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Then he wept, but presently wiped away his tears and ate of the fruits of the earth. Then he made his ablutions and prayed the ordained prayers that he had neglected all this time; after which he sat in that place, resting, the whole day. When the night came, he lay down and slept till midnight, when he awoke and heard a man’s voice repeating the following verses:
Life unto me is worthless, except I see the shine Of the flashing teeth of my mistress and eke her face divine.
The bishops in the convents pray for her day and night And in the mosques the imams fall prone before her shrine.
Death’s easier than the rigours of a beloved one, Whose image never cheers me, whenas I lie and pine.
O joy of boon-companions, when they together be And lover and belovéd in one embrace entwine!
Still more so in the season of Spring, with all its flowers, What time the world is fragrant with blossoms sweet and fine.
Up, drinker of the vine-juice, and forth, for seest thou not Earth gilt with blooms and waters all welling forth like wine?
When Kanmakan heard this, it revived his sorrows; his tears ran down his cheeks like rivers and flames of fire raged in his heart. He rose to see who it was that spoke, but saw none, for the thickness of the dark; whereupon passion increased on him and he was alarmed and restlessness possessed him. So he descended to the bottom of the valley and followed the banks of the stream, till he heard one sighing heavily, and the same voice recited the followed verses:
Though thou have used to dissemble the love in thy heart for fear, Give on the day of parting, free course to sob and tear.
’Twixt me and my beloved were vows of love and troth; So cease I for her never to long and wish her near.
My heart is full of longing; the zephyr, when it blows, To many a thought of passion stirs up my heavy cheer.
Doth she o’ the anklets hold me in mind, whilst far away, Though between me and Saada were solemn vows and dear?
Shall the nights e’er unite us, the nights of dear delight, And shall we tell our suff’rings, each in the other’s ear?
