the right and left of hira. 
 Truly, the gravity of his demeanour exceeded that which 
 is attained by Sheiks and Dervishes after much drinking of 
 the waters of wisdom, and fasting, and abnegation of the 
 pleasures that betray us to folly in this world ! Now, when 
 he saw Shagpat, the soul of Shibli Bagarag was quickened to 
 do his appointed work upon him, shear him, and release the 
 Vizier Feshnavat. Desire to shave Shagpat was as a salt 
 thirst raging in him, as the dream of munching to one that 
 starveth ; even as the impelling of violent tempests to skiffs 
 on the sea; and he hungered to be at him, crying, as he 
 peered, " 'T is he ! even he, Shagpat ! " 
 
 Then, he turned to the Princess Gulrevaz, and said, "'T i-i 
 Shagpat, exalted, clothed with majesty, thou morning star 
 of Aklis ! " 
 
214 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 So, she said, "Koorookh is given thee, and waiteth to 
 carry ye both ; and for me I will watch that this glass send 
 forth a beam to light ye to that city ; so farewell, thou 
 that art loved ! And delay in nothing to finish the work in 
 hand." 
 
 Now, when he had set his face from the Princess he 
 descended through the roof of the palace, and met the seven 
 youths returning, and they accompanied him through the halls 
 of the palace to that hall where the damsels had duped him. 
 He was mindful of his promise to the old man crowned, and 
 flashed the Sword a strong flash, so that he who looked on it 
 would be seared in the eyelashes. Then, the doors of the 
 recesses flew apart, eight-and-ninety in number, and he beheld 
 divers sitters on thrones, with the diadem of asses' ears 
 stifl'ened upright, and monkeys' skulls grinning with gems ; 
 they having on each countenance the look of sovereigns and 
 the serenity of high estate. Now, Shibli Bagarag laughed at 
 them, and he thought, " WuUahy ! was I one of these ^ I, 
 the beloved of Noorna, destined Master of an Event!" and he 
 thought, "Of a surety, if these sitters could but laugh at 
 themselves, there would be a release for them, and the crown 
 would topple off which getteth the homage of asses and 
 monkeys !" He would have spoken to them, but the sons of 
 Aklis said, "They have seen the flashing of the Sword, and 't 
 were well they wake not." So, as they went from the hall the 
 seven youths said, "Reflect upon the age of these sitters, that 
 have been sitting in the chairs from three to eleven generations 
 back ! And they were searchers of the Sword like thee, but 
 were duped ! In like manner, the hen sitteth in complacency, 
 but she bringeth forth and may cackle ; 't is owing to the 
 aids of Noorna that thou art not one of these sitters, 
 Master of the Event ! " Now, they paced through the hall 
 of dainty provender, and through the hall of the jewel- 
 fountains, coming to the palace steps, where stood Abarak 
 leaning on his bar. As they advanced to Abarak, there was a 
 clamour in the halls behind him, that gathered in noise like 
 
KOOROOKH. 215 
 
 a torrent, and approached, and presently he was ware of a 
 sharp stroke on his forehead with a hairy finger, and then a 
 bum, and the Crown that had clung to him toppled off ! 
 surely it fell upon the head of the old monkey, the cautious 
 and wise one, he that had made a study of Shibli Bagarag ! 
 So, thereupon that monkey stalked scornfully from them ; 
 and Abarak cried, " O Master of the Event ! it was better for 
 me to keep the passage of the Seventh Pillar, than be an 
 ape of this order. Wah ! the flashing of the Sword scorcheth 
 them, and they scamper." 
 
THE VEILED FIGUEE. 
 
 Now, there was liglitning in Aklis as Sliibli Bagarag flasted 
 the sword over the clamouring beasts : the shape of the great 
 palace stood forth vividly, and a wide illumination struct up 
 the streams, and gilded the large hanging leaves, and drew the 
 hills glinimeringly together, and scattered fires on the ilat 
 faces of the rocks. Then, the seven youths said quickly, 
 " Away ! out of Aklis, O Master of the Event ! from city to 
 city of earth this light is visible, and men will know that Fate 
 is in travail, and an Event preparing for them, and Shagpat 
 will be warned by the portent ; wherefore lose not the happy 
 point of time on which thy star is manifest.'' And they 
 cried again, " Away ! out of Aklis ! " with gestures of im- 
 patience, urging his departure. 
 
 Then, said he, " youths, Sons of Aklis, it is written 
 that gratitude is the poor man's mine of wealth, and the rich 
 man's flower of beauty ; and I have but that to give ye for 
 all this aid and friendliness of yours.'' 
 
 But they exclaimed, " No aid or friendliness in Aklis ! 
 By the gall of the Eoc ! it is well for thee thou camest 
 armed with potent spells, and hadst one to advise and in- 
 spirit thee, or thou wouldst have stayed here to people Aklis, 
 and grazed in a strange shape." 
 
 Now, the seven waxed in impatience, and he laid their hands 
 upon his head and moved from them with Abarak, to whore 
 in the dusk the elephant that had brought them stood. Then 
 
THE VEILED EIGUKB. 217 
 
 the elephant kneeled and took the twain upon his back, 
 and bore them across the dark land to that reach of the 
 river where the boat was moored in readiness. So, they 
 entered the boat silently among its drapery of lotuses, and 
 the Veiled Figure ferried them over the stream that rippled 
 not with their motion. As they were crossing, desire to 
 know that Veiled Figure counselled Shibli Bagarag evilly 
 to draw the Sword again, and flash it, so that the veil 
 became transparent. Then, when Abarak turned to him 
 for the reason of the flashing of the Sword, he beheld 
 the eyes of the youth fixed in horror, glaring as at sights 
 beyond the tomb. He said nought, but as the boat's-head 
 whispered among the reeds and long flowers of the opposite 
 marge, he took Shibli Bagarag by the shoulders and pushed 
 him out of the boat, and leaped out likewise, leading him 
 from the marge forcibly, hurrying him forward from it, ho 
 at the heels of the youth propelling him, and crying in a 
 husky, out-of-breath voice at intervals, "What sight? what 
 sight ? " But the youth seemed powerless of speech, and 
 when at last he opened his lips, the little man shrank from 
 him, for he laughed as do the insane, a peal of laughter ended 
 by gasps ; then a louder peal, presently softer ; then a peal 
 that started all the echoes in Aklis. After awhile, as Abarak 
 still cried in his ear, " What sight ? " he looked at him with a 
 large eye, saying queridously, " Is it written I shall be pushed 
 by the shoulder through life ? And is it in the pursuit of 
 further thwackings 'i " 
 
 Abarak heeded him not, crying still, " What sight 1 " and 
 Shibli Bagarag lowered his tone, and jerked his body, pro- 
 nouncing the name " Eabesqurat ! " Then Abarak exclaimed, 
 " 'T is as I weened. Oh, fool ! to flash the Sword and peer 
 through the veil ! Truly, there be few wits will bear that 
 sight ! " On a sudden he cried, " No cure but one, and that 
 a sleep in the bosom of the betrothed ! " 
 
 Thereupon, he hurried on the youth yet faster across the 
 dark lawns of Aklis toward the passage of the Seventh Pillar, 
 
218 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 by -which the twain had entered that kingdom. And Shibli 
 Bagarag saw as in a dream the shattered door, shattered by 
 the bar, remembering dimly as a thing distant in years the 
 netting of the Queen, and Noorna chained upon the pillar ; 
 he remembered Shagpat even vacantly in hia mind, as one 
 sheaf of barley amid other sheaves of the bearded field, so 
 was be overcome by the awfulness of that sight behind the 
 veil of the Veiled Figure ! Now, as they advanced to the 
 passage, be was aware of an impediment to its entrance, 
 as it had been a wall of stone there ; and seeing Abarak 
 enter the passage without let, he kicked hard in front 
 at the invisible obstruction, but there was no coming 
 by. Then, Abarak returned to him, and took his right 
 arm, and raised the sleeve from his' wrist, and lo, the 
 two remaining hairs of Garraveen twisted round it in 
 sapphire winds ! Cried he, " Oh, the generosity of Gulre- 
 vaz ! she has left these two hairs that he may accomplish 
 swiftly the destiny marked for him ! but now, since his gazing 
 through that veil, he must part with them to get out of 
 Aklis." And he muttered, " His star is a strange one ! one 
 that leadeth him to fortune by the path of frowns ! to great- 
 ness by the aid of thwackings ! Truly the ways of Allah are 
 wonderful ! " Now, Shibli Bagarag resisted him in nothing, 
 and Abarak loosed the two bright hairs from his wrist, and 
 those two hairs swelled and took glittering scales, and were 
 sapphire snakes with wings of intense emerald ; and they 
 rose in the air spirally together, each over each, so that to see 
 them one would fancy in the darkness a fountain of sapphire 
 waters flashed with the sheen of emerald. When they had 
 reached a height loftier than the topmost palace-towers of 
 Aklis, they descended like javelins into the earth, and in a 
 moment re-appeared, in the shape of Genii when they are 
 charitably disposed to them they visit ; not much above the 
 mortal size, not overbright, save for a certain fire in their 
 eyes when they turned them ; and they were clothed each 
 from head to foot in an armour of sapphire plates shot with 
 
THE VEILED PIQUEB. 219 
 
 steely emerald. Surely the dragon-fly that darteth all day in 
 the blaze over pools is like what they were. So, Abarak bit 
 his forefinger and said, " Who be ye, sons of brilliance ?" 
 
 They answered, " Karavejis and Veejravoosh, slaves of the 
 Sword." 
 
 Then he said, " Come with us now, slaves of the Sword, 
 and help us to the mountain of outer Aklis." 
 
 They answered, " thou, there be but two means for us of 
 quitting Aklis : on the wrist of the Master, or down the 
 blade of the Sword ! and from the wrist of the Master we 
 have been loosed, and no one of thy race can tie us to it 
 again." 
 
 JSTow, Abarak said, "How then shall the Master leave 
 Aklis r' 
 
 They answered, " By Allah in AkKs 1 he can carve a way 
 whither he will with the Sword." 
 
 But Abarak cried, " Karavejis and Veejravoosh ! he hath 
 peered through the veil of the Ferrying Figure." 
 
 Now, when they heard his words, the visages of the Genii 
 darkened, and they exclaimed sorrowfully, " Serve we such a 
 one?" 
 
 And they looked at Shibli Bagarag a look of anger, so that 
 he, whose wits were in past occurrences, imagined them his 
 enemy and the foe of Noorna split in two, crying, " How 1 
 Is Karaz a couple 1 and do I multiply him with strokes of 
 the Sword?" 
 
 Thereupon, he drew the Sword from his girdle in wrath, 
 flourishing it; and Karavejis and Veejravoosh felt the might 
 of the Sword, and prostrated themselves to the ground at his 
 feet. So, Abarak said, "Arise, and bring us swiftly to the 
 mountain of outer Aklis." 
 
 Then said they, " Seek a passage down yonder brook in 
 the moonbeams ; and it is the sole passage for him now." 
 
 Abarak went with them to the brook that was making 
 watery music to itself between banks of splintered rock and 
 over broad slabs of marble, bubbling here and there about 
 
220 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 the roots of large-leaved water-flowers, and catching the 
 mirrored moon of Aklis in whirls, breaking it in lances. 
 Then, they waded into the water knee-deep, and the two 
 Genii seized hold of a great slab of marble in the middle of 
 the water, and under was a hollow brimmed with the brook, 
 that the brook flowed over. Then the Genii said to Abarak, 
 " Plunge ! " and they said the same to Shibli Bagarag. So, 
 the swayer of the Sword replied, as it had been a simple 
 occasion, a common matter, and a thing for the exercise of 
 civility, " With pleasure and all willingness ! " Thereupon, 
 he tightened his girth, and arrowing his two hands, flung up 
 his heels and disappeared in the depth, Abarak following. 
 Surely, those two went diving downward till it seemed to 
 each there was no bottom in the depth, and they would not 
 cease to feel the rushing of the water in their ears till the 
 time hoped for by mortals. 
 
THE BOSOM OF NOORNA. 
 
 Now, while a thousand sparks of fire were bursting on the 
 sight of the two divers, and they speeded heels uppermost to 
 the destiny marked out for them by the premeditations of the 
 All-wise, lo ! Xoorna was on the mountain in outer Aklis 
 with Koorooth, waiting for the appearance of her betrothed, 
 Sword in hand. She saw beams from the blazing eye of 
 Aklis, and knew by the redness of it that one, a mortal, was 
 peering on the earth and certain of created things. So, she 
 waited awhile in patience for the return of her betrothed, 
 with the head of Koorookh in her lap, caressing the bird, and 
 teaching it words of our language ; and the biid fashioned its 
 bill to the pronouncing of names, such as "Noorna" and 
 "Feshnavat,"and "Goorelka"; and it said "Karaz,'' and stuck 
 not at the name "Shagpat," and it learnt to say even "Shagpat 
 shall be shaved ! Shagpat shall be shaved ! " but no effort of 
 Noorna could teach it to say, "Shibli Bagarag," the bird 
 calling instead, "Shiparack, Shiplabarack, Shibblisharack." 
 And Nooma chid it with her fore-finger, crying, "0 Koo- 
 rookh ! wilt thou speak all names but that one of my 
 betrothed 1 " 
 
 So, she said again, "Shibli Bagarag," and the bird 
 answered, imitating its best, " Shibberacavarack." Koorna 
 was wroth with it, crying, " Oh naughty bird 1 is the name 
 of my beloved hateful to thee 1 " 
 
 And she chid Koo.rookhangrily,hewith a heavy eye sulking 
 
222 THE SHAVING OF SHA.GPAT. 
 
 and keeping the sullen feathers close upon his poll. Now, she 
 thought, "There is in this a meaning, and I will fathom it." 
 So, she counted the letters in the name of her betrothed, that 
 were thirteen, and spelt them backwards, afterwards multiply- 
 ing them by an equal number, and fashioning words from the 
 selection of every third and seventh letter. Then, took she 
 the leaf from a tree and bade Koorookh fly with her to the 
 base of the mountain sloping from Aklis to the sea, and 
 tliere wrote with a pin's point on the leaf the words fashioned, 
 dipping the leaf in the salt ripple by the beach, till they were 
 distinctly traced. And it was revealed to her that Shibli 
 Bagarag bore now a name that might be uttered by none, for 
 that the bearer of it had peered through the veil of the 
 ferrying figure in Aklis. When she knew that, her grief was 
 great, and she sat on the cold stones of the beach and among 
 the bright shells, weeping in anguish, loosing her hair, scat- 
 tering it wildly, exclaiming, "Awahy! woe on me! "Was 
 ever man more tired than he before entering Aklis, he that 
 was in turns abased and beloved and exalted ! yet his weakness 
 clingeth to him, even in Aklis and with the Wondrous Sword 
 in his grasp." Then, she thought, " Still he had strength to 
 wield the Sword, for I marked the flashing of it, and 'twas 
 he that leaned forward the blade to me ; and he possessed the 
 qualities that bring one gloriously to the fruits of enterprise ! " 
 And she thought, " Of a surety if Abarak be with him, and 
 a single of the three slaves of the Sword that I released from 
 the tail of Garraveen, Eavejoura, Karavejis, and Veejravoosh, 
 he will yet come through, and I may revive him in my bosom 
 for the task.'' So^ thinking upon that, the sweet crimson sur- 
 prised her cheeks, and she arose and drew Koorookh with her 
 along the beach till they came to some rocks piled ruggedly 
 and the waves breaking over them. Then, she mounted these, 
 and stepped across them to the entrance of a cavern, where 
 flowed a full water swiftly to the sea, rolling smooth hulks 
 over and over, and with a translucent light in each, showing 
 precious pebbles in the bed of the water below; agates 
 
THE BOSOM OF NOORNA. 223 
 
 of size, limpid cornelians, plates of polished jet, rubies, 
 diamonds innumerable tbat were smitten into sheen by slant 
 rays of the level sun, the sun just losing its circle behind 
 lustrous billows of that Enchanted Sea. Now, she turned to 
 Koorookh a moment, saying with a coax of smUes, " Will my 
 bird wait here for me, even at this point 'i " Koorookh clapped 
 both his wings, and she said again, petting him, " He will 
 keep watch to pluck me from the force of water as I roll 
 past, that I be not carried to the sea, and lost 1 " 
 
 Koorookh still clapped his wings, and she entered under 
 the arch of the cavern. It was roofed with crystals, a sight 
 of glory, with golden lamps at intervals, still centres of a 
 thousand beams. Taking the sandal from her left foot and 
 tucking up the folds of her trousers to the bend of her clear 
 white knee, she advanced, half wading, up the winds of the 
 cavern, and holding by the juts of granite here and there, till 
 she came to a long straight lane in the cavern, and at the 
 end of it, far down, a solid pillar of many-coloured water that 
 fell into the current, as it had been one block of gleaming 
 marble from the roof, without ceasing. Now, she made 
 toward it, and fixed her eye warily wide on it, and 
 it was bright, flawless in brilliancy ; but while she 
 gazed a sudden blot was visible, and she observed in 
 the body of the fall two dark objects plumping down- 
 ward one after the other, like bolts, and they splashed in 
 the current and were carried off by the violence of its sweep, 
 shooting by her where she stood, rapidly ; but she, knotting 
 her garments round the waist to give her limbs freedom and 
 divine swiftness, ran a space, and then bent and plunged^ 
 catching, as she rose, the foremost to her bosom, and whirled 
 away under the flashing crystals like a fish scaled with splen- 
 dours that hath darted and seized upon a prey, and is bearing 
 it greedily to some secure corner of the deeps to swallow the 
 quivering repast at leisure. Surely, the heart of Nooma was 
 wise of what she bore against her bosom ; and it beat exult- 
 ing strokes in the midst of the rush and roar and gurgle of 
 
224 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 the torrent, and the gulping sounds and multitudinous out- 
 cries of the headlong water. That verse of the poet would 
 apply to her -where he says ; 
 
 Lead me to the precipice, 
 
 And bid me leap the dark abyss : 
 
 I care not what the danger be, 
 So my beloved, my beauteous vision. 
 
 Be bat the prize I bear with me, 
 Tor she to Paradise can turn Perdition. 
 
 Praise be to him that planteth love, the worker of this mar- 
 vel, within us ! Now, she sped in the manner narrated 
 through the mazes of the cavern, coming suddenly to the 
 point at the entrance where perched Koorookh gravely upon 
 one leg, like a bird with an angling beak : so, he caught at 
 her as she was hurling toward the sea, and drew her to the 
 bank of rock, that burden on her bosom ; and it was Shibli 
 Bagarag, her betrothed, his eyes closed, his whole 
 countenance colourless. Behind him like a shadow 
 streamed Abarak, and Noorna kneeled by the waterside 
 and fetched the little man from it likewise ; he was 
 without a change, as if drawn from a familiar element; 
 and when he had prostrated himself thrice and called 
 on the Prophet's name in the form of thanksgiving, he 
 wrung his beard of the wet, and had wit to bless the action 
 of Noorna that saved him. Then, the two raised Shibli 
 Bagarag from the rock, and reclined him lengthwise under 
 the wings of Koorookh, and Koorna stretched herself there 
 beside him with one arm about his neck, the fair head of the 
 youth on her bosom. And she said to Abarak, " He hath 
 dreamed many dreams, my betrothed, but never one so sweet 
 as that I give him. Already, see, the hue returneth to his 
 cheek and the dimples of pleasure." So was it ; and she 
 aaid, " Mount, thou of the net and the bar ! and stride 
 Koorookh across the neck, for it is nigh the setting of the 
 moon, and by dawn we must be in our middle flight, seen of 
 men, a cloud over them." 
 
THE BOSOM OF NOOENA. 225 
 
 Said Abarak, " To hear is to obey ! " 
 
 Now, he strode the neck of Koorookh and sat with dangling 
 feet, till she cried, " Eise ! " and the bird spread its wings 
 and flapped them wide, rising high in the silver rays, and 
 flying rapidly forward from the mountain in front of Aklis, 
 and the white sea with its enchanted isles and wonders ; 
 flying and soaring till the earth was as what might be held 
 in the hollow of the hand, and the kingdoms of the earth a 
 mingled heap of shining dust in the midst. 
 
THE EEVIVAL. 
 
 Now, the feathers of Koorookh in his flight were ruffled hy 
 a chill breeze, and they were speeding through a h'ght glow 
 of cold rose-colour. Then, said Noorna, " 'T is the messenger 
 of morning, the blush. Oh, what changes will date from 
 this day ! " 
 
 The glow of rose became golden, and they beheld under- 
 neath 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 arrow between Shibli 
 Bagarag and the ground, spreading beneath him like a tent,. 
 and Noorna caught the youth gently to her lap; then, she 
 pushed him off again, intercepting bis descent once more, till 
 they were on a level with one of the mountains of the earth. 
 
THE REVIVAL. 227 
 
 from which the City of Shagpat is visible among the yellow- 
 sands like a white spot in the yolk of an egg. So, by this 
 time the eyes of the youth gave symptoms of a desire to look 
 upon the things that be, peeping faintly beneath the lashes, 
 and she exclaimed joyfully, raising her white hands above 
 her head, "One plunge in the lake, and life will be his 
 again ! " 
 
 Below them was a green lake, tinted by the dawn with 
 crimson and yellow, deep, and with high banks. As they 
 crossed it to the middle, she slipped off the youth from 
 Koorookh, and he with a great plunge was received into the 
 stillness of the lake. Meanwhile, Koorookh quivered his 
 wings and seized him when he arose, bearing him to an end 
 of the lake, where stood one dressed like a Dervish, and it 
 was the Vizier Feshnavat, the Father of Noorna. So, when 
 he saw them, he shouted the shout of congratulation, catching 
 E"oorna to his breast, and Shibli Bagarag stretched as doth a 
 heavy sleeper in his last doze, saying, in a yawning voice, 
 " What trouble 1 I wot there is nought more for us now that 
 Shagpat is shaved ! Oh, I have had a dream, a dream ! He 
 that is among Houris in Paradise dreameth not a dream like 
 that. And I dreamed — ■ — ^'t is gone ! " 
 
 Then, said he, staring at them, " Who be ye 1 What is 
 this?" 
 
 Noorna took him again to her bosom, and held him there ; 
 and she plucked a herb, and squeezed it till a drop from it fell 
 on either of his lids, applying to them likewise a dew from the 
 serpents of the Sword, and he awoke to the reality of things. 
 Surely, then he prostrated himself and repeated the articles of 
 his faith, taking one hand of his betrothed and kissing her ; 
 and he embraced Abarak and Feshnavat, saying to the father 
 of Noorna, "I know, Feshnavat, that by my folly and 
 through my weakness I have lost time in this undertaking, 
 but it shall be short work now with Shagpat. This thy 
 daughter, the Eclipser of Eeason, was ever such a prize as 
 she ? I will deserve her. Wullahy ! I am now a new man, 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 sprung like fire from weak ashes. Lo, I am revived by her 
 for the great work." 
 
 Said Abarak: "0 Master of the Event, secure now without 
 delay the two slaves of the Sword, and lean the blade 
 toward Aklis." 
 
 Upon that, he ran up rapidly to the summit of the moun- 
 tain and drew the Sword from his girdle, and leaned it 
 toward Aklis, and it lengthened out over lands, the blade of 
 it a beam of solid brilliance. Presently, from forth the in- 
 visible remoteness they saw the two Genii, Karavejis and 
 Veejravoosh, and they were footing the blade swiftly, like 
 stars, speeding up till they were within reach of the serpents 
 of the hilt, when they dropped to the earth, bowing 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, 
 Feshnavat f I wiU know where is Karaz ere I seek to operate 
 on Shagpat, for it is well spoken of the poet : 
 
 ' Obstructions first remove 
 Ere thou thy canning prove ; ' 
 
 and I will encounter this Karaz that was our Ass, ere I try 
 the great shave. TeU me now what has happened in the city 
 while we were absent from it." 
 
 Fesnnavat replied, " 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 : and mark ye : 
 
THE 
 
 EECITAL OF THE VIZIER FESHNAVAT. 
 
 Stjrelt, as a river swelleth witli tlie rains, the breath of 
 applause pufiFed Shagpat, and his arrogance increased, and he 
 was a very Nile-flood of presumption, swamping the city, so 
 that my Viziership made me a mark for his followers and 
 supporters, and the King regarded him with the eye of pre- 
 ference. So, I shivered in the shadow of neglect, waiting 
 till thy work was done and the Sword reached, to taste the 
 sweetness of revenge on Shagpat ; patience with the plotter ! 
 IN'ow, there came on a certain day, and it was the day of the 
 New Tear, one, a merchant, into the market-place of the City 
 where we were assembled, proclaiming a marvel, and it was a 
 lamp, the light of which none of the people could extinguish. 
 The merchant handed it to me, and I blew upon it, but still 
 it burned steadfast ; then, the merchant held the lamp to the 
 mouth of Shagpat, and he blew, and lo, the flame vanished ! 
 So, the people extoUed Shagpat, and the merchant prostrated 
 himself, and said, " I know by this that there is holiness in 
 thee!" 
 
 Now, the merchant handed it to us again to bring back the 
 light, and none of us could bring it back save Shagpat, and 
 the merchant said, " How is it I marked not at a glance that 
 this man of the thick and lengthy growth was he that had 
 holiness in him J" Then said he to the people, "Honour 
 
230 THE SHAVING OF SHAaPAT. 
 
 him ye ! " And he said to the King, " King, high in 
 majesty, potent ! if the blaze of thy throne over kingdoms 
 and countries be now such as we see it, what would it be 
 were Shagpat at thy right hand, advising thee in the chair of 
 the Vizier?" 
 
 Upon that, I was wroth, and sought the countenance of the 
 King, but he betrayed no discontent ; so, I saw that the star 
 of Shagpat was in the ascendant — mine darkened by it. 
 Now, in this merchant I discovered the Genie Karaz, and 
 daily he did things in this wise to honour Shagpat in the 
 eyes of the people and abase me ; yet was I patient and 
 awaited thy coming, Master of the Event, to confound him. 
 Things were in that state when tidings were brought of a 
 barber that had been in Oolb, and had shaved the King and 
 his officers with a terrible tackle that talked and prophesied 
 shame to Shagpat, dishonour to him, and downfall, disgrace, 
 and vindictive shearing. Then I knew thou wert in part 
 triumphant by the aids of Noorna, my daughter, and that 
 Paravid and Garraveen would lead to the Lily, the Lily to 
 Aklis, Aklis to the consummation of vengeance and crowning 
 of Events on the head of Shagpat. Surely, the thought was 
 comfort, and the news intoxicated me, and I went forth 
 disguised and without companion, when the day had sunk, to 
 watch the effect of it on the people that stood in groups by 
 the doorways and met on the housetops, and collected on the 
 ways leading to the wells, discussing in alarm the case of 
 Oolb, and the Barber, and Shagpat. 
 
 Now, I was standing by the tall palm near the well 
 Eastward of the city, when I heard a sound of one that 
 approached in the dusk, mumbling sentences in the dialect 
 of Shiraz, grumbling as it seemed; and I heard him say, "A 
 curse on this capricious King of Oolb ! Shaved is he ] By 
 the tomb of my fathers, I '11 offer my skill nowhere save in 
 Shiraz after that, and they may languish for it the length of 
 the earth, and make offers for my service, yea, offers of pearls 
 
THE RECITAL OF TEE VIZIER FESHNAVAT. 231 
 
 and precious stones and dresses and slaves, elegant damsels, 
 instructed, sensible to eloquence. All these they may offer 
 for an essay of my science and an exposition of my cunning 
 on their frontispieces ; yea and more, steeds they may offer 
 and golden tackle, yea, and princes shall woo me vainly, 
 proffering estates and mansions, with gardens and established 
 harems for but one operation of my hand upon them, and I 'U 
 refuse, scorning them contumeliously — I — " 
 
 While the Vizier Feshnavat was reciting this soliloquy, 
 Shibli Bagarag burst in on his recital, crying, " 'T was — and 
 I guess it, and wager on the guess, Feshnavat ! — Baba 
 Mustapha ! " 
 
 Said Feshnavet, " Even he ! how recognized you him ? " 
 
 And Shibli Bagarag answered, " By his loquacity, his 
 lengthiness of tongue, his esteem of his science over all other 
 created things." 
 
 Then, the Vizier Feshnavat said, " Master of the Event, 
 truly I could have laughed while this fellow mumbled, and I 
 should have roared with laughter, but that a thought 
 illumined my brain and lighted a path up the intricacies of 
 action, solving perplexity; and I rushed upon him, and seized 
 him, exclaiming, " In the name of Shagpat ! " 
 
 So, he fell on the knees of remonstrance, and lifted the 
 hands of imploring; and I said, "Thou art a barber! confess 
 that thing ! " 
 
 Then, he stammered with what speech was his, and I com- 
 manded him imperiously to follow me, and took him before 
 the King, and accused him in the King's chamber of audience 
 of the crime of barbercraft, and of being the barber that had 
 shaved the King of Oolb and the officers of his Court, and 
 the viziers and emirs, and grave magistrates and cadis and 
 shahids, and lesser personages of the Court and City of Oolb. 
 So, he denied this, and I continued to accuse him, the poor 
 wretch ! And his journeys were traced by Arabs from the 
 gates of Oolb, his case a clear case of barbercraft proved upon 
 
232 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 him ; and I was extolled for my zeal, praised, and in favour 
 again, as is said by the poet : 
 
 Nature's ordinance ia sad ! 
 
 Each preys on each, as 't would appear : 
 Thy sanenesa driveth neighbours mad, 
 
 Their smiles cause thee a tear. 
 
 And he says : 
 
 When one is down, the other 's up ; 
 We 're brothers only in the cup. 
 
 "Wherefore," he says, "drink ye, and fatten in merriment, 
 ye of humankind ! " and this I said to Baba Mustapha when 
 he had received plenteous thwackings, touched with pity for 
 his state ; but he refused consolation, dwelling in verse on the 
 delights of Shiraz, the honours awarded to barbercraft there. 
 Now, on a day, as he paced the felons' prison in a moment of 
 dejection, I was by, and heard him call on the name of Shibli 
 Bagarag as one absent, missing, and to whom he was indebted 
 for divers thwackings, ignominies, and maltreatments : so, I 
 said to him, "What of the youth Shibli Bagarag?" 
 
 And he answered, "This of him, Vizier: that but for 
 him and my search after him, I were now in the centre of 
 the adulations of Shiraz; the good-for-nothing fellow! lie 
 whom the Evil One possessed with the idea of arriving at 
 great things, — and the readers of planets ! And but for him 
 and his wilfulness, and his wandering and his accursed 
 ambition and dissatisfaction with his born state, the head 
 of the Shah, the high potentate, sovereign of the earth, that 
 head which blindeth men, were even now a familiar thing 
 beneath my hands, I operating on him, pouring honeyed 
 gossip in his ear, sweet scandal, laughable anecdotes, 
 recitations." 
 
 Then, he began to hint at what would be the wrath of the 
 King of Persia when he came to hear of the treatment re- 
 ceived by his chief barber at the hands of them of our city. 
 Surely, his tongue was a watermill, and wagged on all themes 
 
THE RECITAL OF THE VIZIER FESHNAVAT. 233 
 
 and subjects ; and I let lum relieve his soul with this prate, 
 till he told of the relationship between ye. Thereat, my con- 
 science smote me on the rib with compassion for him, and I 
 had him released, and conveyed to me secretly, and fed him, 
 clothed him, filled him with comfort ; relating to him that 
 portion of thy adventures known to me, Master of the 
 Event ; and of thy betrothal to my daughter Noorna, and of 
 thy destiny that led thee through dangers, enchantments, 
 privations, amazing marvels, to the Shaving of Shagpat. So, 
 hearing this, he gave praise to the readers of planets, and 
 cried extemporaneously and in seemly verse ; 
 
 We mortals, that know not the stars and their doings, 
 Complain when annoy'd in oar warrings and wooings ; 
 Bat, oh, could we read them, their mysteries tracking, 
 Like birds in the rain we should sing through each thwacking. 
 
 Wullahy ! scarce could I restrain him from flying at Shagpat 
 that instant ; and it required abundance of quotation from 
 what the sages have bequeathed to us in matters of experience 
 and wisdom, and lively illustrations, forcible appeals, to hold 
 him back. Now, till his excitement abated I kept him by me. 
 Then, I gave him porter's work, and he did me commissions, 
 faithfully, with zeal, and a tongue that ceased not to rattle on 
 all but the forbidden business. So it was that, after Time, 
 the father of changes, had flown some while without seed of 
 circumstance, one night Baba Mustapha failed to return, and 
 the next and that following; and I was in fear lest aught had 
 befallen him. It was on the fourth morning that I descended 
 early to the silver hall of my palace, and lo ! suddenly one 
 that rushed into it like a quarry seeking shelter, pale of face, 
 and turban awry ; and he rushed to the fountain and dipped 
 his head therein, and was clearly a man that wished to certify 
 to himself the fact of his existence in this world. Now, when 
 he looked up, I saw that it was Baba Mustapha, and that in 
 his absence he had mixed with terrors and drunk of the waters 
 of tribulation. So, I cried to him, " Ho ! Baba Mustapha ! " 
 
234 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 but he took no heed of me, and looked with the eye of a 
 sheep. I examined him, and there were marks upon him of 
 fresh castigation. Then, I perceived that he had fallen into 
 the hands of the inimical, who had chased his wits from their 
 habitations : so, to revive his spirit and bring speech to his 
 lips, I sent to the meat-market and bought a sheep whole and 
 unsheared, remembering what is said, "The habitations of the 
 wits are habits ;" and I had the sheep placed before Baba Mus- 
 tapha, beside him tackle and soap for the soaping preparatory 
 to the shave, to tempt him to action ; praise be to thy craft, 
 O Master of the Event ! For awhile, he recognized not this ; 
 but presently the uses of the barber warmed in him and 
 thawed forgetfulness ; and my conception of his case and the 
 remedy was perfect, for he seized the tackle, and commenced 
 soaping the sheep dreamily ; then, with a livelier hand ; 
 then, with a hand of vigour ; then, fiercely ; then, so that 
 his hand was like a wind, wild as a fly, swift as a wheel, 
 invisible in motion; he crying, "I have thee, Shagpat ! I 
 have thee ! " crying, " "What ! thou and thy creatures deluded 
 me ! WuUahy ! this is vengeance, this ! " crying, " Even 
 without the aid of the Sword my nephew seeketh at such a 
 risk, trouble, labour ! " Then, he began to shave the sheep, 
 putting forth all his science and dexterity, vainly turning his 
 wrist, elevating the bend of his elbow, tenderly handling the 
 animal while his blade swept over it. Never, I wot, was 
 sheep-shearing performed with that extreme of care and 
 skill ! So, when 't was done, I watched him, and he collected 
 the wool under one arm, and breathed a deep inflation ; and 
 he was as if too light on his feet for the earth he trod, his 
 head menacingly challenging the remoteness of the four 
 quarters of the universe for one equal to him in the thing he 
 had achieved. Wah ! 't was a madness of laughter to look 
 upon him. Then, on a sudden he cried, addressing himself 
 proudly, " Proclaim Shagpat shaved I " and lo ! ere I could 
 divine his purpose and arrest him, he slanted swiftly from 
 the hall, and his heels were twinkling beyond the portals 
 
THE RECITAL OF THE VIZIER FBSHNAVAT. 235 
 
 of the palace, and up the street toward the market-place. 
 Awahy ! then was I in the abysms of despair, and saw myself 
 no match for the ills that threatened, for he was shouting of 
 Shagpat publicly, proclaiming Shagpat shaved, and by his 
 hand, the hand of Baba Mustapha, in the house of Feshnavat 
 the Vizier; and that 't was the fallen crop of Shagpat he 
 held beneath his arm, even that, a glory of barbercraft ! 
 Truly, his wits were traitors to the tender parts of him, and 
 he was confounded ere the setting of that day's sun, con- 
 fronted with Shagpat in his splendour and his gravity, and 
 his enveloping hairiness and his umbrageous growths ! Then 
 was he thwacked by order of the King till the flesh of his 
 back was hillocky with purple weals, and he, a moving mass 
 of aches and stings and shooting pains and throbs of un- 
 pleasantness, thrust from the gates of the City. The matter 
 was so with Baba Mustapha ; but as for how the matter went 
 with me, 't is certain I was haled to the presence of the King, 
 and denials, protestations, assertions went for nothing; the 
 barber was tracked from my palace, and the wife of Shagpat, 
 she that adoreth him, Kadza, this woman and another, an old 
 woman, a veritable hag, thrice hideous, a mockery of the 
 putting together of flesh and bones, with skin like a frog, 
 throat like a pelican, legs like a peacock, back like a 
 
 camel 
 
 Cried Noorna bin Noorka, " Goorelka of Oolb ! " 
 So, the Vizier Feshnavat continued : 'T is the thing that 
 might be ! She, then, this crone, swore to my plotting with 
 Baba Mustapha, made oath to my conspiracies against Shag- 
 pat, and that I, my emissaries and I, had many times as- 
 saulted the holy man of late, tugged at him by the beard and 
 back-hair, offended his vision with insolent flourishings of 
 the apparatus of barbercraft, — all this ; and that upon one 
 occasion I had forced an entrance to him in his shop-front 
 after dusk, when the people were retiring from their observa- 
 tion of Shagpat, and compelled him to submit to the lather, 
 purposing to have him shaved. They said, " Thereat mark 
 
236 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 a wonder of special grace and protection accorded to Shagpat, 
 and the care of him exercised by Genii, O King of this City ; 
 for the blade of the barber in its contact with the first hair 
 broke, fell in twain, and the edge of it became blunter than 
 a date-stone ! " 
 
 The King exclaimed, " 'T is wondrous ! "WuUahy ! We 
 will have it announced to them of Oolb, the shorn, the self- 
 abased, the tackle-contaminated ones ; and I will have it 
 written on tablets of virgin silver in gold letters, that time 
 hereafter may read of Shagpat, the unparalleled, and the care 
 of him exercised by Genii. Wullahy ! he refleoteth honour 
 on the throne itself. My Vizier is he ! " 
 
 Now, this false-speaking prevailed, and a day was fixed for 
 my degradation before the people, and 't was to be a day of 
 exaltation for Shagpat. Dust was in the eyes of the King, 
 wool in his ears, oblivion of long services in his heart ! Me- 
 thinketh likewise, Master of the Event, that his conduct 
 to me was seasoned with folly and small reading of that 
 which futurity bringeth forth. I was disgraced, thwacked 
 with the thong ; Shagpat exalted, enjoying my viziership 
 taken from me, and men made foolish — ruined by him. I 
 was left not even in possession of the palace in which I 
 abode. "What a day was that ! 
 
 Cried Shibli Bagarag, " Feshnavat, 't was not a day 
 veiled from me, and I saw it, thee, and him." 
 
 So Feshnavat said, "How] From what point of view, 
 Master of the Event?" 
 
 He answered, " From Aklis, through the eye of Aklis.'' 
 
 So, Feshnavat said, " Wondrous must be that eye ! " 
 
 He replied, " All things be wondrous in Aklis.'' Then, 
 said he, turning quickly, " Yonder is the light from Aklis 
 striking on the city, and I mark Shagpat, even he, illumined 
 by it, singled out, where he sitteth on the roof of the palace 
 by the market-place." 
 
 So, they looked, and it was as he had spoken, that 
 Shagpat was singled out in the midst of the city by the 
 
THE RECITAL OF THE VIZIER FESHNAVAT. 237 
 
 wondrous beams of the eye of Aklis, and made prominent 
 in effulgence. 
 
 Said Abarat, climbing to the level of observation, "He 
 hath a redness like the inside of a halved pomegranate." 
 
 Peshnavat stroked his meditative chin, exclaiming, " He 
 may be likened to a mountain goat in the midst of a forest 
 roaring with conflagration." 
 
 Said Shibli Bagarag, " Now is he the red-maned lion, the 
 bristling boar, the uncombed buffalo, the plumaged cook, but 
 soon will he be like nothing else Save the wrinkled kernel of 
 a shaggy fruit, diminished, weazen, bitter. Lo, now, the 
 ■ Sword ! mark ye 1 it leapeth to be at him, and 'twill be as 
 the keen icicle of winter to that perishing foliage, that doomed 
 crop ! So doth the destined minute destroy with a flash 
 the hoarded arrogance of ages ; and the destined hand doeth 
 what creation failed to perform ; and 't is by order, destiny, 
 and preordainment, that the works of this world come to 
 pass. This know I, and I witness thereto, that am of a 
 surety ordained to the Shaving of Shagpat ! " 
 
 Then, he stood apart and gazed from Shagpat to the city 
 that now began to move with the morning; elephants and 
 €oursers saddled by the gates of the King's palace were 
 visible, and camels blocking the narrow streets, and the 
 markets bustling. Surely, though the sun illumined that 
 city, it was as a darkness behind Shagpat singled by the 
 beams of Aklis ! 
 
THE PLOT. 
 
 Now, while Shibli Bagarag gazed on Shagpat kindled by the 
 beams of Aklis, lo, the Genii Karavejis and Veejravoosh 
 circling each other in swift circles like two sapphire rings 
 toward him, and they whirled to a point above his head, 
 and fell and prostrated themselves at his feet : so, he cried, 
 " ye slaves of the Sword, my servitors ! how of the where- 
 aboiTt of Karaz 1 " 
 
 They answered, " Master of the Event, we found him 
 after many circlings far off, and 't was by the borders of the 
 Putrid Sea. We came not close on him, for he is stronger 
 than we without the Sword, but it seemed he was distilling 
 drops of an oil from certain substances, large thickened drops 
 that dropped into a phial." 
 
 So, when they had spoken, Shibli Bagarag turned to the 
 "Vizier Feshnavat and exclaimed urgently, " Thy service in 
 this enterprise even to the death ? " 
 
 Eeshnavat replied, " Even so far ! " 
 
 Then, Shibli Bagarag said, " The season of weakness with 
 me is over, and they that confide in my strength, my cunning, 
 my watchfulness, my wielding of the Sword, have nought to 
 fear for themselves. JSTow, this is my plot, O Feshnavat, — 
 that part of it in which thou art to have a share. 'T is that 
 thou depart forthwith to the city yonder, and enter thy 
 palace by a back entrance, and I will see that thou art 
 joined within an hour of thy arrival there by Baba Mustapha, 
 my uncle, the gabbler. Now, thy task is then to induce him 
 
THE PLOT. 239 
 
 to make an attempt on tlie head of Shagpat in all wiliness, as 
 lie and thou think well to devise. He will fail, as I know, 
 but what is that saying of the poet ? — 
 
 ' Persist, if thou wouldst truly reach thine ends, 
 for failures oft are but advising friends.' 
 
 And he says : 
 
 ' Every failure is a step advanced, 
 To him who will consider how it chanced.' 
 
 Wherefore, will I that this attempt be made, keeping the 
 counsel that is mine. Now, thou must tell Baba Mustapha 
 I wait without the city to reward him by my powers of 
 reward with all that he best loveth. So, when he has 
 failed in his attempt on Shagpat, and blows fall plenteously 
 upon him, and he is regaled with the familiar thong, the 
 accustomed thwacking, do thou waste no further word on 
 him, for his part is over, and as is said : 
 
 ' Waste not a word in enterprise ! 
 Against — or for — the minute flies.' 
 
 'T is then for thee, Eeshnavat, to speed to the presence of 
 the King in his majesty, and thou wilt find means of coming 
 to him by a disguise. Once in the Hall of Coimcil, proclaim 
 to the King, before his ofi&cers and his court, Shagpat shaved ! 
 Terrible, I foresee the tumult ! He will menace the pro- 
 claimer ; but be thou steadfast in the assertion, even as a 
 rook in the descent of the torrent, stemming it amidst uproar 
 and wrath and riot; yea, glue the soles of thy feet to the 
 marble flooring, and stand singly there denouncing Shagpat, 
 challenging the tongue of contradiction, daring the Court to 
 prove him by demonstration other than an impostor. 'T will 
 then hap that the King angrily issues his mandate for the 
 confronting of thee with Shagpat, thou being under sentence 
 in case of calumny. Then, will Shagpat appear : a time of 
 triumph for him, an hour of glory, a vanity divine; his 
 last." 
 
