Page:The Celebrated Romance of the Stealing of the Mare.djvu/66

And its softness made me wonder, and its most slender fashion,
And the palm of her hand in mine was cool as a cloud in summer.
And I placed the veil between us, and we held fast by the girdles,
And I recited the oath and sealed with a prayer our treaty.
And I cried aloud, " I am Abu Zeyd, he and no other,
Salame, chief of Amer, the slayer of thy kindred.
For I slew Zohan, and Abu Tolh, and Fakhr, and Khodel,
Leaving their kith in pain with lovelocks shorn from their foreheads.
Mine is the arm of valour which made Helal victorious.
Mine the vow of succour to all in need distressful."
And Alia heard me speak and stood up tall before me.
Like to one making a cry, but I shut her mouth with my hand's palm.
And hot tears came to my eyes, and " Cry not," I said, " O Aha,
Cry not for pity aloud, lest I fall in a sea of trouble."
And she said, "My cry was unwilled, for thy love my whole heart filleth.
And now fear is forgot. And O, Abu Zeyd Salame,
Know that we twain must love, for I am of noble lineage.
Even as thou thyself, the hero, the lion of Amer."