Page:Bohemian poems, ancient and modern (Lyra czecho-slovanska).djvu/44

The daughter bright of Kublay Khan,
Fair as the moon was she,
Had heard of countries in the west,
Where many people be;
And she the foreign countries will
And foreign manners see.

Of youths upstarts there half a score,
Of waiting-maidens two,
And first they all the needful things
In packages bestow,
Then thither, where the sun doth haste,
Upon swift steeds they go.

As rosy bright the morning dawn
O’er misty woods doth gleam,
So did the daughter of the Khan
From art and nature beam.

In gold brocade the maiden shone,
Bosom and neck were bare,
And wreaths of jewels and of pearls
Did ornament her hair.

The Germans by her beauty struck,
And envious of her store,
Pursued her, as suspicionless
She journied on before,
Attack’d and slew her in a wood,
And off the booty bore.