240 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 Quoth. Feshnavat plaintively, after a pause, " And I, 
 Master of the Event t " 
 
 Shibli Bagarag continued, "Thou? Is there a distance 
 can hide from the edge of this blade, — an obstruction to 
 impede it ? The clutch of the executioner will be upon thee, 
 Feshnavat, and a clamouring multitude around ; short 
 breathing-time given thee, father of Noorna, ere the time 
 of breathing is commanded to cease. Now, in that respite 
 the thing that will occur, 't is for thee to see and mark ; sure, 
 never wUI reverse of things be more complete, and the other 
 side of the picture more rapidly exhibited, if all go as I con- 
 ceive and plot, and the trap be not premature nor too perfect 
 for the trappers ; as the poet has declared : 
 
 ' Te that intrigue, to thy slaves proper portions adapt ; 
 Perfeoteat plots burst too often, for all are not apt.' 
 
 And I witness likewise to the excellence of his saying : 
 
 ' To master an Event, 
 
 Study men ! 
 The minutes are well spent 
 Only then.' 
 
 Also 't is he that says : 
 
 ' The man of men who knoweth men, the Man of men is he ! 
 His army is the human race, and every foe must flee.' 
 
 So have I apportioned to thee thy work, to Baba Mustapha 
 his ; reserving to myself the work that is mine ! " 
 
 Thereat, Feshnavat exclaimed, " Master of the Event, 
 may I be thy sacrifice ! on my head be it ! and for thee to 
 command is for me to obey ! but surely, this Sword of thine 
 that is in thy girdle, the marvellous blade — 't is alone equal 
 to the project and the shave ; and the matter might be con- 
 summated, the great thing done, even from this point whence 
 we behold Shagpat visible, as 't were brought forward to- 
 ward us by the beams ! And this Sword swayed by thee, 
 and with thy skill and strength and the hardihood of hand 
 
THE PLOT. 241 
 
 that is thine, wullahy ! 't would shear him now, this moment, 
 taking the light of Aklis for a lather." 
 
 Shibli Bagarag knotted the hrows of impatience, crying, 
 "Hast thou forgotten Kaiaz in thy calculations? I know of 
 a surety what this Sword will do, and I wot the oil he 
 distilleth strengtheneth Shagpat but against common blades. 
 Yet shall it not be spoken of me, Shibli Bagarag, that I was 
 tripped by my own conceit ; the poet counseUeth : 
 
 ' When for any mighty end thou haat the aid of Heaven, 
 Monnt until thy strength shall matoh those great means which 
 are given : ' 
 
 nor that I was overthrown in despising mine enemy, forget- 
 ful of the saying of the sage : 
 
 ' Head the features of thy foe, wherever he may find thee, 
 Small he is, seen face to face, but thrice his size behind thee.' 
 
 "WuUaby ! this Karaz is a Genie of craft and resources, one 
 of a mighty stock, and I must close with Shagpat to be sure 
 of him ; and that I am not deceived by semblances, opposing 
 guUe with guile, and guile deeper than his, for that he 
 awaiteth it not, thinking I have leaped in fancy beyond the 
 Event, and am puffed by the after-breaths of adulation, I ! — 
 thinking I pluck the blossoms in my hunger for the fruit, 
 thinking I eat the chick of the yet unlaid egg, Feshnavat. 
 As is said, and the warrior beareth witness to the wisdom 
 
 of it : 
 
 ' His vreapon I '11 study, my own conceal ; 
 So with two arms to his one shall I deal.' 
 
 The same also testifieth : 
 
 ' 'T is folly of the hero, though resistless in the field, 
 To stake the victory on his steel, and fling away the shield.' 
 
 And likewise : 
 
 'Examine thine armour in every joint, 
 For slain was the Giant, and by a pin's point.' 
 
 Wah ! 't is certain there will need subtlety in this under- 
 
 E 
 
243 THE ^HAVING OP SHAGPAT. 
 
 taking, and a plot plotted, so, do thou my bidding, and fail 
 not in the part assigned to tliee." 
 
 Now, Feshnavat was persuaded by Ms words, and cried, 
 "In diligence, discretion, and the virtues which characterize 
 subordinates, I go, and I delay not ! I will perform the 
 thing required of me, Master of the Event." And he 
 repeated in verse : 
 
 With danger beset, be the path crooked or narrow, 
 Thou art the bow, and I the arrow. 
 
 Then, embraced he his daughter, kissing her on the fore- 
 head and the eyes, and tightening the girdle of his robe, 
 departed, with the n ame of Allah on his lips, in the direction 
 of the City. 
 
 So, Shibli Bagarag called to him the two Genii, and his 
 command was, " Soar, ye slaves of the Sword, till the range 
 of earth and its mountains and seas and deserts are a cluster 
 in the orb of the eye, Shiraz conspicuous as a rose among 
 garlands, and the ruby consorted with other gems in a setting. 
 In Shiraz or the country adjoining ye will come upon one Baba 
 Mustapha by name ; and, if he be alone, ye may recognize him 
 by his forlorn look and the hang of his cheeks, his vacancy as 
 of utter abandonment ; if in company, 't wUl be the only talker 
 that 's he; seize on him, give him a taste of thin air, and 
 deposit him without speech on the roof of a palace, where ye 
 will see Feshnavat in yonder city : this do ere the shadows 
 of the palm-tree by the well in the plain move up the mounds 
 that enclose the fortified parts." 
 
 Cried Karavejis and Veejravoosh, "To hear is to obey." 
 
 Up into the sky, like two bright balls tossed by jugglers, 
 the two Genii shot ; and, watching them, Noorna bin Noorka 
 said, "My life, there is a third wanting, Eavejoura; and with 
 aid of the three, earth could have planted no obstruction to 
 thy stroke ; but thou wert tempted by the third temptation in 
 Aklis, andjeft not the Hall in triumph, the Hall of the Duping 
 Brides!" ' 
 
THE PLOT. 243 
 
 He answered, "That is so, my soul; and the penalty is 
 mine, by which I am made to employ deceits ere I strike." 
 
 And she said, '"T is to the generosity of Gulrevaz thou 
 owest Karavejis and Veejravoosh; and I think she was 
 generous, seeing thee true to me in love, she that hath 
 sorrows ! " 
 
 So, he said, " What of the sorrows of Gulrevaz 1 Tell me 
 of them." 
 
 But she said, " Nay, my betrothed 1 would'st thou have 
 this tongue blistered, and a consuming spark shot against 
 this bosom t " 
 
 Then, he : "Make it clear to me." 
 
 She put her mouth to his ear, saying, " There is a curse on 
 whoso telleth of things in Aklis, and to tattle of the Seven 
 and their sister forerunneth wretchedness." 
 
 Surely, he stooped to that fair creature, and folded her to 
 his heart passionately, his whole soul heaving to her ; and he 
 cried again and again, " Shall harm hap to thee through me t 
 by Allah, no ! " 
 
 And he closed the privileged arm of the bridegroom round 
 her unresisting waist, that had the yieldingness of the willow- 
 branchlet, the flowingness of the summer sea-wave, and 
 seemed as 't were melting honey-like at the first gentle 
 pressure ; she leaning her head shyly on his shoulder, shyly, 
 yet confiding in his faithfulness ; it was that she was shy of 
 the great bliss in her bosom, and was made timid by the 
 fervour of her affection ; as is sung : 
 
 Deeper than the source of blushes 
 Is the power that makes them start ; 
 Tip in floods the red stream rushes, 
 At one whisper of the heart. 
 
 And it is sung in words present to the youth as he surveyed 
 
 her : 
 
 beauty of the bride ! beauty of the bride ! 
 Her bashful joys like serpents sting her tenderness to tears : 
 Her hopes are sleeping eagles in the shining of the spheres j 
 beauty of the bride ! beauty of the bride ! 
 
 R 2 
 
244 THE SHAYINa OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 And she 's a lapping antelope that from her image flees ; 
 
 And she 's a dove caught in two hands, to pant as she shall please; 
 
 beauty of the bride ! beauty of the bride ! 
 Like torrents over Paradise her lengthy tresses roll : 
 She moves as doth a swaying rose, and chides her hasty soul, 
 The thing she will, that will she not, yet can no will control : 
 
 beauty, beauty, beauty of the bride ! 
 
 They were thus together, Aharak leaning under one wing 
 of Koorookh for shade up the slope of the hill, and Shihli 
 Bagarag called to him, " Ho, Abarak ! look if there be aught 
 impending over the City.'' 
 
 So, he arose and looked, crying, " One with plunging legs, 
 high up in air over the City, between two bright bodies." 
 Shibli Bagarag exclaimed, " 'T is well ! The second chapter 
 of the Event is opened ; so call it, thou that tellest of the 
 Shaving of Shagpat. It will be the shortest." 
 
 Then, he said, "The shadow of yonder palm is now a 
 slanted spear up the looped wall of the City. Now, the time 
 of Shagpat's triumph, and his greatest majesty, will be when 
 yonder walls chase the shadow of the palm up this hill ; and 
 then will Baba Mustapha be joining the chorus of creatures 
 that shriek towards even ere they snooze. There 's not an 
 ape in the woods, nor hyaena in the forest, nor birds on the 
 branches, nor frogs in the marsh that will outnoise Baba 
 Mustapha under the thong ! Wullahy, 't will grieve his soul 
 in aftertime when he sitteth secure in honours, courted, with 
 a thousand ears at his biddiag, that so much breath 'scaped 
 him without toll of the tongue ! But as the poet says truly : 
 
 ' The chariot of Events lifteth many dusty heels, 
 And many, high and of renown, it crusheth with its wheels.' 
 
 Wall ! I have had my share of the thong, and am I, Master 
 of the Event, to be squeamish in attaining an end by its 
 means ? Nay, by this Sword ! " 
 
 Thereat, he strode once again to the summit of the hill, 
 and in a moment the Genii fronted him like two shot arrows 
 quivering from the flight. So, he cried, " Is it done 1 " 
 
THE PLOT. 245 
 
 They answered, "In faithfulness." 
 
 So, he heokoned to Nooma, and she came forward swiftly 
 to him, exclaiming, " I read the plot, and the thing required 
 of me ; so, say nought, but embrace me ere I leave thee, 
 my betrothed, my master ! " 
 
 He embraced her, and led her to where the Genii stood. 
 Then, said he to the Genii, " Convey her to the City, ye 
 slaves of the Sword, and watch over her there. If ye let but 
 . an evil wind ruffle the hair of her head, lo ! I '11 sever ye with 
 a stroke that shaketh the under worlds. Eemain by her till 
 the shrieks of Baba Mustapha greet ye, and then wUl follow 
 commotion among the crowd, and cries for Shagpat to show 
 himself to the people, cries also of death to Feshnavat ; and 
 there will be an assembly in the King's hall of justice; thither 
 lead ye my betrothed, and watch over her." And he said to 
 Noorna, "Thou knowest my design 1" 
 
 So, she said, " "When condemnation is passed on Feshnavat, 
 that I appear in the haU as bride of Shagpat, and so rescue 
 him that is my father." And she cried, " Oh, fair delightful 
 time that is coming ! my happiness and thy honour on earth 
 dateth from it. Farewell, my betrothed, beloved youth ! 
 Eyes of mine ! these Genii will be by, and there 's no cause 
 for fear or sorrow, and 't is for thee to look like morning that 
 speeds the march of light. Thou, my betrothed, art thou not 
 all that enslaveth the heart of woman 1 " 
 
 Cried Shibli Bagarag, "And thou, Noorna, all that en- 
 raptureth the soul of man ! Allah keep thee, my life ! " 
 
 Lo ! while they were wasting the rich love in their hearts, 
 the Genii rose up with Noorna, and she, waving her hand to 
 him, was soon distant and as the white breast of a bird turned 
 to the sun. Then went he to where Abarak was leaning, and 
 summoned Koorookh, and the twain mounted him, and rose 
 up high over the City of Shagpat to watch the ripening of the 
 Event, as a vulture watcheth over the desert. 
 
THE DISH OF POMEGRANATE GRAIN. 
 
 Now, in the City of Shagpat, Kadza, spouse of Shagpat, she 
 that had belaboured Shibli Bagarag, had a dream while these 
 things were doing; and it was a dream of danger and portent 
 to the glory of her eyes, Shagpat. So, at the hour when he 
 was revealed to Shibli Bagarag, made luminous by the beams 
 of Aklis, Kadza went to an inner chamber, and greased her 
 hands and her eyelids, and drank of a phial, and commenced 
 tugging at a brass ring fixed in the floor, and it yielded and 
 displayed an opening, over which she stooped the upper half 
 of her leanness, and pitching her note high, called "Karaz ! " 
 After that, she rose and retreated from the hole hastily, and 
 in the winking of an eye it was filled, as 't were a pillar of 
 black smoke, by the body of the Genie, he breathing hard 
 with mighty travel. So, he cried to her between his pantings 
 and puffings, "Speak ! where am I wanted, and for what?" 
 
 Now, Kadza was affrighted at the terribleness of his 
 manner, and the great smell of the Genie was an intoxica- 
 tion in her nostril, so that she reeled and could just falter out, 
 " Danger to the Identical ! " 
 
 Then he, in a voice like claps of thunder, " Out with it ! " 
 
 She answered beseechingly, " 'T is a dream I had, Genie ; 
 a dream of danger to him." 
 
 While she spake, the Genie clenched his fists and stamped 
 so that the palace shook and the earth under it, exclaiming, 
 "0 abominable Kadza ! a dream is it? another dream? Wil 
 
THE DISH OF POMEGRANATE GRAIN. 247 
 
 thou cease dreaming awhile, thou silly woman 1 Know I not 
 he that 's powerful against us is in Aklis, crowned ape, and 
 that his spells are gone. And I was distilling drops to defy 
 the Sword and strengthen Shagpat from assault, yet bringest 
 thou me from my labour by the Putrid Sea with thy accursed 
 dream ! " Thereat, he frowned and shot fire at her from his 
 eyes, so that she singed, and the room thickened with a 
 horrible smell of burning. She feared greatly and trembled, 
 but he cooled himself against the air, crying presently in a 
 diminished voice, "Let 's hear this dream, thou foolish Kadza ! 
 'T is as well to hear it. Probably Eabesqurat hath sent thee 
 some sign from Aklis, where she ferryeth a term. What 's 
 that saying : 
 
 ' A woman 's at the core of every plot man plotteth, 
 And like an ill-reared fruit, first at the core it rotteth.' 
 
 So, out with it, thou Kadza ! " 
 
 Now, the urgency of that she had dreamed overcame fear 
 in Kadza, and she said, " great Genie and terrible, my 
 dream was this. Lo ! I saw an assemblage of the beasts of 
 the forests and them that inhabit wild places. And there was 
 the elephant and the rhinoceros and the hippopotamus, and 
 the camel and the camelopard, and the serpent and the striped 
 tiger; also the antelope, the hyaena, the jackal, and above 
 them, eminent in majesty, the lion. Surely, he sat as 't were 
 on a high seat, and they like suppliants thronging the pre- 
 sence : this saw I, the heart on my ribs beating for Shagpat. 
 And there appeared among the beasts a monkey all ajoint 
 with tricks, jerking with malice, he looking as 't were hungry 
 for the doing of things detestable; and the lion scorned him, 
 and I marked him ridicule the lion : 't was so. And the lion 
 began to scowl, and the other beasts marked the displeasure 
 of the lion. Then chased they that monkey from the presence, 
 and for awhile he was absent, and the lion sat in his place 
 grafvely, with calm, receiving homage of the other beasts; and 
 down to his feet came the eagle that 's lord of air, and before 
 
248 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 him kneeled tiie great elephant, and the subtle serpent eyed 
 him with awe. But soon did that monkey, the wretched 
 animal ! reappear, and there was no peace for the lion, he 
 worrying till close within stretch of the lion's paw ! "Wah ! 
 the lion might have crushed him, but that he 's magnani- 
 mous. And so it was that as the monkey advanced the lion 
 roared to him, ' Begone ! ' 
 
 "And the monkey cried, 'Who commandeth?' 
 
 " So the lion roared, ' The King of beasts, and thy King!' 
 
 " Then, that monkey cried, ' Homage to the King of 
 beasts, and my King ! Allah keep him in his seat, and I 
 would he were visible.' 
 
 " So, the lion roared, ' He sitteth here acknowledged, thou 
 graceless animal ! and he 's before thee apparent.' 
 
 " Then, the monkey affected eagerness, and gazed about 
 him, and peered on this beast, and on that, exclaiming like 
 one that 's injured and under slight, ' What 's this I've done, 
 and wherein have I offended, that he should be hidden from 
 me when pointed out 1 ' 
 
 "So, the lion roared, "T is I where I sit, thou offensive 
 monkey ! ' 
 
 " Then, that monkey in the upper pitch of amazement, 
 'Thou ! Is it for created thing to acknowledge a king without 
 a tail t And, beasts of the forest and the wilderness, how 
 say ye t Am I to blame that I bow not to one that hath it 
 not?' 
 
 " Upon that, the lion rose, and roared in the extreme of 
 wrath ; but the word he was about to utter was checked in 
 him, for 't was manifest that where he would have lashed a 
 tail he shook a stump, wagging it as the dog doth. Lo ! 
 when the lion saw that, the majesty melted from him, and in 
 a moment the plumpness of content and prosperity forsook 
 him, so that his tawny skin hung fiabbily and his jaw drooped, 
 and shame deprived him of stateliness ; abashed was he ! Now, 
 seeing the lion shamed in this manner, my heart beat violently 
 for Shagpat, so that I awoke with the strength of its beating, 
 
THE DISH OF POMEGRANATE GRAIN. 249 
 
 and 't was hidden from me whether the monkey was punished 
 by the lion, or exalted by the other beasts in his place, or how 
 came it that the lion's tail was lost, witched from him by 
 that villain of mischief, the monkey ; but, great Genie, I 
 knew there was a lion among men, reverenced, and with 
 enemies ; that lion, he that espoused me, and my glory, 
 Shagpat ! 'T was enough to know that and tremble at the 
 omen of my dream, Genie. Wherefore, I thought it well 
 to summon thee here, that thou mightest set a guard over 
 Shagpat, and shield him from the treacheries that beset 
 him." 
 
 When Kadza had ceased speaking, the Genie glowered at 
 her awhile in silence. Then said he, "What creature is 
 that, Kadza, which tormenteth like the tongue of a 
 woman, is small as her pretensions to virtue, and which 
 showeth how the chapters of her history should be read by 
 the holy ones, even in its manner of movement 1 " 
 
 Cried Kadza, " The flea that hoppeth ! " 
 
 So, he said, " 'T is well ! Hast thou strength to carry one 
 of my weight, O Kadza 1 " 
 
 She answered in squeamishness, " I, wullahy ! I 'm but a 
 woman, Genie, though the wife of Shagpat : and to carry 
 thee is for the camel and the elephant and the horse." 
 
 Then he, " Tighten thy girdle, and when tightened, let a 
 loose loop hang from it." 
 
 She did that, and he gave her a dark powder in her hand, 
 saying, " Swallow the half of this, and what remaineth mix 
 with water, and sprinkle over thee." 
 
 That did she, and thereupon he exclaimed, " Xow go, and 
 thy part is to move round Shagpat ; and a wind will strike 
 thee from one quarter, and from which quarter it striketh is 
 the one of menace and danger to Shagpat." 
 
 So, Kadza was diligent in doing what the Genie com- 
 manded, and sought for Shagpat, and moved round him 
 many times ; but no wind struck her. She went back to the 
 Genie, and told him of this, and the Genie cried, " What 1 
 
250 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 no ■wind? not one from Aklis? Then will Shagpat of a 
 surety triumph, and we with him." 
 
 Now, there was joy on the features of Kadza and Karaz, 
 till suddenly he said, " Halt in thy song ! How if there he 
 danger and menace above? and 't is the thing that may he." 
 
 Then, he seized Kadza, and slung her by him, and went 
 into the air, and up it till the roofs of the City of Shagpat 
 were beneath their feet, all on them visible. And under 
 an awning, and the roof of a palace, there was the Vizier 
 Feshnavat and Baba Mustapha, they ear to lip in con- 
 sultation, and Baba Mustapha brightening with the matter 
 revealed to him, and bobbing his head, and breaking on 
 the speech of the Vizier. Now, when he saw them the 
 Genie blew from his nostrils a double stream of darkness 
 which curled in a thick body round and round him, and 
 Kadza slung at his side was enveloped in it, as with folds 
 of a huge serpent. Then, the Genie hung still, and lo ! two 
 radiant figures swept toward the roof he watched, and between 
 them Noorna bin Noorka, her long dark hair borne far back- 
 ward, and her robe of silken stuff fluttering and straining on 
 the pearl buttons as she flew. There was that in her beauty 
 and the silver clearness of her temples and her eyes, and her 
 cheeks, and her neck, and chin and ankles, that made the 
 Genie shudder with love of her, and he was nigh dropping 
 Kadza to the ground, forgetful of all else save Noorna. 
 When he recovered, and it was by tightening his muscles till 
 he was all over hard knots, Noorna was seated on a cushion, 
 and descending he heard her speak his name. Then, sniffed 
 he the air, and said to Kadza, " spouse of Shagpat, a plot 
 breweth, and the odour of it is in my nostril. Fearest thou 
 a scorching for his sake thou adorest, the miracle of men 1 " 
 
 She answered, " On my head be it, and my eyes ! " 
 
 So, he said, " I shall alight thee behind the pole of awning 
 on yonder roof, where are the two bright figures and the dingy 
 one, and the Vizier Feshnavat and Noorna bin Noorka. A 
 fl:ame will spring up severing thee from them ; but thou 'rt 
 
THE DISH OF POMEGRANATE GRAIN. 251 
 
 secure from it by reason of the powder I gave thee, all save 
 the hair that 's on thee. Thou 'It have another shape than that 
 which is thine, even that of a slave of Noorna bin Noorka, and 
 say to her when she asketh thy business with her, ' my 
 mistress, let the storm gather-in the storm-bird when it 
 would surprise men.' Do this, and thy part's done, Kadza ! " 
 
 Thereupon, he swung a circle, and alighted her behind the 
 pole of awning on the roof, and vanished, and the circle of 
 flame rose up, and Kadza passed through it slightly scorched, 
 and answered to the question of Nooma, " my mistress, let 
 the storm gather-in the storm-bird when it would surprise 
 men." Now, when Noorna beheld her, and heard her voice, 
 she pierced the disguise, and was ware of the wife of Shagpat, 
 and glanced her large eyes over Kadza from head to sole tUl 
 they rested on the loose loop in her girdle. Seeing that, she 
 rose up, and stretched her arms, and spread open the palm of 
 her hand, and slapped Kadza on the cheek and ear a hard 
 slap, so that she heard many bells ; and ere she ceased to hear 
 them, another, so that Kadza staggered back and screamed, 
 and Feshnavat was moved to exclaim, " What has the girl, 
 thy favourite, offended in, my daughter 1 " 
 
 So, Noorna continued slapping Kadza, and cried, " Is she 
 not sluttish] and where 's the point of decency established 
 in her, this Luloo ] Shall her like appear before thee and 
 me with loose girdle ! " 
 
 Then, she pointed to the girdle, and Kadza tightened the 
 loose loop, and fell upon the ground to avoid the slaps, and 
 Noorna knelt by her, and clutched at a portion of her dress 
 and examined it, peering intently ; and she caught up another 
 part, and knotted it as if to crush a living creature, hunting 
 over her, and grasping at her ; and so it was that while she 
 tore strips from the garments of Kadza, Feshnavat jumped 
 suddenly in wrath, and pinched over his garments, crying, 
 " 'T is unbearable ! 'T is I know not what other than a flea 
 that persecuteth me." 
 
 Upon that, Noorna ran to him, and while they searched 
 
252 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 together for the Flea, Baba Mustaplia fidgeted and worried in 
 his seat, lurching to the right and to the left, muttering 
 curses ; and it was evident he too was persecuted, and there 
 was no peace on the roof of that palace, but pinching and 
 howling and stretching of limbs, and curses snarled in the 
 throat and imprecations on the head of the tormenting Flea. 
 Surely, the soul of Kadza rejoiced, for she knew the Flea was 
 Karaz, whom she had brought with her in the loose loop of 
 her girdle through the circle of flame which was a barrier 
 against him. She glistened at the triumph of the Flea, but 
 Noorna strode to her, and took her to the side of the roof, 
 and pitched her down it, and closed the passage to her. 
 Then ran she to Karavejis and Veejravoosh, whispering in 
 the ear of each, " ISTo word of the Sword?" and afterward 
 aloud, "What think ye will be the term of the staying of my 
 betrothed in Aklis, crowned ape 1 " 
 
 They answered, " pearl of the morn, crowned ape till 
 such time as Shagpat be shaved." 
 
 So, she beat her breast, crying, " Oh, utter stagnation, tiU 
 Shagpat be shaved ! and oh, stoppage in the tide of business, 
 dense cloud upon the face of beauty, and frost on the river 
 of events, till Shagpat be shaved ! And oh ! my betrothed 
 crowned ape in Aklis till Shagpat be shaved ! " 
 
 Then, she lifted her hands and arms, and said, " To him 
 where he is, ye Genii ! and away, for he needeth comfort." 
 
 Thereat, the glittering spirits dissolved and thinned, and 
 were as taper gleams of curved light across the water in 
 their ascent of the heavens. So, when they were gone 
 Noorna exclaimed, " Now for the dish of pomegranate grain, 
 O Baba Mustapha, and let nothing delay us further.'' 
 
 Quoth Baba Mustapha, " T is ordered, my princess and 
 fair mistress, from the confectioner's ; and with it the sleepy 
 drug from the seller of medicaments — accursed Flea ! " 
 
 Now, she laughed, and said, " What am I, Baba Mus- 
 tapha?" 
 
 So, he said, " Not thou, bright shooter of beams, but 
 
THE DISH OF POMEGRANATE GRAIN. 253 
 
 I, wullahy ! I 'm but a Ijuiidle of points through the perti- 
 nacity of this Flea ! a house of irritabilities ! a mere mass of 
 fretfulness ! and I 've no thought but for the chasing of this 
 unlucky Flea : was never flea like it in the world before this 
 Flea ; and 't is a Flea to anger the holy ones, and make the 
 saintly Dervish swear at such a Flea." He wriggled and 
 curled where he sat, and Noorna cried, " What ! shall we be 
 defeated by a Flea, we that would shave Shagpat, and release 
 this city and the world from bondage 1 " And she looked up 
 to the sky that was then without a cloud, blazing with the 
 sun on his mid seat, and exclaimed, " star of Shagpat ! 
 wilt thou constantly be in the ascendant, and defeat us, the 
 liberators of men, with a Flea 1 " 
 
 Now, whenever one of the twain, Baba Muatapha and the 
 Vizier Feshnavat, commenced speaking of the dish of pome- 
 granate grain, the torment of the Flea took all tongue from 
 him, and was destruction to the gravity of council and de- 
 liberation. Lo ! the dish of pomegranate grain was brought 
 to them by slaves^ and the drug to induce sleep, yet neither 
 could say aught concerning it, they were as jointy grasshoppers 
 through the action of the Flea, and the torment of the Flea 
 became a madness, they shrieking, " 'T is now with thee ! 
 'T is now with me ! Fires of the damned on this Flea ! " 
 In their extremity, they called to Allah for help, but no help 
 came, save when they abandoned all speech concerning the 
 dish of pomegranate grain, then were they for a moment eased 
 of the Flea. So, Noorna recognized the presence of her 
 enemy Karaz, and his malicious working ; and she went and 
 fetched a jar brimmed with water for the bath, and stirred it 
 with her forefinger, and drew on it a flame from the rays of 
 the sun tiU there rose up from the jar a white thick smoke. 
 So, she rustled her raiment, making the wind of it collect round 
 Baba Mustapha and Feshnavat, and did this till the sweat 
 streamed from their brows and bodies, and they were sensible 
 of peace and the absence of the Flea. Then, she whisked away 
 the smoke, and they were attended by slaves with fresh robes. 
 
254 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 and were as new men, and sat together over the dish of pome- 
 granate grain, praising the wisdom of Nooma and her power. 
 Then, Baha Mustapha revived in briskness, and cried, "Here 
 the dish ! and 't is in my hands an instrument, an instrument 
 of vengeance ! and one to endow the skilful wielder of it 
 with glory. And 't is as I designed it, — sweet, seasoned, 
 savoury, — a flattery to the eye and no deceiver to the palate. 
 Wah ! and such an instrument in the hands of the discerning 
 and the dexterous, and the discreet and the judicious, and 
 them gifted with determination, is 't not such as sufficeth for 
 the overturning of empires and systems, my mistress, fair 
 one, sapphire of this city 1 And is 't not written that I shall 
 heguile Shagpat hy its means, and master the Event, and 
 shame the King of Oolb and his Court 1 And I shall then 
 sit in state among men, and surround myself with adornments 
 and with slaves, mute, that speak not save at the signal, and 
 are as statues round the cushions of their lord — that 's 
 myself. And I shall surround myself with the flatteries of 
 wealth, and walk bewildered in silks and stuffs and per- 
 fumeries ; and sweet young beauties shall I have about me, 
 antelopes of grace, as I like them, and select them, long-eyed, 
 lazy, fond of listening, and with bashful looks that timidly 
 admire the dignity that 's in man. And 't is an instrument — " 
 E"ow, while he was prating Noorna took the dish in her lap, 
 and folded her silvery feet beneath her, and commenced whip- 
 ping into it the drug : and she whipped it dexterously and 
 with equal division among the grain, whipping it and the Flea 
 with it^ but she feigned not to mark the Flea and whipped 
 harder. Then, took she colour and coloured it saffron, and 
 laid over it gold-leaf, so that it glittered and was an enticing 
 sight; and the dish was of gold, crusted over with devices and 
 patterns, and heads of golden monsters, a ravishment of skill 
 in him that executed it, cumbrous with ornate golden work- 
 manship ; likewise, there were places round the dish for sticks 
 of perfume and cups carved for the storing of perfumed pellets, 
 and into these ISToorna put myrrh and ambergris and rich 
 
THE DISH OF POMEGRANATE GRAIN. 255 
 
 incenses, aloes, sandalwood, prepared essences, divers keen and 
 sweet scents. Then, when all was in readiness, she put the 
 dish upon the knee of Baba Mustapha, and awoke him from 
 his babbling reverie with a shout, and said, " An instrument 
 verily, Baba Mustapha ! and art thou a cat to shave 
 Shagpat with that tongue of thine 1 " 
 
 Now, he arose and made the sign of obedience and said, 
 " 'T is well, lady of grace and bright wit ! and now for the 
 cap of Shiraz and the Persian robe, and my twenty slaves 
 and seven to follow me to the mansion of Shagpat. I '11 do : 
 I 'U act." 
 
 So, she motioned to a slave to bring the cap of Shiraz and 
 the Persian robe, and in these Baba Mustapha arrayed him- 
 self. Then, called he for the twenty-and-seven slaves, and 
 they were ranged, some to go before, some to follow him. 
 And he was exalted, and made the cap of Shiraz nod in his 
 conceit, crying, "Am I not leader in this complot 1 WuUahy ! 
 all bow to me and acknowledge it." Then, to check himself 
 he called out sternly to the slaves, " Ho ye ! forward to the 
 mansion of Shagpat ; and pass at a slow pace through the 
 streets of the city — solemnly, gravely, as before a potentate ; 
 then will the people inquire of ye. Who 't is ye marshal, and 
 what mighty one t and ye will answer. He 's from the court of 
 Shiraz, — nothing less than a Vizier — bearing homage to 
 Shagpat, even this dish of pomegranate grain.'' 
 
 So, they said, " To hear is to obey." 
 
 Upon that, he waved his hand and stalked majestically, and 
 they descended from the roof into the street, criers running 
 in front to clear the way. So, when Baba Mustapha was 
 bidden from view by a comer of the street, Noorna shrank in 
 her white shoulders and laughed, and was like a flashing pearl 
 as she swayed and dimpled with laughter. And she cried, 
 "True are those words of the poet, and I testify to them in 
 the instance of Baba Mustapha : 
 
 ' With feathers of the cock, I '11 fashion a vain creature ; 
 With feathers of the owl, I '11 make a judge in feature j ' 
 
256 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 Is not the barber elate and lofty'! He goeth forth to the 
 mastery of this Event as go many, armed with nought other 
 than their own conceit : and 't is written : 
 
 ' Fools from their fate seek not to nrge : 
 The coxcomb oarrieth his scourge.' " 
 
 So Feshnavat smoothed his face, and said, " Is 't not also 
 written f — 
 
 ' Oft may the fall of fools make wise men moan ! 
 Too often the house hangeth on one loose stone ! ' 
 
 'T is SO, Noorna, my daughter, and I am as a reed shaken 
 by the wind of apprehensiveness, and doubt in me is a deep 
 root as to the issue of this undertaking, for the wrath of the 
 King will be terrible, and the clamour of the people soundeth 
 in my ears already. If Shibli Bagarag fail in one stroke, 
 where be we ? 'T is certain I knew not the might in Shagpat 
 when I strove with him, and he 's powerful beyond the measure 
 of man's subtlety ; and yonder flies a rook without fellow — 
 an omen ; and all's ominous, and ominous of ill : and I marked 
 among the troop of slaves that preceded Baba Mustapha one 
 that squinted, and that 's an omen ; and, my daughter, I 
 counsel that thou by thy magic speed us to some remote 
 point in the Caucasus, where we may abide the unravelling 
 of this web securely, one way or the other way. 'T is my 
 counsel, Noorna." 
 
 Then she, "Abandon my betrothed? and betray him on the 
 very stroke of the Sword? and diminish him by a withdrawal 
 of that faith in his right wrist which strengtheneth it more than 
 Karavejis and Veejravoosh wound round it in coils ? " And 
 she leaned her head, and cried, "Hark! hear'st thou? there's 
 shouting in the streets of Shiraz and of Shagpat ! Shall we 
 merit the punishment of Shahpesh the Persian on Khipil the 
 builder, while the Event's mastering ? I '11 mark this inter- 
 view between Baba Mustapha and Shagpat ; and do thou, 
 my father, rest here on this roof till the King's guard of 
 
THE DISH OF POMBaRANATB GRAIN. 257 
 
 horsemen and soldiers of the law come hither for thee, and 
 go -with them sedately, fearing nought, for I shall he by thee 
 in the garh of an old woman ; and preserve thy composure 
 in the presence of the King and Shagpat exalted, and allow 
 not the thing that happeneth let fly from thee the shaft of 
 speech, but remain a slackened bow till the strength of my 
 betrothed is testified, fearing nought, for fear is that which 
 defeateth men, and 'tis declared in a distich, — 
 
 ' The strongest weapon one can see 
 In mortal hands is Constancy.' 
 
 And for us to flee now would rank us with that King 
 described by the poet : 
 
 ' A king of Ind there was who fought a fight 
 From the first gleam of morn till fall of night ; 
 But when the royal tent his generals sought, 
 Proclaiming victory, fled was he who fought. 
 Despair possessed them, till they chanced to spy 
 A Dervish that paced on with downward eye ; 
 They questioned of the King ; he answer'd slow, 
 " Ye fought but one, the King a double, foe." ' 
 
 And, my father, they interpreted of this that the King had 
 been vanquished, he that was victor, by the phantom army of 
 his fears." 
 
 Now, the Vizier cried, " Be the will of Allah achieved and 
 consummated ! " and he was silenced by her wisdom and 
 urgency, and sat where he was, diverting not the arch on his 
 brow from its settled furrow. He was as one that thirsteth, 
 and whose eye hath marked a snake of swift poison by the 
 water, so thirsted he for the Event, yet hung with dread from 
 advancing ; but Noorna bin Nooika busied herself about the 
 roof, drawing circles to witness the track of an enemy, and 
 she clapped her hands and cried, " Luloo ! " and lo, a fair 
 slave-girl that came to her and stood by with bent head, like 
 a white lily by a milk-white antelope ; so, Noorna clouded 
 her brow a moment, as when the moon darkeneth behind a 
 
 s 
 
253 THE SHAVING OF SHAaPAT. 
 
 scud, and cried, " Speak ! art thou in league with Karnz, 
 girl?" 
 
 Luloo strained her hands to her temples, exclaiming, "With 
 the terrible Genie'? — I? — in league with him'? my mistress, 
 surely the charms I wear, and the amulets, I wear them as a 
 protection from that Genie and a safeguard, he that carrieth 
 off the maidens and the young sucklings, walking under the 
 curse of mothers." 
 
 Said Noorna, " Luloo, have I boxed those little ears of 
 thine this day 1 " 
 
 The fair slave-girl smiled a smile of submissive tenderness, 
 and answered, "K'ot this day, nor once since Luloo was rescued 
 from the wicked old merchant by thy overbidding, and was 
 taken to the arms of a wise, kind sister, wiser and kinder than 
 any she had been stolen from, she that is thy slave for ever." 
 
 She said this weeping, and Noorna mused, " 'T was as I 
 divined, that wretched Kadza : " her grief 's to come !" Then, 
 spake she aloud as to herself, "Knew I, or could one know, I 
 should this day be a bride?" And, hearing that, Luloo 
 shrieked, " Thou a bride, and torn from me, and we two 
 parted t and I, a poor drooping tendril, left to wither 1 for my 
 life is round thee and worthless away from thee, cherishcr 
 of the fallen flower." 
 
 And she sobbed out wailful verses and words, broken and 
 without a meaning ; but Noorna caught her by the arm and 
 swung her, and bade her fetch on the instant a robe of blue, 
 and pile in her chamber robes of amber and saffron and grey, 
 bridal-robes of many-lighted silks, plum-coloured, peach- 
 coloured, of the colour of musk mixed with pale gold, together 
 with bridal ornaments and veils of the bride, and a jewelled 
 circlet for the brow. When this was done, i!^oorna went with 
 Luloo to her chamber, attended by slave-girls, and arrayed 
 herself in the first dress of blue, and swayed herself before the 
 mirror, and rattled the gold pieces in her hair and on her neck 
 with laughter. And Luloo was bewildered, and forgot her 
 tears to watch the gaiety of her mistress ; and lo ! Nooma 
 
THE DISH OP POMEGRANATE GRAIN. 259 
 
 made her women take off one set of ornaments witli evevy 
 ■dress, and with every dress she put on another set ; and after 
 she had gone the round of the different dresses, she went to 
 the bath-room with Luloo, and at her bidding Luloo entered 
 the bath beside Noorna, and the twain dipped and shouldered 
 in the bkie water, and were as when a single star is by 
 the full moon on a bright midnight pouring liTstre about. 
 And Noorna splashed Luloo, and said, " This night we shall 
 not sleep together, Luloo, nor lie close, thy bosom on 
 mine." 
 
 Thereat, Luloo wept afresh, and cried, "Ah, cruel ! and 't is 
 a sweet thought for thee, and thou 'It have no mind for me, 
 tossing on my hateful lonely couch." 
 
 Tenderly Noorna eyed Luloo, and the sprinkles of the bath 
 fell with the tears of both, and they clung together, and were 
 like the lily and its bud on one stalk in a shower. Then, 
 when Noorna had spent her affection, she said, "0 thou of the 
 long downward lashes, thy love was constant when I stood 
 under a curse and was an old woman — a hag ! Carest thou 
 so little to learn the name of him that claimeth meV 
 
 Luloo replied, " I thought of no one save myself and my 
 loss, my lost pearl ; happy is he, a youth of favour. Oh, 
 how I shall hate him that taketh thee from me. Tell me 
 now his name, sovereign of hearts ! " 
 
 So, Noorna smoothed the curves and corners of her mouth 
 and calmed her countenance, crying in a deep tone and a 
 voice as of reverence, " Shagpat ! " 
 
 Now, at that name Luloo drank in her breath and was awed, 
 and sank in herself, and had just words to ask, " Hath he 
 demanded thee again in marriage, my mistress 1 " 
 
 Said JSToorna, "Even so." 
 
 Luloo muttered, " Great is the Dispenser of our fates ! " 
 
 And she spake no further, but sighed and took napkins 
 and summoned the slave-girls, and arrayed Noorna silently 
 in the robe of blue and bridal ornaments. Then, Nooma 
 said to them that thronged about her, " Put on, each of ye 
 
 s 2 
 
260 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 a robe of white, ye that are maidens, and a fillet of blue, and! 
 a sash of saffron, and abide my coming." 
 
 And she said to Luloo, " Array thyself in a robe of blue, 
 even as mine, and let trinkets lurk in thy tresses, and abide 
 my coming." 
 
 Then went she forth from them, and veiled her head 
 and swathed her figure in raiment of a coarse white stuff, and 
 was as the moon going behind a hill of dusky snow, and left 
 the house, and passed along the streets and by the palaces, 
 till she came to the palace of her father, now filled by Shag- 
 pat. Before the palace grouped a great concourse and a 
 multitude of all ages and either sex in that city, despite the 
 blaze and the heat. Like roaring of a sea beyond the moun- 
 tains was the noise that issued from them, and their eyes 
 were a fire of beams against the portal of the palace, -^ow, 
 she saw in the crowd one Shafrac, a shoemaker, and ad- 
 dressed him, saying, " Shafrao, the shoemaker, wkat 's 
 this assembly, and how got together? for the poet says\: 
 
 ' Te string not such assemblies in the street, 
 Save when some high Event should be complete." " 
 
 He answered, " 'T is an event complete. WuUahy ! the 
 deputation from Shiraz to Shagpat, and the submission of 
 that vain city to the might of Shagpat." And he asked her, 
 jestingly, " Art thou a witch, to guess that, veiled and 
 virtuous on&l" 
 
 Quoth she, " I read the thing that cometh ere 't is come, 
 and I read danger to Shagpat in this deputation from Shiraz, 
 and this dish of pomegranate grain." 
 
 So, Shafrac cried, " By the beard of my fathers and that 
 of Shagpat ! let 's speak of this to Zeel, the garlic-seller." 
 
 He broadened to one that was by him, and said, " 
 Zeel, what 's thy mind f Here 's a woman, a wise woman, a 
 witch, and she sees danger to Shagpat in this deputation from 
 Shiraz and this dish of pomegranate grain." 
 
 Now, Zeel screwed his visage aad gazed up into his fore- 
 
THE DISH OF POMEGRANATE GRAIN. 261 
 
 head, and said, " 'T were test to consult with. Bootlbao, the 
 drum-beater.'' 
 
 The two then called to Bootlbac, the drum-heater, and told 
 him the matter, and Bootlbac pondered, and tapped his brow 
 and beat on his stomach, and said, " Krooz el Krazawik, the 
 carrier, is good in such a case." 
 
 Now, from Krooz el Krazawik, the carrier, they went to 
 Dob, the confectioner j and from Dob, the confectioner, to 
 Azawool, the builder; and from Azawool, the builder, to 
 Tcheik, the collector of taxes ; and each referred to some 
 other, till perplexity triumphed and was a cloud over them, 
 and the words, "Danger to Shagpat," went about like bees, 
 and were canvassing, when suddenly a shrill voice rose from 
 the miidst, dominating other voices, and it was that of Kadza, 
 and she cried, " Who talks here of danger to Shagpat, and 
 what wretch is it 1 " 
 
 Now, Tcheik pointed out Azawool, and Azawool Dob, and 
 Dob Krooz el Krazawik, and he Bootlbac, and the drum- 
 beater shrugged his shoulder at Zeel, and Zeel stood away 
 from Shafrac, and Shafrac seized Noorna and shouted, " 'T is 
 she, this woman, the witch ! " 
 
 So, Kadza fronted Noorna, and called to her, " thing of 
 infamy, what 's this talk of thine concerning danger to our 
 glory, Shagpat?" 
 
 Then, Noorna replied, " I say it, Kadza ! and I say it ; 
 there 's danger threateneth him, and from that deputation 
 and that dish of pomegranate grain." 
 
 Now, Kadza laughed a loose laugh, and jeered at Noorna, 
 crying, " Danger to Shagpat ! he that 's attended by Genii, 
 and watched over by the greatest of them, day and night 
 iucessantly ? " 
 
 And Noorna said, " I ask pardon of the Power that seeth, 
 and of thee, if I be wrong. Wah ! am I not also of them 
 that watch over Shagpat ? So then let thou and I go into 
 the palace and examine the doings of this deputation and 
 this dish of pomegranate grain." 
 
262 THE SHAVING OP SHAGPAT. 
 
 Now, Kadza remembered the scene on the roofs of the Vizier 
 Feshnavat, and relaxed in her look of suspicion, and said, 
 " 'T is well ! Let 's in to them." 
 
