Page:The Celebrated Romance of the Stealing of the Mare.djvu/114

And Alia rose and came, and straightway saw Salame,
And her spirit fell in trouble, and she wept at what had fallen.
And she let him know by signs known only to the dark one :
" Have I not wished thee good, and victory o'er my tribesmen,
When that we sat by the fire ? Why didst thou not obey me
When I bade thee straight begone ? for lo, the grief, the trouble !
Alas for thee, my people ! alas for thee, Salame !
Would that my eyes had seen it not, this day of sorrow/'
But he answered her with signs — " Nay, but much speech is foolish.
Rail not at fortune's hand, since all, even my abasement.
Is by permission of Him who knoweth the heart's secrets.
Yet will I show thee a thing shall be to thee a wonder.
Only do thou have patience, and wait on heaven's justice.
And the hero, Abu Zeyd, vowed vows and chaunted verses.
And the chains fell from his hands, as it were in handfuls of cotton.
Which when the Arabs saw, they told the Agheyli Jaber.