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The anguish of parting hath taken its sojourn in my breast, And
love and longing and sorrow have maddened heart and brain.
Passion hath made me restless and longing consumes my soul And
tears discover the secret that else concealed had lain.
I know of no way to ease me of sickness and care and woe, Nor can
my weak endeavour reknit love s severed skein.
The fire of my heart with yearnings and longing grief is fed And
for its heat, the lover to live in hell is fain.
O thou that thinkest to blame me for what betides me, enough; God
knows I suffer with patience whate er He doth ordain.
I swear I shall ne er find solace nor be consoled for love, The
oath of the children of passion, whose oaths are ne er in
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vain!
Bear tidings of me, I prithee, O night, to the bards of love And
that in thee I sleep not be witness yet again!
She walked on, weeping and turning right and left, as she went,
till there espied her an old man who had come into the town from
the desert with other five Bedouins. He took note of her and
seeing that she was charming, but had nothing on her head but a
piece of camel-cloth, marvelled at her beauty and said in
himself,  This girl is pretty enough to dazzle the wit, but it is
clear she is in poor case, and whether she be of the people of
the city or a stranger, I must have her. So he followed her,
little by little, till presently he came in front of her and
stopping the way before her in a narrow lane, called out to her,
saying,  Harkye, daughterling, art thou a freewoman or a slave?
When she heard this, she said to him,  By thy life, do not add to
my troubles!  Quoth he,  God blessed me with six daughters, but
five of them died and only one is left me, the youngest of them
all; and I came to ask thee if thou wert of the people of this
city or a stranger, that I might take thee and carry thee to her,
to bear her company and divert her from mourning for her sisters,
If thou hast no parents, I will use thee as one of them, and thou
and she shall be as my two children. When she heard what he
said, she bowed her head for bashfulness and said to herself,
 Surely I may trust myself to this old man. Then she said to
him,  O uncle, I am a girl of the Arabs (of Irak) and a stranger,
and I have a sick brother; but I will go with thee to thy
daughter on one condition; that is, that I may spend the day only
with her and go to my brother at night. I am a stranger and was
high in honour among my people, yet am I become cast down and
abject. I came with my brother from the land of Hejaz and I fear
lest he know not where I am. When the Bedouin heard this, he
said to himself,  By Allah, I have gotten what I sought! Then he
turned to her and said,  There shall none be dearer to me than
thou; I only wish thee to bear my daughter company by day, and
thou shalt go to thy brother at nightfall. Or, if thou wilt,
bring him to dwell with us. And he ceased not to give her fair
words and coax her, till she trusted in him and agreed to serve
him. Then he went on before her and she followed him, whilst he
winked to his men to go on in advance and harness the camels and
load them with food and water, ready for setting out as soon as
he should come up. Now this Bedouin was a base-born wretch, a
highway-robber and a brigand, a traitor to his friend and a past
master in craft and roguery. He had no daughter and no son, and
was but a wayfarer in Jerusalem, when, by the decree of God, he
fell in with this unhappy girl. He held her in converse till they
came without the city, where he joined his companions and found
they had made ready the camels. So he mounted a camel, taking
Nuzhet ez Zeman up behind him, and they rode on all night, making
for the mountains, for fear any should see them. By this, she
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knew that the Bedouin s proposal was a snare and that he had
tricked her; and she gave not over weeping and crying out the
whole night long. A little before the dawn, they halted and the
Bedouin came up to Nuzhet ez Zeman and said to her,  O wretch,
what is this weeping! By Allah, an thou hold not thy peace, I
will beat thee to death, city faggot that thou art! When she
heard this, she abhorred life and longed for death; so she turned
to him and said,  O accursed old man, O greybeard of hell, did I
trust in thee and hast thou played me false, and now thou wouldst
torture me? When he heard her words, he cried out,  O insolent
wretch, dost thou dare to bandy words with me? And he came up to
her and beat her with a whip, saying,  An thou hold not thy
peace, I will kill thee. So she was silent awhile, but she
called to mind her brother and her former happy estate and wept
in secret. Next day, she turned to the Bedouin and said to him,
 How couldst thou deal thus perfidiously with me and lure me into
these desert mountains, and what wilt thou do with me? When he
heard her words, he hardened his heart and said to her,  O
pestilent baggage, wilt thou bandy words with me? So saying, he
took the whip and brought it down on her back, till she well-nigh
fainted. Then she bowed down and kissed his feet; and he left
beating her and began to revile her, saying,  By my bonnet, if I
see or hear thee weeping, I will cut out thy tongue and thrust it
up thy kaze, city strumpet that thou art! So she was silent and
made him no reply, for the beating irked her; but sat down, with
her arms round her knees and bowing her head, fell a-musing on
her case. Then she bethought her of her former ease and affluence
and her present abasement, and called to mind her brother and his
sickness and forlorn condition and how they were both strangers
in a foreign land; whereat the tears coursed down her cheeks and
she wept silently and repeated the following verses:
The tides of fate  twixt good and ill shift ever to and fro, And
no estate of life for men endureth evermo .
All things that to the world belong have each their destined end
And to all men a term is set, which none may overgo.
How long must I oppression bear and peril and distress! Ah, how I
loathe this life of mine, that nought but these can show!
May God not prosper them, these days, wherein I am oppressed of
Fate, these cruel days that add abjection to my woe!
My purposes are brought to nought, my loves are reft in twain By
exile s rigour, and my hopes are one and all laid low.
O ye, who pass the dwelling by, wherein my dear ones are, Bear
them the news of me and say, my tears for ever flow.
When she had finished, the Bedouin came up to her and taking
compassion on her, bespoke her kindly and wiped away her tears.
Then he gave her a cake of barley-bread and said to her,  I do
not love to be answered, when I am angry: so henceforth give me
no more of these insolent words, and I will sell thee to an
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honest fellow like myself, who will use thee well, even as I have
done.  It is well, answered she; and when the night was long
upon her and hunger gnawed her, she ate a little of the
barley-cake. In the middle of the night, the Bedouin gave the
signal for departure; so they loaded the camels and he mounted
one of them, taking Nuzhet ez Zeman up behind him. Then they set [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]