 Thereupon, the twain threaded through the crowd and 
 knocked at the portals of the palace, and it was opened to 
 them and they entered, and lo ! the hand that opened the 
 portals was the hand of a slave of the Sword, and agaiast 
 corners of the Court leaned slaves silly with slumber. So,. 
 Kadza went up to them, and beat them, and shook them, and 
 they yawned and mumbled, "Excellent grain ! good grain! 
 the grain of Shiraz ! " And she beat them with what might 
 was hers, till some fell sideways and some forward, still 
 mumbling, " Excellent pomegranate grain ! " Kadza was 
 beside herself with anger and vexation at them, tearing them 
 and cuffing them ; but Noorna cried, " Kadza ! what said 
 I ? there 's danger to Shagpat in this dish of pomegranate 
 grain ! and what 's that saying : 
 
 "T ia much against the Master's wish 
 That slaves too greatly praise his dish.' 
 
 Wullahy ! I like not this talk of the grain of Shiraz." 
 
 Now, while Noorna spake the eyes of Kadza became like 
 those of the starved wild-cat, and she sprang ofif and along 
 the marble of the Court, and clawed a passage through the air 
 and past the marble pillars of the palace toward the first 
 room of reception, Noorna following her. And in the first 
 raom were slaves leaning and lolling like them about the 
 Court, and in the second room and in the third room, silent 
 all of them, and senseless. So, at this sight the spark of 
 suspicion became a mighty flame in the bosom of Kadza, and 
 horror burst out at all ends of her, and she shuddered, and 
 cried, " What for us, and where 's our hope if Shagpat be 
 shorn, and he lopped of the Identical, shamed like the lion 
 of my dream ! " 
 
 And Noorna clasped her hands, and said, '"T is that I 
 fear ! Seek for him, Kadza ! " 
 
THE DISH OF POMEGRANATE GRAIN. 263 
 
 So, Kadza ran to a window and looked forth over the 
 garden of the palace, and it was a fair garden with the gleam 
 of a fountain and watered plants and cool arches of shade, 
 thick bowers, fragrant alleys, long sheltered terraces, and 
 beyond the garden a summer-house of marble fanned by the 
 broad leaves of a palm. Now, when Kadza had gazed a 
 moment, she shrieked, " He 's there ! Shagpat ! giveth he not 
 the light of a jewel to the house that holdeth him ? Awahy ! 
 and he 's witched there for an ill purpose.'' 
 
 Then, tore she from that room like a mad thing after its 
 stolen cubs, and sped along corridors of the palace, and down 
 the great flight of steps into the garden and across the garden, 
 knocking over the ablution-pots in her haste; and Noorna 
 had just strength to withhold her from dashing through the 
 doors of the summer-house to come upon Shagpat, she strain- 
 ing and crying, "He's there, I say, wise woman! Shagpat! 
 let 's in to him." 
 
 But Noorna clung to her, and spake in her ear, "Wilt 
 thou blow the fire that menaces him, Kadza'! and what 
 are two women against the assailants of such a mighty one 
 as he ? " Then said she, " Watch, rather, and avail thyself 
 of yonder window by the blue-painted pillar." 
 
 So, Kadza crept up to the blue-painted pillar which was on 
 the right side of the porch, and the twain peered through the 
 window. Noorna beheld the Dish of Pomegranate Grain ; 
 and it was on the floor, empty of the grain, and Baba Mustapha 
 was by it alone making a lather, and he was twitching his 
 mouth and his legs, and flinging about his arms, and Nooma 
 heard him mutter wrathfuUy, " accursed Flea ! art thou at 
 me again 1 " And she heard him mutter as in anguish, " No 
 peace for thee, pertinacious Flea I and my steadiness of 
 hand will be gone, now when I have him safe as the hawk 
 his prey, mine enemy, this Shagpat that abused me : thou 
 abominable Flea ! And, thou Flea, wilt thou, vile thing ! 
 hinder me from mastering the Event, and releasing this 
 people and the world from enchantment and bondage 1 And 
 
264 THE SHAYING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 stall I fail to Taecome famous to the ages and the times 
 tecause of such as thee, O Flea 1 " 
 
 So, Kadza -whispered to Noorna, "What 's that he 's 
 muttering? Is 't of Shagpat? for I mark him not here, nor 
 the light by which he 's girt." 
 
 She answered, "Listen with the ear and the eye and all 
 the senses." 
 
 Xow, presently they heard Baba Mustapha say in a louder 
 tone, like one that is secure from interruption, " Two lathers, 
 and this is the third ! a potent lather ! and I wot there 's not 
 a hair in this world resisteth the sweep of my blade over such 
 a lather as — Ah ! Flea of iniquity and abomination ! what ! 
 am I doomed to thy torments t — so let 's spread ! Lo ! this 
 lather, is 't not the pride of Shiraz? and the polish and 
 smoothness it sheddeth, is 't not roseate 1 my invention ! as 
 the poet says, — accursed Flea ! now the knee-joint, now the 
 knee-cap, and 't is but a hop for thee to the arm-pit. Fires of 
 the pit without bottom seize thee! — now the knee again ! now 
 the neck, the nape of it ! — So, then — where was 1 1 Con- 
 templating the lather 1 and a fair lather is it, invented by 
 me, and no more words concerning it or aught else, but set 
 thyself to the task, O Baba Mustapha of happy birth ! and 
 — Achrrrr, Flea, Flea, Flea ! is no place sacred from thee, 
 and art thou a restless soul, infernal Flea ? Wah ! I '11 be 
 turned aside by nought living, nay, nor dead ; for here 's 
 Shagpat, the very centre of the sun of radiance, mine enemy 
 and the enemy of man, beneath my thumb, dumb beneath it, 
 and as a frozen frog and slumbering porcupine ; and he 's 
 behind two clouds, and this third will be a quenching of his 
 beams, and a transferring them to me that I may shame Oolb, 
 and its King and its Court, and its — Flea of infamy ! curses 
 light on thee ! and thou 'rt of a surety acting under the 
 instigation of the Evil One, and Satan 's in thee ! Begone, 
 and release me ! So then, peace awhile, and here 's for the 
 third lather." 
 
 Now while he was speaking Baba Mustapha advanced to a 
 
THE DISH OF POMEGEANA.TE GRAIN. 265 
 
 large white object that sat motionless, upright like a snow- 
 mound on a throne of cushions, and commenced lathering. 
 "When she saw that, Kadza tossed up her head and her 
 throat, and a shriek was coming from her, for she was ware 
 of Shagpat ; but Noorna stifled the shriek, and clutched her 
 fast, whispering, " He 's safe if thou have but patience, thou 
 silly Kadza ! and the Flea will defeat this fellow if thou 
 spoil it not." 
 
 So, Kadza said, looking up, "Is 't seen of Allah, and be 
 the Genii still in their depths ] " but she constrained herself, 
 peering and perking out her chin, and lifting one foot and 
 the other foot, as on furnaces of fire in the excess of the ivxy 
 she smothered. And lo, Baba Mustapha worked diligently, 
 and Shagpat was behind an exulting lather, even as one pelted 
 with wheaten flour-balls or balls of powdery perfume, and his 
 hairiness was as branches of the forest foliage bent under a 
 sudden fall of overwhelming snow that fiUeth the pits and 
 sharpeneth the wolves with hunger, and teacheth new cunning 
 to the fox. A fox was Baba Mustapha in his stratagems, 
 and a wolf in the fierceness of his setting upon Shagpat. 
 Surely, he drew forth the blade that was to shear Shagpat, 
 and made with it in the air a preparatory sweep and flourish ; 
 and the blade frolicked and sent forth a light, and seemed 
 eager for Shagpat. So, Baba Mustapha addressed his arm to 
 the shearing, and inclined gently the edge of the blade, and 
 they marked him let it slide twice to a level with the head 
 of Shagpat, and the third time it touched, and Kadza howled, 
 but from Baba Mustapha there burst a howl to madden the 
 beasts ; and he flung up his blade, and wrenched open his 
 robe, crying, " A Flea was it to bite in that fashion 1 Now, 
 I swear by the Merciful, a fang like that 's common to tigers 
 and hyaenas and ferocious animals.'' 
 
 Then looked he for the mark of the bite, plaining of its 
 pang, and he could find the mark nowhere. So, as he caressed 
 himself, eyeing Shagpat sheepishly and with gathering awe, 
 Noorna said, hurriedly, to Kadza, "Away now, and call them 
 
266 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 in, the crowd about the palace, that they may behold the 
 triumph of Shagpat, for 't is ripe, Kadza I " 
 
 And Kadza replied, " Thou 'rt a wise woman, and I '11 have 
 thee richly rewarded. Lo, I 'm as a camel lightened of fifty 
 loads, and the glory of Shagpat see I as a new sun rising in 
 the desert. Wullahy! thou 'rt wise, and I '11 do thy bidding.'' 
 
 Now, she went flying back to the palace, and called shrill 
 calls to the crowd, and collected them in the palace, and 
 headed them through the garden, and it was when Baba Mus- 
 tapha had summoned courage for a second essay, and was in 
 the act of standing over Shagpat to operate on him, that the 
 crowd burst the doors, and he was quickly seized by them, and 
 tugged at and hauled at and pummelled, and torn and vitupe- 
 rated, and as a wrecked vessel on stormy waters, plunging up 
 and down with tattered sails, when the crew fling overboard 
 freight and ballast and provision. Surely, his time would have 
 been short with that mob, but Noorna made Kadza see the use 
 of examining him before the King, and there were in that 
 mob Sheikhs and Fakirs, holy men who listened to the words of 
 Kadza, and exerted themselves to rescue Baba Mustapha, and 
 quieted the rage that was prevailing, and bore Baba Mustapha 
 with them to the great palace of the King, which was in the 
 centre of that City. Now, when the King heard of the 
 attempt on Shagpat, and the affair of the Pomegranate Grain, 
 he gave orders for the admission of the people, as many of 
 them as could be contained in the Hall of Justice : and he set 
 a guard over Baba Mustapha, and commanded that Shagpat 
 should be brought to the palace even as he then was, and with 
 the lather on him. So, the regal mandate went forth, and 
 Shagpat was brought in state on cushions, and the potency of 
 the drug preserved his sedateness through all this, and he 
 remained motionless in sleep, folded in the centre of calm 
 and satisfaction, while this tumult was raging and the City 
 shook with uproar. But the people, when they saw him 
 whitened behind a treble lather, wrath at Baba Mustapha's 
 polluting touch and the audacity of barbercraft wrestled in 
 
THE DISH OF POMEGRANATE GRAIN. 267 
 
 them Tvitli the outpouring of reverence for Shagpat, and a 
 clamour arose for the instant sacrifice of Baba Mustapha at 
 the foot of their idol Shagpat. And the whole of the City 
 of Shagpat, men, women, and children, and the sheikhs and 
 the dervishes and crafts of the City besieged the King's palace 
 in that middle hour of the noon, clamouring for the sacrifice 
 of Baba Mustapha at the feet of their idol Shagpat. 
 
THE BUENING OF THE IDENTICAL. 
 
 Now, the Great Hall for the dispensing of justice in the palace 
 of the King was one on which the architect and the artificers 
 had lavished all their arts and subtleties of design and taste 
 and their conceptions of uniformity and grandeur, so that none 
 entered it without a sense of abasement, and the soul acknow- 
 ledged awfulness and power in him that ruled and sat eminent 
 on the throne of that Hall. For, lo ! the throne was of solid 
 weighty gold, overhung with rich silks and purples; and the 
 hall was lofty, with massive pillars, fifty on either side, ranging 
 in stateliness do'wn toward the blaze of the throne ; and the 
 pillars were pillars of porphyry and of jasper and precious 
 marble, carven over all of them with sentences of the cun- 
 ningest wisdom, distichs of excellence, odes of the poet, stanzas 
 sharp with the incisiveness of wit, and that solve knotty 
 points with but one stroke ; and these pillars were each the 
 gift of a mighty potentate of earth, or of a Genie. 
 
 In the centre of the hall a fountain sent up a glittering jet, 
 and spread abroad the breath of freshness, leaping a height of 
 sixty feet, and shimmering there in a wide bright canopy with 
 dropping silver sides It was rumoured of the waters of this 
 fountain that they were fed underground from the waters of 
 the Sacred Eiver, brought there in the reign of El Rasoon, a 
 former sovereign in the City of Shagpat, by the labours of 
 Zak, — a Genie subject to the magic of Azrooka, the Queen of 
 El Easoon ; but, of a surety, none of earth were like to them iu 
 
THE BURNING OF THE IDENTICAL. 2G£> 
 
 silveriness, sweet coolingness, and they were as wine to the 
 weary. 
 
 Now, the King sat on his throne in the hall, and around 
 him his ministers, and Emirs, and chamberlains, and officers 
 of state, and black slaves, and the soldiers of his guard armed 
 with naked scimitars. And the King was as a sun in splen- 
 dour, severely grave, and a frown on his forehead to darken 
 kingdoms, for the attempt on Shagpat had stirred his kingly 
 wrath, and awakened zeal for the punishment of all con- 
 spirators and offenders. So, when Shagpat was borne in to 
 the King upon his throne of cushions where he sat upright, 
 smiling and inanimate, the King commanded that he should 
 be placed at his side, the place of honour ; and Shagpat was 
 as a moon behind the whiteness of the lathers ; even as we 
 behold moon and sun together in the heavens, was Shagpat 
 by the King. 
 
 There was great hubbub in the hall at the entrance of 
 Shagpat, and a hum of rage and muttered vehemence passed 
 among the assembled people that filled the hall like a cavern 
 of the sea, the sea roaring outside ; but presently the King 
 spake, and all hushed. Then, said he, " people ! thought I 
 to see a day that would lather Shagpat 'i he that has brought 
 honour and renown upon me and all of this city, so that 
 we shine a constellation and place of pilgrimage to men 
 in remote islands and corners of the earth 1 Yea ! and to 
 Af rites and Genii? Have I not castigated barbers, and 
 brought barbercraft to degradation and shame, so that no 
 youth is taught to exercise it 'i And through me the tackle 
 of the barber, is 't not a rusty and abominated weapon, and 
 as a sword thrown by and broken, for that it dishonoured us ? 
 Surely, too, I have esteemed Shagpat precious." 
 
 While he spake the King gazed on Shagpat, and was 
 checked by passion at beholding him under the lathers, so that 
 the people praised Shagpat and the King. Then said he, " 
 people, who shall forecast disasters and triumphs t Lo, I had 
 this day at dawn intelligence from recreant Oolb, and it& 
 
270 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 King and Court, and of their entire return to hairiness and 
 Shagpat ! And I had this day at dawn tidings, people, 
 from Shiraz, and of the adhesion of that vain city and its 
 provinces to hairiness and the might of Shagpat ! So com- 
 menced the day, yet is he, the object of the world's adoring, 
 within a few hours defiled by lathers and the hand of an 
 impious one ! " 
 
 At these words of the King there rose a shout of vindictive- 
 ness and fury ; but he cried, " Punishment on the offenders 
 in season, people ! Probably we have not abased our- 
 selves for the honour that has befallen us in Shagpat, and 
 the distinction among nations and tribes and races, and creeds 
 and sects, that we enjoy because of Shagpat. Behold ! in 
 abasement voluntarily undertaken there is exceeding bright- 
 ness and exaltation ; for how is the sun a sun save that 
 •daily he dippeth in darkness, to rise again freshly majestic 1 
 So then, be mine the example, people of the City of 
 Shagpat ! " 
 
 Thereupon, lo, the King descended from his throne, and 
 stripped to the loins, flinging away his glittering crcvvn and 
 his robes, and abased himself to the dust with loud cries 
 and importunities and howls, and penitential ejaculations 
 and sobbings ; and it was in that Hall as when the sun goeth 
 down in storm. Likewise the ministers of the King, and 
 the Viziers and Emirs and officers of state, and slaves, and 
 soldiers of the guard, bared their limbs, and fell beside the 
 King with violent outcries and wailings ; and the whole of 
 the people in the Hall prostrated their bodies with wailings 
 and lamentations. And Baba Mustapha feigned to bewail 
 himself, and Noorna bin Noorka knelt beside Kadza, and 
 shrieked loudest, striking her breast and scattering her hair ; 
 and that Hall was as a pit full of serpents writhing, and of 
 tigers and lions and wild beasts howling, each pitching his 
 howl a note above his neighbours, so that the tone rose and 
 sank, and there was no one soul erect in that Hall save 
 Shagpat, he on his throne of cushions smiling behind the 
 
THE BURNING OF THE IDENTICAL. 271 
 
 lathers, inanimate, serene as they that sin not. After an 
 hour's lapse there came a pause, and the people hearkened 
 for the voice of the King ; but in the intervals a louder 
 moan would strike their ears, and they whispered among 
 themselves, " 'T is that of the Fakir, El Zoop ! " and the 
 moaning and howling prevailed again. And again they 
 heard another moan, a deep one, as of the earth in its throes, 
 and said among themselves, " 'T is that of Bootlbac, the 
 ■drum-heater ! " and this led off to the howl of Areep, the 
 dervish ; and this was followed by the shriek of Zeel, the 
 garlic-seller ; and the waul of Krooz el Krazawik, the carrier ; 
 and the complainings of Dob, the confectioner ; and the 
 groan of SalMp, the broker ; and the yell of , Azawool, the 
 iDuilder. There would have been no end to it known ; but 
 the King rose and commenced plucking his beard and his 
 hair, — they likewise in silence. When he had performed 
 this ceremony a space, the King called, and a basin of water 
 was brought to him, and handed round by slaves, and all 
 dipped in it their hands, and renewed their countenances and 
 re-arranged their limbs ; and the Hall brightened with the 
 eye of the King, and he cried, " people, lo, the plot is re- 
 vealed to me, and 't is a deep one ; but, by this beard, we '11 
 strike at the root of it, and a blow of deadliness. Surely we 
 have humiliated ourselves, and vengeance is ours ! How 
 say ye 1 " 
 
 A noise like the first sullen growl of a vexed wild beast 
 which telleth that fury is fast travelling and the teeth will 
 flash, followed these words ; and the King called to his 
 soldiers of the guard, " Ho ! forth with this wretch that 
 dared defile Shagpat, the holy one ! and on your heads be it 
 to fetch hither Feshnavat, the son of Feil, that was my 
 Vizier, he that was envious of Shagpat, and whom we spared 
 in our clemency." 
 
 Some of the guard went from the Hall to fulfil the King's 
 injunction on Feshnavat, others thrust forth Baba Mustapha 
 in the eyes of the King. Baba Mustapha was quaking as a 
 
272 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 frog quaketh for water, and he trembled and was a tongueless 
 creature deserted of his lower limbs, and with eyeballs gog- 
 gling, through exceeding terror. Now, when the King saw 
 him, he contracted his brows as one that peereth on a small 
 and minute object, crying, "How! is 't such as he, this 
 monster of audaciousness and horrible presumption 1 Truly 
 't is said : 
 
 ' For ruin and the deeds preluding change, 
 Fear not great Beasts, nor Eagles when they range : 
 But dread the crawling worm or pismire mean, 
 Satan selects them, and they are unseen.' 
 
 And this wretch is even of that sort, the select of Satan I 
 Off with the top of the reptile, and away with him ! " 
 
 Now, at the issue of the mandate Baba Mustapha choked, 
 and horror blocked the throat of confession in him, so that 
 he did nought save stagger imploringly ; but the prompting 
 of Noorna sent Kadza to the foot of the throne, and Kadza 
 bent her body and exclaimed, " King of the age ! 't is 
 Kadza, the espoused of Shagpat thy servant, that speaketh ; 
 and lo ! a wise woman has said in my ear, ' How if this- 
 emissary and instrument of the Evil One, this barber, thia 
 filthy fellow, be made to essay on Shagpat before the people 
 his science and his malice 1 for 't is certain that Shagpat is. 
 surrounded where he sitteth by Genii invisible, defended by 
 them, and no harm can hap to him, but an illumination of 
 glory and triumph manifest : ' and for this barber, his punish- 
 ment can afterwards be looked to, great King ! " 
 
 The King mused awhile and sank in his beard. Then said 
 he to them that had hold of Baba Mustapha watching for 
 the signal, " I 've thought over it, and the means of bringing 
 double honour on the head of Shagpat. So, release this 
 fellow, and put in his hands the tackle taken from him." 
 
 This was done, and the people applauded the wisdom of 
 the King, and crowded forward with sharpness of expecta- 
 tion ; but Baba Mustapha, when he felt in his hands th& 
 
THE BURNING OF THE IDENTICAL. 273 
 
 tackle, the familiar instruments, strength and wit returned to 
 him in petty measures, and he thought, " Perchance there '11 
 yet he time for my nephew to strike if he fail me not ; fool 
 that I was to look for glory, and not leave the work to him, 
 for this Shagpat is a mighty one, powerful in Fleas, and it 
 ueedeth something other than tackle to comhat such as he. 
 A mighty one, said 1 1 by Allah, he 's awful in his mighti- 
 ness ! " So, Baba Mustapha kept delaying, and feigned to 
 sharpen the blade, and the King called to him, " Haste ! to 
 the work ! is it for thee, vile wretch, to make preparation for 
 the accursed thing in our presence 1 " And the people mur- 
 mured and waxed impatient, and the King called again, 
 " Thou 'It essay this, thou wretch, without a head, let but 
 another minute pass." So, when Baba Mustapha could delay 
 no longer, he sighed heavily and his trembling returned, and 
 the power of Shagpat smote him with an invisible hand so 
 that he could scarce move ; but dread pricked him against 
 dread, and he advanced upon Shagpat to shear him, and 
 assumed the briskness of the barber, and was in the act of 
 bending over him to bring the blade into play, when, behold, 
 one of the chamberlains of the King stood up in the presence 
 and spake a word that troubled him, and the King rose and 
 hurried to a balcony looking forth on the Desert, and on 
 three sides of the Desert three separate clouds of dust were 
 visible, and from these clouds presently emerged horsemen 
 with spears and pennons and plumes ; and he could discern 
 the flashing of their helms and the glistening of steel-plates 
 and armour of gold and silver. Seeing this, the colour went 
 from the cheeks of the King and his face became as a pinched 
 pomegranate, and he cried aloud, " What visitation 's this 1 
 Awahy ! we are beset, and here 's abasement brought on us 
 without self-abasing ! " Meantime these horsemen detached 
 themselves from the main bodies and advanced at a gallop, 
 vr^heeling and circling around each other, toward the 
 walls of the city, and when they were closed they lowered 
 their arms and made signs of amity, and proclaimed their 
 
 T 
 
2,14, THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 mission and the name of him they served. So, tidings were- 
 brought to the King that the Lords of three cities, with vast 
 retinues, were come, by reason of a warning, to pay homage 
 to Shagpat, the son of Shimpoor ; and these three cities were 
 the cities of Oolb, and of Gaf, and of Shiraz, even these ! 
 Now, when the King heard of it, he rejoiced with an ex- 
 ceeding great joy, and arrayed himself in glory, and mounted 
 a charger, the pride of his stables, and rode out to meet the 
 Lords of the three cities surrounded by the horsemen of his 
 guard. And it was within half-a-mile of the city walls that 
 the four sovereigns met, and dismounted and saluted and 
 embraced, and bestowed on one another kingly flatteries, and 
 the titles of Cousin and Brother. So when the unctions of 
 Royalty were over, these three Kings rode back to the city 
 with the King that was their host, and the horsemen of the 
 three kingdoms pitched their tents and camped outside the 
 walls, making cheer. Then the King of the City of Shagpat 
 related to the three Kings the story of Shagpat and the- 
 attempt that had been made on him ; and in the great Hall 
 of Justice he ordained the erecting of thrones for them 
 whereon to sit; and they, when they had paid homage to 
 Shagpat, sat by him there on either side. Then the King 
 cried, " This likewise owe we to Shagpat, our glory ! See,, 
 now, how the might that 's in him shall defeat the machi- 
 nations of evil, my cousins of Oolb, and of Gaf, and of 
 Shiraz." Thereupon he called, " Bring forth the barber !" 
 
 So, Baba Mustapha was thrust forth by the soldiers of the 
 guard ; and the King of Shiraz, who was no other than the 
 great King Shahpushan, exclaimed, when he beheld Baba 
 Mustapha, " He t why it is the prince of barbers and talkative 
 ones ! Hath he not operated on my head, the head of me in 
 old time 1 Truly now, if it be in man to shave Shagpat, the 
 hand of this barber will do it ! " 
 
 And the King of Oolb peered on Baba Mustapha, crying, 
 "Even this fellow I bastinadoed ! " 
 
 And the King of G^f, that was Kresnuk, famous in the 
 
THE BUBMING OF THE IDENTICAL. 275 
 
 annals of the time, said aloud, " I'm amazed at the pertinacity 
 of this barber ! To my court he came, searching some silly 
 nephew, and would have shaved us all in spite of our noses ; 
 yea, talked my chief vizier into a dead sleep, and so thinned 
 him. And there was no safety from him save in thongs and 
 stripes and lashes ! " 
 
 Now, upon that the King of the City cried, " Be the will 
 of Allah achieved, and the inviolacy of Shagpat made mani- 
 fest ! Thou barber, thou ! do thy worst to contaminate him, 
 and take the punishment in store for thee. And if it is 
 written thou succeed, then keep thy filthy life : small chance 
 of that ! " 
 
 So, Baba Mustapha remembered the poet's words : 
 
 The abyss is worth a leap, however wide, 
 When life, sweet life, is ou the other side. 
 
 And he controlled himself to the mastery of his members, 
 and stepped forward to essay once more the Shaving of 
 Shagpat. Lo, the Great Hall was breathless, nought heard 
 save the splashing of the fountain in its fall, and the rustle 
 of the robe of Baba Mustapha as he aired his right arm, 
 hovering round Shagpat like a bird about the nest ; and he 
 was buzzing as a bee ere it entereth the flower, and quivered 
 like a butterfly when 't is fluttering over a blossom ; and 
 Baba Mustapha sniffed at Shagpat within arm's reach, fearing 
 him, so that the people began to hum with a great rapture, 
 and the King ShahpushSn cried, " Aha ! mark him ! this 
 monkey knoweth the fire ! " 
 
 But the King of the City of Shagpat was wroth, and com- 
 manded his guards to flourish their scimitars, and the keen 
 light cut the chords of indecision in Baba Mustapha, and 
 drove him upon Shagpat with a dash of desperation ; and lo ! 
 he stretched his hand and brought down the blade upon 
 the head of Shagpat. Then was the might of Shagpat made 
 manifest, for suddenly in his head the Identical rose up 
 straight, even to a level with the roof of that hall, burning as 
 
 T 2 
 
27G THE SHAVma OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 it had been an angry flame of many fiery colours, and Baba 
 Mustapha was burled from bim a great space like a ball tbat 
 reboundeth, and be was twisting after the fashion of en- 
 venomed serpents, sprawling and spuming, and uttering cries 
 of horror. Surely, to see that sight the four Kings and the 
 people bit their forefingers, and winked till the water stood 
 in their eyes, and Kadza, turning about, exclaimed, "This 
 owe we to the wise woman ! where lurketh she 1 " So, she 
 called about the hall, "Wise woman ! wise woman !" 
 
 Ifow, when she could find Noorna bin Noorka nowhere 
 in that crowd, she shrieked exultingly, " 'T was a Genie ! 
 Wullahy ! all Afrites, male and female, are in the service of 
 Shagpat, my light, my eyes, my sun ! I his moon ! " 
 
 Meantime, the King of the City called to Baba Mustapha, 
 " Hast thou had enough of barbering, vile one t Ho ! a 
 second essay on the head of Shagpat ! so shall the might 
 that 's in him be indisputable, bruited abroad, and a great load 
 upon the four winds." 
 
 Now, Baba Mustapha was persuaded by the scimitars of 
 the guard to a second essay on the head of Shagpat, and the 
 second time he was shot away from Shagpat through the 
 crowd and great assemblage to the extreme end of the hall, 
 where he lay writhing about, abandoned in loathliness ; and 
 he in his despondency, and despite of protestation and the 
 slackness of his limbs, was pricked again by the scimitars of 
 the guard to a third essay on the head of Shagpat, the people 
 jeering at him, for they were joyous, light of heart; and lo ! 
 the third time he was shot off violently, and whirled away 
 like a stone from a sling, even into the outer air and beyond 
 the city walls, into the distance of waste places. And now a 
 great cry rose from the people, as it were a song of triumph, 
 for the Identical stood up wrathfully from the head of Shagpat, 
 burning in brilliance, blinding to look on, he sitting inanimate 
 beneath it; and it waxed in size and pierced through the roof 
 of the hall, and was a sight to the streets of the city; and the 
 horsemen camped without the walls beheld it, and marvelled, 
 
THE BURNING OF THE IDENTICAL. 277 
 
 and it was as a pillar of fire to the solitudes of the Desert 
 afar, and the wild Arah and wandering Bedouins and caravans 
 of pilgrimage. Distant cities asked the reason of that appear- 
 ance, and the cunning Fakir interpreted it, and the fervent 
 Dervish expounded from it, and messengers flew from gate to 
 gate and from land to land in exultation, and barhers hid 
 their heads and were friendly with the fox in his earth, 
 because of that light. So the Identical burned on the head 
 of Shagpat as in wrath, and with exceeding splendour of 
 attraction, three nights and three days ; and the fishes of the 
 sea shoaled to the sea's surface and stared at it, and the fowls 
 of the air congregated about the fury of the light with screams 
 and mad flutters, till the streets and mosques and minarets 
 and bright domes and roofs and cupolas of the City of 
 Shagpat were blackened with scorched feathers of the vulture 
 and the eagle and the rook and the raven and the hawk, and 
 other birds, sacred and obscene ; so was the triumph of 
 hairiness made manifest to men and the end of the world by 
 the burning of the Identical three days and three nights. 
 
THE FLASHES OF THE BLADE. 
 
 NoTV, it was the morning of the fourth day, and lo ! at the 
 first leap of the sun of that day the flame of the Identical 
 abated in its fierceness, and it dwindled and darkened, and 
 tapered and flickered feebly, descending from its altitude in 
 the heavens and through the ceiling of the hall, and lay down 
 to sleep among the intricate lengths and frizzled convolutions 
 and undulating weights flowing from Shagpat, an undis- 
 tinguished hair, even as the common hairs of his head. So, 
 upon that, the four fasting Kings breathed, and from the 
 people of the City there went up a mighty shout of gladness 
 and congratulation at the glory they had witnessed ; and they 
 took the air deeply into their chests, and were as divers that 
 have been long fathoms-deep under water, and ascend and 
 puff hard and press the water from their eyes, that yet refuse 
 to acknowledge with a recognition the things that be and 
 the sights above, so mazed are they with those unmentionable 
 marvels and treasures and profusion of jewels, and splendid 
 lazy growths and lavish filmy illuminations, and multitudinous 
 pearls and sheening shells, that lie heaped in the beds of the 
 ocean. As the poet has said : 
 
 After too strong a beam, 
 
 Too bright a glory, 
 Wo ask, la this a dream 
 
 Or magic story ? 
 
THE FLASHES OF THE BLADE. 279 
 
 And he says : 
 
 When I Ve had rapturous Tisiona such as make 
 The sun turn pale, and aaddenly awake, 
 Long must I pull at memory in this beard. 
 Ere I remember men and things revered. 
 
 So was it with the people of the City, and they stood in the 
 hall and winked staringly at one another, shouting and 
 dancing at intervals, capering with mad gravity, exclaiming 
 on the greatness of that they had witnessed. And Zeel the 
 garlic-seller fell upon Dob the confectioner, and cried, " Was 
 this so, Dob 1 Wullahy ! this glory, was it verily 1 " 
 And Dob peered dimly upon Zeel, whispering solemnly, 
 " Say, now, art thou of a surety that Zeel the garlic-seller 
 known to me, my hoon-f ellow t " And the twain turned to 
 SalMp the broker, and exchanged interjections with him, 
 and with Azawool the builder, and with Krooz el Krazawik 
 the carrier ; and they accosted Bootlbac the drum-beater, 
 where he stood apart, drumming the air as to a march of 
 triumph, and no word would he utter, neither to Zeel, nor to 
 Sallap, nor to Krooz el Krazawik, nor to Azawool his neigh- 
 bour, nor to any present, but continued drumming on the 
 air rapidly as in answer, increasing in the swiftness of his 
 drumming till it was a rage to mark him, and the excitement 
 about Bootlbac became as a mad eddy in the midst of a 
 mighty stream, he drumming the air with exceeding swiftness 
 to various measures, beating before him as on the tightened 
 skin, lost to all presences save the Identical and Shagpat. 
 So, they edged away from Bootlbac in awe, saying, " He 's 
 inspired, Bootlbac ! 't is the triumph of Shagpat he drummeth." 
 So, they feigned to listen to him till their ears deceived 
 them, and they rejoiced in the velocity of the soundless 
 tune of Bootlbac the drum-beater, and were stirred by it, 
 excited to a forgetfulness of their fasting. Such was the 
 force of the inspiration of Bootlbac the drum-beater, caused 
 by the burning of the Identical. 
 
 Now, the four Kings, when they had mastered their wits, 
 
280 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 gazed in silence on Shagpat, and sighed and shook their heads, 
 and were as they that have swallowed a potent draught and 
 ponder sagely over the gulp. Surely, the visages of the Kings 
 of Shiraz and of Gaf and of Oolb betokened dread of Shagpat 
 and amazement at him ; hut the King of the City exulted, and 
 the shining of content was on his countenance, and he cried, 
 "Wondrous !" and again, "WuUahy, wondrous !" and "Oh, 
 glory ! " And he laughed and clucked and chuckled, and the 
 triumph of Shagpat was to him as a new jewel in his crown 
 outshining all others, and he was for awhile as the cock 
 smitten with the pride of his comb, the peacock magnified by 
 admiration of his tail. Then he cried, "For this, praise we 
 Allah and the Prophet. Wullahy, 't was wondrous ! " and he 
 went off again into a roll of duckings and chucklings and 
 exclamations of delight, crying, " IlTeed they further proof of 
 the power in Shagpat now ? Has he not manifested it 1 So 
 true is that saying — 
 
 ' The friend that flattereth weakeneth at length ; 
 It is the foe that calleth forth our strength. ' 
 
 Wondrous ! and never knew earth a thing to equal it in the 
 range of marvels ! " 
 
 Now, ere the last word was spoken by the King, there 
 p)assed through the sky a mighty flash. Those in the hall 
 saw it, and the horsemen of the three cities encamped without 
 the walls were nigh blinded by the keenness of its blaze. So, 
 they looked into the height, and saw straight over the City a 
 speck of cloud, but no thunder came from it ; and the King 
 cried, " These be Genii ! the issue of this miracle is yet to 
 come ! look for it, and exult.'' Then he turned to the other 
 Kings, but they were leaning to right and left in their seats, 
 as do the intoxicated, without strength to answer his 
 questioning. So, he exclaimed, " A curse on my head ! 
 have I forgotten the laws of hospitality ? my cousins are 
 famished ! " M"ow, he was giving orders for the spreading of 
 a sumptuous banquet when there passed through the sky 
 
THE PLASHES OF THE BLADE. 281 
 
 another mighty flash. They awaited the thunder this time 
 confidently, yet none came. Suddenly the King exclaimed, 
 " 'T is the wrath of Shagpat that his assailants remain un- 
 castigated ! " Then, cried he to the eunuchs of the guard, 
 " Hither with Feshnavat the son of Feil ! " And the King 
 said to Peshnavat, " Thou plotter ! envious of Shagpat ! " 
 Here the King, Kresnuk, fell forward at the feet of Shagpat 
 from sheer inanition, and the King of the City ordered 
 instantly wines and viands to be brought into the hall, and 
 commenced saying to Feshnavat, in the words of the wise 
 entablature : — 
 
 " ' Of reokleas mercy thus the Sage declared : 
 More culpable the sparer than the spared ; 
 For he that breaks one law, breaks one alone ; 
 But who thwarts Justice flouts Law's sovereign throne.' 
 
 And have I not been over-merciful in thy case 1 " As the 
 King was haranguing Feshnavat, his nostril took in the steam 
 of the viands and the fresh odours of the wines, and he could 
 delay no longer to satisfy his craving, but caught up the 
 goblet, and drank from it till his visage streamed the tears of 
 contentment. Lo, while he put forth his hand tremblingly, 
 as to continue the words of his condemnation of the Vizier, 
 the heavens were severed by a third flash, one exceeding in 
 fierceness the other flashes; and now the Great Hall rocked, 
 and the pillars and thrones trembled, and the eyes of Shagpat 
 opened. He made no motion, but sat like a wonder of stone, 
 looking before him. Surely, Kadza shrieked, and rushed 
 forward to him from the crowd, yet he said nothing, and 
 was as one frozen with exultation. So, the King cried, "He 
 waketh ! the flashes preceded his wakening ! Now shall he 
 see the vengeance of kings on his enemies." Thereupon, he 
 made a signal, and the scimitars of the guard were in air 
 over the head of Feshnavat, when darkness as of the 
 dropping of night fell upon all, and the darkness spakej 
 saying, " I am Abarak of the Bar, preceder of the Event ! " 
 
282 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 Then, it was light, hut the ears of every soul present were 
 pierced with the wailing of wild animals, and on all sides from 
 the Desert thousands of them were seen making toward the 
 City, some swiftly, others at a heavy pace; and when they were 
 come near they crouched and fawned, and dropped their dry 
 tongues as in awe. There was the serpent, meek as before the 
 days of sin, and the leopard slinking to get among the legs of 
 men, and the lion came trundling along in utter flabbiness, 
 raising not his head. Soon the streets were thronged with 
 elephants and lions and sullen tigers, and wild cats and wolves, 
 not a tail erect among them : great was the marvel ! So, the 
 King cried, "We 're in the thick of wonders; banquet we 
 lightly while they increase upon us ! What 's yonder little 
 man 1 " This was Abarak that stood before the King, and 
 exclaimed, " I am the darkness that announceth the mastery 
 of the Event, as a shadow before the sun's approach, and it is 
 the Shaving of Shagpat ! " Now the world darkened before 
 the eyes of the King when he heard this, and in a moment 
 Abarak was clutched by the soldiers of the guard, and dragged 
 beside Eeshnavat to await the final blow; and this would have 
 parted two heads from two bodies at one stroke, but now 
 ZSTooma bin Noorka entered the hall, veiled and in the bright 
 garb of a bride, with veiled attendants about her, and the 
 people opened to give her passage to the throne of the King. 
 So, she said, "Delay the stroke yet awhile, Head of the 
 Magnanimous ! I am she claimed by Shagpat ; surely, I am 
 bride of him that is Master of the Event, and the hour of 
 bridals is the hour of clemency." 
 
 The King looked at Shagpat, perplexed; but the eye of 
 Shagpat gazed as into the distance of another world. Then, 
 said he, "We shall hear nought from the mouth of Shagpat 
 till he is avenged, and till then he is silent with exceeding 
 wrath." Hearing this, Noorna ran quickly to a window of the 
 hall, and let loose a white dove from her bosom. Then, came 
 there that flash which is recorded in old traditions as the fourth 
 of the'flashes of thunderless lightnings, after the passing of 
 
THE PLASHES OF THE BLADE. 283 
 
 which, hundreds of Fakirs that had been awaiting it saw 
 nothing further on this earth. Down through the hall it 
 swept; and lo ! when the Kings and the people recovered their 
 sight to regard Shagpat, he was, one side of him, clean shorn, 
 the shaven side shining as the very moon ! Surely, from that 
 moment there was no longer aught mortal in the com'bat that 
 ensued. For now, while amazement and horror palsied all 
 present, the Genie Karaz, uttering a howl of fury, shot down 
 the length of the hall like a hlack storm-bolt, and caught 
 up Shagpat, and whirled off with him into the air ; and they 
 beheld him dive and dodge the lightnings that beset him from 
 upper heaven, catching Shagpat from them, now by the heels, 
 now by the hair remaining one side his head. This lasted a 
 full hour, when the Genie paused a second, and made a sheer 
 descent into the earth. Then saw they the wings of Koorookh, 
 each a league in length, overshadow the entire land, and on the 
 neck of the bird sat Shibli Bagarag cleaving through the earth 
 with his blade, and he sat on Koorookh as the moon sits on 
 the midnight. There was no light save the light shed abroad 
 by the flashes of the blade, and in these they beheld the air 
 suffocated with Afrites and Genii in a red and brown and 
 white heat, followers of Karaz. Strokes of the blade clove 
 them, and their blood was fire that flowed over the feathers of 
 Koorookh, lighting him in a conflagration ; but the bird flew 
 constantly to a fountain of earth below and extinguished it. 
 Then, the battle recommenced, and the solid earth yawned at 
 the gashes made by the mighty blade, and its depths revealed 
 how Karaz was flying with Shagpat from circle to circle of 
 the under-regions, hurrying with him downward to the lowest 
 circle that was flaming to points like the hair of vast heads. 
 Presently they saw a wondrous quivering flash divide the 
 Genie, and his heels and head fell together in the abysses, 
 leaving Shagpat prone on great brasiers of penal flame. Then, 
 the blade made another hissing sweep over Shagpat, leaving 
 little of the wondrous growths on him save a topknot. 
 
 But now was the hour struck when Eabesqurat could beheld 
 
281 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 no longer serving the ferry in Aklis; and the terrible Queen 
 streamed in the sky, like a red disastrous comet, and dived, 
 eagle-like, into the depths, re-ascending with Shagpat in her 
 arms, cherishing him; and lo, there were suddenly a thousand 
 Shagpats multiplied about, and the hand of Shibli Bagarag 
 became exhausted with hewing at them. The scornful laugh 
 of the Queen was heard throughout earth as she triumphed over 
 Shibli Bagarag with hundreds of Shagpats, Illusions ; and he 
 knew not where to strike at the Shagpat, and was losing all 
 sleight of hand, dexterity, and cunning. ISToorna shrieked, 
 thinking him lost; but Abarak seized his bar, and leaning 
 it in the direction of Aklis, blew a pellet from it that struck 
 on the eye of Aklis, and this sent out a stretching finger of 
 beams, and singled forth very Shagpat from the myriads of 
 semblances, so that he glowed and was ruddy, the rest 
 cowering pale, and dissolving li]ce salt-grains in water. 
 Then saw Earth and its inhabitants how the Genie Karaz 
 re-ascended in the shape of a vulture with a fire-beak, 
 pecking at the eyes of him that wielded the Sword, so that 
 he was bewildered and shook this way and that over the 
 neck of Koorookh, striking wildly, languidly cleaving towers 
 and palaces, and monuments of earth underneath him. 
 Now, Shibli Bagarag discerned his danger, and considered, 
 "The power of the Sword is to sever brains and thoughts. 
 Great is Allah ! I '11 seek my advantage in that." So, he 
 whirled Koorookh thrice in the crimson smoke of the 
 atmosphere, and put the blade between the first and second 
 ' thought in the head of Rabesqurat, so that the sense of the 
 combat became immediately confused in her mind, and she 
 used her powers as the fool does, equally against all, for the 
 sake of mischief solely — no longer mistress of her own 
 Illusions ; and she began doubling and trebling Shibli 
 Bagarag on the neck of monstrous birds, speeding in draggled 
 flightiness from one point of the sky to another. Even in 
 the terror of the combat, Shibli Bagarag was fain to burst 
 into a fit of violent laughter at the sight of the Queen 
 
THE FLASHES OF THE BLADE. 285 
 
 ■wagging her neck loosely, perking it like a mad raven ; and 
 he took heart, and swept the blade rapidly over Shagpat as 
 she dandled him, leaving Shagpat but one hair remaining on 
 him; yet was that the Identical; and it arose, and was a 
 serpent in his head, and from its jaws issued a river of fiery 
 serpents : these and a host of Afrites besieged Shibli Bagarag ; 
 and now, to defend himself, he unloosed the twin Genii, 
 Karavejis and Veejravoosh, from the wrist of that hand 
 which wielded the Sword of Aklis, and these alternately 
 interwound before and about him, and were even as a 
 glittering armour of emerald plates, warding from him the 
 assaults of the host ; and lo ! he flew, and the battle followed 
 him over blazing cities and lands on fire with the slanting 
 hail of sparkles. 
 
