Page:The Celebrated Romance of the Stealing of the Mare.djvu/99

And dyed my face with saffron till my cheeks glowed like apples ;
And I wrinkled the skin of my brows and crooked my back like a bent bow,
And leaned upon my staff. For am I not, O people,
A man of infinite wiles, a cunning man, a deceiver ?
And over the rest of my clothes I set the garb of a dervish,
And held a pot in my hand, even of the pots of the beggars.
And thus in my disguisement I sought his tents, the Agheyli,
Troubled still in my heart for Alia and her trouble,
Nor ceased I to walk and run till I came to the tents of Jaber,
And found there Alia bound, with wood made red for the kindling.
And she cried, cc Alackaday ! for the men of evil dealing.
Call I to God above, the God of power and compassion,
Him whom no eye may see, to hasten back the dark one.
Ho, in what place are thy eyes, thou foolish man, Salame,
That thou comest not to her help from these which stand around her ?
Why dost thou leave her to these, the insolent men of evil ?
What didst thou say, O Abu Zeyd, when forth thou wentest ?