 By this time every soul in the City of Shagpat, kings and 
 people, all save Abarak and Noorna bin Noorka, were over- 
 come and prostrate with their faces to the ground ; but 
 Xoorna watched the conflict eagerly, and saw the head of 
 Shagpat sprouting incessant fresh crops of hair, despite the 
 pertinacious shearing of her betrothed. Then, she smote 
 her hands, and cried, "Tea! though I lose my beauty and 
 the love of my betrothed, I must join in this, or he'll be 
 lost." So, saying to Abarak, "Watch over me," she went 
 into the air, and, as she passed Rabesqurat, was multiplied 
 into twenty damsels of loveliness. Then, Abarak beheld 
 a, scorpion following the twenty in mid-air, and darting 
 stings among them. Koorna tossed a ring, and it fell in 
 a circle of flame round the scorpion. So, while the scorpion 
 was shooting in squares to escape from the circle, the fire- 
 beaked vulture flew to it, and fluttered a dense rain which 
 swallowed the flame, and the scorpion and vulture assailed 
 Noorna, that was changed to a golden hawk in the midst of 
 nineteen other golden hawks. Now, as Eabesqurat came 
 scudding by, and saw the encounter, she made the twenty 
 hawks a hundred. The Genie Karaz howled at her, and 
 pinioned her to a pillar below in the Desert, with Shagpat in 
 
286 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 her arms. But, as lie soared aloft to renew the fight with 
 Noorna, Shibli Bagarag loosed to her aid the Slaves of the- 
 Sword, and Abarak marked him slope to a distant corner of 
 earth, and re-ascend in a cloud, which drew swiftly over the 
 land toward the Great Hall. Lo, Shibli Bagarag stepped from 
 it through a casement of the hall, and with him Shagpat, a slack 
 weight, mazed out of all power of motion. Koorookh swooped 
 low ; on his back Baba Mustapha, and Shibli Bagarag flung 
 Abarak beside him on the bird. Then, Koorookh whirred off 
 with them ; and while the heavens raged, Shibli Bagarag pre- 
 pared a rapid lather, and dashed it over Shagpat, and com- 
 menced shearing him with lightning sweeps of the blade. 
 'T was as a racing wheel of fire to see him ! Suddenly he de- 
 sisted, and wiped the sweat from his face. Then, calling on the 
 name of Allah, he gave a last keen cunning sweep with the 
 blade, and following that, the earth awfully quaked and 
 groaned, as if speaking in the abysmal tongue the Mastery of 
 the Event to all men. Aklis was revealed in burning beams 
 as of a sun, and the trouble of the air ceased, vapours slowly 
 curling to the four quarters. Shibli Bagarag had smitten 
 clean through the Identical ! Terribly had Noorna and those 
 that aided her been oppressed by the multitude of their 
 enemies ; but, in a moment these melted away, and Karaz, 
 together with the scorpion that was Goorelka, vanished. Day 
 was on the baldness of Shagpat. 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 So was shaved Shagpat, the son of Shimpoor, the son of 
 Shoolpi, the son of ShuUum, by Shibli Bagarag, of Shiraz, 
 according to preordainment. 
 
 The chronicles relate, that no sooner had he mastered the 
 Event, than men on the instant perceived what illusion had 
 beguiled them, and, in the words of the poet, — 
 
 The blush, with which their folly they confess, 
 Is the first prize of his supreme success. 
 
 Even Bootlbac, the drum-beater, drummed in homage to him, 
 and the four Kings were they that were loudest in their re- 
 vilings of the spouse of Kadza, and most obsequious in praises 
 of the Master. The King of the City was fain to propitiate 
 his people by a voluntary resignation of his throne to Shibli 
 Bagarag, and that King took well to heart the wisdom of the 
 sage, when he says : 
 
 Power, on Illusion hased, o'ertoppeth all ; 
 The more disastrous is its certain fall ! 
 
 Surely, Shibli Bagarag returned the Sword to the Sons of Aklis, 
 flashing it in midnight air, and they, with the others, did reve- 
 rence to his achievement. They were now released from the 
 toil of sharpening the Sword a half-cycle of years, to wander 
 in delight on the fair surface of the flowery earth, breathing its 
 roses, wooing its brides ; for the mastery of an Event lasteth 
 
288 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 among men the space of one cycle of years, and after that a 
 fresh Illusion springeth to befool mankind, and the seven 
 must expend the. concluding half -cycle in preparing the edge 
 of the Sword for a new mastery. As the poet declareth in 
 his scorn : 
 
 Some doabt Eternity : from life begun, 
 
 Has folly ceased within them, sire to son ? 
 
 So, ever fresh Illusions will arise 
 
 And lord creation, until men are wise. 
 
 And he adds : 
 
 That is a distant period ; so prepare 
 To fight the false, youths, and never spare ! 
 For who would lire in chronicles renown'd 
 Must combat folly, or as fool be crown'd. 
 
 Now, for the Kings of Shiraz and of G&f, Shibli Bagarag 
 entertained them in honour ; but the King of Oolb he dis- 
 fjraced and stripped of his robes, to invest Baba Mustapha 
 in those royal emblems — a punishment to the treachery of 
 the King of Oolb, as is said by Aboo Eznol : 
 
 When nations with opposing forces, rash, 
 
 Shatter each other, thou that wouldst have stood 
 Apart to profit by the monstrous feud, 
 
 Thou art the surest victim of the crash. 
 
 Take colours of whichever side thou wilt. 
 
 And steadfastly thyself in battle range ; 
 
 Yet, having taken, shouldst thou dare to change, 
 S uspioion hunts thee as a thing of guilt. 
 
 Baba Mustapha was pronounced Sovereign of Oolb, amid 
 the acclamations of the guard encamped under the command 
 of Ravaloke, without the walls. 
 
 No less did Shibli Bagarag honour the benefactor of Noorna, 
 making him chief of his armies ; and he, with his own hand, 
 bestowed on the good old warrior the dress of honour pre- 
 tented to him by the Seven Sons, charactered with all the 
 
CONCLUSION. 289 
 
 mysteries of Aklis, a marvel lost to men in the failure to 
 master the Illusion now dominating earth. 
 
 So, of all that had worshipped Shagpat, only Kadza clung 
 to him, and she departed with him into the realms of 
 Eahesqurat, who reigned there, divided against herself by the 
 stroke of the Sword. The Queen is no longer mighty, for 
 the widening of her power has weakened it, she being now 
 the mistress of the single-thoughted, and them that follow 
 one idea to the exclusion of a second. The failure in the 
 unveiling of her last-cherished Illusion was in the succumb- 
 ing frailty of him that undertook the task, the world and its 
 wise men having come to the belief that in thwackings there 
 was ignominy to the soul of man, and a tarnish on the lustre 
 of heroes. On that score, hear the words of the poet, a vain 
 
 protest : 
 
 Ye that nonrish hopes of fame ! 
 
 Ye who would be known in song ! 
 Ponder old history, and duly frame 
 Your souls to meek acceptance of the thong. 
 
 Lo ! of hundreds who aspire, 
 
 Eighties perish — nineties tire ! 
 They who bear up, in spite of wrecks and wracks, 
 Were season'd by celestial hail of thwacks. 
 
 Fortune in this mortal race 
 
 Builds on thwackings for its base; 
 Thus the All- Wise doth make a flail a staff, 
 And separates his heavenly corn from ohafE. 
 
 Think ye, had he never known 
 
 Noorna a belabouring crone, 
 Shibli Bagarag would have shaved Shagpat ? 
 The unthwack'd lives in chronicle a rat ! 
 
 'T is the thwacking in this den 
 
 Maketh lions of true men ! 
 So are we nerved to break the clinging mesh 
 Which tames the noblest efforts of poor flesh. 
 
 Feshnavat became his Vizier, and Abarak remained at the 
 right hand of Shibli Bagarag, his slave in great adventure. 
 
 u 
 
290 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 No other condition than bondage gave jjeace to Abarak. He 
 was of the class enumerated by the sage : 
 
 Who, with the strength of giants, are but tools, 
 The weighty hands which serre selected fools. 
 
 Kow, this "was how it was in the case of Baba Mustapha, and 
 the four Kings, and Feshnavat, and Abarak, and Eavaloke, and 
 Kadza, together with Shagpat; but, in the case of JSToorna bin 
 Noorka, surely she was withering from a sting of the scorpion 
 shot against her bosom, but the Seven Sons of Aklis gave 
 her a pass into Aklis on the wings of Koorookh, and Gul- 
 revaz, the daughter of Aklis, tended her, she that was alone 
 capable of restoring her, and counteracting the malice of the 
 scorpion by the hand of purity. So, Noorna prospered ; but 
 Shibli Bagarag drooped in uncertainty of her state, and was 
 as a reaper in a field of harvest, around whom lie the yellow 
 sheaves, and the brown beam of autumn on his head, the 
 blaze of plenty ; yet is he rejoiceless and stands musing, for 
 one is away who should be there, and without whom the 
 goblet of Success giveth an unsweetened draught, and there 
 is nothing pleasant in life, and the flower on the summit of 
 achievement is blighted. At last, as he was listlessly dis- 
 pensing justice in the Great HaU, seven days after the 
 mastery of the Event, lo, Noorna in air, borne by Gulrevaz I 
 she fair and fresh in the revival of health and beauty, and 
 the light of constant love. Of her entry into the Great Hall, 
 to the embrace of her betrothed, the poet exclaims, picturing 
 her in a rapture : 
 
 Her march is music, and my soul obeys 
 
 Each motion, as a lute to canning fingers : 
 I see the earth throb for her as she sways 
 
 Wave-like in air, and like a great flower lingers 
 Heayily over all, as loath to leave 
 What loves her so, and for her loss would grieve. 
 
 But oh, what other hand than Heaven's can paint 
 
 Her eyes, and that black bow from which their lightning 
 
 Pierces afar ! long lustrous eyes, that faint 
 
 In languor, or with stormy passion brightening : 
 
OONOLUSION. 291 
 
 Within them world in world lights up from deep, 
 And gives a glimpse of. the eternal deep.. 
 
 Sigh round her, odorous winds ; and, envious rose, 
 
 So vainly envious, with suoh blushes gifted, 
 Bow to her ; die, strangled with jealous throes, 
 
 O Bulbul I when she sings with brow uplifted ; 
 Gather her, happy youth, and for thy gain 
 Thank Him who could such loveliness ordain. 
 
 Surely, the Master of the Event advanced to her in the glory 
 of a Sultan, and seated her heside him in majesty, and their 
 contract of marriage was read aloud in the hall, and witnessed, 
 and sealed : joyful was he ! Then, commenced that festival 
 which lasted forty days, and is termed the Festival of the 
 honours of hospitality to the Sons of Aklis, wherein the 
 head-cook of the palace, Uruish, performed wonders, in his 
 science, and menaced the renown of. Zrmack, the head-cook 
 of King Shamshureen. Even so the confectioner. Dab, 
 excelled himself in devices and inventions, and his genius 
 urged him to depict in sugars and pastes the entire adventures 
 of Shibli Bagarag iu search pf the Sword. Honour we 
 Uruish, and Dob ! as the poet sayeth : 
 
 Divide not this fraternal twain; 
 
 One are they, and one should for ever remain : 
 
 As to sweet close in fine music we look. 
 
 So the Confectioner follows the Cook. 
 
 And one of the Sons of Aklis, Zaragal, beholding this 
 masterpiece of Dob which was served to the guests in the 
 Great Hall on the fortieth evening, was fain to exclaim in 
 
 extemporaneous verse : 
 
 Have I been wafted to a rise 
 Of banquet spread in Paradise, 
 Dower'd with consuming powers divine. 
 
 And stately, 
 That I, who have not fail'd to dine. 
 
 And greatly. 
 Fall thus upon the cates and wine 
 
 Sedately P 
 
292 THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT. 
 
 So there was feasting in the Hall, and in the City, and 
 over Earth; great pledging the Sovereign of Barbers, who 
 had mastered an Event, and become the benefactor of his 
 craft and of his kind. 'T is certain the race of the Bagarags 
 endured for many centuries, and his seed were the rulers of 
 men, and the seal of their empire stamped on mighty wax 
 the Tackle of Barbers. 
 
 N"ow, of the promise made by the Sons of Aklis to visit Shibli 
 Bagarag before their compulsory return to the labour of the 
 Sword, and recount to him the marvel of their antecedent 
 adventures ; and of the love and grief nourished in the souls 
 of men by the beauty and sorrowful eyes of Gulrevaz, that 
 was named the Bleeding Lily, and of her engagement to tell 
 her story, on condition of receiving the first-bom of Noorna 
 to nurse for a season in Aklis; and of Shibli Bagarag's 
 restoration of towns and monuments destroyed by his battle 
 with Karaz ; and of the constancy of passion of Shibli 
 Bagarag for Noorna, and his esteem for her sweetness, and 
 his reverence for her wisdom ; and of the glory of his reign, 
 and of the Songs and Sentences of Noorna, and of his Laws 
 for the protection and upholding of women, in honour of 
 Ifooma, concernLng which the Sage has said : 
 
 Were men once clad in them, we should create 
 A race not following, but commanding, fate : 
 
 — of aU these records, and of the reign of Baba Mustapha in 
 Oolb, surely the chronicles give them in fulness ; and they 
 that have searched say of them, there is matter therein for 
 the amusement of generations. 
 
 THE END. 
 
FARINA. 
 
FAEINA. 
 
 THE WHITE EOSE CLUB. 
 
 In tkose lusty ages when the Kaisers lifted high the golden 
 goblet of Aachen, and drank, elbow upwards, the green-eyed 
 ■wine of old romance, there lived, a bow-shot from the bones 
 of the Eleven Thousand Virgins and the Three Holy Kings, 
 a prosperous Ehinelander, by name Gottlieb Groschen, or, as 
 it was sometimes ennobled, Gottlieb von Groschen; than 
 whom no wealthier merchant bartered for the glory of his 
 ancient mother-city, nor more honoured burgess swallowed 
 impartially red juice and white under the shadow of his own 
 fig-tree. 
 
 Yine-hills, among the hottest sun-bibbers of the Eheingau, 
 glistened in the roll of Gottlieb's possessions ; corn-acres 
 below Cologne ; basalt-quarries about Linz ; mineral-springs 
 in Nassau, a legacy of the Eomans to the genius and enter- 
 prise of the first of German traders. He could have bought 
 Tip every hawking crag, owner and all, from Hatto's Tower 
 to Eheineck. Lore-ley, combing her yellow locks against 
 the night-cloud, beheld old Gottlieb's rafts endlessly stealing 
 on the moonlight through the iron pass she peoples above 
 St. Goar. A wailful host were the wives of his raftsmen 
 widowed there by her watery music ! 
 
 This worthy citizen of Cologne held vasty manuscript 
 letters of the Kaiser addressed to him : 
 
296 FARINA. 
 
 "Dear well-born son and subject of mine, Gottlieb!" 
 and he v/as easy with the proudest princes of the Holy- 
 German Eealm. For Gottlieb was a money-lender and an 
 honest man in one body. He laid out for the plenteous 
 harvests of usury, not pressing the seasons with too much 
 rigour. " I sow my seed in winter," said he, " and hope to 
 reap good profit in autumn; but if the crop be scanty, 
 better let it lie and fatten the soil." 
 
 " Old earth's the wisest creditor," he would add ; " she 
 never squeezes the sun, but just takes what he can give her 
 year by year, and so makes sure of good annual interest." 
 
 Therefore when people asked Gottlieb how he had risen 
 to such a pinnacle of fortune, the old merchant screwed his 
 eye into its wisest corner, and answered slyly, " Because I've 
 always been a student of the heavenly bodies ;" a communi- 
 cation which failed not to make the orbs and systems objects 
 of ardent popular worship in Cologne, where the science was 
 long since considered alchymic, and still may be. 
 
 Seldom could the Kaiser go to war on Welschland without 
 first taking earnest counsel of his well-born son and subject 
 Gottlieb, and lightening his chests. Indeed the imperial 
 pastime must have ceased, and the Kaiser had languished 
 but for him. Cologne counted its illustrious citizen some- 
 thing more than man. The burghers defied when he passed ; 
 and scampish leather-draggled urchins gazed after him with 
 preternatural respect on their hanging chins, as if a gold- 
 mine of great girth had walked through the awe-struck game. 
 
 But for the young men of Cologne he had a higher claim 
 to reverence as father of the fair Margarita, the "White Eose 
 of Germany ; a noble maiden, peerless, and a jewel for 
 princes. 
 
 The devotion of these youths should give them a name in 
 chivalry. In her honour, daily and nightly, they earned 
 among themselves black bruises and paraded discoloured 
 countenances, with the humble hope to find it pleasing in 
 her sight. The tender fanatics went in bands up and down 
 
THE WHITE ROSE CLUB. 297 
 
 Ehineland, challenging the peasantry with staff and beaker 
 to acknowledge the supremacy of their mistress. Whoso of 
 them journeyed into foreign parts, wrote home boasting how 
 many times his head had been broken on behalf of the fair 
 Margarita ; and if this happened very often, a spirit of 
 burning envy was created, which compelled him, when he 
 returned, to verify his prowess on no less than a score of his 
 rivals. Not to possess a beauty-scar, as the wounds received 
 in these endless combats were called, became a sign of 
 wretchedness so abject that much voluntary maiming was 
 conjectured to be going on; and to obviate this piece of 
 treachery, minutes of fights were taken and attested, setting 
 forth that a certain glorious cut or crack was honourably 
 won in fair field ; on what occasion ; and from whom ; every 
 member of the White Eose Club keepiog his particular 
 scroll, and, on days of festival and holiday, wearing it 
 haughtily in his helm. Strangers entering Cologne were 
 astonished at the hideous appearance of these strutting 
 striplings, and thought they never had observed so ugly a 
 race ; but they were forced to admit the fine influence 
 of beauty on commerce^ seeing that the consumption of beer 
 increased almost hourly. All Bavaria could not equal 
 Cologne for quantity made away with. 
 
 The chief members of the White Eose Club were 
 Berthold Schmidt, the rich goldsmith's son ; Dietrich Schill, 
 son of the imperial saddler ; Heinrich Abt, Franz Endermann, 
 and Ernst Geller, sons of chief burghers, each of whom car- 
 ried a yard-long scroll in his cap, and was much too dis- 
 figured in person for men to require any inspection of the 
 document. They were dangerous youths to meet, for the 
 oaths, ceremonies, and recantations they demanded from 
 every wayfarer, under the rank of baron, were what few might 
 satisfactorily perform, if lovers of woman other than the 
 fair Margarita, or loyal husbands ; and what none save trained 
 heads and stomachs could withstand, however naturally manful. 
 The captain of the club was he who could drink most beer 
 
298 FAEINA. 
 
 without intermediate sighing, and whose face reckoned the 
 proudest number of slices and mixture of colours. The cap- 
 taincy was most in dispute between Dietrich Schill and 
 Berthold Schmidt, who, in the heat and constancy of conten- 
 tion, were gradually losing likeness to man. " Good coin," 
 they gloried to reflect, " needs no stamp.'' 
 
 One youth in Cologne held out against the standing 
 tyranny, and chose to do beauty homage in his own fashion, 
 and at his leisure. It was Farina, and deadly oaths were 
 registered against him over empty beer-barrels. An axiom 
 of the White Eose Club laid it down that everybody must 
 be enamoured of Margarita, and the conscience of the club 
 made them trebly suspicious of those who were not members. 
 They had the consolation of knowing that Farina was poor, 
 but then he was affirmed a student of Black Arts, and from 
 such a one the worst might reasonably be feared. He might 
 bewitch Margarita ! 
 
 Dietrich SchUl was deputed by the club to sound the 
 White Eose herself on the subject of Farina, and one after- 
 noon in the vintage season, when she sat under the hot vine- 
 poles among maiden friends, eating ripe grapes, up sauntered 
 Dietrich, smirking, cap in hand, with his scroll trailed behind 
 him. 
 
 " Wilt thou t " said Margarita, offering him a bunch. 
 
 " Unhappy villain that I am ! " replied Dietrich, gesticu- 
 lating fox-like refusal ; "if I but accept a favour, I break 
 faith with the club." 
 
 "Break it to pleasure me," said Margarita, smiling wickedly. 
 
 Dietrich gasped. He stood on tiptoe to see if any of the 
 club were by, and half-stretched out his hand. A mocking 
 laugh caused him to draw it back as if stung. The grapes 
 fell. Farina was at Margarita's feet offering them in return. 
 
 " Wilt thou 1 " said Margarita, with softer stress, and slight 
 excess of bloom in her cheeks. 
 
 Farina put the purple cluster to his breast, and clutched 
 them hard on his heart, still kneeling. 
 
THE WHITE EOSB CLUB. 299 
 
 Margarita's brow and bosom seemed to be reflections of tbe 
 streaming crimson there. She shook her face to the sky, and 
 affected laughter at the symbol. Her companions clapped 
 hands. Farina's eyes yearned to her once, and then he rose 
 and joined in the pleasantry. 
 
 Fury helped Dietrich to forget his awkwardness. He 
 touched Farina on the shoulder with two fingers, and mut- 
 tered huskily : " The club never allow that." 
 
 Farina bowed, as to thank him deeply for the rules of the 
 club. " I am not a member, you know," said he, and strolled 
 to a seat close by Margarita. 
 
 Dietrich glared after him. As head of a club he understood 
 the use of symbols. He had lost a splendid opportunity, and 
 Farina had seized it. Farina had robbed him. 
 
 "May I speak with Mistress Margarita?" inquired the 
 White Eose chief, in a ragged voice. 
 
 " Surely, Dietrich ! do speak," said Margarita. 
 
 " Alone t " he continued. 
 
 " Is that allowed by the club 1 " said one of the young 
 girls, with a saucy glance. 
 
 Dietrich deigned no reply, but awaited Margarita's decision. 
 She hesitated a second ; then stood up her full height before 
 him ; faced him steadily, and beckoned him some steps up 
 the vine-path. Dietrich bowed, and passing Farina, in- 
 formed him that the club would wring satisfaction out of him 
 for the insult. 
 
 Farina laughed, but answered, " Look, you of the club ! 
 beer-swilling has improved your manners as much as fighting 
 has beautified your faces. Go on ; drink and fight ! but 
 remember that the Kaiser's coming, and fellows with him 
 who will not be bullied." 
 
 " What mean you ? " cried Dietrich, lurching round on 
 his enemy. 
 
 "Not so loud, friend," returned Farina. "Or do you 
 wish to frighten the maidens 1 I mean this, that the club 
 had better give as little offence as possible, and keep their 
 
300 FAEINA. 
 
 eyes as wide as they can, if they want to be of service to 
 Mistress Margarita." 
 
 Dietrich turned off with a grunt. 
 
 " Ifow ! " said Margarita. 
 
 She was tapping her foot. Dietrich grew unfaithful to 
 the club, and looked at her longer than his mission warranted. 
 She was bright as the sunset gardens of the Golden Apples. 
 The braids of her yellow hair were bound in wreaths, and 
 on one side of her head a saffron crocus was stuck with the 
 bell downward. Sweetness, song, and wit hung like dews of 
 morning on her grape-stained lips. She wore a scarlet 
 corset with bands of black velvet across her shoulders. The 
 girlish gown was thin blue stuff, and fell short over her firm- 
 set feet, neatly cased in white leather with buckles. There 
 was witness in her limbs and the way she carried her neck 
 of an amiable, but capable, dragon, ready, when aroused, to 
 bristle up and guard the Golden Apples against all save the 
 rightful claimant. Yet her nether-lip and little white chin- 
 ball had a dreamy droop ; her frank blue eyes went straight 
 into the speaker : the dragon slept. It was a dangerous 
 charm. "For,"' says the minnesinger, "what ornament more 
 enchants us on a young beauty than the soft slumber of a 
 strength never yet called forth, and that herself knows not 
 of ! It sings double things to the heart of knighthood ; 
 lures, and warns us ; . woos, and threatens. 'lis as nature, 
 shining peace, yet the mother of storm." 
 
 "There is no man," rapturously exclaims Heinrich von 
 der Jungferweide, " can resist the desire to win a sweet 
 treasure before which lies a dragon sleeping. The very 
 danger prattles promise.'' 
 
 But the dragon must really sleep, as with Margarita. 
 
 " A sham dragon, shamming sleep, has destroyed more 
 virgins than all the heathen emperors," says old Hans 
 Aepfelmann of DUsseldorf. 
 
 Margarita's foot was tapping quicker. 
 
 " Speak, Dietrich ! " she said. 
 
THE WHITE EOSE CLUB. 301 
 
 Dietrich declared to the cUib that at this point he muttered, 
 " We love you." Margarita was glad to believe he had not 
 spoken of himself. He then informed her of the fears enter- 
 tained by the club, sworn to watch over and protect her, 
 regarding Farina's arts. 
 
 " And what fear you 1 " said Margarita. 
 
 " We fear, sweet mistress, he may be in league with 
 Sathanas," replied Dietrich. 
 
 " Truly, then," said Margarita, " of all the youths in 
 Cologne he is the least like his confederate." 
 
 Dietrich gulped and winked, like a patient recovering 
 wry-faced from an abhorred potion. 
 
 " We have warned you, Fraulein Groschen ! " he ex- 
 claimed. " It now becomes our duty to see that you are not 
 snared." 
 
 Margarita reddened, and returned : " You are kind. But 
 Jl axQ. a, Christian maiden and not a Pagan soldan, and I do 
 not require a body of tawny guards at my heels." 
 
 Thereat she flung back to her companions, and began 
 staining her pretty mouth with grapes anew. 
 
THE TAPESTRY WOEK. 
 
 Pair maids will have their hero in history. Siegfried was 
 Margarita's chosen. She sang of Siegfried all over the 
 house. " the old days of Germany, when such a hero 
 walked ! " she sang. 
 
 " And who wins Margarita,'' mused Farina, "happier than 
 Siegfried, has in his arms Brunhild and Chrimhild together • '»w, 
 
 Crowning the young girl's breast was a cameo, and the 
 skill of some cunning artist out of Welschland had wrought 
 on it the story of the Drachenfels. Her bosom heaved the 
 battle up and down. ^ 
 
 This cameo was a north star to German manhood, hut* 
 caused many chaste expressions of abhorrence from Aunt 
 Lisbeth, Gottlieb's unmarried sister, who seemed instinctively 
 to take part with the Dragon. She was a frail-fashioned little 
 old lady, with a face betokening the perpetual smack of 
 lemon, and who reigned in her brother's household when the 
 good wife was gone. Margarita's robustness was beginning 
 to alarm and shock Aunt Lisbeth's sealed stock of virtue. 
 
 " She must be watched, such a madl as that,'' said Aunt 
 Lisbeth. " Ursula ! what limbs she has ! " 
 
 Margarita was watched ; but the spy being neither foe nor 
 friend, nothing was discovered against her. This did not 
 satisfy Aunt Lisbeth, whose own suspicion was her best 
 witness. She allowed that Margarita dissembled well. 
 
 " But," said she to her niece, " though it is good in a girl 
 
THE TAPESTRY WORK. 303 
 
 not to flaunt these naughtinesses in effrontery, I care for you 
 too much not to say — Be what you seem, my little one ! " 
 
 " And that am I ! " exclaimed Margarita, starting up and 
 towering. 
 
 " Eight good, my niece," Lisheth squealed ; " hut now 
 Frau Groschen lies in God's acre, you owe your duty to me, 
 mind 1 Did you confess last week 1 " 
 
 " From beginning to end," replied Margarita. 
 
 Aunt Lisheth fixed pious reproach on Margarita's cameo. 
 
 " And still you wear that thing ? " 
 
 " "Why not ? " said Margarita. 
 
 " Girl ! who would bid you set it in such a place save 
 Satan ? Oh, thou poor lost child ! that the eyes of the idle 
 youths may be drawn there ! and thou become his snare to 
 others, Margarita ! What was that Welsh wandering 
 juggler but the foul fiend himself, mayhap, thou maiden of 
 u J.1 ! They say he has been seen in Cologne lately. He 
 was swarthy as Satan and limped of one leg. Good Master 
 in heaven, protect us ! it was Satan himself I could swear ! " 
 
 Aunt Lisheth crossed brow and breast in terror. 
 
 Margarita had commenced fingering the cameo, as if to tear 
 it away ; but Aunt Lisbeth's finish made her laugh outright. 
 
 " Where I see no harm, aunty, I shall think the good God 
 is," she answered ; " and where I see there's harm, I shall 
 think Satan lurks." 
 
 A simper of sour despair passed over Aunt Lisheth. She 
 sighed, and was silent, being one of those very weak reeds 
 who are easily vanquished and never overcome. 
 
 " Let us go on with the Tapestry, child," said she. 
 
 Now, Margarita was ambitious of completing a certain 
 Tapestry for presentation to Kaiser Heinrich on his entry 
 into Cologne after his last campaign on the turbaned Danube. 
 The subject was again her beloved Siegfried slaying the 
 Dragon on Drachenfels. Whenever Aunt Lisheth indulged 
 in any bitter virginity, and was overmatched by Margarita's 
 frank maidenhood, she hung out this tapestry as a flag of 
 
304 FARINA. 
 
 truce. They were working it in bits, not having contrivances 
 to do it in a piece. Margarita took Siegfried and Aunt Lisbeth 
 the Dragon. They shared the crag between them. A 
 roughish gleam of the Ehine toward jSTonnenwertli could be 
 already made out, Eoland's Corner hanging like a sentinel 
 across the chanting island, as one top-heavy with long watch. 
 
 Aunt Lisbeth was a great proficient in the art, and had 
 taught Margarita. The little lady learnt it, with many other 
 gruesome matters, in the Palatine of Bohemia's family. She 
 usually talked of the spectres of HoUenbogenblitz Castle in 
 the passing of the threads. Those were dismal spectres in 
 Bohemia, smelling of murder and the charnel-breath of mid- 
 night. They uttered noises thatwinteredtheb]ood,andrevealed 
 sights that stiffened hair three feet long; ay, and kept it stiff ! 
 
 Margarita placed herself on a settle by the low-arched 
 window, and Aunt Lisbeth sat facing her. An evening sun 
 blazoned the buttresses of the Cathedral, and shadowed the 
 work-frames of the peaceful couple to a temperate light. 
 Margarita unrolled a sampler sheathed with twists of divers 
 coloured threads, and was soon busy silver-threading Siegfried's 
 helm and horns. 
 
 " I told you of the steward, poor Kraut, did I not, Child 1 " 
 inquired Aunt Lisbeth, quietly clearing her throat. 
 
 "Many times!" said Margarita, and went on humming 
 over her knee : 
 
 " Her love was a Baron, 
 A Baron bo bold ; 
 She loved him for love, 
 He loved her for gold." 
 
 " He must see for himself, and be satisfied," continued 
 Aunt Lisbeth ; " and Holy Thomas to warn him for an 
 example ! Poor Kraut ! " 
 
 " Poor Kraut ! " echoed Margarita. 
 
 " The King loved wine, and the Knight loved wine, 
 And they loved the summer weather : 
 They might have loved each other well. 
 But for one they loved together." 
 
THE TAPESTET WORK. 305 
 
 " You may say, poor Kraut, child ! " said Aunt Lisbeth. 
 " Well ! his face was hefore that as red as this dragon's jaw, 
 and ever after he went ahout as white as a pullet's egg. 
 That was something wonderful ! " 
 
 " That was it ! " chimed Margarita. 
 
 " the King he loved his lawful wife, 
 The Knight a lawless lady : 
 And ten on one made ringing strife, 
 Beneath the forest shady." 
 
 "Fifty to one, child !" said Aunt Lisheth. " You forget 
 the story. They made Kraut sit with them at the jabbering 
 feast, the only mortal there. The walls were full of eye- 
 sockets without eyes, but phosphorus instead, burning blue 
 and damp." 
 
 " Not to-night, aunty dear ! It frightens me so,'' pleaded 
 Margarita, for she saw the dolor coming. 
 
 "Night! when it's broad mid-day, thou timid one ! Good 
 Heaven take pity on such as thou ! The dish was seven feet 
 in length by four broad. Kraut measured it with his eye, 
 and never forgot it. Not he ! When the dish-cover was 
 lifted, there he saw himself lying, boiled ! 
 
 " ' I did not feel uncomfortable then,' Kraut told us. ' It 
 seemed natural.' 
 
 " His face, as it lay there, he says, was quite calm, only a 
 little wriakled, and piggish-looking-like. There was the 
 mole on his chin, and the pucker under his left eyelid. Well ! 
 the Baron carved. All the guests were greedy for a piece of 
 him. Some cried out for breast ; some for toes. It was 
 shuddering cold to sit and hear that ! The Baroness said, 
 ' Cheek ! ' " 
 
 " Ah ! " shrieked Margarita, " that can I not bear ! I will 
 not hear it, aunt ; I will not ! " 
 
 " Cheek ! " Aunt Lisbeth reiterated, nodding to the floor. 
 
 Margarita put her fingers to her ears. 
 
 " Still, Kraut says, even then he felt nothing odd. Of 
 course he was horrified to be sitting with spectres as you and 
 
 X 
 
306 FAEINA, 
 
 I should be ; but tbe first tremble of it was over. He had 
 plunged into the bath of horrors, and there he was. I've 
 heard that you must pronounce the names of the Yirgin and 
 Trinity, sprinkling water round you all the while for three 
 minutes ; and if you do this without interruption, everything 
 shall disappear. So they say. 'Oh! dear Heaveu of mercy!' 
 says Kraut, 'what I felt when the Baron laid his long hunting- 
 knife across my left cheek ! ' " 
 
 Here Aunt Lisbeth lifted her eyes to dote upon Margarita's 
 fright. She was very displeased to find her niece, with elbows 
 on the window-sill and hands round her head, quietly gazing 
 into the street. 
 
 She said severely, " "Where did you learn that song you 
 were last singing, Margarita 1 Speak, thou girl ! " 
 
 Margarita laughed. 
 
 " The thrnsb, and the lark, and the blackbird, 
 They taught me how to sing : 
 And that the hawk would lend his eye, 
 And the eagle lend his wing," 
 
 "I wiU not hear these shameless songs,'' exclaimed Aunt 
 Lisbeth. 
 
 " For I would view the lands they view, 
 And be where they hare been : 
 It is not enough to be singing 
 For ever in dells unseen! " 
 
 A voice was heard applauding her. " Good ! right good ! 
 Carol again, Gretelchen ! my birdie ! " 
 
 Margarita turned, and beheld her father in the doorway. 
 She tripped towards him, and heartily gave him their kiss 
 of meeting. Gottlieb glanced at the helm of Siegfried. 
 
 " Guessed the work was going well ; you sing so light- 
 somely to-day, Grete ! Very pretty 1 And that's Drachenfels 1 
 Bones of the Virgins 1 what a bold fellow was Siegfried, and 
 a lucky, to have the neatest lass in Deutschland in love 
 with him. Well, we must marry her to Siegfried after all, 
 
THE TAPESTRT WORK. 307 
 
 I bblieve ! Aha t or somebody as good as Siegfried. So 
 chirrup on, my darling ! " 
 
 "Aunt Lisbeth does not approve of my songs,'' replied 
 Margarita, untwisting some sUver threads. 
 
 " Do thy father's command, girl ! " said Aunt Lisbeth. 
 
 " And doing his command, 
 
 Should I do a thing of ill, — 
 I'd rather die to his lovely face, 
 Than wanton at hia will." 
 
 " There — there," said Aunt Lisbeth, straining out her 
 fingers ; " you see, Gottlieb, what over-indulgence brings her 
 to. Not another girl in blessed Khineland, and Bohemia to 
 boot, dared say such words ! — than — I can't repeat them ! 
 — don't ask me ! — She's becoming a Erankish girl ! " 
 
 " "What ballad's that ? " said Gottlieb, smiling. 
 
 " The Ballad of Holy Ottilia ; and her lover was sold to 
 darkness. And she loved him — loved him — " 
 
 " As you love Siegfried, you little one f " 
 
 " More, my father ; for she saw Winkried, and I never 
 saw Siegfried. Ah ! if I had seen Siegfried ! Never mind. 
 She loved him ; but she loved Virtue more. And Virtue is 
 the child of God, and the good God forgave her for loving 
 Winkried, the Devil's son, because she loved Virtue more, 
 and He rescued her as she was being dragged down — down 
 — down, and was half fainting with the smell of brimstone — 
 rescued her and had her carried into His Glory, head and 
 feet, on the wings of angels, before all men, as a hope 
 to little maidens. 
 
 " And when I thought that I was lost, 
 I found that I was saved, 
 And I was borne through blessed clouds, 
 Where the banners of bliss were waved." 
 
 "And so you think you, too, may fall in love with 
 Devils' sons, girl?" was Aunt Lisbeth's comment. 
 
 X 2 
 
308 FAKINA. 
 
 " Do look at Lisbeth's Dragon, little Heart ! it's so like ! " 
 said Margarita to her father. 
 
 Old Gottlieb twitted his hose, and chuckled. 
 
 " She's my girl ! that may he seen," said he, patting her, 
 and -wheezed up from his chair to waddle across to the Dragon. 
 But Aunt Lisheth, tartly turned the Dragon to the wall. 
 
 " It is not yet finished, Gottlieb, and must not be looked 
 at," she interposed. " I will call for wood, and see to a 
 fire : these evenings of spring wax cold : " and away 
 whimpered Aunt Lisheth. 
 
 Margarita sang : 
 
 " I with my playmates, 
 In riot aud disorder, 
 Were gathering herb and blossom 
 Along the forest border." 
 
 " Thy mother's song, child of my heart ! " said Gottlieb ; 
 " but vex not good Lisbeth : she loves thee ! ' 
 
 " And do you think she loves me ? 
 And will you say 'tis true ? 
 0, and will she have me, 
 When I come up to woo ? " 
 
 " Thou leaping doe ! thou chattering pie ! " said Gottlieb. 
 
 " She shall have ribbons and trinkets, 
 And shine like a morn of May, 
 When we are off to the little hill-ohurch, 
 Our flowery bridal way." 
 
 " That she shall ; and something more ! " cried Gottlieb. 
 "But, hark thee, Gretelohen ; the Kaiser will be here in 
 three days. Thou dear one ! had I not stored and hoarded 
 all for thee, I should now have my feet on a hearthstone 
 where even he might warm his boot. So get thy best 
 dresses and jewels in order, and look thyself, proud as any 
 in the land. A simple burgher's daughter now, Grete ; but 
 so shalt thou not end, my butterfly, or there's neither worth 
 nor wit in Gottlieb Grosohen ! " 
 
THE TAPESTRY WORK. 309 
 
 " Three days ! " Margarita exclaimed ; " and the helm not 
 finished, and the tapestry-pieces not sewed and joined, and 
 the water not shaded off. — Oh ! I must work night and day." 
 
 " Child ! I'll have no working at night ! Your rosy 
 cheeks will soon be sucked out by oil-light, and you look no 
 better than poor tallow court beauties — to say nothing of the 
 danger. This old house saw Charles the Great embracing 
 the chief magistrate of his liege city yonder. Some swear 
 be slept in it. He did not sneeze at smaller chambers than 
 our Kaisers abide. No gold ceilings with cornice carvings, 
 but plain wooden beams." 
 
 " Know that the men of great renown, 
 Were men of simple needs : 
 Bare to the Lord they laid them down, 
 And slept on mighty deeds.'' 
 
 " God wot, there's no emptying thy store of ballads, Grete : 
 so much shall be said of thee. Yes ; times are changing. 
 We're growing degenerate. Yes ; yes ! Look at the men 
 of Linz now to what they were ! Would they have let the 
 lads of Andernach float down cabbage-stalks to them without 
 a shy back ? And why t All because they f unck that 
 brigand-beast Werner, who gets redemption from Laach, 
 hard by his hold, whenever he commits a crime worth 
 paying for. As for me, my timber and stuffs must come 
 down stream, and are too good for the nixen under Ehine, or 
 think you I would acknowledge him with a toll, the hell- 
 dog 1 Thunder and lightning ! if old scores could be 
 rubbed out on his hide ! " 
 
 Gottlieb whirled a thong-lashing arm in air, and groaned 
 of law and justice. What were they coming to ! 
 
 Margarita softened the theme with a verse : 
 
 " And tho' to sting hie enemy, 
 Is sweetness to the angry bee. 
 The angry bee must busy be, 
 Ere sweet of sweetness hiveth he." 
 
310 FAEINA. 
 
 The arch thrill of his daughter's voice tickled Gottlieb. 
 " That's it, birdie ! You and the proverb are right. I don't 
 know -which is best — 
 
 " Better hive 
 And keep alive ; 
 Than vengeance wake 
 
 With that you take." 
 
 A clatter in the cathedral square brought Gottlieb on his 
 legs to the window. It was a company of horsemen 
 sparkling in harness. One trumpeter rode at the side of the 
 troop, and in front a standard-bearer, matted down the chest 
 with ochre beard, displayed aloft to the good citizens of 
 Cologne, three brown hawks, with birds in their beaks, on an 
 azure star-dotted field. , 
 
 " Holy cross ! " exclaimed Gottlieb, low in his throat ; 
 " the arms of Werner ! Where got he money to mount his 
 men'? Why, this is daring all Cologne in our very teeth ! 
 'Fend that he visit me now ! Euin smokes in that ruffian's 
 track. I've felt hot and cold by turns all day." 
 
 The horsemen came jingling carelessly along the street in 
 scattered twos and threes, laughing together, and singling 
 out the maidens at the gable-shadowed windows with 
 hawking eyes. The good citizens of Cologne did not look 
 on them favourably. Some showed their backs and gruffly 
 banged their doors : others scowled and pocketed their fists : 
 not a few slunk into the side alleys like well-licked curs, 
 and scurried off with forebent knees. They were in truth 
 ferocious-looking fellows these trusty servants of the robber 
 Baron Werner, of Werner's Eck, behind Andernach. 
 Leather, steel, and dust, clad them from head to foot ; big 
 and black as bears ; wolf-eyed, fox-nosed. They glistened 
 bravely in the falling beams of the sun, and Margarita 
 thrust her fair braided yellow head a little forward over her 
 father's shoulder to catch the whole length of the grim, 
 cavalcade. One of ,the troop was not long in discerning the 
 
THE TAPESTEY WORK. 311 
 
 young beauty. He pointed her boldly out to a comrade, who 
 approved his appetite, and referred her to a third. The rest 
 followed lead, and Margarita was as one spell-struck when she 
 became aware that all those hungry eyes were preying on 
 hers. Old Gottlieb was too full of his own. fears to think 
 for her, and when he drew in his head rather suddenly, it 
 was with a dismal foreboding that Werner's destination in 
 Cologne was direct to the house of Gottlieb Groschen, for 
 purposes only too well to be divined. 
 
 "Devil's breeches!" muttered Gottlieb; "look again, 
 Grete, and see if that hell-troop stop the way outside." 
 
 Margarita's cheeks were overflowing with the offended 
 rose. 
 
 " I will not look at them again, father." 
 
 Gottlieb stared, and then patted her. 
 
 " I would I were a man, father ! " 
 
 Gottlieb smiled, and stroked his beard. 
 
 " Oh ! how I burn ! " 
 
 And the girl shivered visibly. 
 
 " Grete ! mind to be as much of a woman as you can, and 
 soon such raff as this you may sweep away, like cobwebs, 
 and no harm done." 
 
 He was startled by a violent thumping at the street-door, 
 and as brazen a blast as if the dead were being summoned. 
 Aunt Lisbeth entered, and flitted duskily round the room, 
 crying : 
 
 "We are lost: they are upon us ! better death with a 
 bodkin ! Never shall it be said of me ; never ! the 
 monsters ! " 
 
 Then admonishing them to lock, bar, bolt, and block up 
 every room in the house. Aunt Lisbeth perched herself des- 
 perately on the edge of a chair, and reversed the habits of 
 the screech-owl, by being silent when stationary. 
 
 " There's nothing to fear for you, Lisbeth," said Gottlieb, 
 ■with discourteous emphasis. 
 
 " Gottlieb ! do you remember what happened at the siege of 
 
312 FARINA. 
 
 Mainz 1 and poor Marthe Herbstblum, wlio had hoped to die 
 as she was ; and Dame Altknopfchen, and Frau Kaltblut, 
 and the old baker, Hans Topf's sister, all of them as holy as 
 abbesses, and that did not save them ! and nothing will from 
 such godless, virgin-hunting devourers." 
 
 Gottlieb was gone, having often before heard mention of 
 the calamity experienced by these fated women. 
 
 " Comfort thee, good heart, on my breast," said Margarita, 
 taking Lisbeth to that sweet nest of peace and fortitude. 
 
 " Margarita ! 'tis your doing ! have I not said — lure them 
 not, for they swarm too early upon us ! And here they are ! 
 and, perhaps, in five minutes all will be over ! Herr Je ! — 
 What, you are laughing ! Heavens of goodness, the girl is 
 delighted!" 
 
 Here a mocking ha — ha ! accompanied by a thundering 
 smack at the door, shook the whole house, and again the 
 trumpet burst the ears with fury. 
 
 This summons, which seemed to Aunt Lisbeth final, 
 wrought a strange composure in her countenance. She was 
 very pale, but spread her dress decently, as if fear had 
 departed, and clasped her hands on her knees. 
 
 " The will of the Lord above must be done,'' said she ; 
 "it is impious to complain when we are given into the hand 
 of the Philistines. Others have been martyred^ and were 
 yet acceptable." 
 
 To this heroic speech she added, with cold energy : "Let 
 them come ! " 
 
 "Aunt," cried Margarita, "I hear my father's voice with 
 those men. Aunty ! I will not let him be alone. I must 
 go down to him. You will be safe here. I shall come to 
 you if there's cause for alarm." 
 
 And in spite of Aunt Lisbeth's astonished shrieks of 
 remonstrance, she hurried off to rejoin Gottlieb. 
 
THE WAGER. 
 
 Ere Margarita had reached the landing of the stairs, she 
 repented her haste and shrank back. Wrapt in a thunder of 
 oaths, she distinguished: " 'Tis the little maiden we want; 
 let's salute her and begone ! or cap your skull with some- 
 thing thicker than you've on it now, if you want a whole 
 one, happy father ! " 
 
 " Gottlieb von Groschen I am," answered her father, 
 "and the Kaiser " 
 
 " 'S as fond of a pretty girl as we are ! Down with her, 
 and no more drivelling ! It's only for a moment, old 
 Measure and Scales ! " 
 
 " I tell you, rascals, I know your master, and if you're not 
 punished for this, may I die a beggar ! " exclaimed Gottlieb, 
 jumping with rage. 
 
 " May you die as rich as an abbot ! And so you will, if 
 you don't bring her down, for I've sworn to see her ; there's 
 the end of it, man ! " 
 
 " I'll see, too, if the laws allow this villany ! " cried 
 Gottlieb. " Insulting a peaceful citizen ! in his own house ! 
 a friend of your emperor ! Gottlieb von Groschen ! " 
 
 " Groschen 1 We're cousins, then ! You wouldn't shut 
 out your nearest kin 1 Devil's lightning ! Don't you know 
 me^ Pfennig? Von Pfennig! This here's Heller: that's 
 Zwanziger : all of us Vons, every soul ! You're not decided 1 
 This'U sharpen you, my jolly King Paunch ! " 
 
314 FARINA. 
 
 And Margarita heard the ruffian step as if to get swing for 
 a blow. She hurried into the passage, and slipping in front 
 of her father, said to his assailant : 
 
 " You have asked for me ! I am here ! " 
 
 Her face was colourless, and her voice seemed to issue from 
 between a tightened cord. She stood with her left foot a 
 little in advance, and her whole body heaving and quivering : 
 her arms folded and pressed hard below her bosom : her eyes 
 dilated to a strong blue : her mouth ashy white. A strange 
 lustre, as of suppressed internal fire, flickered over her. 
 
 " My name's Schwartz Thier, and so's my nature ! " said 
 the fellow with a grin ; " but may I never smack lips with a 
 pretty girl again, if I harm such a young beauty as this ! 
 Friendly dealing's my plan o' life." 
 
 " Clear out of my house, then, fellow, and here's money 
 for you," said Gottlieb, displaying a wrathfuUy-trembling 
 handful of coin. 
 
 " Pish ! money ! forty times that wouldn't cover my bet ! 
 And if it did? Shouldn't I be disgraced? jeered at for a 
 sheep-heart ? No ! I'm no ninny, and not to be diddled. 
 
 I'll talk to the young lady ! Silence, out there ! all's 
 
 going proper : " this to his comrades through the door. " So, 
 my beautiful maiden ! thus it stands : We saw you at the 
 window, looking like a fresh rose with a gold crown on. 
 Here are we poor fellows come to welcome the Kaiser. I 
 began to glorify you. ' Schwartz Thier ! ' says Henker 
 Rothhals to me, ' I'll wager you odds you don't have a kiss 
 of that fine girl within twenty minutes, counting from 
 the hand-smack 1 ' Done ! was my word, and we clapped 
 our fists together. Now, you see, that's straightforward ! 
 All I want is, not to lose my money and be made a fool of — 
 leaving alone that sugary mouth which makes mine water ; " 
 and he drew the back of his hand along his stubbled jaws : 
 " So, come ! don't hesitate ! no harm to you, my beauty, but 
 a compliment, and Schwartz Thiers your friend and anything 
 else you like for ever after. Come, time's up pretty well." 
 
THE WAGEE. 315 
 
 Margarita leaned to her father a moment as if mortal 
 sickness had seized her. Then cramping her hands and 
 feet, she said in his ear, " Leave me to my own care ; go, 
 get the men to protect thee j " and ordered Schwartz Thier 
 to open the door wide. 
 
 Seeing Gottlieb would not leave her, she joined her 
 hands, and hegged him. " The good God will protect me ! 
 I will overmatch these men. Look, my father ! they dare 
 not strike me in the street : you they would fell without 
 pity. Go ! what they dare in a house, they dare not in the 
 street.'' 
 
 Schwartz Thier had opened the door. At sight of 
 Margarita, the troop gave a shout. 
 
 " Now ! on the door-step, full in view, my beauteous 
 one ! that they may see what a lucky devil I am — and have 
 no doubts about the handing over." 
 
 Margarita looked behind. Gottlieb was still there, every 
 member of him quaking like a bog under a heavy heel. She 
 ran to him. " My father ! I have a device ! wilt thou spoil 
 it, and give me to this beast 1 You can do nothing, nothing ! 
 protect yourself and save me 1 " 
 
 " Cologne ! broad day ! " muttered Gottlieb, as if the 
 enormity had prostrated his belief in facts; and moved 
 slowly back. 
 
 Margarita strode to the door-step. Schwartz Thier was 
 awaiting her, his arm circled out, and his leering face 
 ducked to a level with his victim's. This rough show 
 of gallantry proved costly to him. As he was gently closing 
 his iron hold about her, enjoying beforehand with grim 
 mouthridges the flatteries of triumph, Margarita shot past 
 him through the door, and was already twenty paces beyond 
 the troop before either of them thought of pursuing her. At 
 the first sound of a hoof, Henker Eothhals seized the rider's 
 bridle-rein, and roared : " Fair play for a fair bet ! leave all 
 to the Thier!" 
 
 The Thier, when he had recovered from his amazement, 
 
316 FAEINA. 
 
 sought for old Gottlieb to give him a haek-hit, as Margarita 
 foresaw that he would. Not finding him at hand, out 
 lumbered the fellow as swiftly as his harness would allow, 
 and caught a glimpse of Margarita rapidly fleeting up the 
 cathedral square. 
 
 " Only five minutes, Schwartz Thier ! " some of the 
 troop sung out. 
 
 " The devil can do his business in one," rang the retort, 
 and Schwartz Thier swung himself on his broad-backed 
 charger, and gored the fine beast till she rattled out a blast 
 of sparkles from the flint. 
 
 In a minute he drew up in front of Margarita. 
 
 " So ! you prefer settling this business in the square. 
 Good ! my choice sweetheart ! " and he sprang to her side. 
 
 The act of flight had touched the young girl's heart with 
 the spirit of flight. She crouched like a winded hare under 
 the nose of the hound, and covered her face with her two 
 hands. , Margarita was no wisp in weight, but Schwartz 
 Thier had her aloft in his arm as easily as if he had tossed 
 up a kerchief. 
 
 " Look all, and witness ! " he shouted, lifting the other arm. 
 
 Henker Eothhals and the rest of the troop looked, as they 
 came trotting to the scene, with the coolness of umpires : 
 but they witnessed something other than what Schwartz 
 Thier proposed. This was the sight of a formidable staff, 
 whirling an unfriendly halo over the head of the Thier, and 
 descending on it with such honest intent to confound and 
 overthrow him, that the Thier succumbed to its force without 
 argument, and the square echoed blow and fall simultaneously. 
 At the same time the wielder of this sound piece of logic 
 seized Margarita, and raised a shout in the square for all true 
 men to stand by him in rescuing a maiden from the clutch of 
 brigands and ravishers. A crowd was collecting, but seemed 
 to consider the circle now formed by the horsemen as in a 
 manner charmed, for only one, a fair slender youth, came 
 forward and ranged himself beside the stranger. 
 
THE WAGEB. 317 
 
 " Take thou the maiden : I'll keep to the staff," said this 
 latter, stumbling over his speech as if he was in a foreign 
 land among old roots and wolfpits which had already shaken 
 out a few of his teeth, and made him cautious about the re- 
 mainder. 
 
 "Can it be Margarita !" exclaimed the youth, bending to 
 her, and calling to her : " Margarita ! Friiulein Groschen ! " 
 
 She opened her eyes, shuddered, and said : " I was not 
 afraid ! Am I safe f " 
 
 " Safe while I have life, and this good friend." 
 
 " Where is my father 1 " 
 
 " I have not seen him." 
 
 " And you — who are you 1 Do I owe this to you 1 " 
 
 " Oh ! no ! no ! Me you owe nothing." 
 
 Margarita gazed hurriedly round, and at her feet there lay 
 the Thier with his steel-cap shining in dints, and three 
 rivulets of blood coursing down his mottled forehead. She 
 looked again at the youth, and a blush of recognition gave 
 life to her cheeks. 
 
 " I did not know you. Pardon me. Farina ! what 
 thanks can reward such courage ! Tell me ! shall we go t " 
 
 The youth eyed her an instant as if he would have asked 
 why Paradise was to be so quickly forsaken ; but recovering 
 himself, took a rapid survey, and called to the stranger to 
 follow and help give the young maiden safe conduct home. 
 
 Just then Henker Eothhals bellowed, " Time's up ! " He 
 was answered by a chorus of agreement from the troop. 
 They had hitherto patiently acted their parts as spectators, 
 immovable on their horses. The assault on the Thier was all 
 in the play, and a visible interference of fortune in favour of 
 Henker Eothhals. Now general commotion shuttled them, 
 and the stranger's keen hazel eyes read their intentions 
 rightly when he lifted his redoubtable staff in preparation for 
 another mighty swoop, this time defensive. Eothhals, and 
 half-a-dozen others, with a war-cry of curses, spurred their 
 steeds at once to ride him down. They had not reckoned 
 
318 FAEINA. 
 
 the length and good-will of their antagonist's weapon. 
 Scarce were they in motion, when round it whizzed, grazing 
 the nostrils of their horses with a precision that argued 
 practice in the feat, and unhorsing two, Eothhals among the 
 number. He dropped heavily on his head, and showed signs 
 of being as incapable of combat as the Thier. A cheer burst 
 from the crowd, but fell short. The foremost of their 
 number was struck flat to the earth by a fellow of the troop. 
 
 Calling on St. George, his patron saint, the stranger 
 began systematically to make a clear ring in his path forward. 
 Several of the horsemen essayed a cut at his arm with their 
 long double-handed swords, but the horses could not be 
 brought a second time to the edge of the magic circle ; and 
 the blood of these warriors being thoroughly up, they now 
 <!ame at him on foot. In their rage they would have made 
 short work with the three, in spite of the magistracy of 
 Cologne, had they not been arrested by cries of " Werner ! 
 Werner ! " 
 
 At the south-west end of the square, looking Ehine- 
 wards, rode the marauder Baron, in full armour, helm and 
 hauberk, with a single retainer in his rear. He had appa- 
 rently caught sight of the brawl, and, either because he 
 distinguished his own men, or was seeking his natural 
 element, hastened up for his share in it, which was usually 
 that of the king of beasts. His first call was for Schwartz 
 Thier. The men made way, and he beheld his man in no 
 condition to make military responses. He shouted for 
 Henker Eothhals, and again the men opened their ranks 
 mutely, exhibiting the two betters stretched out in diverse 
 directions, with their feet slanting to a common point. The 
 Baron glared ; then caught off his mailed glove, and thrust ; 
 it between his teeth. A rasping gurgle of oaths was all they 
 heard, and presently surged up, — 
 
 "Who was it r' 
 
 Margarita's eyes were shut. She opened them fascinated 
 with horror. There was an unearthly awful and comic 
 
THE WAGEE. 319 
 
 mixture of sounds in "Werner's querulous fury, that was like 
 the noise of a complaining bear, rolling up from hollow- 
 chested menace to yawning lament. Never in her life had 
 Margarita such a shock of fear. The half gasp of a laugh 
 broke on her trembling lips. She stared at Werner, and 
 was falling; but Farina's arm clung instantly round her 
 waist. The stranger caught up her laugh, loud and hearty. 
 
 "As for who did it, Sir Baron," he cried, in a cheery 
 tone, " I am the man ! As you may like to know why — and 
 that's due to you and me both of us — all I can say is, the 
 Black Muzzle yonder lying got his settler for merry-making 
 with this peaceful maiden here, without her consent — an 
 olTence in my green island they reckon a crack o' the sconce 
 light basting for, I warrant all company present,'' and he 
 nodded sharply about. " As for the other there, who looks 
 as if a rope had been round his neck once and shirked its 
 duty, he counts his wages for helping the devil in his busi- 
 ness, as will any other lad here who likes to come on and 
 try." 
 
 Werner himself, probably, would have given him the 
 work he wanted ; but his eye had sidled a moment over 
 Margarita, and the hardly-suppressed applause of the crowd 
 at the stranger's speech failed to bring his ire into action 
 this solitary time. 
 
 "Who is the maiden?" he asked aloud. 
 
 " Fraulein von Groschen," replied Farina. 
 
 "Von Groschen ! Von Groschen ! the daughter of Gottlieb 
 Groschen ? — Kascals ! " roared the Baron, turning on his men, 
 and out poured a mud-spring of filthy oaths and threats, 
 which caused Henker Eothhals, who had opened his eyes, to 
 close them again, as if he had already gone to the place of 
 heat. 
 
 " Only lend me thy staff, friend," cried Werner. 
 
 "Not I! thwack 'em with your own wood," replied the 
 stranger, and fell back a leg. 
 
 Werner knotted his stringy brows, and seemed torn to 
 
320 FAEINA. 
 
 pieces with the different pulling 'tides of his wrath. He 
 grasped the mane of his horse and flung abroad handfuls, 
 till the splendid animal reared in agony. 
 
 "You shall none of you live over this night, villains! 
 I'll hang you, every hag's son ! My last orders were, — Keep 
 quiet in the city, ye devil's brood. Take that ! and that ! " 
 laying at them with his bare sword. " Off with you, and 
 carry these two pigs out of sight quickly, or I'll have their 
 heads, and make sure o' them." 
 
 The latter injunction sprang from policy, for at the head 
 of the chief street there was a glitter of the city guard, 
 marching with shouldered spears. 
 
 " Maiden," said Werner, with a bull's bow, " let me 
 conduct thee to thy father." 
 
 Margarita did not reply ; but gave her hand to Farina, 
 and took a step closer to the stranger. 
 
 "Werner's brows grew black with blood. 
 
 "Enough to have saved you, fair maid," he muttered, 
 hoarsely. " Gratitude never was a woman's gift. Say to 
 your father that I shall make excuses to him for the conduct 
 of my men.'' 
 
 Whereupon, casting a look of leisurely scorn towards the 
 guard coming up in the last beams of 3ay, the Baron 
 shrugged his huge shoulders to an altitude expressing the 
 various contemptuous shades of feudal coxcombry, stuck one 
 leather-ruffled arm in his side, and jolted off at an easy pace. 
 
 "Amen!" ejaculated the stranger, leaning on his staff. 
 " There are Barons in my old land ; but never a brute beast 
 in harness." 
 
 Margarita stood before him, and took his two hands. 
 
 " You will come with me to my father ! He will thank 
 you. I cannot. You will come]" 
 
 Tears and a sob of relief started from her. 
 The city guard, on seeing Werner's redoubtable back 
 turned, had adopted double time, and now came panting up, 
 while the stranger bent smiling under a fresh overflow of 
 
THE WAGER. 321 
 
 innocent caresses, Margarita was caught to her father's 
 breast. 
 
 "You shall have vengeance for this, sweet chuck," cried 
 old Gottlieb in the intervals of his hugs. 
 
 " Fear not, my father ; they are punished : " and Margarita 
 related the story of the stranger's prowess, elevating him 
 into a second Siegfried. The guard huzzaed him, but did 
 not pursue the Baron. 
 
 Old Gottlieb, without hesitation, saluted the astonished 
 champion with a kiss on either cheek. 
 
 " My best friend ! Tou have saved my daughter from 
 indignity ! Come with us home, if you can believe that a 
 home where the wolves come daring us, dragging our dear 
 ones from our very doorsteps. Come, that we may thank 
 you under a roof at least. My little daughter ! Is she not 
 a brave lass 1 " 
 
 " She's nothing less than the white rose of Germany," 
 said the stranger, with a good bend of the shoulders to 
 Margarita. 
 
 I ii " So she's called," exclaimed Gottlieb ; " she's worthy to 
 be a man ! " 
 
 " Men would be the losers, then, more than they could 
 afford," replied the stranger, with a ringing laugh. 
 
 "Come, good friend," said Gottlieb; "you must need 
 refreshment. Prove you are a true hero by your appetite. 
 As Charles the Great said to Archbishop Turpin, 'I 
 conquered the world because Nature gave me a gizzard ; for 
 everywhere the badge of subjection is a poor stomach.' 
 Come, all ! A day well ended, notwithstanding ! " 
 
THE SILVEE AREOW. 
 
 At the threshold of Gottlieb's house a number of the chief 
 burgesses of Cologne had corporated spontaneously to condole 
 ■with him. As he came near, they raised a hubbub of gratu- 
 lation. Strong -were the expressions of abhorrence and dis- 
 gust of "Werner's troop in which these excellent citizens 
 clothed their outraged feelings ; for the insult to Gottlieb 
 •was the insult of all. The Ehine-stream taxes were pro- 
 voking enough to endure ; but that the licence of these free- 
 booting bands should extend to the homes of free and peaceful 
 men, loyal subjects of the Emperor, was a sign that the evil 
 had reached from pricks to pokes, as the saying went, and 
 must now be met as became burgesses of ancient Cologne, 
 and by joint action destroyed. 
 
 " In ! in, all of you 1 " said Gottlieb, broadening his smile 
 to suit the many. " We'll talk about that in-doors. Mean- 
 time, I've got a hero to introduce to you : flesh and blood 1 
 no old woman's coin and young girl's dream-o'-day : the 
 honest thing, and a rarity, my masters. All that over some 
 good Ehine-juice from above Bacharach. In, and welcome, 
 friends ! " 
 
 Gottlieb drew the stranger along with him under the 
 carved old oak-wood portals, and the rest paired, and reveren- 
 tially entered in his wake. Margarita, to make up for this 
 want of courtesy, formed herself the last of the procession. 
 She may have had another motive, for she took occasion there 
 
THE SILVER AEEOW. 323 
 
 to whisper something to Tarina, bringing sun and cloud over 
 his countenance in rapid flushes. He seemed to remonstrate 
 in dumh show ; but she, with an attitude of silence, signified 
 her wish to seal the conversation, and he drooped again. On 
 the doorstep she paused a moment, and hung her head pen- 
 sively, as if moved by a reminiscence. The youth had hurried 
 away some strides. Margarita looked after him. His arms 
 were straightened to his flanks, his hands clenched, and 
 straining out from the wrist. He had the aspect of one 
 tugging against the restraint of a chain that sullenly let out 
 link by link to his whole force. 
 
 " Farina ! " she called ; and wound him back with a run. 
 " Farina ! You do not think me ungrateful ? I could not 
 tell my father in the crowd what you did for me. He shall 
 know. He will thank you. He does not understand you 
 now. Farina. He wUl. Look not so sorrowful. So much 
 I would say to you." 
 
 So much was rushing on her mind, that her maidenly heart 
 became unruly, and warned her to beware. 
 
 The youth stood as if listening to a nightingale of the old 
 woods, after the first sweet stress of her voice was in his ear. 
 When she ceased, he gazed into her eyes. They were no 
 longer deep and calm like forest lakes ; the tender-glowing 
 blue quivered, as with a spark of the young girl's soul, in the 
 beams of the moon then rising. 
 
 " Oh, Margarita ! " said the youth, in tones that sank to 
 sighs : "what am I to win your thanks, though it were my 
 life for such a boon ! " 
 
 He took her hand, and she did not withdraw it. Twice 
 his lips dwelt upon those pure fingers. 
 
 " Margarita: you forgive me? I have been so long without 
 hope. I have kissed your hand, dearest of God's angels ! " 
 
 She gently restrained the full white hand in his pressure. 
 
 "Margarita ! I have thought never before death to have 
 had this sacred bliss. I am guerdoned in advance for every 
 grief coming before death." 
 
 T 2 
 
324 FAEINA. 
 
 She dropped on him one look of a confiding softness that 
 was to the youth like the opened gate of the innocent garden 
 of her heart. 
 
 " You pardon me, Margarita 1 I may call you my beloved 1 
 strive, wait, pray, hope, for you, my star of life 1 " 
 
 Her face was so sweet a charity ! 
 
 " Dear love ! one word ! — or say nothing, but remain, and 
 move not. So beautiful you are ! Oh, might I kneel to you 
 here ; dote on you ; worship this white hand for ever." 
 
 The colour had passed out of her cheeks like a blissful 
 western red leaving rich paleness in the sky ; and with her 
 clear brows levelled at him, her bosom lifting more and more 
 rapidly, she struggled against the charm that was on her, 
 and at last released her hand. 
 
 " I must go. I cannot stay. Pardon you ? "Who might 
 not be proud of your love ! — Farewell ! " 
 
 She turned to move away, hut lingered a step from him, 
 hastily touching her bosom and either hand, as if to feel for 
 a brooch or a ring. Then she blushed, drew the silver arrow 
 from the gathered gold-shot braids above her neck^ held it 
 out to him, and was gone. 
 
 Farina clutched the treasure, and reeled into the street. 
 Half-a-dozen neighbours were grouped by the door. 
 
 " What's the matter in Master Groschen's house now 1 " 
 one asked, as he plunged into the midst of them. 
 
 " Matter 1 " quoth the joy-drunken youth, catching at the 
 word, and mused off into raptures ; " There never was such 
 happiness ! 'Tis paradise within, exile without. But what 
 exile ! A star ever in the heavens to lighten the road and 
 cheer the path of the banished one ; " and he loosened his 
 vest and hugged the cold shaft on his breast. 
 
 "What are you talking and capering at, fellow!" ex- 
 claimed another : " Can't you answer about those shrieks, 
 like a Christian, you that have just come out of the house ? 
 Why, there's shrieking now ! It's a woman. Thousand 
 
THE SILVER AEEOW. 325 
 
 thunders 1 it sounds like the Frau Lisbeth's voice. What 
 can he happening to her i " 
 
 "Perhaps she's on fire," was coolly suggested between 
 two or three. 
 
 "Pity to see the old house burnt," remarked one. 
 
 " House ! The woman, man ! the old woman ! " 
 
 " Ah ! " replied the other, an ancient inhabitant of 
 Cologne, shaking his head, "the house is oldest ! " 
 
 Farina, now recovering his senses, heard shrieks that he 
 recognized as possible in the case of Aunt Lisbeth dreading 
 the wickedness of an opposing sex, and alarmed by the 
 inrush of old Gottlieb's numerous guests. To confirm him, 
 she soon appeared, and hung herself halfway out of one of 
 the upper windows, calling desperately to St. Ursula for 
 aid. He thanked the old lady in his heart for giving him a 
 pretext to enter Paradise again ; but before even love could 
 speed him, Frau Lisbeth was seized and dragged remorse- 
 lessly OTit of sight, and he and the rosy room darkened 
 together. 
 
 For some time the people loitered about in expectation of 
 a new excitement. Whistling urchins, and a sprinkling 
 of graver folk came to inspect the place, where it was 
 bruited that old Gottlieb had been wounded by one of Baron 
 Werner's band in the morning. They discovered the pool 
 of blood, and separated with tidings that Gottlieb was 
 thought to die at the midnight hour ; which sent another 
 body of anxious investigators, who reported in addition that 
 the Fraulein Margarita had pitched head foremost out of 
 window, because of her mad love for the robber Baron 
 Werner. Erelong the house was believed to be burnt to the 
 ground, and all within suffocated : not before a terrible 
 misfortune had befallen the Frau Lisbeth Groschen, the 
 nature of which was hinted by those significant upltftings of 
 hands and eyes which are the language of the dread 
 unmentionable. 
 
328 . FAEINA. 
 
 Farina twice strode off to the Ehine-stream, impatient of 
 the folly that waylaid him for strict accounts of these 
 calamities. As many times he returned. It was hard to be 
 away from her. It was harder to be near and not close. 
 His heart flamed into jealousy of the stranger. Everything 
 threatened to overturn his slight but lofty structure of bliss 
 so suddenly shot into the heavens. He had but to remember 
 that his hand was on the silver arrow, and a radiance broke 
 upon his countenance, and a calm fell upon his breast. " It 
 was a plight of her troth to me," mused the youth. " She 
 loves me ! She would not trust her frank heart to speak. 
 Oh, generous young girl ! what am I to dare hope for such a 
 prize f for I never can be worthy. And she is one who, 
 giving her heart, gives it all. Do I not know her] How 
 lovely she looked thanking the stranger ! The blue of her 
 eyes, the warm-lighted blue, seemed to grow full on the 
 closing lids, like heaven's gratitude. Her beauty is wonder- 
 ful. What wonder, then, if he loves her 1 I should think 
 him a squire in his degree. There are squires of high birth 
 and low." 
 
 So mused Farina with his arms folded and his legs crossed 
 in the shadow of Margarita's chamber. Gradually he fell 
 into a kind of hazy doze. The houses became branded with 
 silver arrows. All up the Cathedral stone was a glitter, and 
 dance, and quiver of them. In the sky mazed confusion of 
 arrowy flights and falls. Farina beheld himself in the service 
 of the Emperor watching these signs, and expecting on the 
 morrow to win glory and a name for Margarita. Glory and 
 the name now won, old Gottlieb was just on the point of 
 paternally blessing them, when a rude pat aroused him from 
 the delicious moon-dream. 
 
 " Hero by day ! house-guard by night ! That tells a tale," 
 said a cheerful voice. 
 
 The jBOon was shining down the Cathedral square and 
 street, and Farina saw the stranger standing solid and ruddy 
 before him. He was at first prompted to resent such familiar 
 
THE SILVER AREOW. 327 
 
 handling, but the stranger's face was of that hland honest 
 nature which, like the sun, wins everywhere back a reflection 
 of its own kindliness. 
 
 " You are right," replied Farina ; " so it is ! " 
 
 " Pretty wines inside there, and a rare young maiden, eh 1 
 She has a throat like a nightingale, and more ballads at 
 command than a piper's wallet. 'Now, if I hadn't a wife at 
 home " 
 
 " You're married 1 " cried Farina, seizing the stranger's 
 hand. 
 
 " Surely ; and my lass can say something for herself on 
 the score of brave looks, as well as the best of your Germain 
 maids here, trust me." 
 
 Farina repressed an inclination to perform a few of those 
 antics which violent joy excites, and after rushing away and 
 back, determined to give his secret to the stranger. 
 
 " Look,'' said he in a whisper, that opens the private doors 
 of a confidence. 
 
 But the stranger repeated the same word still more 
 earnestly, and brought Farina's eyes on a couple of dark 
 figures moving under the Cathedral. 
 
 " Some lamb's at stake when the wolves are prowling," he 
 added : " 'Tis now two hours to the midnight. I doubt if 
 our day's work be over till we hear the chime, friend." 
 
 " What interest do you take in the people of this house 
 that you watch over them thus ? " asked Farina, 
 
 The stranger muifled a laugh in his beard. 
 
 "An odd question, good sooth. Why, in the first place, 
 we like well whatso we have done good work for. That 
 goes for something. In the second, I've broken bread in this 
 house. Put down that in the reckoning. In the third; 
 well ! in the third, add up all together, and the sum total's 
 at your service, young sir." 
 
 Farina marked him closely. There 'was not a spot on his 
 face for guile to lurk in, or suspicion to fasten on. He caught 
 the stranger's, hand. 
 
328 FAEINA. 
 
 " You called me friend just now. Make me your friend. 
 Look, I was going to say : I love this maiden ! I would die 
 for her. I have loved her long. This night she has given 
 me a witness that my love is not vain. I am poor. She is 
 rich. I am poor, I said, and feel richer than the Kaiser with 
 this she has given me ! Look, it is what our German girls 
 slide in their back-hair, this silver arrow ! " 
 
 " A very pretty piece of heathenish wear ! " exclaimed the 
 stranger. 
 
 " Then, I was going to say — tell me, friend, of a way to 
 win honour and wealth quickly ; I care not at how rare a risk. 
 Only to wealth, or high baronry, will her father give her!" 
 
 The stranger buzzed his moustache in a pause of cool pity, 
 such as elders assume when young men talk of conquering 
 the world for their mistresses : and in truth it is a calm of 
 mind well won ! 
 
 " Things look so brisk at home here in the matter of the 
 maiden, that I should say, wait a while and watch your 
 chance. But you're a boy of pluck : I serve in the Kaiser's 
 army, under my lord : the Kaiser will be here in three days. 
 If you're of that mind then, I doubt little you may get 
 posted well : but, look again ! there's a ripe brew yonder. 
 Marry, you may win your spurs this night even; who 
 knows 1 — 'S life ! there's a tall fellow joining those two 
 lurkers." 
 
 " Can you see into the murk shadow. Sir Squire ? " 
 
 "Ay ! thanks to your Styrian dungeons, where I passed 
 a year's apprenticeship : 
 
 ' I learnt to watch the rats and mice 
 At play, with never a candle-end 
 They play'd so well ; they sang so nice ; 
 
 They duhh'd me comrade ; call'd me friend ! ' 
 
 So says the ballad of our red-beard king's captivity. All 
 evil has a good : 
 
 'When our toes and chins are np, 
 Poison plants make the sweetest cnp : ' 
 
THE SILVER ARROW. 329 
 
 as the old wives mumble to us when we're sick. Heigho ! 
 would I were in the little island well home again, though 
 that were just their song of welcome to me, as I am a 
 Christian." 
 
 " Tell me your name, friend," said Farina. 
 
 " Guy's my name, young man : Goshawk's my title. Guy 
 the Goshawk ! so they called me in my merry land. The 
 cap sticks when it no longer fits. Then I drove the arrow, 
 and was down on my enemy ere he could ruffle a feather. 
 Ifow, what would be my nickname 1 
 
 ' A cbaoge so sad, and a change so bad, 
 
 Might set both Christian and heathen a sighing : 
 Change is a enrse, for it's all for the worse : 
 Age creeps up, and youth is flying ! ' 
 
 and so on, with the old song. But here am I, and yonder's 
 a game that wants harrying ; so we'll just begin to nose about 
 them a bit." 
 
 He crossed to the other side of the street, and Farina 
 followed out of the moonlight. The two figures and the 
 taller one were evidently observing them; for they also 
 changed their position and passed behind an angle of the 
 Cathedral. 
 
 " Tell me how the streets cross all round the Cathedral ; 
 you know the city," said the stranger, holding out his 
 hand. 
 
 Farina traced with his finger a rough map of the streets 
 on the stranger's hand. 
 
 " Good ! that's how my lord always marks the battle- 
 field, and makes me show him the enemy's posts. Forward, 
 this way ! " 
 
 He turned from the Cathedral, and both slid along close 
 under the eaves and front hangings of the houses. Neither 
 spoke. Farina felt that he was in the hands of a skilful 
 captain, and only regretted the want of a weapon to make 
 harvest of the intended surprise; for he judged clearly that 
 those were fellows of Werner's band on the look-out. They 
 
330 FARINA. 
 
 ■wound down numberless intersections of narrow streets with 
 irregular-built houses standing or leaning wry-faeed in row, 
 here a quaint-beamed cottage, there almost a mansion with 
 gilt arms, brackets, and devices. Oil-lamps unlit hung at 
 intervals by the corners, near a pale Christ on crucifix. 
 Across the passages they hung alight. The passages and 
 alleys were too dusky and close for the moon in her brightest 
 ardour to penetrate ; down the streets a slender lane of white 
 beams could steal : " In all conscience," as the good citizens 
 of Cologne declared, " enough for those heathen hounds and 
 sons of the sinful who are abroad when God's own blessed 
 lamp is out." So, when there was a moon, the expense 
 of oil was saved to the Cologne treasury, thereby satisfying 
 the virtuous. 
 
 After incessant doubling here and there, listening to 
 footfalls, and themselves eluding a chase which their 
 suspicious movements aroused, they came upon the Ehine. 
 A full flood of moonlight burnished the knightly river in 
 glittering scales, and plates, and rings, as headlong it rolled 
 seaward on from under crag and banner of old chivalry and 
 rapine. Both greeted the scene with a burst of pleasure. 
 The gray mist of flats on the south side glimmered delightful 
 to their sight, coming from that drowsy crowd and press of 
 habitations ; but the solemn glory of the river, delaying not, 
 heedless, impassioned — pouring on in some sublime confer- 
 ence between it and heaven to the great marriage of waters, 
 deeply shook Farina's enamoured heart. The youth could 
 not restrain his tears, as if a magic wand had touched him. 
 He trembled with love ; and that delicate bliss which 
 maiden hope first showers upon us like a silver rain when 
 she has taken the shape of some young beauty and plighted 
 us her fair fleeting hand, tenderly embraced him. 
 
 As they were emerging into the spaces of the moon, a 
 cheer from the stranger arrested Farina. 
 
 "Seest thou? on the wharf there ! that is the very one, 
 the tallest of the three. Lakin ! but we shall have him." 
 
THE SILVER ARROW. 331 
 
 "Wrapt in a long cloak, with low pointed cap and feather, 
 stood the person indicated. He appeared to be meditating 
 on the flow of the water, unaware of hostile presences, or 
 quite regardless of them. There was a majesty in his height 
 and air, which made the advance of the two upon him more 
 wary and respectful than their first impulse had counselled. 
 They could not read his features, which were mantled behind 
 voluminous folds : all save a pair of very strange eyes, that, 
 even as they gazed directly downward, seemed charged with 
 restless fiery liquid. 
 
 The two were close behind him : Guy the Goshawk 
 prepared for one of those fatal pounces on the foe that had 
 won him his title. He consulted Farina mutely, who nodded 
 readiness ; but the instant aftei^ a cry of anguish escaped 
 from the youth : — 
 
 "Lost ! gone ! lost ! Where is it ? where ! the arrow ! The 
 SUver Arrow ! My Margarita ! " 
 
 . Ere the echoes of his voice had ceased lamenting into the 
 distance, they found themselves alone on the wharf. 
 
THE LILIES OF THE VALLEY. 
 
 " He opened like a bat ! " said the stranger. 
 
 " His shadow was red ! " said Parina. 
 
 " He was off like an arrow ! " said the stranger. 
 
 " Oh ! pledge of my young love, how could I lose thee ! " 
 exclaimed the youth, and his eyes were misted with tears, 
 
 Guy the Goshawk shook his brown locks gravely. 
 
 "Bring me a man, and I'll stand up against him, who- 
 ever he be, like a man ; but this fellow has an iU scent and 
 foreign ways about him, that he has 1 His eye boils all 
 down my backbone and tingles at my finger-tips. Jesu, 
 save us ! " 
 
 " Save us ! " repeated Tarina, with the echo of a deadened 
 soul. 
 
 They made the sign of the cross, and purified the place 
 with holy ejaculations. 
 
 " I've seen him at last ; grant it be for the last time ! 
 That's my prayer, in the name of the Virgin and Trinity,'' 
 said Guy. " And now let's retrace our steps : perchance 
 we shall hunt up that bauble of yours, but I'm not fit 
 for mortal work this night longer." 
 
 Burdened by their black encounter, the two passed 
 again behind the Cathedral. Farina's hungry glances 
 devoured each footmark of their track. Where the moon 
 held no lantern for him, he went on his knees, and groped 
 for his lost treasure with a miser's eager patience of agony, 
 
THE LILIES OF THE VALLEY. 333 
 
 drawing his hand slowly over the stony kerb and between 
 the interstices of the thick-sown flints, like an acute-feeling 
 worm. Despair grew heavy in his breast. At every 
 turning he invoked some good new saint to aid him, and 
 ran over all the propitiations his fancy could suggest and 
 his religious lore inspire. By-and-by they reached the head 
 of the street where Margarita dwelt. The moon was dipping 
 down, and paler, as if touched with a warning of dawn. 
 ChiU sighs from the open land passed through the spaces 
 of the city. On certain coloured gables and wood-crossed 
 fronts, the white light lingered ; but mostly the houses 
 were veiled in dusk, and Gottlieb's house was confused in 
 the twilight with those of his neighbours, notwithstanding 
 its greater stateliness and the old grandeur of its timbered 
 bulk. They determined to take up their position there again, 
 and paced on. Farina with his head below his shoulders, and 
 Guy nostril in air, as if uneasy in his sense of smell. 
 
 On the window-ledge of a fair-fitted domicile stood a 
 flower-pot, a rude earthen construction in the form of a 
 river-barge, wherein grew some valley lUies that drooped 
 their white bells over the sides. 
 
 The Goshawk eyed them wistfully. 
 
 " I must smell those blessed flowers if I wish to be 
 saved ! " and he stamped wooden resolve with his stafi!, 
 
 Moved by this exclamation. Farina gazed up at them. 
 
 "How like a company of maidens they look floating in 
 the vessel of life ! " he said. 
 
 Guy curiously inspected Farina and the flower-pot, 
 shrugged, and, with his comrade's aid, mounted to a level 
 with it, seized the prize and redescended. 
 
 "There," he cried, between long luxurious sniffs, "that 
 chases him out of the nostril sooner than aught else, the 
 breath of a fresh lass-like flower ! I was tormented till now 
 by the reek of the damned rising from under me, This is 
 heaven's own incense, I think ! " 
 
 And Guy inhaled the flowers and spake prettily to them. 
 
334 FARINA. 
 
 " They have a melanciioly sweetness, friend," said Farina, 
 " I think of whispering Fays, and Elf, and Eri, when their 
 odour steals through me. Do not you 1 " 
 
 "Nay,'nor hope to till my wits are clean gone," was the 
 Goshawk's reply. " To my mind, 'tis an honest flower, and 
 could I do good service hy the young maiden who there set 
 it, I should be rendering back good service done ; for if that 
 flower has not battled the devil in my nose this night, and 
 beaten him, my head's a medlar ! " 
 
 " I scarce know whether as a devout Christian I should 
 listen to that, friend," Farina mildly remonstrated. " Lilies 
 are indeed emblems of the saints ; but then they are not 
 poor flowers of earth, being transfigured, lustrous unfadingly. 
 Oh, Cross and Passion ! . with what silver serenity thy glory 
 enwraps me, gazing on these fair bells ! I look on the white 
 sea of the saints. I am enamoured of fleshly anguish and 
 martyrdom. All beauty is that worn by wan-smiling faces 
 wherein Hope sits as a crown on Sorrow, and the pale ebb of 
 mortal life is the twilight of joy everlasting. Colourless 
 peace ! Oh, my beloved ! So walkest thou for my soul on 
 the white sea ever at night, clad in the straight faU of thy 
 spotless virgin linen ; . bearing in thy hand the lily, and 
 leaning thy cheek to it, where the human rose is softened to 
 a milky bloom of red, the espousals of heaven with earth ; 
 over thee, moving with thee, a wreath of sapphire stars, and 
 the solitude of purity around ! " 
 
 " Ah ! " sighed the Goshawk, dandling his flower-pot ; " the 
 moon gives strokes as well 's the sun. I' faith, moon-struck 
 and maid-struck in one ! He'll be asking for his head soon. 
 This dash of the monk and the minstrel is a sure sign. 
 That's their way of loving in this land : they all go mad, 
 straight off. I never heard such talk." 
 
 Guy accompanied these remarks with a pitiful glance at 
 his companion. 
 
 " Come, Sir Lover 1 lend me a help to give back what 
 we've borrowed to its rightful owner. 'S blood ! but I feel 
 
THE LILIi;S OF THE VALLEY. 335 
 
 an appetite. This night-air takes me in the 'wind like a 
 battering ram. I thought I had laid in a stout four-and- 
 twenty hours' stock of Westphalian Wurst at Master 
 Groschen's supper-table. Good stuff, washed down with 
 superior Ehine wine ; say your Liebfrauenmilch for my taste ; 
 though, when I first tried it, I grimaced like a Merry-Andrew, 
 and remembered roast beef and Glo'ster ale in my prayers.'' 
 
 The Goshawk was in the act of replacing the pot of lilies, 
 when a blow from a short truncheon, skilfully flung, struck 
 him on the neck and brought him to the ground. With him 
 fell the lilies. He glared to the right and left, and grasped 
 the broken flower-pot for a return missile ; but no enemy was 
 in view to test his accuracy of aim. The deep-arched door- 
 ways showed their empty recesses : the windows slept. 
 
 " Has that youth played me false ? " thought the discom- 
 fited squire, as he leaned quietly on his arm. Farina was 
 nowhere near. 
 
 Guy was quickly reassured. 
 
 " By my fay, now ! that's a fine thing ! and a fine fellow ! 
 and a fleet foot ! That lad '11 rise ! He'll be a squire some 
 day. Look at him. Bowels of a'Becket ! 'tis a sight ! I'd 
 rather see that, now, than old Groschen's supper-table groaning 
 with Wurst again, and running a river of Eiidesheimer 1 
 Tussle on ! I'll lend a hand if there's occasion ; but you shall 
 have the honour, boy, an you can win it." 
 
 This crying on of the hound was called forth by a chase up 
 the street, in which the Goshawk beheld Farina pursue and 
 capture a stalwart runaway, who refused with all his might 
 to be brought back, striving every two and three of his tiptoe 
 steps to turn against the impulse Farina had got on his neck 
 and nether garments. 
 
 "Who'd have thought the lad was so wiry and mettle- 
 some, with his soft face, blue eyes, and lank looks ? but a 
 green mead has more in it than many a black mountain. 
 Hail, and well done 1 if I could dub you knight, I would : 
 trust me ! '' and he shook Farina by the hand. 
 
336 FARINA, 
 
 Farina modestly stood aside, and allowed the Gosha-wk to 
 confront his prisoner. 
 
 " So, Sir Shy-i'the-dark ! gallant Stiok-i'the-back ! Squire 
 Truncheon, and Knight of the noble order of Quicksilver 
 Legs ! just take your stand at the distance you wore off me 
 when you discharged this instrument at my head. By'r 
 lady ! I smart a scratch to pay you in coin, and it's lucky 
 for you the coin is small, or you might reckon on it the same, 
 trust me. Now, hack ! " 
 
 The Goshawk lunged out with the truncheon, hut the 
 prisoner displayed no hesitation in complying, and fell back 
 about a space of fifteen yards. 
 
 " I suppose he guesses I've never done the stupid trick 
 before," mused Guy, " or he would not be so sharp." 
 Observing that Farina had also fallen back in a line as 
 guard, Guy motioned him to edge off to the right more, 
 bawling, " Never miud why ! " 
 
 " Now," thought Guy, " if I were sure of notching him, 
 I'd do the speech part first ; but as I'm not — throwing 
 truncheons being no honourable profession anywhere — I'll 
 reserve that. The rascal don't quail. We'll see how long 
 he stands firm." 
 
 The Goshawk cleared his wrist, fixed his eye, and swung 
 the truncheon meditatively to and fro by one end. He 
 then launched off the shoulder a mighty down-fling, calmly, 
 watching it strike the prisoner to earth, like an ox under 
 the hammer. 
 
 " A hit ! " said he, and smoothed his wrist. 
 
 Farina knelt by the body, and lifted the head on his 
 breast. " Berthold ! Berthold ! " he cried ; " no further 
 harm shall hap to you, man ! Speak ! " 
 
 "You ken the scapegrace?" said Guy, sauntering up. 
 
 " ' Tis Berthold Schmidt, son of old Schmidt, the great 
 goldsmith of Cologne." 
 
 " St. Dunstan was not at his elbow this time !" 
 
 " A rival of mine," whispered Farina. 
 
THE LILIES OF THE VALLEY. 337 
 
 " Oho ! " and the Goshawk wound a low hiss at his 
 tongue's tip. "Well 1 as I should have spoken if his ears 
 had been open : Justice struck the blow j and a gentle one. 
 This comes of taking a flying shot, and not standing up 
 fair. And that seems all that can be said. Where lives 
 he?" 
 
 Farina pointed to the house of the Lilies. 
 
 " Beshrew me ! the dog has some right on his side. 
 Whew 1 yonder he lives 1 He took us for some night- 
 prowlers. Why not come up fairly, and ask my business ? 
 Smelling a flower is not worth a broken neck, nor defending 
 your premises quite deserving a hole in the pate. Now, my 
 lad, you see what comes of dealing with cut and run blows ; 
 and let this be a warning to you." 
 
 They took the body by head and feet, and laid him at 
 the door of his father's house. Here the colour came to his 
 cheek, and they wiped ofif the streaks of blood that stained 
 him. Guy proved he could be tender with a fallen foe, and 
 Parina with an ill-fated rival. It was who could suggest 
 the soundest remedies, or easiest postures. One lent a 
 kerchief and nursed him ; another ran to the city fountain 
 and fetched him water. Meantime the moon had dropped, 
 and morning, gray and beamless, looked on the house-peaks 
 and along the streets with steadier eye. They now both 
 discerned a body of men, far down, fronting Gottlieb's house, 
 and drawn up in some degree of order. All their charity 
 forsook them at once. 
 
 "Possess thyself of the truncheon," said Guy : "You see 
 it can damage. More work before breakfast, and a fine 
 account I must give of myself to my hostess of the Three 
 Holy Kings ! " 
 
 Farina recovered the destructive little instrument. 
 
 "I am ready," said he. " But hark ! there's little work 
 for us there, I fancy. Those be lads of Cologne, no grimters 
 of the wild. 'Tis the White Eose Club. Always too late 
 for service.'' 
 
338 FAEINA. 
 
 Yoices singing a hunting glee, popular in that age, swelled 
 up the clear morning air ; and gradually the words became 
 
 distinct. 
 
 Tlie Kaiser went a-hunting, 
 A-hunting, tra-ra : 
 "With his bugle-horn at springing morn, 
 The Kaiser trampled bud and thorn : 
 
 Tra-ra ! 
 And the dew shakes green as the horsemen rear, 
 And a thousand feathers they flutter with fear ; 
 And a pang drives quick to the heart of the deer ; 
 For the Kaiser's out a-hunting, 
 Tra-ra ! 
 Ta, ta, ta, ta, 
 
 -Tra-ra, tra-ra, 
 Ta-ta, tra-ra, tra-ra ! 
 
 The owner of the truncheon awoke to these reviving tones, 
 and uttered a faint responsive " Tra-ra ! " 
 
 " Hark again ! " said Farina, in reply to the commendation 
 of the Goshawk, whose face was dimpled over with the 
 harmony. 
 
 The wild boar lay a-grunting, 
 A-grunting, tra-ra ! 
 And, boom ! comes the Kaiser to hunt up me P 
 Or, queak ! the small birdie that hops on the tree ? 
 
 Tra-ra ! 
 O birdie, and boar, and deer, lie tame ! 
 For a maiden in bloom, or a fall-blown dame, 
 Are the daintiest prey, and the windingest game, 
 When Kaisers go a-hunting, 
 Tra-ra ! 
 Ha, ha, ha, ha, 
 
 Tra-ra, tra-ra, 
 Ha-ha, tra-ra, tra-ra ! 
 
 The voices held long on the last note, and let it die in a 
 forest cadence. 
 
 " 'Fore Gad ! well done. Hurrah ! Tra-ra, ha-ha, tra-ra ! 
 That's a trick we're not half alive to at home,'' said Guy. 
 " I feel friendly with these German lads." 
 
THE LILIES OF THE VALLET. 339 
 
 The Goshawk's disposition toward German lads was that 
 moment harshly tested by a smart rap on the shoulder 
 from an end of German oak, and a proclamation that he was 
 prisoner of the hand that gave the greeting, in the name of 
 the White Rose Club. Following that, his staff was wrested 
 from him by a dozen stout young fellows, who gave him no 
 time to get his famous distance for defence against numbers ; 
 and he and Farina were marched forthwith to the chorusing 
 body in front of Gottlieb Groschen's house. 
 
THE MISSIVES. 
 
 Of all the inmates, Gottlieb had slept most with the day on 
 his eyelids, for Werner hung like a nightmare over him. 
 Margarita lay and dreamed in rose-colour, and if she thrilled 
 on her pillowed silken couch like a tense-strung harp, and 
 fretted drowsily in little leaps and starts, it was that a bird 
 lay in her bosom, panting and singing through the night, 
 and that he was not to be stilled, but would musically utter 
 the sweetest secret thoughts of a love-bewitched maiden. 
 Farina's devotion she knew : his tenderness she divined : his 
 courage she had that day witnessed. The young girl no 
 sooner felt that she could love worthily, than she loved with 
 her whole strength. MufBed and remote came the hunting- 
 song under her pillow, and awoke dreamy delicate curves 
 in her fair face, as it thinned but did not banish her dream. 
 Aunt Lisbeth also heard the song, and burst out of her bed 
 to see that the door and window were secured against the 
 wanton Kaiser. Despite her trials, she had taken her spell 
 of sleep ; but being possessed of some mystic maiden belief 
 that in cases of apprehended peril from man, bed was a rock 
 of refuge and fortified defence, she crept back there, and 
 allowed the sun to rise without her. Gottlieb's voice could 
 not awaken her to the household duties she loved to perform 
 with such a doleful visage. She heard him open his window, 
 and parley in angry tones with the musicians below. 
 
THE MISSIVES. 34,1 
 
 "Decoys!" muttered Aunt Lisbeth; "be tbou alive to 
 tbem, Gottlieb ! " 
 
 He -went downstairs and opened the street-door, whereupon 
 the scolding and railing commenced anew. 
 
 " Thou hast given them vantage, Gottlieb, brother mine,'' 
 she complained ; " and the Good Heavens only can say what 
 may result from such indiscreetness." 
 
 A silence, combustible with shuffling of feet in the passage 
 and on the stairs, dinned horrors into Aunt Lisbeth's head. 
 
 " It was just that sound in the left wing of HoUenbogen- 
 blitz," she said: "only then it was night and not morning. 
 Ursula preserve me ! " 
 
 " Why, Lisbeth ! Lisbeth ! " cried Gottlieb from below. 
 " Come down ! 'tis full five o' the morning. Here's company ; 
 and what are we to do without the woman 1 " 
 
 "Ah, Gottlieb ! that is like men 1 They do not consider 
 how different it is for us ! " which mysterious sentence being 
 uttered to herself alone, enjoyed a meaning it would else- 
 where have been denied. 
 
 Aunt Lisbeth dressed, and met Margarita descending. 
 They exchanged the good-morning of young maiden and 
 old. 
 
 " Go thou first," said Aunt Lisbeth. 
 
 Margarita gaUy tripped ahead. 
 
 " Girl ! " cried Aunt Lisbeth, " what's that thing in thy 
 back hair 1 " 
 
 " I have borrowed Lieschen's arrow, aunt. Mine has had 
 an accident." 
 
 " Lieschen's arrow ! An accident ! Now I will see to 
 that after breakfast, Margarita." 
 
 " Tra-ra, ta-ta, tra-ra, tra-ra," sang Margarita. 
 
 " The wild boar lay a-grnnting, 
 A-grunting, tra-ra." 
 
 " A maiden's true and proper ornament ! Look at mine, 
 child ! I have worn it fifty years. May I deserve to wear 
 
342 FARINA. 
 
 it till I am called ! O Margarita ! trifle not with that 
 symbol." 
 
 " ' birdie, and boar, and deer, lie tame ! ' 
 
 I am so happy, aunty.'' 
 
 " Nice times to be happy in, Margarita." 
 
 " ' Be happy in Spring, sweet maidens all, 
 For Autumn's chill will early fall.' 
 
 So sings the Minnesinger, aunty ; and 
 
 ' A maiden in the wintry leaf 
 Will spread her own disease of grief.' 
 
 I love the Minnesingers ! Dear, sweet-mannered men they 
 are ! Such lovers ! And men of deeds as well as song : 
 sword on one side and harp on the other. They fight till set 
 of sun, and then slacken their armour to waft a ballad to 
 their beloved by moonlight, covered with stains of battle as 
 they are, and weary ! " 
 
 " What a girl ! Minnesingers ! Yes ; I know stories of 
 those Minnesingers. They came to Hollenbogenblitz. 
 Margarita, a bead of thy cross is broken. I will attend to 
 it. Wear the pearl one till I mend this. May'st thou never 
 fall in the way of Minnesingers. They are not like Werner's 
 troop. They do not batter at doors : they slide into the 
 house like snakes, and before thou'rt aware ! " 
 
 Aunt Lisbeth crossed herself, and leaned her head 
 dolorously to the left. 
 
 " Lisbeth ! Lisbeth ! " they heard Gottlieb calling impa- 
 tiently. 
 
 " We come, Gottlieb ! " and in a low murmur Margarita 
 heard her say : " May this day pass without trouble and 
 shame to the pious and the chaste." 
 
 Margarita knew the voice of the stranger before she Lad 
 opened the door, and on presenting herself, the hero gave 
 her a guardian-like salute. 
 
 " One may see," he said, " that it requires better men 
 
THE MISSIVES. n-13 
 
 than those of Werner to drive away the rose from that 
 cheek." 
 
 Gottlieb pressed the rosy cheek to his shoulder and 
 patted her. 
 
 " What do you think, Grete ? You have now forty of the 
 best lads in Cologne enrolled to protect you, and keep 
 guard over the house night and day. There ! What more 
 could a Pfalzgriifin ask, now? And voluntary service; all 
 to be paid with a smile, which I dare fay my lady won't 
 refuse them. Lisbeth, you know our friend. Fear him 
 not, good Lisbeth, and give us breakfast, in the name of 
 fasting friars ! Well, sweet chuck, you're to have royal 
 honours paid you. I warrant they've begun good work already 
 in locking up that idle, moony vagabond, Farina " 
 
 " Him 1 What for, my father 1 How dared they ! What 
 has he done 1 " 
 
 " 0, start not, my fairy maid I A small matter of breakage, 
 pet ! He tried to enter Cunigonde Schmidt's chamber, and 
 knocked down her pot of lilies : for which Berthold Schmidt 
 knocked him down, and our friend here, out of good 
 fellowship, knocked down Berthold. However, the chief 
 offender is marched off to prison by your trusty guard, and 
 there let him cool himself. Berthold sliall tell you the tale 
 himself : he'll be here to breakfast, and receive your orders, 
 mistress commander-in-chief." 
 
 The Goshawk had his eye on Margarita. Her teeth were 
 tight down on her nether lip, and her whole figure had a 
 strange look of awkwardness, she was so divided with anger. 
 
 " As witness of the affair, I think I shall make a clearer 
 statement, fair maiden," he interposed. "In the first place, 
 I am the offender. We passed under tha window of the 
 Friiulein Schmidt, and 'twas I mounted to greet the lilies. 
 One shoot of them is in my helm, and here let me present 
 them to a worthier holder." 
 
 He offered the flowers with a smile, and Margarita took 
 them, radiant with gratitude. 
 
341 FAEINA. 
 
 " Our friend Berthold," he continued, " thought proper to 
 aim a blow at me behind my back, and then ran for his 
 comrades. He was caught, and by my gallant young hero, 
 Farina; concerning whose character I regret that your 
 respected father and I differ : for, on the faith of a soldier 
 and true man, he's the finest among the fine fellows I've yet 
 met in Germany, trust me. So, to cut the story short, 
 execution was done upon Berthold by my hand, for an act 
 of treachery. He appears to be a sort of captain of one of 
 the troops, and not affectionately disposed to Parina ; for the 
 version of the affair you have heard from your father is a 
 little invention of Master Berthold's own. To do him 
 justice, he seemed equally willing to get me under the cold 
 stone ; but a word from your good father changed the 
 current ; and as I thought I could serve our friend better 
 free than behind bars, I accepted liberty. Pshaw 1 I should 
 have accepted it any way, to tell the truth, for your German 
 dungeons are mortal shivering ratty places. So rank me no 
 hero, fair Mistress Margarita, though the temptation to seem 
 one in such sweet eyes was beginning to lead me astray. 
 And now, as to our business in the streets at this hour, 
 believe the best of us." 
 
 " I will ! I do ! " said Margarita. 
 
 "Lisbeth ! Lisbeth ! " called Gottlieb. " Breakfast, little 
 sister ! our champion is starving. He asks for Wurst, milk- 
 loaves, wine, and all thy rarest conserves. Haste, then, for 
 the honour of Cologne is at stake." 
 
 Aunt Lisbeth jingled her keys in and out, and soon 
 that harmony drew a number of domestics with platters of 
 swine flesh, rolls of white wheaten bread, the perpetual 
 Wurst, milk, wine, barley-bread, and household stores of 
 dainties in profusion, all sparkling on silver, relieved by 
 spotless white cloth. Gottlieb beheld such a sunny twinkle 
 across the Goshawk's face at this hospitable array, that he 
 gave the word of onset without waiting for Berthold, and 
 his guest immediately fell to, and did not relax in his 
 
THE MISSIVES. 345 
 
 exertions for a full half-hour by the Cathedral clock, 
 eschewing the heer with a wry look made up of scorn and 
 ruefulness, and drinking a well-brimmed health in Eliiae 
 wine all round. Margarita was pensive : Aunt Lisbeth on 
 her guard. Gottlieb remembered Charles the Great's counsel 
 to Archbishop Turpin, and did his best to remain on earth 
 one of its lords dominant. 
 
 " Poor Berthold ! " said he. " 'Tis a good lad, and deserves 
 his seat at my table oftener. I suppose the flower-pot 
 business has detained him. We'll drink to him : eb, 
 GreteV 
 
 " Drink to him, dear father ! — but here he is to thank 
 you in person." 
 
 Margarita felt a twinge of pity as Berthold entered. The 
 livid stains of his bruise deepened about his eyes, and gave 
 them a wicked light whenever they were fixed intently ; but 
 they looked earnest ; and spoke of a combat in which he 
 could say that he proved no coward and was used with some 
 cruelty. She turned on the Goshawk a mute reproach ; yet 
 smiled and loved him well when she beheld him stretch a 
 hand of welcome and proffer a brotherly glass to Berthold. 
 The rich goldsmith's son was occupied in studying the horo- 
 scope of his fortunes in Margarita's eyes ; but when Margarita 
 directed his attention to Guy, he turned to him with a glance 
 of astonishment that yielded to cordial greeting. 
 
 " Well done, Berthold, my brave boy 1 All are friends 
 who sit at table," said Gottlieb. " In any case, at my table : 
 
 ' 'Tis a worthy foe 
 Forgives the blow 
 Was dealt him fall and fairly,' 
 
 says the song ; and the proverb takes it up with, ' A generous 
 enemy is a friend on the wrong side ; ' and no one's to blame 
 for that, save old Dame Fortune. So now a bumper to this 
 jovial make-up between you. Lisbeth ! you must drink it." 
 The little woman bowed melancholy obedience. 
 
346 PAEINA. 
 
 "Why did you fling and runT' whispered Guy to 
 Berthold. 
 
 " Because you were two against one." 
 
 "Two against one, man! Why, have you no such thing 
 as fair play in this land of yours 1 Did you think I should 
 have taken advantage of that 'i " 
 
 " How could I tell who you were, or what you would do 1" 
 muttered Berthold, somewhat sullenly. 
 
 " Truly no, friend ! So you ran to make yourself twenty 
 to two ? But don't be down on the subject. I was going to 
 say that, though I treated you in a manner upright, 'twas 
 perhaps, a trifle severe, considering your youth : but an 
 example's everything ; and I must let you know in confi- 
 dence, that no rascal truncheon had I flung in my life 
 before ; so, you see, I gave you all the chances." 
 
 Berthold moved his white lips in reply ; but thinking of 
 the figure of defeat he was exhibiting before Margarita, 
 caused him to estimate unfavourably what chances had stood 
 in his favour. 
 
 The health was drunk. Aunt Lisbeth touched the smoky 
 yellow glass with a mincing lip, and beckoned Margarita to 
 withdraw. 
 
 " The tapestry, child ! " she said, " Dangerous things are 
 uttered after the third glass, I know, Margarita." 
 
 " Do you call my champion handsome, aunt 1 " 
 
 " I was going to speak to you about him, Margarita. If 
 I remember, he has rough, good looks, as far as they go. 
 Yes : but thou, maiden, art thou thinking of him 1 I have 
 thrice watched him wink ; and that, as we know, is a habit 
 of them that haTe sold themselves. And what is frail woman- 
 kind to expect from such a brawny animal ? " 
 
 " And oh ! to lace his armour up, 
 And speed him to the field, — 
 To pledge him in a kiasing-cup — 
 The knight that will not yield ! 
 
THE MISSIVES. 347 
 
 I am sure he is tender, aunt. Notice how gentle he looks 
 now and then." 
 
 " Tender ! gentle ! Thou • girl ! Yes, I believe she is 
 madly in love with him. Tender, and gentle ! So is the 
 bear when you're outside his den ; but enter it, maiden, and 
 try ! Thou good Ursula, preserve me from such a fate." 
 
 "Fearnot, dear aunt 1 Have not a fear of itl Besides, 
 it is not, always the men that are bad. You must not forget 
 Dalilah, and Lot's wife, and Pfalzgrafin Jutta, and the 
 Baroness who asked for a piece of poor Kraut. But, let us 
 work, let us work ! " 
 
 Margarita sat down before Siegfried, and contemplated the 
 hero. For the first time, she marked a resemblance in his 
 features to Farina : the same long yellow hair scattered over 
 bis shoulders as that flowing from under Siegfried's helm ; 
 the blue eyes, square brows, and regular outlines. " This is 
 a marvel," thought Margarita. " And Farina ! it was to 
 watch over me that he roamed the street last night, my best 
 one ! Is he not beautiful ? " and she looked closer at 
 Siegfried. 
 
 Aunt Lisbeth had begun upon the dragon with her usual 
 method, and was soon wandering through skeleton haUs of 
 the old palatial castle in Bohemia. The woolly tongue of the 
 monster suggested fresh horrors to her, and if Margarita had 
 listened, she might have had fair excuses to forget her lover's 
 condition; but her voice only did service like a piece of 
 terror-stricken clock-work, and her mind was in the prison 
 with Farina. She was long debating how to win his rfelease; 
 and meditated so deeply, and exclaimed in so many bursts of 
 impatience, that Aunt Lisbeth found her heart melting to the 
 maiden. 
 
 " Now," said she, " that is a well-known story about the 
 Electress Dowager of Bavaria, when she came on a visit to 
 Hollenbogenblitz ; and, my dear child, be it a warning. 
 Terrible, too ! " and the little woman shivered pleasantly. 
 
343 FARINA. 
 
 " She had — I may tell you this, Margarita — yes, she had been 
 false to her -wedded husband. — You understand, maiden ; or, 
 no ! you do not understand : I understand it only partly, 
 
 mind — false, I say " 
 
 " False — not true : go on, dear aunty," said Margarita, 
 catching the word. 
 
 " I believe she knows as much as I do ! " ejaculated Aunt 
 Lisbeth ; " such are girls nowadays. When I was young — 
 oh ! for a maiden to know anything then — oh ! it was general 
 reprobation. No one thought of confessing it. We blushed 
 and held down our eyes at the very idea. Well, the Electress ! 
 she was — you must guess. So she called for her caudle at 
 eleven o'clock at night. What do you think that was 1 Well, 
 there was spirit in it : not to say nutmeg, and lemon, and 
 peach-kernels. She wanted me to sit with her, but I begged 
 my mistress to keep me from the naughty woman : and no 
 friend of Hilda of Bayern was Bertha of Bbhmen, you may 
 be sure. Oh ! the things she talked while she was drinking 
 her caudle. Isentrude sat with her, and said it was fearful ! 
 — beyond blasphemy ! and that she looked like a bible 
 witch, sitting up drinking and swearing and glaring in her 
 nightclothes and nightcap. She was on a journey into 
 Hungary, and claimed the hospitality of HoUenbogenblitz on 
 her way there. Both were widows. Well, it was a quarter 
 to twelve. The Electress dropped back on her pillow, as 
 she always did, when she had finished the caudle. Isentrude 
 covered her over ; heaped up logs on the fire ; -wrapped her 
 dressing-gown about her, and prepared to sleep. It was 
 winter, and the wind howled at the doors, and rattled the 
 windows, and shook the arras- — Lord help us ! Outside was 
 all snow, and nothing but forest ; as you saw when you 
 came to me there, Gretelchen. Twelve struck. Isentrude 
 was dozing ; but she says that after the last stroke she 
 woke with cold. A foggy chill hung in the room. She 
 ooked at the Electress, who had not moved. The fire 
 burned feebly, and seemed weighed upon : Herr Je ! — she 
 
THE MISSIVES. 349 
 
 thought she heard a noise. 'No. Quite quiet ! As heaven 
 preserve her, says she, the smell in that room grew like 
 an open grave, clammily putrid. Holy Virgin ! This time 
 she was certain she heard a noise ; but it seemed on both 
 sides of her. There was the great door leading to the first 
 landing and state-room ; and opposite exactly there was the 
 panel of the secret passage. The noises seemed to advance 
 as if step by step, and grew louder in each ear as she stood 
 horrified on the marble of the hearth. She looked at the 
 Electress again, and her eyes were wide open ; but for 
 all Isentrude's calling, she would not wake. Only think ! 
 Now the noise increased, and was a regular tramp-grate, 
 tramp-screw sound — coming nearer and nearer: Saints of 
 mercy ! The apartment was choking with vapours. 
 Isentrude made a dart, and robed herself behind a curtain of 
 the bed just as the two doors opened. She could see 
 through a slit in the woven work, and winked her eyes — 
 which she had shut close on hearing the scream of the door- 
 hinges — winked her eyes to catch a sight for a moment — we 
 are such sinful, curious creatures 1 — What she saw then, she 
 says she shall never forget ; nor I ! As she was a living 
 woman, there she saw the two dead princes, the Prince 
 Palatine of Bohemia and the Elector of Bavaria, standing 
 front to front at the foot of the bed, all in white armour, 
 with drawn swords, and attendants holding pine-torches. 
 Neither of them spoke. Their vizors were down ; but she 
 knew them by their arms and bearing : both tall, stately 
 presences, good knights in their day, and had fought against 
 the Infidel. So one of them pointed to the bed, and then 
 a torch was lowered, and the fight commenced. Isentrude 
 saw the sparks fly, and the steel struck till it was shattered ; 
 but they fought on, not caring for wounds, and snorting 
 with fury as they grew hotter. They fought a whole hour. 
 The poor girl was so eaten up with looking on, that she 
 let go the curtain and stood quite exposed among them. So, 
 to steady herself, she rested her hand on the bed-side ; and — 
 
350 FARINA. 
 
 think what she felt— a hand as cold as ice locked hers, and 
 get from it she could not ! That instant one of the princes 
 fell. It -was Bbhmen. Bayern sheathed his sword, and 
 waved his hand, and the attendants took up the slaughtered 
 ghost, feet and shoulders, and hore him to the door of 
 the secret passage, while Bayern strode after " 
 
 " Shameful ! " exclaimed Margarita. " I will speak to 
 Berthold as he descends. I hear him coming. He shall do 
 what I wish." 
 
 " Call it dreadful, Grete ! Dreadful it was. If Berthold 
 would like to sit and hear — Ah ! she is gone. A good girl ! 
 and of a levity only on the surface.'' 
 
 Aunt Lisheth heard Margarita's voice rapidly addressing 
 Berthold. His reply was low and brief. " Eefuses to listen 
 to anything of the sort," Aunt Lisbeth interpreted it. Then 
 he seemed to be pleading, and Margarita uttering short 
 answers. " I trust 'tis nothing a maiden should not hear," the 
 Httle lady exclaimed with a sigh. Hdllenbogenblitz was strong 
 in her that morning, and she regarded Margarita as her own. 
 
 The door opened, and Lieschen stood at the entrance. 
 
 " Por Fraulein Margarita," she said, holding a letter half- 
 way out. 
 
 " Give it,'' Aunt Lisbeth commanded. 
 
 The woman hesitated — " 'Tis for the Frauleia." 
 
 " Give it, I tell thee ! " and Aunt Lisbeth eagerly seized 
 the missive, and subjected it to the ordeal of touch. It was 
 heavy, and contained something hard. Long pensive pressures 
 revealed its shape on the paper. It was an arrow. 
 
 " Go ! " said she to the woman, and, once alone, began, 
 bee-like, to buzz all over it, and finally entered, for she was 
 small. It contained Margarita's Silver Arrow. " The art of 
 that girl ! " And the writing said : 
 
 " Sweetest Maiden ! 
 
 " By this arrow of our betrothal, I conjure thee to meet 
 me in all haste without the western gate, where, burning to 
 
THE MISSIVES. 351 
 
 reveal to thee most urgent tidings that may not be- confided to 
 paper, now waits, petitioning the saints, thy 
 
 " Farina." 
 
 Aunt Lisbeth placed letter and arrow in a draw ; locked it ; 
 and " always thought so.'' She ascended the stairs to consult 
 with Gottlieb. Eoars of laughter greeted her just as she 
 lifted the latch, and she retreated abashed. There was no 
 time to lose. Farina must be caught in the act of waiting for 
 Margarita, and by Gottlieb, or herself. Gottlieb was revelling. 
 " May this be a warning to thee, Gottlieb," murmured Lisbeth, 
 as she hooded her little body in Margarita's fur-cloak, and 
 determined that she would be the one to confound Farina. 
 
 Five minutes later Margarita returned. Aunt Lisbeth was 
 gone. The dragon still lacked a tip to his forked tongue, 
 and a stream of fiery threads dangled from the jaws of the 
 monster. Another letter was brought into the room by 
 Lieschen. 
 
 " For Aunt Lisbeth," said Margarita, reading the address. 
 " Who can it be from ? " 
 
 " She does not stand pressing about your letters,'' said the 
 woman ; and informed Margarita of the foregoing missive. 
 
 " You say she drew an arrow from it ? " said Margarita, 
 with burning face. " Who brought this? tell me ! " and just 
 waiting to hear it was Farina's mother, she tore the letter 
 open, and read : — 
 
 " Dbabbst Lisbeth ! 
 
 " Thy old friend writes to thee ; she that has scarce 
 left eyes to see the words she writes. Thou knowest we are 
 a fallen house, through the displeasure of the Emperor on my 
 dead husband. My son. Farina, is my only stay, and well 
 returns to me the blessings I bestow upon him. Some call 
 him idle : some think him too wise. I swear to thee, Lisbeth, 
 he is only good. His hours are devoted to the extraction of 
 
352 FARINA. 
 
 essences, — to no black magic. Now he is in trouble — in 
 prison, The shadow that destroyed his dead father threatens 
 him. Now, by our old friendship, beloved Lisbeth ! 
 intercede with Gottlieb, that he may plead for my own son 
 before the Emperor when he comes " 
 
 Margarita read no more. She went to the window, and 
 saw her guard marshalled outside. She threw a kerchief 
 over her head, and left the house by the garden gate. 
 
THE MONK. 
 
 Br this time tlie suu stood high over Cologne. The market- 
 places were crowded with buyers and sellers, mixed with a 
 loitering swarm of soldiery, for whose thirsty natures wine- 
 stalls had been tumbled up. Barons aud knights of the 
 empire, bravely mounted and thickly followed, poured hourly 
 into Cologne from South Germany and North. Here, staring 
 Suabians, and round-featured warriors of the East Kingdom, 
 swaggered up and down, patting what horses came across 
 them, for lack of occupation for their hands. Yonder, huge 
 Pomeranians, with bosks of beard stififened out square from 
 the chin, hurtled mountainous among the peaceable in- 
 habitants. Troopers dismounted went straddling, in tight 
 hose and loose, prepared to drink good-will to whomsoever 
 would furnish the best quality liquor for that solemn pledge, 
 and equally ready to pick a quarrel with them that would 
 not. It was a scene of flaring feathers, wide-flapped bonnets, 
 flaunting hose, blue and battered steel plates, slashed woollen 
 haunch-bags, leather-leggings, ensigns, and imperious boots 
 and shoulders. Margarita was too hurried in her mind to 
 be conscious of an imprudence ; but her limbs trembled, and 
 she instinctively quickened her steps. When she stood 
 under the sign of the Three Holy Kings, where dwelt Farina's 
 mother, she put up a fervent prayer of thanks, and breathed 
 freely. 
 
 2 A 
 
354 FARINA. 
 
 " I had expected a message from Lisbeth," said Trau 
 Farina ; "but thou, good heart ! thou wilt help us ? " 
 
 " All that may be done by me I will do," replied Margarita ; 
 " but his mother yearns to see him, and I have come to bear 
 her company." 
 
 The old lady clasped her hands and wept. 
 
 " Has he found so good a friend, my poor boy ! And 
 trust me, dear maiden, he is not unworthy, for better son 
 never lived, and good son, good all ! Surely we will go to 
 him, but not as thou art. I will dress thee. Such throngs 
 are in the streets ; I heard them clattering in early this 
 morning. Eest, dear heart, till I return.'' 
 
 Margarita had time to inspect the single sitting-room in 
 which her lover lived. It was planted with bottles, and 
 vases, and pipes, and cylinders, piling on floor, chair, and 
 table. She could not suppress a slight surprise of fear, for 
 this display showed a dealing with hidden things, and a 
 summoning of scattered spirits. It was this that made his 
 brow so pale, and the round of his eye darker than youth 
 should let it be ! . She dismissed the feeling, and assumed 
 her own bright face as Dame Farina reappeared, bearing on 
 her arm a convent garb, and other apparel. Margarita 
 suffered herself to be invested in the white and black robes 
 of the denial of life. 
 
 " There ! " said the Frau Farina, " and to seal assurance, I 
 have engaged a guard to accompany us. He was sorely 
 bruised in a street combat yesterday, and was billeted below, 
 where I nursed and tended him, and he is grateful, as man 
 should be — though I did little, doing my utmost — and with 
 him near us we have nought to fear." 
 
 " Good," said Margarita, and they kissed and departed. 
 The guard was awaiting them outside. 
 
 " Come, my little lady, and with thee the holy sister ! 
 'Tis no step from here, and I gage to bring ye safe, as sure 
 as my name's Schwartz Thier ! — Hey 1 The good sister's 
 dropping. Look, now ! I'll carry her." 
 
THE MONK. 355 
 
 Margarita recovered her self-command before lie could 
 make good this offer. 
 
 " Only let us hasten there," she gasped. 
 
 The Thier strode on, and gave them safe-conduct to the 
 prison where Farina was confined, being near one of the 
 outer forts of the city. 
 
 " Thank and dismiss him," whispered Margarita. 
 
 " Nay ! he will wait — wilt thou not, friend ! "We shall 
 not be long, though it is my son I visit here," said Frau 
 Farina. 
 
 " Till to-morrow morning, my little lady ! The lion 
 thanked him that plucked the thorn from his foot, and the 
 Thier may he black, but he's not ungrateful, nor a worse 
 beast than the lion." 
 
 They entered the walls and left him. 
 
 For the first five minutes Schwartz Thier found employ- 
 ment for his faculties by staring at the shaky, small-paned 
 windows of the neighbourhood. He persevered in this, after 
 all novelty had been exhausted, from an intuitive dread of 
 weariness. There was nothing to see. An old woman once 
 bobbed out of an attic, and doused the flints with water. 
 Harassed by increasing dread of the foul nightmare of nothing- 
 to-do, the Thier endeavoured to establish amorous intelligence 
 with her. She responded with an indignant projection of 
 the under-jaw, evanishing rapidly. There was no resource 
 left him but to curse her with extreme heartiness. The 
 Thier stamped his right leg, and then his left, and remem- 
 bered the old woman as a grievance five minutes longer. 
 When she was clean forgotten, he yawned. Another spouse 
 of the moment was wanted, to be wooed, objurgated, and 
 T.egTetted. The prison-gate was in a secluded street. Few 
 passengers went by, and those who did edged away from the 
 ponderous, wanton-eyed figure of lazy mischief lounging 
 there, as neatly as they well could. The Thier hailed two or 
 three. One took to his legs, another bowed, smirked, gave 
 him a kindly good-day, and affected to hear no more, having 
 
 2 a'2 
 
356 FARINA. 
 
 urgent business in prospect. The Thier was a faithful dog, 
 hut the temptation to hetray his trust and pursue them was 
 mighty. He began to experience an equal disposition to cry 
 and roar. He hummed a ballad : — 
 
 " I Bwore of her I'd have my will, 
 And with him I'd have my way : 
 I learn'd my cross-bow over the hill : — 
 Now what does my lady say p 
 
 Give me the good old cross-bow, after all, and none of these 
 umbering puff-and-bangs that knock you down oftener than 
 your man ! — 
 
 " A cross stands in the forest still, 
 
 And a cross in the churchyard gray : 
 My corse on him who had his will, 
 And on him who had his way ! 
 
 Good beginning, bad ending ! 'Tisn't so always. ' Many a 
 cross has the cross-bow built,' they say. I wish I had mine, 
 now, to peg off that old woman, or somebody. I'd swear 
 she's peeping at me over the gable, or behind some cranny. 
 They're curious, the old women, curse 'em ! And the 
 young, for that matter. Devil a young one here. 
 
 " When I'm in for the sack of a town, 
 
 What, think ye, I poke after, up and down ? 
 
 Silver and gold I pocket in plenty, 
 
 But the sweet tit-bit is my lass under twenty. 
 
 I should like to be in for the sack of this Cologne. I'd nose 
 out that pretty girl I was cheated of yesterday. Take the 
 gold and silver, and give me the maiden ! Her neck's silver, 
 and her hair gold. Ah ! and her cheeks roses, and her 
 mouth — say no more ! I'm half thinking Werner, the 
 hungry animal, has cast wolf's eyes on her. They say he 
 spoke of her last night. Don't let him thwart me. 
 Thunderblast him ! I owe him a grudge. He's befinninc 
 to forget my plan o' life." 
 
THE MONK. 357 
 
 A flight of pigeons across the blue top of the street 
 abstracted the Thier from these reflections. He gaped after 
 them in despair, and fell to stretching and shaking himself, 
 rattling his lungs with loud reports. As he threw his eyes 
 round again, they encountered those of a monk opposite 
 fastened on him in penetrating silence. The Thier hated 
 monks as a wild beast shuns fire ; but now even a monk 
 was welcome. 
 
 " Halloo ! " he sung out. 
 
 The monk crossed over to him. 
 
 "Friend !" said he, "weariness is teaching thee wanton- 
 ness. "Wilt thou take service for a right's work, where the 
 danger is little, the reward lasting 1 " 
 
 "As for that," replied the Thier, "danger comes to me 
 like greenwood to the deer, and good pay never yet was 
 given in promises. But I'm bound for the next hour to 
 womankind within there. They're my masters ; as they've 
 been of tough fellows before me.'' 
 
 " I will seek them, and win their consent," said the monk, 
 and so left him. 
 
 " Quick dealing ! " thought the Thier, and grew brisker. 
 " The baron won't want me to-night : and what if he does 1 
 Let him hang himself — tho', if he should, 'twill be a pity 
 I'm not by to help him.'' 
 
 He paced under the wall to its farthest course. Turning 
 back, he perceived the monk at the gateway. 
 
 " A sharp hand ! " thought the Thier. 
 
 " Intrude no question on me," the monk began ; " but 
 hold thy peace and follow : the women release thee, and 
 gladly.'^ 
 
 " That's not my plan o' life, now ! Money down, and 
 then command me : " and Schwartz Thier stood with one 
 foot forward, and hand stretched out. 
 
 A curl of scorn darkened the cold features of the monk. 
 He slid one hand into a side of his frock above the girdle, 
 and tossed a bag of coin. 
 
858 FAEINA. 
 
 " Take it, if 'tis in thee to forfeit the greater blessing," he 
 cried contemptuously. 
 
 The Thier peeped into the bag, and appeared satisfied. 
 
 " I follow," said he ; " lead on, good father, and I'll be in 
 the track of holiness for the first time since my mother was 
 quit of me." 
 
 The monk hurried up the street and into the market-place 
 oblivious of the postures and reverences of the people, who 
 stopped to stare at him and his gaunt attendant. As they 
 crossed the square, Schwartz Thier spied Henker Eothhals 
 starting from a wine-stall on horseback, and could not 
 forbear hailing him. Before the monk had time to utter 
 a reproach, they were deep together in a double-shot of query 
 and reply. 
 
 " Whirr ! " cried the Thier, breaking on some communica- 
 tion. " Got her, have they ? and swung her across stream 1 
 I'm one with ye for my share, or call me sheep ! " 
 
 He waved his hand to the monk, and taking hold of the 
 horse's rein, ran off beside his mounted confederate, heavily 
 shod as he was. 
 
 The monk frowned after him, and swelled with a hard 
 sigh. 
 
 "Gone!" he exclaimed, "and the accursed gold with 
 him ! Well did a voice warn me that such service was 
 never to be bought ! " 
 
 He did not pause to bewail or repent, but returned 
 toward the prison with rapid footsteps, muttering : " I 
 with the prison-pass for two ; why was I beguiled by that 
 bandit 1 Saw I not the very youth given into my hands 
 there, he that was with the damsel and the aged woman 1 " 
 
THE RIDE AND THE RACE. 
 
 Late in the noon a horseman, in the livery of the Kaiser's 
 body-guard, rode dry and dusty into Cologne, -with tidings 
 that the Kaiser was at Hammerstein Castle, and command- 
 ing all convocated knights, barons, counts, and princes, to 
 assemble and prepare for his coming, on a certain bare space 
 of ground within two leagues of Cologne, thence to swell 
 the train of his triumphal entry into the ancient city of his 
 empire. 
 
 Guy the Goshawk, broad-set on a Flemish mare, and a 
 pack-horse beside him, shortly afterward left the hotel of 
 the Three Holy Kings, and cantered up to Gottlieb's door. 
 
 " Tent-pitching is now my trade," said he, as Gottlieb 
 came down to him. " My lord is with the Kaiser. I must 
 say farewell for the nonce. Is the young lady visible 1 " 
 
 " Nor young, nor old, good friend," replied Gottlieb, with 
 a countenance somewhat rufHed. " I dined alone for lack 
 of your company. Secret missives came, I hear^ to each of 
 them, and both are gadding. Now what think you of this, 
 after the scene of yesterday 1 — Lisbeth too 1 " 
 
 " Preaches from the old text. Master Groschen ; ' Never 
 reckon on womankind for a wise act.' But farewell ! and 
 teU Mistress Margarita that I take it ill of her not giving me 
 her maiden hand to salute before parting. My gravest 
 respects to Frau Lisbeth. I shall soon be sitting with you 
 
360 TAEINA. 
 
 over that prime vintage of yours, or fortune's dead against 
 ine." 
 
 So, witli a Avring of the hand, Guy put the spur to his 
 round-fianlcod beast, and was quickly out of Cologne on the 
 rough roadway. 
 
 He was neither the first nor the last of the men-at-arms 
 hastening to obey the Kaiser's mandate. A string of horse 
 and foot in serpentine knots stretched along the flat land, 
 flashing colours livelier than the spring-meadows bordering 
 their line of passage. Guy, with a nod for all, and a greeting 
 for the best-disposed, pushed on toward the van, till the 
 gathering block compelled him to adopt the snail's pace of 
 the advance party, and gave him work enough to keep his 
 two horses from being jammed with the mass. Now and 
 then he cast a weather-eye on the heavens, and was soon 
 confirmed in an opinion he had repeatedly ejaculated, that 
 " the first night's camping would be a drencher." In the 
 "West a black bank of cloud was blotting out the sun before 
 his time. North-east shone bare fields of blue lightly touched 
 with loose-floating strips and flakes of crimson vapour. The 
 furrows were growing purple-dark, and gradually a low 
 moaning obscurity enwrapped the whole line, and muffled 
 the noise of hoof, oath, and waggon-wheel in one sullen 
 murmur. 
 
 Guy felt very much like a chopped worm, as he wriggled 
 his way onward in the dusk, impelled from the rear, and 
 reduced to grope after the main body. Frequent and deep 
 counsel he took with a trusty flask suspended at his belt. 
 It was no pleasant reflection that the rain would be down be- 
 fore he could build up anything like shelter for horse and 
 man. Still sadder the necessity of selecting his post on 
 strange ground, and in darkness. He kept an anxious look- 
 out for the moon, and was presently rejoiced to behold a 
 broad fire that twinkled branchy beams through an east-hill 
 orchard. 
 
 "My lord calls her Goddess," said Guy, wistfully. "The 
 
THE EIDE AND THE RACE. 361 
 
 title's outlandish, and more the style of these foreigners : but 
 she may have it to night, an she'll just keep the storm from 
 shrouding her bright eye a matter of two hours." 
 
 She rose with a boding lustre. Drifts of thin pale upper- 
 cloud leaned down ladders, pure as virgin silver, for her to 
 climb to her highest seat on the unrebellious half-circle of 
 heaven. 
 
 " My mind's made up ! " quoth Guy to the listening part 
 of himself. " Out of this I'll get." 
 
 By the clearer ray he had discerned a narrow track running 
 a white parallel with the general route. At the expense of 
 dislocating a mile of the cavalcade, he struck into it. A 
 dyke had to be taken, some heavy fallows crossed, and the 
 way was straight before him. He began to sneer at the slow 
 jog-trot and absence of enterprise which made the fellows he 
 had left shine so poorly in comparison with the Goshawk, but 
 a sight of two cavaliers in advance checked his vanity, and 
 now to overtake them he tasked his fat Flemish mare with 
 unwonted pricks of the heel, that made her fling out and 
 show more mettle than speed. 
 
 The objects of this fiery chase did not at first awake to a 
 sense of being pursued. Both rode with mantled visages, 
 and appeared profoundly inattentive to the world outside 
 their meditations. But the Goshawk was not to be denied, 
 and by dint of alternately roaring at them and upbraiding 
 his two stumping beasts, he at last roused the younger of the 
 cavaliers, who called to his companion loudly : without efl"ect, 
 it seemed, for he had to repeat the warning. Guy was close 
 up with them, when the youth exclaimed : 
 
 " Father ! holy father ! 'Tis Sathanas in person ! " 
 
 The other rose and pointed trembling to a dark point in 
 the distance as he vociferated : 
 
 " Not here ! not here ; but yonder ! " 
 
 Guy recognized the voice of the first speaker, and cried : 
 
 " Stay ! halt a second ! Have you forgotten the Goshawk?'' 
 
 " Never ! " came the reply, " and forget not Farina ! " 
 
362 FARINA. 
 
 Spur and fleeter steeds carried them out of hearing ere 
 Guy could throw in another syllable. Farina gazed back on 
 him remorsefully, but the Monk now rated his assistant with 
 awful indignation. 
 
 " Thou weak one ! nothing less than fool ! to betray thy 
 name on such an adventure as this to soul save the saints ! " 
 
 Farina tossed back his locks, and held his forehead to the 
 moon. All the Monk's ghostly wrath was foiled by the one 
 little last sweet word of his beloved, which made music in 
 his ears whenever annoyance sounded. 
 
 "And herein," say the old writers, " are lovers, who love 
 truly, truly recompensed for their toils and pains ; in that 
 love, for which they suffer, is ever present to ward away 
 suffering not sprung of love : but the disloyal, who serve not 
 love faithfully, are a race given over to whatso this base 
 world can wreak upon them, without consolation or comfort 
 of their mistress. Love ; whom sacrificing not all to, they 
 know not to delight in.'' 
 
 The soul of a lover lives through every member of him in 
 the joy of a moonlight ride. Sorrow and grief are slow dis- 
 tempers that crouch from the breeze, and nourish their natures 
 far from swift-moving things. A true lover is not one of 
 those melancholy flies that shoot and maze over muddy stag- 
 nant pools. He must be up in the great air. He must strike 
 all the strings of life. Swiftness is his rapture. In his 
 wide arms he embraces the whole form of beauty. Eagle- 
 like are his instincts ; dove-like his desires. Then the fair 
 moon is the very presence of his betrothed in heaven. So 
 for hours rode Farina in a silver-fleeting glory ; while the 
 Monk, as a shadow, galloped stern and silent beside him. 
 So, crowning them in the sky, one half was all love and 
 light ; one, blackness and fell purpose. 
 
THE COMBAT ON DEA.CHENFELS. 
 
 IN'oT to eartii was vouchsafed the honour of commencing the 
 great battle of that night. By an expiring hlue-shot beam of 
 moonlight, Farina beheld a vast realm of gloom filling the 
 hollow of the West, and the moon was soon extinguished 
 behiad sluggish scraps of iron scud detached from the 
 swinging bulk of ruin, as heavily it ground on the atmo- 
 sphere in the first thunder-launch of motion. 
 
 The heart of the youth was strong, but he could not view 
 without quicker fawning throbs this manifestation of 
 immeasurable power, which seemed as if with a stroke it 
 was capable of destroying creation and the works of man. 
 The bare aspect of the tempest lent terrors to the adventure 
 he was engaged in, and of which he knew not the aim, nor 
 might forecast the issue. Now there was nothing to illumine 
 their path but such forked flashes as lightning threw them 
 at intervals, touching here a hill with clustered cottages, 
 striking into day there a May-blossom, a patch of weed, a 
 single tree by the wayside. Suddenly a more vivid and 
 continuous quiver of violet fire met its reflection on the 
 landscape, and Farina saw the Ehine-stream beneath him. 
 
 "On such a night," thought he, "Siegfried fought and 
 slew the dragon ! " 
 
 A blast of light, as from the jaws of the defeated dragon 
 in his throes, made known to him the country he traversed. 
 Crimsoned above the water glimmered the monster-haunted 
 
364 FARINA. 
 
 rock itself, and mid-cliaiinel beyond, flat and black to the 
 stream, stretched the Nuns' Isle in cloistral peace. 
 
 " Halt ! " cried the Monk, and signaled with a peculiar 
 whistle, to which he seemed breathlessly awaiting an answer. 
 They were immediately surrounded by long-robed veiled figures. 
 
 "Not too late? " the Monk hoarsely asked of them. 
 
 "Yet an hour!" was the reply, in soft clear tones of a 
 woman's voice. 
 
 " Great strength and valour more than human be mine,'' 
 exclaimed the Monk, dismounting. 
 
 He passed apart from them ; and they drew in a circle, 
 while he prayed, kneeling. 
 
 Presently he returned, and led Farina to a bank, drawing 
 from some biding-place a book and a bell, which he gave 
 into the hands of the youth. 
 
 "For thy soul, no word ! " said the Monk, speaking dovra 
 his throat as he took in breath. " Nay ! not in answer to 
 me ! Be faithful, and more than earthly fortune is thine ; 
 for I say unto thee, I shall not fail, having' grace to sustain 
 this combat." 
 
 Thereupon he commenced the ascent of Drachenfels. 
 
 Farina followed. He had no hint of the Monk's mission, 
 nor of the part himself was to play in it. Such a load of 
 silence gathered on his questioning spirit, that the outcry of 
 the raging elements alone prevented him from arresting the 
 Monk and demanding the end of his service there. That 
 outcry was enough to freeze speech on the very lips of a 
 mortal. For scarce had they got footing on the winding 
 path of the crags, when the whole vengeance of the storm 
 was hurled against the mountain. Huge blocks and boulders 
 were loosened and came bowling from above : trees torn by 
 their roots from the fissures whizzed on the eddies of the 
 wind : torrents of rain foamed down the iron flanks of rock, 
 and flew off in hoar feathers against the short pauses of dark- 
 ness : the mountain heaved, and quaked, and yawned a 
 succession of hideous chasms. 
 
THE COMBAT ON DEACLENFELS. 365 
 
 "There's a devil in this," thought Farina. He looked 
 back and marked the river imaging lurid abysses of cloud 
 above the mountain-summit — yea ! and on the summit a 
 flaming shape was mirrored. 
 
 Two nervous hands stayed the cry on his mouth. 
 
 " Have I not warned thee 1 " said the husky voice of the 
 Monk. " I may weU watch, and think for thee as for a dog. 
 Be thou as faithful ! " 
 
 He handed a flask to the youth, and bade him drink. 
 Parina drank and felt richly invigorated. The Monk then 
 took bell and book. 
 
 " But half-an-hour," he muttered, " for this combat that 
 is to ring through centuries.'' 
 
 Crossing himself, he strode wildly upward. Farina saw 
 him beckon back once, and the next instant he was lost 
 round ai^incline of the highest peak. 
 
 The wind that had just screamed a thousand death-screams, 
 was now awfully dumb, albeit Farina could feel it lifting 
 hood and hair. In the unnatural stillness his ear received 
 tones of a hymn chanted below ; now sinking, now swelling ; 
 as though the voices faltered between prayer and inspiration. 
 Farina caught on a projection of crag, and fixed his eyes on 
 what was passing on the height. 
 
 There was the Monk in his brown hood and wrapper, con- 
 fronting — if he might trust his balls of sight — the red-hot 
 figure of the Prince of Darkness. 
 
 As yet no mortal tussle had taken place between them. 
 They were arguing : angrily, it was true : yet with the first 
 mutual deference of practised logicians. Latin and German 
 was alternately employed by both. It thrilled Farina's fervid 
 love of fatherland to hear the German Satan spoke : but 
 his Latin was good, and his command over that tongue 
 remarkable ; for, getting the worst of the argument, as usual, 
 be revenged himself by parodying one of the Church canticles 
 with a point that discomposed his adversary, and caused him 
 to retreat a step, claiming support against such shrewd assault. 
 
366 FARIXA. 
 
 ' The use of an unexpected weapon in -warfare is in itself 
 half a victory. Induce your antagonist to employ it as a 
 match for you, and reckon on completely routing him . . .' 
 says the old military chronicle. 
 
 " Come ! " said the Demon with easy raillery. " You know 
 your game — I mine ! I really want the good people to he 
 happy; dancing, kissing, propagating, what you will. "We 
 quite agree. You can have no objection to me, but a foolish 
 old prejudice — not personal, but class ; an antipathy of the 
 cowl, for which I pardon you ! What I should find in you 
 to complain of — I have only to mention it, I am sure — is, 
 that perhaps you do speak a little too much through your 
 nose." 
 
 The Monk did not fall into the jocular trap by retorting in 
 the same strain. 
 
 'Laugh with the Devil, and you won't laugh longest,' 
 says the proverb. 
 
 Keeping to his own arms, the holy man frowned. 
 
 " Avaunt, Fiend ! " he cried. "^To thy kingdom below ! 
 Thou hast raged over earth a month, causing blights, 
 hurricanes, and epidemics of the deadly sins. Parley no 
 more ! Begone ! — " 
 
 The Demon smiled : the corners of his mouth ran up to his 
 ears, and his eyes slid down almost into one. 
 
 " Still through the nose ! " said he reproachfully. 
 
 " I give thee Eive Minutes ! " cried the Monk. 
 
 " I had hoped for a longer colloquy," sighed the Demon, 
 jogging his left leg and triflingtwith his tail. 
 
 " One Minute ! " exclaimed the Monk. 
 
 "Truly so !" said the Demon. "I know Old Time and 
 his habits better than you really can. "We meet every 
 Saturday night, and coramunicate our best jokes. I keep a 
 book of them Down There ! " 
 
 And as if he had reason to remember the pavement of his 
 Halls, he stood tiptoe and whipped up his legs. 
 
 " Two Minutes ! " 
 
THE COMBAT ON DRACHENFELS. 367 
 
 The Demon -waved perfect acquiescence, and continued : 
 "We understand each other, he and I. All Old Ones do. 
 As long as he lasts, I shall. The thing that surprises me is, 
 that you and I cannot agree, similar as we are in temperament, 
 and playing for the long odds, both of us. My failure is, 
 perhaps, too great a passion for sport, aha ! Well, 'tis a pity 
 you won't try and live on the benevolent principle. I am 
 indeed kind to them who commiserate my condition. I give 
 them all they want, aha ! Hem ! Try and not believe in 
 me now, aha ! Ho ! . . . Can't you 1 What are eyes ? 
 Persuade yourself you're dreaming. You can do anything 
 with a mind like yours. Father Gregory ! And consider the 
 luxury of getting me out of the way so easily, as many do. It 
 is my finest suggestion, aha ! Generally I myself nudge 
 their ribs with the capital idea — You're above bribes 1 I was 
 going to observe — " 
 
 " Three ! " 
 — " Observe, that if you care for worldly honours, I can 
 smother you with that kind of thing. Several of your first- 
 rate people made a bargain with me when they were in the 
 fog, and owe me a trifle. Patronage they call it. I hook the 
 high and the low. Too-little and too-much serve me better 
 than Beelzebub. A weak stomach is certainly more carnally 
 virtuous than a full one. Consequently my kingdom is 
 becoming too respectable. They've all got titles, and object 
 to being asked to poke the fire without — Honourable-and-with- 
 Exceeding-Brightness-Beaming Baroness This ! Admirably- 
 Benignant-Down-looking Highness That ! Interrupts business, 
 especially when you have to ask them to fry themselves, 
 according to the rules . . . Would you like Mainz and the 
 Eheingau ? . . . You don't care for Beauty — Puella, Puellse ? 
 I have plenty of them, too, below. The Historical Beauties 
 warmed up at a moment's notice. Modem ones made famous 
 between morning and night — Fame is the sauce of Beauty. 
 Or, no— eh?" 
 
 " Four ! " 
 
363 FARINA. 
 
 " Not quite so fast, if you please. You want me gone. 
 Now, Where's your cliarity'! Do you aslt me to be always 
 raking up those poor devils underneath. 1 While I'm here, 
 they've a respite. They cannot think you kind. Father 
 Gregory ! As for the harm, you see, I'm not the more 
 agreeable by being face to face with you — though some fair 
 dames do take to my person monstrously. The secret is, the 
 quantity of small talk I can command : that makes them 
 forget my smell, which is, I confess, abominable, displeasing 
 to myself, and my worst curse. Your sort, Father Gregory, 
 are somewhat unpleasant in that particular — if I may judge 
 by their Legate here. Well, try small talk. They would 
 fall desperately in love with polecats and skunks if endowed 
 with small talk. Why, they have become enamoured of 
 monks before now ! If skunks, why not monks t And 
 again — " 
 
 " Five ! " 
 
 Having solemnly bellowed this tremendous number, the 
 holy man lifted his arms to begin the combat. 
 
 Farina felt his nerves prick with admiration of the ghostly 
 warrior daring the Second Power of Creation on that lonely 
 mountain-top. He expected, and shuddered at thought of 
 the most awful fight ever yet chronicled of those that have 
 taken place between heroes and the hounds of evil : but his 
 astonishment was great to hear the Demon, while Bell was 
 in air and Book aloft, retreat, shouting, " Hold ! " 
 
 " I surrender," said he, sullenly. " What terms ? " 
 
 " Instantaneous riddance of thee from face of earth." 
 
 "Good! — Now," said the Demon, "did you suppose I 
 was to be trapped into a fight 1 No doubt you wish to 
 become a saint, and have everybody talking of my last 
 defeat. . . .Pictures, poems, processions, with the Devil down- 
 most ! No. You're more than a match for me." 
 
 " Silence, Darkness ! " thundered the Monk, " and think 
 ncft to vanquish thy victor by flatteries. Begone ! " 
 
 And again he towered in his wrath. 
 
THE COMBAT ON DRACHEKFELS. 869 
 
 The Demon drew his tail hetween his legs, and threw the 
 forked, fleshy, quivering end over his shoulder. He then 
 nodded cheerfully, pointed his feet, and finicked a few steps 
 away, saying : " I hope we shall meet again." 
 
 Upon that he shot out his wings, that were like the fins 
 of the wyver-fish, sharpened in venomous points. 
 
 " Commands for your people below ? " he inquired, leering 
 with chin awry. " Desperate ruffians some of those cowls. 
 Tou are right not to acknowledge them." 
 
 Farina beheld the holy man in no mood to let the Enemy 
 tamper with him longer. 
 
 The Demon was influenced by a like reflection ; for, saying, 
 " Cologne is the city your Holiness inhabits, I think t " he 
 shot up rocket-like over Ehineland, striking the entire 
 length of the stream, and its rough-bearded castle-crests, 
 slate-ledges, bramble-clefts, vine-slopes, and haunted valleys, 
 with one brimstone flash. Frankfort and the far Main saw 
 him and reddened. Ancient Trier and Mosel : Heidelberar- 
 and Neckar ; Limberg and Lahn, ran guilty of him. And 
 the swift artery of these shining veins, Rhine, from his snow 
 cradle to his salt decease, glimmered Stygian horrors as the 
 Infernal Comet, sprung over Bonn, sparkled a fiery minute 
 along the face of the stream, and vanished, leaving a seam 
 of ragged flame trailed on the midnight heavens. 
 
 Farina breathed hard through his teeth. 
 
 " The last of him was awful," said he, coming forward to 
 where the Monk knelt and grasped his breviary, " but he 
 was vanquished easily." 
 
 "Easily?" exclaimed the holy man, gasping satisf action :- 
 "thou weakling! is it for thee to measure difficulties, or 
 estimate powers 1 Easily 1 thou worldling ! and so are great 
 deeds judged when the danger's past ! And what am I but 
 the humble instrument that brought about this wondrous 
 conquest ! the poor tool of this astounding triumph ! Shall 
 the sword say, This is the battle I won ! Yonder the enemy 
 I overthrew ! Bow to me, ye lords of earth, and worshippers 
 
370 FARINA. 
 
 of mighty acts 1 ISTot so ! Nay, but the sword is honoured 
 in the hero's grasp, and if it break not, it is accounted trusty. 
 This, then, this little I may claim, that I was trusty ! Trusty 
 in a heroic encounter ! Trusty in a battle with earth's terror ! 
 Oh ! but this must not be said. This is to think too much ! 
 This is to be more than aught yet achieved by man ! " 
 
 The holy warrior crossed his arms, and gently bowed his 
 head. 
 
 "Take me to the Sisters,'' he said. "The spirit has gone 
 out of me ! I am faint, and as a child ! " 
 
 Farina asked, and had, his blessing. 
 
 " And with it my thanks ! " said the Monk. " Thou hast 
 witnessed how he can be overcome ! Thou hast looked upon 
 a scene that will be the glory of Christendom ! Thou hast 
 beheld the discomfiture of Darkness before the voice of Light ! 
 Yet think not much of me : account me little in this matter ! 
 1 am but an instrument ! but an instrument ! — and again, 
 but an instrument ! " 
 
 Farina drew the arms of the holy combatant across his 
 shoulders and descended Draohenfels. 
 
 The tempest was as a forgotten anguish. Bright with 
 maiden splendour shone the moon ; and the old rocks, 
 ■cherished in her beams, put up their horns to blue heaven 
 once more. All the leafage of the land shook as to shake off 
 a wicked dream, and shuddered from time to time, whispering 
 of old fears quieted, and present peace. The heart of the 
 river fondled with the image of the moon in its depths. 
 
 " This is much to have won for earth," murmured the 
 Monk, " And what is life, or who would not risk all, to 
 snatch such loveliness from the talons of the Fiend, the 
 Arch-foe ? Yet, not I ! not I ! say not, 'twas I did this ! " 
 
 Soft praises of melody ascended to them on the moist 
 fragrance of air. It was the hymn of the Sisters. 
 
 " How sweet ! " murmured the Monk. " Put it from me ! 
 away with it ! " 
 
 Eising on Farina's back, and stirruping his feet on the 
 
THE COMBAT ON DRACHBNFBLS. 371 
 
 thighs of the youth, he cried aloud : " I charge ye, whoso ye 
 be, sing not this deed before the emperor ! By the breath 
 of your nostrils, pause ! ere ye -whisper aught of the combat 
 of Saint Gregory with Satan, and his victory, and the marvel 
 of it, while he liveth ; for he would die the humble monk 
 he is.'' 
 
 He resumed his seat, and Farina brought him into the 
 circle of the Sisters. Those pure women took bim, and 
 smoothed him, lamenting, and filling the night with 
 triumphing tones. 
 
 Farina stood apart. 
 
 "The breeze tells of dawn," said the Monk; "we must be 
 in Cologne before broad day." 
 
 They mounted horse, and the Sisters grouped and reverenced 
 under the blessing of the Monk. 
 
 " No word of it ! " said the Monk warningly. 
 
 "We are silent, Father ! " they answered. 
 
 " Cologne-ward ! " was then his cry, and away he and 
 Farina flew. 
 
 2 B 2 
 
THE GOSHAWK LEADS. 
 
 MoBNiNG was among the gray eastern clouds as they rode 
 upon the camp hastily formed to meet the Kaiser. All there 
 ■was in a wallow of confusion. Fierce struggles for precedence 
 still went on in the neighbourhood of the imperial tent ground, 
 where, under the standard of Germany, lounged some veterans 
 of the Kaiser's guard, calmly watching the scramble. Up to 
 the edge of the cultivated land nothing was to be seen but 
 brawling clumps of warriors asserting the superior claims of 
 their respective lords. Variously and hotly disputed were 
 these claims, as many red , coxcombs testified. Across that 
 point where the green field flourished, not a foot was set, for 
 the Kaiser's care of the farmer, and afTection for good harvests, 
 made itself respected even in the heat of those jealous rivalries. 
 It was said of him, that he would have camped in a hog, or 
 taken quarters in a cathedral, rather than trample down a 
 green blade of wheat, or turn over one vine-pole in the 
 empire. Hence the presence of Kaiser Heiniich was never 
 hailed as Egypt's plague by the peasantry, but welcome as 
 the May month wherever he went. 
 
 Father Gregory and Farina found themselves in the centre 
 of a group ere they drew rein, and a cry rose, " The good 
 father shall decide, and all's fair,'' followed by, " Agreed ! 
 Hail and tempest ! he's dropped down o' purpose.'' 
 
 " Father," said one, " here it is ! I say I saw the Devil 
 himself fly off Drachenfels, and flop into Cologne. Fritz 
 
THE GOSHAWK LEADS. 873 
 
 here, and Frankenbauch, saw him too. They'll swear to 
 him : soil I. Hell's thunder ! will we. Yonder fellows 
 will have it 'twas a flash o' lightning, as if I didn't see him, 
 horns, tail, and claws, and a mighty sight 'twas, as I'm a 
 sinner.'' 
 
 A clash of voices, for the Devil and against him, burst on 
 this accurate description of the evil spirit. The Monk sank 
 his neck into his chest. 
 
 " Gladly would I hold silence on this, my sons," said he, 
 in a supplicating voice. 
 
 " Speak, Pather," cried the first spokesman, gathering 
 courage from the looks of the Monk. 
 
 Father Gregory appeared to commune with himself deeply. 
 At last, lifting his head, and murmuring, " It must be," he 
 said aloud : 
 
 '"Twas Satan, O my sons! Him this night in mortal 
 combat I encountered and overcame on the summit of 
 Drachenfels, before the eyes of this youth ; and from Satan 
 I this night deliver ye ! an instrument herein as in all other." 
 
 Shouts, and a far-spreading buzz resounded in the camp. 
 Hundreds had now seen Satan flying off the Draohenstein. 
 Father Gregory could no longer hope to escape from the 
 importunate crowds that beset him for particulars. The 
 much-contested point now was, as to the exact position of 
 Satan's tail during his airy circuit, before descending into 
 Cologne. It lashed like a lion's. 'Twas cocked, for certain ! 
 He sneaked it between his legs like a lurcher ! He made it 
 stumpy as a brown bear's ! He carried it upright as a pike ! 
 
 " my sons ! have I sown dissension? Have I not given 
 ye peace ] " exclaimed the Monk. 
 
 But they continued to discuss it with increasing frenzy. 
 
 Farina cast a glance over the tumult, and beheld his friend 
 Guy beckoning earnestly. He had no difficulty in getting 
 away to him, as the fetters of all eyes were on the Monk 
 alone. 
 
 The Goshawk was stamping with excitement. 
 
374 FARI.VA. 
 
 "Not a moment to be lost, my lad," said Guy, catching 
 his arm. " Here, I've had half-a-dozen fights already for 
 this bit of ground. Do you know that fellow squatting 
 there 1 " 
 
 Farina beheld the Thier at the entrance of a tumble-down 
 tent. He was ruefully rubbing a broken head. 
 
 " Now," continued Guy, " to mount him is the thing ; 
 and then after the wolves of Werner as fast as horse-flesh 
 can carrj' us. No questions ! Bound, are you ? And what 
 am 11 But this is life and death, lad ! Hark !" 
 
 The Goshawk whispered something that sucked the blood 
 out of Farina's cheek. 
 
 " Look you — what's your lockjaw name 1 Keep good 
 faith with me, and you shall have your revenge, and the 
 shiners I promise, besides my lord's interest for a better 
 master : but, sharp ! we won't mount till we're out of sight 
 o' the hell-scum you horde with." 
 
 The Thier stood up and staggered after them through the 
 camp. There was no difficulty in mounting him : horses 
 were loose, and scampering about the country, not yet delivered 
 from their terrors of the last night's tempest. 
 
 " Here be we, three good men ! " exclaimed Guy, when 
 they were started, and Farina had hurriedly given him the 
 heads of his adventure with the Monk. " Three good men 1 
 One has helped to kick the devil : one has served an appren- 
 ticeship to his limb : and one is ready to meet him foot to 
 foot any day, which last should be myself. Not a man 
 more do we want, though it were to fish up that treasure 
 you talk of being under the Rhine there, and guarded by I 
 don't know how many tricksy little villains. Horses can be 
 ferried across at Linz, you say 1 " 
 
 " Ay, thereabout," grunted the Thier. 
 
 " We're on the right road, then ! " said Guy. " Thanks 
 to you both, I've had no sleep for two nights — not a wink 
 and must snatch it going — not the first time." 
 
 The Goshawk bent his body, and spoke no more. Farina 
 
THE GOSHAWK LEADS. 375 
 
 could not get a word further from him. By the mastery he 
 still had over his rein, the Goshawk alone proved that he 
 was of the world of the living. Schwartz Thier, rendered 
 either sullen or stunned by the latest cracked crown he had 
 received, held his jaws close as if they had been nailed. 
 
 At Linz the horses were well breathed. The Goshawk, 
 who had been snoring an instant before, examined them 
 keenly, and shook his calculating head. 
 
 " Punch that beast of yours in the ribs," said he to 
 Farina. " Ah ! not a yard of wind in him. And there's 
 the coming back, when we shall have more to carry. Well : 
 this is my lord's money ; but i' faith, it's going in a good 
 cause, and Master Groschen will make it all right, no 
 doubt ; not a doubt of it." 
 
 The Goshawk had seen some excellent beasts in the 
 stables of the Kaiser's Krone ; but the landlord would make 
 no exchange without an advance of silver. This done, the 
 arrangement was prompt. 
 
 " Schwartz Thier ! — I've got your name now," said Guy, 
 as they were ferrying across, " you're stiff certain they left 
 Cologne with the maiden yesternoon, now 1 " 
 
 "Ah, did they ! and she's at the Eek safe enow by this 
 time." 
 
 "And away from the Eck this night she shall come, 
 trust me ! " 
 
 " Or there will I die with her ! " cried Farina. 
 
 " Fifteen men at most, he has, you said," continued Guy. 
 " Two not sound, five true as steel, and the rest shilly-shally. 
 'Slife, one lock loose serves us ; but two saves us : five we're 
 a match for, throwing in bluff Baron ; the remainder go with 
 victory." 
 
 " Can we trust this fellow 1 " whispered Farina. 
 
 " Trust him ! " roared Guy. " Why, I've thumped him, 
 lad ; pegged and pardoned him. Trust him 1 trust me ! If 
 Werner catches a sight of that snout of his within half-a-mile 
 of his hold, he'll roast him alive." 
 
376 FARINA. 
 
 He lowered his voice : " Trast him 1 We can do notliing 
 without him. I knocked the devil out of him early this 
 morning. ISTo chance for his Highness anywhere now. This 
 Eck of Werner's would stand a siege from the Kaiser in 
 person, I hear. We must into it like weasels ; and out as 
 we can." 
 
 Dismissing the ferry-harge with stern injunctions to be in 
 waiting from noon to noon, the three leapt on their fresh nags. 
 
 "Stop at the first village," said Guy; "we must lay in 
 provision. As Master Groschen says, ' Nothing's to he done, 
 Turpin, without provender.' " 
 
 " Goshawk ! " cried Farina ; " you have time ; tell me how 
 this business was done," 
 
 The only reply was a soft but decided snore, that spoke, 
 like a voluptuous trumpet, of dreamland and its visions. 
 
 At Sinzig, the Thier laid his hand on Guy's bridle, with 
 the words, " Feed here," a brief, but effective, form of 
 signal, which aroused the Goshawk completely. The sign 
 of the Trauben received them. Here, Wurst reeking with 
 garlic, raw eggs, black bread, and sour wine, was all they 
 could procure. Farina refused to eat, and maintained his 
 resolution, in spite of Guy's sarcastic chiding. 
 
 "Eub do'wn the beasts, then, and water them," said the 
 latter. " Made a vow, I suppose," muttered Guy. " That's 
 the way of those fellows. No upright manly take-the- 
 thing-as-it-comes ; but fly-sky-high whenever there's a dash 
 on their heaven. "V\Tiat has his belly done to offend him 1 
 It will be crying out just when we want all quiet. I 
 wouldn't pay Werner such a compliment as go without 
 a breakfast for him. Not I ! Would you, Schwartz Thier ? " 
 
 " Henker ! not I ! " growled the Thier. " He'll lose one 
 sooner." 
 
 " First snatch his prey, or he'll be making, God save us ! 
 a meal for a Kaiser, the brute." 
 
 Guy called in the landlady, clapped down the score, and 
 abused the wine. 
 
THE GOSHAWK LEADS. 377 
 
 " Sir," said the landlady, " ours is but a poor inn, and we 
 do our best." 
 
 " So you do," replied the Goshawk, softened ; " and I 
 say that a civil tongue and rosy smiles sweeten even sour 
 wine." 
 
 The landlady, a summer widow, blushed, and as he was 
 stepping from the room, called him aside. 
 
 " I thought you were one of that dreadful Werner's band, 
 and I hate him." 
 
 Guy undeceived her. 
 
 " He took my sister," she went on, " and his cruelty killed 
 her. He persecuted me even in the lifetime of my good 
 man. Last night he came here in the middle of the storm 
 with a young creature bright as an angel, and sorrowful " 
 
 " He's gone, you're sure ? " broke in Guy. 
 
 " Gone ! Oh, yes ! Soon as the storm abated he dragged 
 her on. Oh ! the way that young thing looked at me, and I 
 able to do nothing for her.'' 
 
 "Now, the Lord bless you for a rosy Christian!" cried 
 Guy, and, in his admiration, he flung his arm round her and 
 sealed a ringing kiss on each cheek. 
 
 "No good man defrauded by that! and let me see the 
 fellow that thinks evil of it. If I ever told a woman a 
 secret, I'd tell you one now, trust me. But I never do, so 
 farewell ! Not another 1 " 
 
 Hasty times keep the feelings in a ferment, and the land- 
 lady was extremely angry with Guy and heartily forgave him, 
 all within a minute. 
 
 "No more," said she, laughing : " but wait ; I have some- 
 thing for you.'' 
 
 The Goshawk lingered on a fretting heel. She was quickly 
 under his elbow again with two flasks leaning from her 
 bosom to her arms. 
 
 " There ! I seldom meet a man like you ; and, when I do, 
 I like to be remembered. This is a true good wine, real 
 Liebfrauenmilch, which I only give to choice customers." 
 
378 FARINA. 
 
 "Welcome it is !" sang Guy to her arch looks; "but I 
 uiust pay for it." 
 
 " Not a pfennig ! " said the landlady. 
 
 "Not one?" 
 
 " Not one ! " she repeated, with a stamp of the foot. 
 
 "In other coin, then," quoth Guy ; and folding her waist, 
 which did not this time back away, the favoured Goshawk 
 registered rosy payment on a very fresh red mouth, receiving 
 in return such lively discount, that he felt himself bound in 
 conscience to make up the full sum a second time. 
 
 " What a man ! " sighed the landlady, as she watched the 
 Goshawk lead off along the banks; "courtly as a knight, 
 open as a squire, and gentle as a page ! " 
 
WEENER'S ECK. 
 
 A LEAGUE behind Andernach, and more in the wintry circle 
 of the sun than Laach, its convenient monastic neighbour, 
 stood the castle of Werner, the Kobber Baron. Ear into the 
 South, hazy with afternoon light, a yellow succession of sand- 
 hills stretch away, spouting fire against the blue sky of an elder 
 world, but now dead and barren of herbage. Around is a 
 dusty plain, where the green blades of spring no sooner peep 
 than they become grimed with sand and take an aged look, in 
 accordance with the ungenerous harvests they promise. The 
 aridity of the prospect is relieved on one side by the lofty 
 woods of Laach, through which the sun setting burns golden- 
 red, and on the other by the silver sparkle of a narrow 
 winding stream, bordered with poplars, and seen but a 
 glistening mile of its length by all the thirsty hills. The 
 Eck, or Comer, itself, is thick-set with wood, but of a stunted 
 growth, and lying like a dark patch on the landscape. It 
 served, however, entirely to conceal the castle, and mask every 
 movement of the wary and terrible master. A trained eye 
 advancing on the copse would hardly mark the glimmer of 
 the turrets over the topmost leaves, but to every loophole of 
 the walls lies bare the circuit of the land. "Werner could rule 
 with a glance the Khine's course down from the broad rock 
 over Coblentz to the white tower of Andernach. He claimed 
 that march as his right; but the Mosel was no hard ride's 
 distance, and he gratified his thirst for rapine chiefly on that 
 
380 ' FAKINA. 
 
 river, delighting in it, consequently, as much as his lobber 
 nature boiled over the bound of his feudal privileges. 
 
 Often had the baron held his own against sieges and 
 restrictions, bans and impositions of all kinds. He boasted 
 hat there was never a knight within twenty miles of him 
 that he had not beaten, nor monk of the same limit not in 
 his pay. This braggadocio received some warrant from his 
 yearly increase of licence; and his craft and his castle 
 combined, made him a notable pest of the region, a scandal 
 to the abbey whose countenance he had, and a frightful 
 infliction on the poorer farmers and peasantry. 
 
 The sun was beginning to slope over Laach, and threw the 
 shadows of the abbey-towers half-way across the blue lake- 
 waters, as two men in the garb of husbandmen emerged from 
 the wood. Their feet plunged heavily and their heads hung 
 down, as they strode beside a wain mounted with straw, 
 whistling an air of stupid unconcern ; but a close listener 
 might have heard that the lumbering vehicle carried a human 
 voice giving them directions as to the road they were to take, 
 and what sort of behaviour to observe under certain events. 
 The land was solitary. A boor passing asked whether toll 
 or tribute they were conveying to "Werner. Tribute, they 
 were advised to reply, which caused him to shrug and curse 
 as he jogged on. Hearing him, the voice in the wain 
 chuckled grimly. Their next speech was with a trooper, 
 who overtook them, and wanted to know what they had in 
 the wain for Werner. Tribute, they replied, and won the 
 title of " brave pigs " for their trouble. 
 
 "But what's the dish made of? " said the trooper, stirring 
 the straw with his sword-point. 
 
 " Tribute,'' came the answer. 
 
 " Ha ! You've not been to "Werner's school," and the 
 trooper swung a sword-stroke at the taller of the two, 
 sending a tremendous shudder throughout his frame ; but he 
 held his head to the ground, and only seemed to betray 
 animal consciousness in leaning his ear closer to the wain. 
 
WERNER'S ECK. 381 
 
 " Blood and storm ! Will ye speak 1 " cried the trooper. 
 
 " Never talk much ; hut an ye say nothing to the 
 Baron," — thrusting his hand into the straw — " here's what's 
 hetter than speaMng." 
 
 " Well said ! — Eh 1 Liehfrauenmilch ? Ho, ho ! a rare 
 bleed ! " 
 
 Striking the neck of the flask on a wheel, the trooper 
 applied it to his mouth, and ceased not deeply ingurgitating 
 till his face was broad to the sky and the hottle reversed. 
 He then dashed it down, sighed, and shook himself. 
 
 " Eare news ! the Kaiser's come : he'll he in Cologne by 
 night ; but first he must see the Baron, and I'm post with 
 the order. That's to show you how high he stands in the 
 Kaiser's grace. Don't be thinking of upsetting Werner yet, 
 any of you ; mind, now ! " 
 
 " That's Blass-Gesell," said the voice in the wain, as the 
 trooper trotted on : adding, " 'gainst us.'' 
 
 " Makes six," responded the driver. 
 
 Within sight of the Eck, they descried another trooper 
 coming toward them. This time the driver was first to 
 speak. 
 
 " Tribute ! Provender ! Bread and wine for the high 
 Baron Werner from his vassals over Tdnuistein." 
 
 " And I'm out of it ! fasting like a winter wolf," howled 
 the fellow. 
 
 He was in the act of addressing himself to an inspection 
 of the wain's contents, when a second flask lifted in air, 
 gave a sop to his curiosity. This flask sufiered the fate of 
 the former. 
 
 " A Swabian blockhead, aren't you ? " 
 
 " Ay, that country," said the driver. " May be, Henker 
 Eothhals happens to be with the Baron ? " 
 
 " To hell with him ! I wish he had my job, and I his, of 
 watching the yellow-bird in her new cage, till she's taken out 
 to-night, and then a jolly bumper to the Baron all round." 
 
 The driver wished him a fortunate journey, strongly 
 
382 FARINA. 
 
 recommending him to skirt the abbey westward, and go by 
 the Ahr valley, as there was something stirring that way, 
 and mumbling, " Makes five again," as he put the wheels in 
 motion. 
 
 "Goshawk!" said his visible companion; "what do you 
 say now 1 " 
 
 " I say, bless that widow ! " 
 
 " Oh ! bring me face to face with this accursed "Werner 
 quickly, my God ! " gasped the youth. 
 
 " Tush ! 'tis not Werner we want — there's the Thier 
 speaking. No, no, Schwartz Thier ! I trust you, no doubt; 
 but the badger smells at a hole, before he goes inside it. 
 We're strangers, and are allowed to miss our way." 
 
 Leaving the wain in Farina's charge, he pushed through a 
 dense growth of shrub and underwood, and came crouching 
 on a precipitous edge of shrouded crag, which commanded a 
 view of the stronghold, extending round it, as if scooped 
 clean by some natural action, about a stone's-throw distant, 
 and nearly level with the look-out tower. Sheer from a 
 deep circular basin clothed ^fith wood, and bottomed with 
 grass and bubbling water, rose a naked moss-stained rock, on 
 whose peak the castle firmly perched, like a spying hawk. 
 The only means of access was by a narrow natural bridge of 
 rock flung from this insulated pinnacle across to the main- 
 land. One man, well disposed, might have held it against forty. 
 
 " Our way's the best,'' thought Guy, as he meditated 
 every mode of gaining admission. "A hundred men an 
 hour might be lost cutting steps up that steep slate ; and 
 once at the top we should only have to be shoved down again." 
 While thus engaged, he heard a summons sounded from 
 the castle, and scrambled back to Farina. 
 
 " The Thier leads now/' said he, " and who leads is 
 captain. It seems easier to get out of that than in. There's a 
 square tower, and a round. I guess the maiden to be in the 
 round. Now, lad, no crying out — You don't come in with 
 us ; but back you go for the horses, and have them ready 
 
WERNER'S ECK. 383 
 
 and fresh in yon watered meadow under tlie castle. The 
 path down winds easy." 
 
 " Man ! " cried Farina, " what do you take me for ? — go 
 you for the horses." 
 
 " Not for a fool," Guy rejoined, tightening his lip ; " but 
 now is your time to prove yourself one." 
 
 " "With you, or without you, I enter that castle ! " 
 
 " Oh ! if you want to be served up hot for the Baron's 
 supper-mess, by all means." 
 
 " Thunder ! " growled Schwartz Thier, " aren't ye 
 m.oving "i " 
 
 The Goshawk beckoned Parina aside. 
 
 " Act as I tell you, or I'm for Cologne." 
 
 " Traitor ! " muttered the youth. 
 
 " Swearing this, that if we fail, the Baron shall need a 
 leech sooner than a bride." 
 
 " That stroke must be mine ! " 
 
 The Goshawk griped the muscle of Farina's arm till the 
 youth was compelled to slacken it with pain. 
 
 " Could you drive a knife through a six-inch wood-wall ? 
 I doubt this wild boar wants a harder hit than many a bes 
 man could give. 'Sblood ! obey, sirrah. How shall we keep 
 yon fellow true, if he sees we're at points 1 " 
 
 " I yield,'' exclaimed Farina with a fall of the chest j 
 " but hear I nothing of you by midnight — Oh ! then think 
 not I shall leave another minute to chance. Farewell ! 
 haste ! Heaven prosper you ! Tou will see her, and die 
 under her eyes. That may be denied to me. What have I 
 done to be refused that last boon ? " 
 
 " Gone without breakfast and dinner," said Guy in 
 abhorrent tones. 
 
 A whistle from the wain, following a noise of the castle- 
 gates being flung open, called the Goshawk away, and he 
 slouched his shoulders and strode to do his part, without 
 another word. Farina gazed after him, and dropped into 
 the covert. 
 
THE WATEE-LADY. 
 
 ' Bird of lovers ! Voice of the passion of love ! Sweet, 
 deep, disaster-toning nightingale ! ' sings the old minnesinger; 
 ' who that has not loved, hearing thee is touched with the 
 wand of love's mysteries, and yearneth to he knoweth not 
 whom, humbled by overfulness of heart ; hut who, listening, 
 already loveth, heareth the language he would speak, yet 
 faileth in ; feeleth the great tongueless sea of his infinite 
 desires stirred beyond his narrow bosom ; is as one stript of 
 wings whom the angels beckon to their silver homes : and 
 he leaneth forward to ascend to them, and is mocked by his 
 effort : then is he of the fallen, and of the fallen would he 
 remain, but that tears lighten him, and through the tears 
 stream jewelled shafts dropt down to him from the sky, 
 precious ladders inlaid with amethyst, sapphire, blended 
 jasper, beryl, rose-ruby, ether of heaven flushed with softened 
 bloom of the insufferable Presences : and lo, the ladders 
 dance, and quiver, and waylay his eyelids, and a second time 
 he is mocked, aspiring : and after the third swoon standeth 
 Hope before him with folded arms, and eyes dry of the delu- 
 sions of tears, saying, Thou hast seen ! thou hast felt ! thy 
 strength hath reached in thee so far ! now shall I never die 
 in thee ! ' 
 
 ' For surely,' says the minstrel, ' Hope is not born of 
 earth, or it were perishable. Kather know her the offspring 
 of that embrace strong love straineth the heavens with. 
 
THE WATEE-LADY. 3S5 
 
 This owe we to thy music, bridal nightingale ! And the 
 difference of this celestial spirit from the smirking phantasy 
 of whom all stand soon or late forsaken, is the difference 
 between painted day with its poor ambitious snares, and 
 night lifting its myriad tapers round the throne of the 
 eternal, the prophet stars of everlasting time ! And the one 
 dieth, and the other liveth ; and the one is unregretted, and 
 the other walketh in thought-spun raiment of divine melan- 
 choly ; her ears crowded with the pale surges that wrap this 
 shifting shore ; in her eyes a shape of beauty floating dimly, 
 that she wUl not attain this side the water, but broodeth on 
 evermore. 
 
 ' Therefore, hold on thy cherished four long notes, which 
 are as the very edge where exultation and anguish melt, 
 meet, and are sharpened to one ecstasy, death-dividing bird ! 
 Fill the woods with passionate chuckle and sob, sweet chap- 
 lain of the marriage-service of a soul with heaven ! Pour out 
 thy holy wine of song upon the soft-footed darkness, till, 
 like a priest of the inmost temple, 'tis drunken with fair 
 intelligences ! ' 
 
 Thus the old minstrels and minnesingers. 
 
 Strong and full sang the nightingales that night Farina held 
 watch by the guilty castle that entombed his living beloved. 
 The castle looked itself a denser shade among the moon- 
 thrown shadows of rock and tree. The meadow spread like 
 a green courtyard at the castle's foot. It was of lush deep 
 emerald grass, softly mixed with gray in the moon's light, 
 and showing like jasper. "Where the shadows fell thickest, 
 there was yet a mist of colour. All about ran a brook, and 
 babbled to itself. The spring crocus lifted its head in moist 
 mid-grasses of the meadow, rejoiced with freshness. The 
 rugged heights seemed to clasp this one innocent spot as their 
 only garden-treasure ; and a bank of hazels hid it from the 
 castle with a lover's arm.' 
 
 " The moon will tell me," mused Farina ; " the moon will 
 
 2 
 
3S6 FAEINA. 
 
 signal me the hour ! When the moon hangs over the round 
 tower, I shall know 'tis time to strike." 
 
 The song of the nightingales was a full unceasing throh- 
 It went like the outcry of one heart from branch to branch. 
 The four long notes, and the short, fifth which leads off to 
 that hurried gush of music, gurgling rich with passion, came 
 thick and constant from under the tremulous leaves. 
 
 At first Farina had been deaf to them. His heart was in 
 the dungeon with Margarita, or with the Goshawk in his 
 dangers, forming a thousand desperate plans, among the red- 
 hot ploughshares of desperate action. Finally, without a 
 sense of being wooed, it was won. The tenderness of his 
 love then mastered him. 
 
 " God will not suffer that fair head to come to harm ! " he 
 thought, and with the thought a load fell off his breast. 
 
 He paced the meadows, and patted the three pasturing 
 steeds. Involuntarily his sight grew on the moon. She 
 went so slowly. She seemed not to move at all. A little 
 wing of vapour flew toward her ; it whitened, passed, and 
 the moon was slower than before. Oh ! were the heavens 
 delaying their march to look on this iniquity"? Again and 
 again he cried, " Patience, it is not time ! " He flung himself 
 on the grass, and watched the stillness in alien trance. The 
 next moment he climbed the heights, and was peering at the 
 mass of gloom that fronted the blue sky with blackness. It 
 reared such a mailed head of menace, that his heart was 
 seized with a quivering, as though it had been struck. 
 Behind lay scattered some small faint-twinkling stars on 
 sapphire fields, and a stain of yellow light was in a breach of 
 one wall. 
 
 He descended. What was the Goshawk doing 1 Was he 
 betrayed 1 It was surely now time 1 jSTo ; the moon had 
 not yet smitten the face of the castle. He made his way 
 through the hazel-bank among flitting night-moths, and 
 glanced up to measure the moon's distance. As he did so, a 
 first touch of silver fell on the hoary flint. 
 
THE WATEK-LADY. 387 
 
 " Oh, young bird of heaven in that Devil's clutch ! " 
 
 Sounds like the haying of hoar-hounds alarmed him. 
 They whined into silence. 
 
 He fell back. The meadow breathed peace, and more and 
 more the nightingales volumed their notes. As in a charmed 
 circle of palpitating song, he succumbed to languor. The 
 brook rolled beside him fresh as an infant, toying with the 
 moonlight. He leaned over it, and thrice waywardly dipped 
 his hand in the clear translucence. 
 
 Was it his own face imaged there 1 
 
 Farina bent close above an eddy of the water. It whirled 
 with a strange tumult, breaking into lines and lights a face 
 not his own, nor the moon's ; nor was it a reflection. The 
 agitation increased. S"ow a wreath of bubbles crowned the 
 pool, and a pure water-lily, but larger, ascended wavering. 
 
 He started aside ; and under him a bright head, garlanded 
 with gemmed roses, appeared. No fairer figure of woman 
 had Farina seen. Her visage had the lustrous white of 
 moonlight, and all her shape undulated in a dress of flashing 
 sdver-white, wonderful to see. The Lady of the Water smiled 
 on him, and ran over with ripples and dimples of limpid 
 beauty. Then, as he retreated on the meadow grass, she 
 swam toward him, and taking his hand, pressed it to her. 
 After her touch the youth no longer feared. She curved her 
 finger, and beckoned him on. All that she did was done 
 flowingly. The youth was a shadow in her silver track. 
 Her own shadow was but the fainter effluence of her form, 
 and moved pale as she passed like a harmless wave over the 
 closed crocuses ; but the crocuses shivered and swelled their 
 throats of streaked purple and argent as at delicious rare sips 
 of a precious wine. Breath of violet, and ladysmock, and 
 valley-lily, mingled and fluttered, at whiles faint, and again 
 fresh, about her. Farina was as a man working the day's 
 intent in a dream. He could see the heart in her trans- 
 lucent, hanging like a cold dingy ruby. By the purity of his 
 nature he felt that such a presence must have come but to 
 help. It might be Margarita's guardian fairy ! 
 
 2 c 2 
 
38S FARINA. 
 
 They passed the hazel-bank, and rounded the castle-crag, 
 washed by the brook and, beneath the advancing moon, 
 standing in a ring of brawling silver. The youth with his 
 fervid eyes marked the old weather-stains and scars of long 
 defiance coming into colour. That mystery of wickedness 
 which the towers had worn in the dusk, was dissolved, and 
 he endured no more the almost abashed sensation of com- 
 peting littleness that made him think there was nought to do, 
 save die, combating single-handed such massive power. The 
 moon shone calmly superior, like the prowess of maiden 
 knights J and now the harsh frown of the walls struck 
 resolution to his spirit, and nerved him with hate and the 
 contempt true courage feels when matched against fraud and 
 villany. 
 
 On a fallen block of slate, cushioned with rich brown moss 
 and rusted weather-stains, the "Water-Lady sat, and pointed 
 to Farina the path of the moon toward the round tower. 
 She did not speak, and if his lips parted, put her cold finger 
 across them. Then she began to hum a soft sweet monotony 
 of song, vague and careless, very witching to hear. Farina 
 caught no words, nor whether the song was of days in dust 
 or in flower, but his mind bloomed with legends and sad 
 splendours of story, while she sang on the slate-block under 
 sprinkled shadows by the water. 
 
 He had listen'ed long in trance, when the Water-Lady 
 hushed, and stretched forth a slender forefinger to the moon. 
 It stood like a dot over the round tower. Farina rose in 
 haste. She did not leave him to ask her aid, but took his 
 hand and led him up the steep ascent. Half-way to the 
 castle, she rested. There, concealed by bramble-tufts, she 
 disclosed the low portal of a secret passage, and pushed it 
 open without effort. She paused at the entrance, and he 
 could see her trembling, seeming to wax taller, till she wa« 
 like a fountain glittering in the cold light. Then she dropped, 
 as drops a dying jet, and cowered into the passage. 
 
 Darkness, thick with earth-dews, oppressed his senses. 
 
THE WATER-LADT. 389 
 
 He felt the clammy walls scraping close on him. Not the 
 ■dimmest lamp, or guiding sound, was near; hut the lady 
 went on as one who knew her way. Passing a low-vaulted 
 dungeon-room, they wound up stairs hewn in the rock, and 
 came to a door, obedient to her touch, which displayed a 
 ■chamber faintly misted by a solitary bar of moonlight. Parina 
 perceived they were above the foundation of the castle. The 
 walls gleamed pale with knightly harness, habergeons gaping 
 for heads, breast-plates of blue steel, halbert, and hand-axe, 
 greaves, glaives^ boar-spears, and polished spur-fixed heel- 
 pieces. He seized a falchion hanging apart, but the lady 
 stayed his arm, and led to another flight of stone ending in 
 a kind of corridor. Noises of laughter and high feasting 
 beset him. at this point. The Lady of the Water sidled her 
 head, as to note a familiar voice ; and then drew him to a 
 looped aperture. 
 
 Farina beheld a scene that first dazzled, but, as it grew into 
 shape, sank him with dismay. Below, and level with the 
 chamber he had left, a rude banqueting-hall glowed, under the 
 light of a dozen flambeaux, with smoking boar's flesh, deer's 
 flesh, stone-flagons, and horn-beakers. At the head of this 
 board sat Werner, scarlet with furious feasting, and on his 
 right hand, Margarita, bloodless as a beautiful martyr bound 
 to the fire. Eetaiaers of Werner occupied the length of the 
 hall, chorusing the Baron's speeches, and drinking their own 
 healths when there was no caU for another. Farina saw his 
 beloved alone. She was dressed as when he parted with her 
 last. The dear cameo lay on her bosom, but not heaving 
 proudly as of old. Her shoulders were drooped forward, and 
 contracted her bosom in its heaving. She would have had a 
 humbled look, but for the marble sternness of her eyes. They 
 were fixed as eyes that see the way of death through all 
 earthly objects. 
 
 " Now, dogs ! " cried the Baron, " the health of the night ! 
 and swell your lungs, for I'll have no cat's cry when Werner's 
 bride is the toast. Monk or no monk's leave, she's mine. 
 
390 FAEINA. 
 
 Ay, my pretty one ! it shall be made right in the morning, if 
 I lead all the Laaoh rats here by the nose. Thunder ! no 
 disrespect to Werner's bride from pope or abbot. Now, sing 
 out ! — or wait ! these fellows shall drink it first." 
 
 He tossed a beaker of wine right and left behind him, and 
 Farina's despair stiffened his limbs as he recognised the 
 Goshawk and Schwartz Thier strapped to the floor. Their 
 beards were already moist with previous libations similarly 
 bestowed, and they received this in sullen stillness ; but 
 Farina thought he observed a rapid glance of encouragement 
 dart from beneath the Goshawk's bent brows, as Margarita 
 momentarily turned her head half-way on him. 
 
 " Lick your chaps, ye beasts, and don't say Werner stints 
 vermin good cheer his nuptial-night. Now," continued the 
 Baron, growing huskier as he talked louder : " Short and 
 ringing, my devil's pups : — Werner and his Bride ! and may 
 she soon give you a young baron to keep you in better order 
 than I can, as, if she does her duty, she will." 
 
 The Baron stood up, and lifted his huge arm to lead the toast. 
 
 " Werner and his Bride ! " 
 
 Not a voice followed him. There was a sudden intimation 
 of the call being echoed ; but it snapped, and ended in 
 shuffling tones, as if the hall door had closed on the response. 
 
 " What's this ? " roared the Baron, in that caged wUd-beast 
 voice Margarita remembered she had heard in the Cathedral 
 Square. 
 
 No one replied. 
 
 " Speak ! or I'll rot you a fathom in the rock, curs ! " 
 
 "Herr Baron !" said Henker Eothhals impressively; "the 
 matter is, that there's something unholy among us." 
 
 The Baron's goblet flew at his head before the words were 
 uttered. 
 
 " I'll make an unholy thing of him that says it," and 
 Werner lowered at them one by one. 
 
 "Then I say it, Herr Baron ! " pursued Henker Eothhals, 
 wiping his frontispiece : " The Devil has turned against you 
 
THE WATEE-LADT. 391 
 
 at last. Look up there — Ah, it's gone now ; but where's the 
 man sitting this side saw it not ? " 
 
 The Baron made one spring, and stood on the board. 
 
 " Now ! will any rascal here please to say so 1 " 
 
 Something in the cruel hang of his threatening hatchet 
 jaw silenced many in the act of confirming the assertion. 
 
 " Stand out, Henker Eothhals ! " 
 
 Eothhals slid a hunting-knife up his wrist, and stepped 
 back from the board. 
 
 " Beast ! " roared the Baron, " I said I wouldn't shed 
 blood to-night. I spared a traitor, and an enemy " 
 
 " Look again ! " said Eothhals ; " will any fellow say 
 he saw nothing there 1 " 
 
 While all heads, including "Werner's, were directed to 
 the aperture which surveyed them, Eothhals tossed his 
 knife to the Goshawk unperoeived. 
 
 This time answers came to his challenge, but not in 
 confirmation. The Baron spoke with a gasping gentleness. 
 
 "So you trifle with me? I'm dangerous for that game. 
 Mind you of Blassgesell 1 I made a better beast of him by 
 sending him three-quarters of the road to hell for trial." 
 Bellowing — " Take that ! " he discharged a broad blade, 
 hitherto concealed in his right hand, straight at Eothhals. 
 It fixed in his cheek and jaw, wringing an awful breath 
 '■of pain from him as he fell against the wall. 
 
 " There's a lesson for you not to cross me, children ! " 
 said Werner, striding his stumpy legs up and down the 
 crashing board, and puffing his monstrous girth of chest and 
 midriff. " Let him stop there awhile, to show what comes 
 of thwarting Werner ! — Eire-devils ! before the baroness, 
 too ! — Something unholy is there I Something unholy in 
 his jaw, I think ! — Leave it sticking ! — He's against me at 
 last, is he 1 I'll teach you who he's for ! — Who speaks ? " 
 
 All hung silent. These men were animals dominated by 
 a mightier brute. 
 
 He clasped his throat, and shook the board with a jump, 
 
392 FABINA. 
 
 as he squeaked, rather than called, a second time — " Who 
 spoke 1 " 
 
 He had not again to ask. In this pause, as the Baron 
 glared for his victim, a song, so softly sung that it sounded 
 remote, but of which every syllable was clearly rounded, 
 swelled into his ears, and froze him in his angry posture. 
 
 " The blood of the barons shall turn to ice, 
 And their castle fall to wreck, 
 When a true lover dips in the water thrice, 
 That runs round Werner's Eck. 
 
 " Bound Werner's Eok the water runs ; 
 The hazels shiver and shake : 
 The walls that have blotted suoh happy suna. 
 Are seized with the ruin-quake. 
 
 " And quake with the ruin, and quake with rue, 
 Thou last of Werner's race ! 
 The hearts of the barons were cold that knew 
 The Water-Dame's embrace. 
 
 " For a sin was done, and a shame was wrought. 
 That water went to hide : 
 And those who thought to make it nought, 
 They did but spread it wide. 
 
 " Hold ready, hold ready to pay the price. 
 And keep thy bridal cheer : 
 A hand has dipped in the water thrice. 
 And the Water-Dame is here." 
 
THE EESCUE. 
 
 The Goshawk was on his feet. "Now, lass," said he to 
 Margarita, " now is the time ! " He took her hand, and led 
 her to the door. Schwartz Thier closed up hehind her. 
 'Not a man in the hall interposed. Werner's head moved 
 round after them, like a dog on the watch; but he was dumh. 
 The door opened, and Farina entered. He bore a sheaf of 
 weapons under his arm. The familiar sight relieved Werner's 
 senses from the charm. He shouted to bar the prisoners' 
 passage. His men were ranged like statues in the hall. 
 There was a start among them, as if that terrible noise com- 
 municated an instinct of obedience, but no more. They 
 glanced at each other, and remained quiet. 
 
 The Goshawk had his eye on Werner. " Stand back, 
 lass ! " he said to Margarita. She took a sword from Farina, 
 and answered, with white lips and flashing eyes, " I can 
 fight, Goshawk ! " 
 
 "And shall, if need be; but leave it to me now," returned 
 Guy. 
 
 His eye never left the Baron. Suddenly a shriek of steel 
 rang. All fell aside, and the combatants stood opposed on 
 clear ground. Farina took Margarita's left hand, and placed 
 her against the wall between the Thier and himself. Werner's 
 men were well content to let their master fight it out. The 
 words spoken by Henker Eothhals, that the Devil had 
 
394 FARINA. 
 
 forsaken him, seemed in their minds confirmed by the weird 
 song which every one present could swear he heard with his 
 ears. "Let him take his chance, and try his own luck,'' 
 they said, and shrugged. The battle was between Guy, as 
 Margarita's champion, and Werner. 
 
 In Schwartz Thier's judgement, the two were well matched^ 
 and he estimated their diverse qualities from sharp experience. 
 " For short work the Baron, and my new mate for tough 
 standing to't ! " Farina's summary in favour of the Goshawk 
 was, "A stouter heart, harder sinews, and a good cause." 
 The combat was generally regarded with a professional eye, 
 and few prayers. Margarita solely there asked aid from 
 above, and knelt to the Virgin ; but her, too, the clash of 
 arms and dire earnest of mortal fight aroused to eager eyes. 
 She had not dallied with heroes in her dreams. She was as 
 ready to second Siegfried on the crimson field as tend him in 
 the silken chamber. 
 
 It was well that a woman's heart was there to mark the 
 grace and glory of manhood in upright, foot-to-foot encounter. 
 For the others, it was a mere calculation of lucky hits. Even 
 Farina, in his anxiety for her, saw but the brightening and 
 darkening of the prospect of escape in every attitude and 
 hard-ringing blow. Margarita was possessed with a painful 
 exaltation. In her eyes the bestial Baron now took a nobler 
 form and countenance ; but the Goshawk assumed the 
 sovereign aspect of old heroes, who, whether persecuted or 
 favoured of heaven, still maintained their stand, remembering 
 of what stuff they were, and who made them. 
 
 ' Never,' say the old writers, with a fervour honourable 
 to their knowledge of the elements that compose our being, 
 ' never may this bright privilege of fair fight depart from 
 us, nor advantage of it fail to be taken ! Man against man, 
 or beast, singly keeping his ground, is as fine rapture to the 
 breast as Beauty in her softest hour affordeth. For if woman 
 taketh loveliness to her when she languisheth, so surely doth 
 
THE llESCUE. 395 
 
 man in these fierce moods, when steel and iron sparkle 
 opposed, and their breath is fire, and their lips white with 
 the lock of resolution ; all their faculties knotted to a point, 
 and their energies alive as the daylight to prove themselves 
 superior, according to the laws and under the blessing of 
 chivalry.' 
 
 ' For all,' they go on to improve the comparison, ' may 
 admire and delight in fair blossoming dales under the blue 
 dome of peace ; but 'tis the rare lofty heart alone compre- 
 hendeth, and is heightened by, terrific splendours of tempest, 
 when cloud meets cloud in skies black as the sepulchre, and 
 Glory sits like a flame on the helm of Euin.' 
 
 For a while the combatants aired their dexterity, con- 
 tenting themselves with cunning cuts and flicks of the sword- 
 edge, in which "Werner first drew blood by a keen sweep 
 along the forehead of the Goshawk. Guy had allowed him 
 to keep his position on the board, and still fought at his face 
 and neck. He now jerked back his body from the hip, and 
 swung a round stroke at Werner's knee, sending him in 
 retreat with a snort of pain. Before the Baron could make 
 good his ground, Guy was level with him on the board. 
 
 Werner turned an upbraiding howl at his men. They 
 were not disposed to second him yet. They one and all 
 approved his personal battle with Fate, and never more 
 admired him and felt his power ; but the affair was exciting, 
 and they were not the piUars to prop a falling house. 
 
 Werner clenched his two hands to his ponderous glaive, 
 and fell upon Guy with heavier fury. He was becoming not 
 unworth the little womanly appreciation Margarita was 
 brought to bestow on him. The voice of the Water-Lady 
 whispered at her heart that the Baron warred on his destiny, 
 and that ennobles all living souls. 
 
 Bare-headed the combatants engaged, and the head-piece 
 was the chief point of attack. No swerving from blows was 
 .possible for either : ward, or take ; a false step would have 
 
396 FAEINA. 
 
 ensured defeat. This also induced caution. Many a double 
 stamp of the foot was heard, as each had to retire iu- 
 turn. 
 
 " ISTot at his head so much, he'll bear battering there all 
 night long," said Hanker Eo.thhals in a breathing interval. 
 Knocks had been pretty equally exchanged, but the Baron's 
 head certainly looked the least vulnerable, vp^hereas Guy ex- 
 hibited several dints streaming freely. Yet he looked, eye 
 and bearing, as fresh, as when they began, and the calm, 
 regular heave of his chest contrasted with Werner's quick 
 gasps. His smile, too, renewed each time the Baron paused 
 for breath, gave Margarita heart. It was not a taunting 
 smile, but one of entire confidence, and told all the more on 
 his adversary. As Werner led off again, and the choice was 
 always left him, every expression of the Goshawk's face 
 passed to full light in his broad eyes. 
 
 The Baron's play was a reckless fury. There was nothing 
 to study in it. Guy became the chief object of speculation. 
 He was evidently trying to wind his man. He struck wildly, 
 some thought. Others judged that he was a random hitter, 
 and had no mortal point in aim. Schwartz Thier's opinion 
 was frequently vented. "Too round a stroke — down on 
 him ! Chop — not slice ! " 
 
 Guy persevered in his own fashion. According to Schwartz 
 Thier, he brought down by his wilfulness the blow that took 
 bim on the left shoulder, and nigh broke him. It w^s a 
 weighty blow, followed by a thump of sound. The sword- 
 edge swerved on his shoulder-blade, or he must have been 
 disabled. But Werner's crow was short, and he had no time 
 to push his success. One of the Goshawk's swooping under- 
 hits half severed his right wrist, and the blood spirted across 
 the board. He gasped and seemed to succumb, but held to 
 it still, though with slackened force. Guy now attacked. 
 Holding to his round strokes, he accustomed Werner to 
 guard the body, and stood to it so briskly right and left, that 
 Werner grew bewildered, lost his caution, and gave ground. 
 
THE RESCUE. 397 
 
 Suddenly the Goshawk's glaive flashed in air, and chopped 
 sheer dovm. on "Werner's head. So shrewd a blow it was 
 against a half-formed defence, that the Baron dropped without 
 a word right on the edge of the board, and there hung, 
 feebly grasping with his fingers. 
 
 " Who bars the way now 1 " sang out Guy. 
 No one accepted the challenge. Success clothed him with 
 terrors, and gave him giant size. 
 
 "Then fare you well, my merry men all," said Guy. 
 " Bear me no ill-will for this. A little doctoring will right 
 the bold Baron." 
 
 He strode jauntily to the verge of the board, and held his 
 finger for Margarita to follow. She stepped forward. The 
 men put their beards together, muttering. She could not 
 advance. Farina doubled his elbow, and presented sword- 
 point. Three of the rufiians now disputed the way with 
 bare steel. Margarita looked at the Goshawk. He was 
 smiling calmly curious as he leaned over his sword, and gave 
 her an encouraging nod. She made another step in defiance. 
 One fellow stretched his hand to arrest her. All her 
 maidenly pride stood up at once. " What a glorious girl ! " 
 murmured the Goshawk, as he saw her face suddenly flash, 
 and she retreated a pace and swung a sharp cut across the 
 knuckles of her assailant, daring him, or one of them, with 
 hard, bright eyes, beautifully vindictive, to lay hand on a 
 pure maiden. 
 
 " You have it, Barenleib ! " cried the others, and then to 
 Margarita: "Look, young mistress! we are poor fellows, 
 and ask a trifle of ransom, and then part friends.'' 
 
 "Not an ace ! " the Goshawk pronounced from his post. 
 
 " Two to one, remember." 
 
 " The odds are ours," replied the Goshawk confidently. 
 
 They ranged themselves in front of the haU-door. Instead 
 of accepting this challenge, Guy stepped to Werner, and 
 laid his moaning foe lengthwise in an easier posture. He 
 then lifted Margarita on the board, and summoned them 
 
398 FARINA. 
 
 with cry of " Free passage ! " They answered by a sullen 
 shrug and taunt. 
 
 " Schwartz Thier ! Eothhals ! Farina ! buckle up, and 
 make ready then," sang Guy. 
 
 He measured the length of his sword, and raised it. The 
 Goshawk had not underrated his enemies. He was tempted 
 to despise them when he marked their gradually lengthening 
 chaps and eyeballs. 
 
 Not one of them moved. All gazed at him as if their 
 marrows were freezing with horror. 
 
 " What's this t " cried Guy. 
 
 They knew as little as he, but a force was behind them 
 irresistible against their efforts. The groaning oak slipped 
 open, pushing them forward, and an apparition glided past, 
 soft as the pallid silver of the moon. She slid to the Baron, 
 and put her arms about him, and sang to him. Had the 
 Water-Lady laid an iron hand on all those ruffians, she could 
 not have held them faster bound than did the fear of her 
 presence. The Goshawk drew his fair charge through them, 
 followed by Farina, the Thier, and Eothhals. A last glimpse 
 of the hall showed them still as old cathedral effigies staring 
 at white light on a fluted pillar of the wall. 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE EHINE. 
 
 Low among the swarthy sandhills behind the Abbey of 
 Laaoh dropped the round red moon. Soft lengths of misty 
 yellow stole through the glens of Ehineland. The 
 nightingales still sang alone. Closer and closer the moon 
 came into the hushed valleys. 
 
 There is a dell behind Hammerstein Castle, a ring of 
 basking sward, girdled by a silver slate-brook, and guarded 
 by four high-peaked hills that slope down four long wooded 
 corners to the grassy base. Here, it is said, the elves and 
 earthmen play mad pranks, dancing in circles with laughing 
 feet that fatten the mushroom. They would have been 
 fulfilling the tradition now, but that the place was occupied 
 by a sturdy group of mortals, armed with staves. The 
 intruders were sleepy, and lounged about on the inclines. 
 Now and then two got up, and there rang hard echoes of 
 oak. Again all were calm as cud-chewing cattle, and the 
 white water sang pleased with quiet. 
 
 It may be that the elves brewed mischief among them ; 
 for the oaken blows were becoming more frequent. One 
 complained of a kick : another demanded satisfaction for a 
 pinch. " Go to," drawled the accused drowsily in both 
 cases, " too much beer last night ! too much ! " "Within 
 three minutes, the company counted three broken heads. 
 There was a plastering pause. The East was winning on the 
 
400 FARINA. 
 
 West ia heaven, and the dusk was thinnuig. They began 
 to mark, each, whom he had cudgelled. A noise of some- 
 thing swiftly in motion made them alert. A roebuck rushed 
 down one of the hills, and scampered across the sward. The 
 fine beast went stretching so rapidly away as to he hardly 
 distinct. 
 
 " Sathanas once more ! " they murmured, and drew 
 together. 
 
 " Sathanas ! Sathanas ! " passed through them like a 
 watchword. 
 
 " ISTot Sathanas this time," cried the two new-comers, 
 emerging from the foliage. " He's safe under Cologne — the 
 worse for all good men who live there ! But come ! follow 
 to the Ehine ! there's work for us on the yonder side, and 
 sharp work." 
 
 " Why," answered several, " we've our challenge witli 
 the lads of Leutesdorf and Wied to-day." 
 
 "D'ye see this?" said the foremost of the others, pointing 
 to a carved ivory white rose in his cap. 
 
 "Brothers!" he swelled his voice, " follow with a will, 
 for the White Eose is in danger ! " 
 
 Immediately they ranked, and followed zealously through 
 the buds of young bushes, and over heaps of damp dead 
 leaves, a half-hour's scramble, when they defiled under 
 Hammerstein, and stood before the Ehine. Their leader led 
 up the river, and after a hasty walk, stopped, loosened his 
 hood, and stripped. 
 
 "Now," said he, strapping the bundle to his back, "let 
 me know the hound that refuses to follow his leader when 
 the White Eose is in danger." 
 
 " Long live Dietrich ! " they shouted. He dropped from 
 the bank, and waded in. He was soon supported by tbe 
 remainder of the striplings, and all struck out boldly into> 
 mid-stream. 
 
 Xever heard history of a nobler Passage of the Ehine than 
 this ruade between Andernach and Hammerstein by members- 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE RHINE. 401 
 
 of the "White Eose Club, bundle on back, to relieve the 
 White Rose of Germany from thrall and shame ! 
 
 They -were taken far down, by the rapid current, and 
 arrived panting to land. The dressing done, they marched 
 up the pass of Tonnistein, and took a deep draught at the 
 spring of pleasant waters there open to wayfarers. Arrived 
 at the skirts of Laach, they beheld two farmer peasants 
 lashed back to back against a hazel. They released them, 
 but could gain no word of information, as the fellows, after 
 a yawn and a wink, started off, all heels, to make sure of 
 liberty. On the shores of the lake the brotherhood descried 
 a body of youths, whom they hailed, and were welcomed 
 to companionship. 
 
 "Where's Bertholdl" asked Dietrich. 
 He was not present. 
 
 " The more glory for us, then,'' said Dietrich. 
 It was here seriously put to the captain, whether they 
 should not halt at the abbey, and refect, seeing that great 
 work was in prospect. 
 
 "Truly," quoth Dietrich, "dying on an empty stomach 
 is heathenish, and cold blood makes a green wound gape. 
 Kaiser Conrad should be hospitable, and the monks honour 
 numbers. Here be we, thirty and nine ; let us go ! " 
 
 The West was dark blue with fallen light. The lake- 
 waters were growing gray with twilight. The abbey stood 
 muffled- in shadows. Already the youths had commenced 
 battering at the convent doors, when they were summoned 
 by the voice of the Goshawk on horseback. To their con- 
 fusion they beheld the White Rose herself on his right hand. 
 Chapfallen Dietrich bowed to his sweet mistress. 
 " We were coming to. the rescue," he stammered. 
 A laugh broke from the Goshawk. "You thought the 
 lady was locked up in the ghostly larder; ehV" 
 
 Dietrich seized his sword, and tightened his belt. " The 
 club allow no jesting with the White Rose, Sir Stranger." 
 Margarita made peace. " I thank you all, good friends. 
 
 2 D 
 
402 FARINA. 
 
 But quarrel not, I pray you, witii them that save me at the 
 risk of their lives." 
 
 "Our service is equal," said the Goshawk, flourishing — 
 "Only we happen to he heforehand with the cluh, for 
 which Farina and myself heartily beg pardon of the entire 
 brotherhood." 
 
 " Farina ! " exclaimed Dietrich. " Then we make a 
 prisoner instead of uncaging a captive." 
 
 " What's this 1 " said Guy. 
 
 "So much," responded Dietrich. "Yonder's a runaway 
 from two masters : the law of Cologne, and the conqueror of 
 Sathanas ; and all good citizens are empowered to bring him 
 back, dead or alive." 
 
 "Dietrich ! Dietrich ! dare you talk thus of the man who 
 saved me 1 " cried Margarita. 
 
 Dietrich sullenly persisted. 
 
 " Then, look ! " said the White Eose, reddening under the 
 pale dawn ; " he shall not, he shall not go with you." 
 
 One of the club was here on the point of speaking to the 
 White Rose, — a breach of the captain's privilege. Dietrich 
 felled him unresisting to earth, and resumed: "It must be 
 done. Beauty of Cologne ! the monk, father Gregory, is 
 now enduring shame and scorn for lack of this truant 
 witness.'' 
 
 " Enough ! I go ! " said Farina. 
 
 "You leave me?" Margarita looked tender reproach. 
 Weariness and fierce excitement had given a liquid flame to 
 her eyes and an endearing darkness round their circles that 
 matched strangely with her plump youth. Her features had 
 a soft white flush. She was less radiant, but never looked 
 so bewitching. An aspect of sweet human languor caught 
 at the heart of love, and raised tumults. 
 
 " It is a duty,'' said Farina. 
 
 " Then go," she beckoned, and held her hand for him to 
 kiss. He raised it to his lips. This was seen of all the 
 club. 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE RHINE. 403 
 
 As they were departing with Farina, and Guy prepared to 
 demand admittance into the convent, Dietrich chanced to ask 
 how fared Dame Lisheth. Schwartz Thier was by, and 
 answered, with a laugh, that he had quite forgotten the little 
 lady. 
 
 " We took her in mistake for you, mistress ! She was a one 
 to scream ! The moment she was kissed — mum as a cloister. 
 "We kissed her, all of us, for the fun of it. No harm — no 
 harm ! We should have dropped her when we found we had 
 the old hird 'stead of the young one, but reckoned ransom, ye 
 see. She's at the Eck, rattling, I's wager, like last year's nut 
 in the shell ! " 
 
 " Lisbeth ! Lisbeth ! poor Lisbeth ; we will return to her. 
 Instantly," cried Margarita. 
 
 " Not you,'' said Guy. 
 
 " Yes ! I ! " 
 
 " No ! " said Guy. 
 
 " Gallant Goshawk ! best of birds, let me go ! " 
 
 " Without me or Farina, never ! I see I shall have no 
 chance with my lord now. Gome, then, come, fair Irresistible ! 
 come, lads. Farina can journey back alone. You shall have 
 the renown of rescuing Dame Lisbeth." 
 
 " Farina ! forget not to comfort my father,'' said Margarita. 
 Farina bowed. 
 
 Between Margarita's society, and Farina's, there was little 
 dispute in the captain's mind which choice to make. Farina 
 was allowed to travel single to Cologne ; and Dietrich, petted 
 by Margarita, and gently jeered by Guy, headed the club 
 from Laach waters to the castle of the Eobber Baron. 
 
THE BACK-BLOWS OF SATHANAS. 
 
 MoKK Gkegoet ■was pacing the higli road between the 
 Imperial camp and suffering Cologne. The snn had risen 
 through interminable distances of cloud that held him 
 remote in a succession of receding mounds and thinner veils, 
 realm beyond realm, till he showed fireless, like a phantom 
 king in a phantom land. The lark was in the breast of 
 morning. The field-mouse ran along the furrows. Dews 
 hung red and gray on the weedy banks and wayside trees. 
 At times the nostril of the good father was lifted, and he 
 beat his breast, relapsing into sorrowful contemplation. 
 Passed any citizen of Cologne, the ghostly head slunk into 
 its cowl. " There's a black raven ! " said many. Monk 
 Gregory heard them, and murmured, "Thou hast me, 
 Sathanas ! thou hast me ! " 
 
 It was noon when Farina came clattering down from the 
 camp. 
 
 " Father," said he, " I have sought thee." 
 
 " My son ! " exclaimed Monk Gregory with silencing 
 hand, " thou didst not well to leave me contending against 
 the tongues of doubt. Answer me not. The maiden ! and 
 what weighed she in such a scale? — No more! I am 
 punished. Well speaks the ancient proverb : 
 
 ' Beware the back-blows of Sathanas ! ' 
 
 I, that thought to have vanquished him ! Vanity ' has 
 wrecked me, in this world and the next. I am the victim 
 
THE BACK-BLOWS OF SATHANA.S. 405 
 
 of self-incense. I hear the demons shouting their chorus — 
 ' Here comes Monk Gregory, who called himself Conqueror 
 of Darkness ! ' In the camp I am discredited and a scoff ; 
 in the city I am spat upon, ahhorred. Sathanas, my 
 son, fights not with his fore-claws. 'Tis with his tail he 
 fights, Farina ! — Listen, my son ! he entered to his king- 
 dom below through Cologne, even under the stones of the 
 Cathedral Square, and the stench of him ahominably re- 
 maineth, challenging the nostrils of holy and unholy alike. 
 The Kaiser cannot approach for him ; the citizens are 
 outraged. Oh ! had I held my peace in humbleness, I had 
 truly conquered him. But he gave me easy victory, to 
 inflate me. I shall not last. Now this only is left, my son ; 
 that thou bear living testimony to the truth of my statement, 
 as I bear it to the folly ! " 
 
 Parina promised, in the face of all, he would proclaim and 
 witness to his victory on Drachenfels. 
 
 " That I may not be ranked an impostor ! " continued 
 the Monk. " And how great must be the virtue of them 
 that encounter Sathanas ! Valour availeth nought. But if 
 virtue be not in ye, soon wiU ye be pufl'ed to bursting with 
 that devil's poison, self-incense. Surely, my son, thou art 
 faithful, and for this service I can reward thee. PoUow me 
 yet again." 
 
 On the road they met Gottlieb Groschen, hastening to the 
 camp. Dismay rumpled the old merchant's honest jowl. 
 Farina drew rein before him. 
 
 " Tour daughter is safe, worthy Master Groschen,'' said 
 he. 
 
 " Safe ? " cried Gottlieb ; " where is she, my Grete 1 " 
 
 Farina briefly explained. Gottlieb spread out his arms, and 
 was going to thank the youth. He saw Father Gregory, 
 and his whole frame narrowed with disgust. 
 
 "Are you in company with that pestilent animal, that 
 curse of Cologne ! " 
 
 " The good Monk ," said Farina. 
 
406 FAEINA. 
 
 " You are leagued with him, then, sirrah ! Expect no 
 thanks from me. Cologne, I say, is cursed ! Meddling 
 ■wretches ! could ye not leave Sathanas alone 1 He hurt us 
 not. "We were free of him. Cologne, I say, is cursed ! 
 The enemy of mankind is hrought by you to be the deadly 
 foe of Cologne.'' 
 
 So saying, Gottlieb departed. 
 
 " Seest thou, my son," quoth the Monk, " they reason 
 not ! " 
 
 Farina was dejected. Willingly would he, for his part, 
 have left Sathanas a loose rover for the sake of some 
 brighter horizon to his hope. 
 
 No twinge of remorse accompanied Gottlieb. The Kaiser 
 had allotted him an encampment and a guard of honour for 
 his household while the pestilence raged, and there Gottlieb 
 welcomed back Margarita and Aunt Lisbeth on the noon 
 after his meeting with Farina. The White Kose had rested 
 at Laach, and was blooming again. She and the Goshawk 
 came trotting in advance of the club through the woods of 
 Laach, startling the deer with laughter, and sending the 
 hare with her ears laid back all across the country. In vain 
 Dietrich menaced Guy with the terrors of the club ; Aunt 
 Lisbeth begged of Margarita not to leave her with the foot 
 men in vain. The joyous couple galloped over the country, 
 and sprang the ditches, and leapt the dykes, up and down 
 the banks, glad as morning hawks, entering Andeinaoh at a 
 round pace ; where they rested at a hostel, now bearing the 
 name of the Lily, and as capable of producing good Khine 
 and Mosel wine then as now. Here they had mid-day's 
 meal laid out in the garden for the angry club, and some- 
 what appeased them on their arrival with bumpers of the 
 ancient Armbruster's best Scharzhofberger and Liebfrauen- 
 milch. After a refreshing halt, three boats were hired. 
 On their passage to the river, they encountered a procession 
 of monks headed by the Archbishop of Andernach, bearing 
 a small figure of Christ carved in blackthorn and varnished : 
 
THE BAOK-BLOWS OF SATHANAS. 407 
 
 said to work miracles, and a present to the good town from 
 two Hungarian pilgrims. 
 
 " Are ye for Cologne ? " the monks inquired of them. 
 
 "Direct down stream ! " they answered. 
 
 "Send, then, hither to us Gregory, the conqueror of 
 Sathanas, that he may know there is gratitude on earth 
 and gratulation for great deeds," said the monks. 
 
 So with genuflexions the travellers proceeded, and 
 entered the boats by the Archbishop's White Tower. 
 Hammerstein Castle and Eheineck they floated under ; 
 Salzig and the Ahr confluence; Rolandseck and Nonnenwerth ; 
 Drachenfels and Bonn ; hills green with young vines ; dells 
 waving fresh foliage. Margarita sang as they floated. 
 Ancient ballads she sang that made the Goshawk sigh 
 for home, and affected the club with delirious love for the 
 grand old water that was speeding them onward. Aunt 
 Lisbeth was not to be moved. She alone held down her 
 head. She looked not Gottlieb in the face as he embraced 
 her. Nor to any questioning would she vouchsafe reply. 
 From that time forth, she was charity to woman ; and the 
 exuberant cheerfulness and familiarity of the men toward her 
 soon grew kindly and respectful. The dragon in Aunt Lisbeth 
 was destroyed. She objected no more to Margarita's cameo. 
 
 The Goshawk quickly made peace with his lord, and 
 enjoyed the commendation of the Kaiser. Dietrich Schill 
 thought of challenging him; but the club had graver 
 business : and this was to pass sentence on Berthold 
 Schmidt for the crime of betraying the White Eose into the 
 hands of Werner. They had found Berthold at the Eck, 
 and there consented to let him remain until ransom was paid 
 for his traitorous body. Berthold in his mad passion 
 was tricked by Werner, and on his release, by payment of 
 the ransom, submitted to the judgement of the club, which 
 condemned him to fight them all in turn, and then endure 
 banishment from Ehineland ; the Goshawk, for his sister's 
 sake, interceding before a harsher tribunal. 
 
THE ENTEY INTO COLOGNE. 
 
 Seven days Kaiser Heinrioli remained camped outside 
 Cologne. Six times in six successive days the Kaiser 
 attempted to enter the city, and was foiled. 
 
 " Beard of Barbarossa ! " said the Kaiser, " this is the 
 first stronghold that ever resisted me." 
 
 The warrior bishops, electors, pfalzgrafs, and knights of 
 the Empire, all swore it was no shame not to be a match 
 for Sathanas. 
 
 "If," said the reflective Kaiser, "we are to suffer below 
 what poor Cologne is doomed to undergo now, let us, by aU 
 that is savoury, reform and do penance." 
 
 The wind just then setting on them dead from Cologne 
 made the courtiers serious. Many thought of their souls for 
 the first time. 
 
 This is recorded to the honour of Monk Gregory. 
 
 On the seventh morning, the Kaiser announced his 
 determination to make a last trial. 
 
 It was dawn, and a youth stood before the Kaiser's tent, 
 praying an audience. 
 
 Conducted into the presence of the Kaiser, the youth, 
 they say, succeeded in arousing him from his depression, for, 
 brave as he was. Kaiser Heinrich dreaded the issue. Forth- 
 with order was given for the cavalcade to set out according 
 to the rescript, Kaiser Heinrich retaining the youth at his 
 
THE ENTRY INTO COLOGNE. 409 
 
 right hand. But the youth had found occasion to visit 
 Gottlieb and Margarita, each of -whom he furnished with a 
 flask, curiously shaped, and charged with a distillation. 
 
 As the head of the procession reached the gates of Cologne, 
 symptoms of wavering were manifest. 
 
 Kaiser Heinrich commanded an advance, at all cost. 
 
 Pfalzgraf Nase led the van, and pushed desperately across 
 the draw-bridge. 
 
 Hesitation and signs of horror began to assail the assemblage 
 round the Kaiser's person. The Kaiser and the youth at his 
 right hand were cheery. Not a whit drooped they ! Several 
 of the heroic knights begged the Kaiser's permission to fall 
 back. 
 
 " Follow Pfalzgraf Nase ! " cried the Kaiser. 
 
 Great was the wonderment of the people of Cologne to 
 behold Kaiser Heinrich riding in perfect stateliness up the 
 main street toward the Cathedral, while right and left of 
 him bishops and electors were dropping incapable. 
 
 The Kaiser advanced till by his side the youth rode sole. 
 
 " Thy name ? " said the Kaiser. 
 
 He answered : " A poor youth, unconquerable Kaiser ! 
 Farina I am called." 
 
 " Thy recompense 1 " said the Kaiser. 
 
 He answered : " The hand of a maiden of Cologne, most 
 gracious Kaiser and master ! " 
 
 " She is thine ! " said the Kaiser. 
 
 Kaiser Heinrich looked behind him, and among a host 
 grasping the pommels of their saddles, and reeling van- 
 quished, were but two erect, a maiden and an old man. 
 
 " That is she, unconquerable Kaiser ! " Farina continued, 
 bowing low. 
 
 " It shall be arranged on the spot," said the Kaiser. 
 
 A word from Kaiser Heinrich sealed Gottlieb's com- 
 pliance. 
 
 Said he : " Gracious Kaiser and master ! though such a 
 youth could of himself never have aspired to the possession 
 
 2 E 
 
410 FARINA. 
 
 of a Grosohen, yet -when the Kaiser pleads for him, objection 
 is as the rock of Moses, and streams consent. Truly he has 
 done Cologne good service, and if Margarita, my daughter, 
 can he persuaded — " 
 
 The Kaiser addressed her with his blazing brows. 
 
 Margarita blushed a ready autumn of rosy-ripe acquiescence. 
 
 " A marriage registered yonder ! " said the Kaiser, pointing 
 upward. 
 
 " I am thine," murmured Margarita, as Farina drew near 
 her. 
 
 " Seal it ! seal it ! " quoth the Kaiser, in hearty good 
 humour; "take no consent from man or maid without a 
 seal." 
 
 Farina tossed the contents of a flask in air, and saluted 
 his beloved on the lips. 
 
 This scene took place near the charred round of earth 
 where Sathanas descended to his kingdom below. 
 
 Men now pervaded Cologne with flasks, purifying the 
 atmosphere. It became possible to breathe freely. 
 
 " We Germans," said Kaiser Heinrich, when he was again 
 surrounded by his courtiers, " may go sometimes wrong, if 
 we always follow Pfalzgraf Nase." Whereat there was 
 obsequious laughter. 
 
 The Pfalzgraf pleaded a susceptible nostril. 
 
 " Thou art, I fear, but a timid mortal," said the Kaiser. 
 
 " Never have I been found so on the German Field, 
 Imperial Majesty ! " returned the Pfalzgraf. "I take glory 
 to myself that the reek of Sathanas overcomes me." 
 
 " Even that we must combat, you see ! " exclaimed Kaiser 
 Heinrich ; " but come all to a marriage this night, and take 
 brides as soon as you will, all of you. Increase, and give us 
 loyal subjects in plenty. I count prosperity by the number 
 of marriages in my empire ! " 
 
 The White Rose Club were invited by Gottlieb to the 
 wedding, and took it in vast wrath until they saw the 
 Kaiser, and such excellent stout German fare present, when 
 
THE ENTRY INTO COLOGNE. 411 
 
 immediately a battle raged ■who should do the event most 
 honour, and was in dispute till dawn : Dietrich Schill being 
 the man, he having consumed Wurst the length of his arm, 
 and wine sufficient to have floated a St. Goar salmon ; which 
 was long proudly chronicled in his family, and is now un- 
 earthed from among the ancient honourable records of 
 Cologne. 
 
 The Goshawk was Farina's bridesman, and a very spiriting 
 bridesman was he ! Aunt Lisbeth sat in a comer, faintly 
 smiling. 
 
 " Child ! " said the little lady to Margarita when they 
 kissed at parting, "your courage amazes me. Do you think 1 
 Do you know ? Poor sweet bird, delivered over hand and 
 foot ! " 
 
 " I love him ! I love him, aunty ! that's all I know," said 
 Margarita : " love, love, love him ! " 
 
 " Heaven help you ! " ejaculated Aunt Lisbeth. 
 
 " Pray with me,'' said Margarita. 
 
 The two knelt at the foot of the bride-bed, and prayed very 
 different prayers, but to the same end. That done. Aunt 
 Lisbeth helped undress the White Eose, and trembled, and 
 told a sad nuptial anecdote of Hollenbogenblitz, and put her 
 little shrivelled hand on Margarita's heart, and shrieked. 
 
 " Child ! it gallops ! " she cried. 
 
 " 'Tis happiness," said Margarita, standing in her hair. 
 
 " May it last only ! " exclaimed Aunt Lisbeth. 
 
 " It will, aunty ! I am humble : I am true ; " and the 
 fair girl gathered the frill of her nightgown. 
 
 " Look not in the glass," said Lisbeth ; " not to-night ! 
 Look, if you can, to-morrow.'' 
 
 She smoothed the White Eose in her bed, tucked her up, 
 and kissed her, leaving her as a bud that waits for sunshine. 
 
CONCLUSION. 
 
 The shadow of Monk Gregory was seen no more in Cologne. 
 He entered the Calendar, and ranks next St. Anthony. For 
 three successive centuries the towns of Rhineland boasted 
 his visits in the flesh, and the conqueror of Sathanas caused 
 dire Ehenish feuds. 
 
 Sathanas repeated his famous Back-blow on Farina. The 
 youth awoke one morning and beheld warehouses the exact 
 pattern of his own, displaying flasks shaped even as his own 
 and twelve Farinas to right and left of him. In a week, 
 they were doubled. A month quadrupled them. They 
 increased. 
 
 "Fame and Fortune," mused Farina, "come from man 
 and the world. Love is from heaven. "We may he worthy, 
 and lose the first. "We lose not love unless unworthy. 
 "Would ye know the true Farina ? Look for him who walks 
 under the seal of bliss : whose darling is for ever his young 
 sweet bride, leading him from snares, priming his soul with 
 celestial freshness. There is no hypocrisy can ape that aspect. 
 Least of all, the creatures of Sathanas ! By this I may be 
 known." 
 
 Seven years after, when the Goshawk came into Cologne 
 to see old friends, and drink some of Gottlieb's oldest 
 Eiidesheimer, he was waylaid fifty times by false Farinas ; 
 and only discovered the true one at last, by chance, in the 
 music-gardens near the Ehine, where Farina sat, having on 
 one hand Margarita, and at his feet three boys and one girl, 
 over whom both bent lovingly, like the parent vine fondling 
 its grape-bunches in summer light. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 CHAEIES DIUJiJiMS AHD EVAHS, CBTSTAL PALACE PBESS.