'Tis left for after-time his wisdom to declare:
That's loveliest we best love, and to ourselves compare.
Yet lovelier than all hands shape or fancies build,
The meanest thing of earth God with his fire hath filled.
Now, when Shibli Bagarag ceased, Noorna bin Noorka cried, 'Enough, O
wondrous turner of verse, thou that art honest!' And she laughed loudly,
rustling like a bag of shavings, and rolling in her laughter.
Then said she, 'O my betrothed, is not the thing thou wouldst say no
other than--
“Each to his mind doth the fairest enfold,
For broken long since was Beauty's mould”;
and, “Thou that art old, withered, I cannot flatter thee, as I can in no
way pay compliments to the monkey's tail of high design; nevertheless the
Sage would do thee honour”? So read I thy illustration, O keen of wit!
and thou art forgiven its boldness, my betrothed,--Wullahy! utterly so.'
Now, the youth was abashed at her discernment, and the kindliness of her
manner won him to say:
There's many a flower of sweetness, there's many a gem of earth
Would thrill with bliss our being, could we perceive its worth.
O beauteous is creation, in fashion and device!
If I have fail'd to think thee fair, 'tis blindness is my vice.
And she answered him:
I've proved thy wit and power of verse,
That is at will diffuse and terse:
Lest thou commence to lie--be dumb!
I am content: the time will come!
Then she said to the Vizier Feshnavat, 'O my father, there is all in this
youth, the nephew of the barber, that's desirable for the undertaking;
and his feet will be on a level with the task we propose for him, he the
height of man above it. 'Tis clear that vanity will trip him, but honesty
is a strong upholder; and he is one that hath the spirit of enterprise
and the mask of dissimulation: gratitude I observe in him; and it is as I
thought when I came upon him on the sand-hill outside the city, that his
star is clearly in a web with our star, he destined for the Shaving of
Shagpat.'
So the Vizier replied, 'He hath had thwackings, yet is he not deterred
from making further attempt on Shagpat. I think well of him, and I augur
hopefully. Wullahy! the Cadi shall be sent for; I can sleep in his
secresy; and he shall perform the ceremonies of betrothal, even now and
where we sit, and it shall be for him to write the terms of contract: so
shall we bind the youth firmly to us, and he will be one of us as we are,
devoted to the undertaking by three bonds--the bond of vengeance, the
bond of ambition, and that of love.'
Now, so it was that the Vizier despatched a summons for the attendance of
the Cadi, and he came and performed between Shibli Bagarag and Noorna bin
Noorka ceremonies of betrothal, and wrote terms of contract; and they
were witnessed duly by the legal number of witnesses, and so worded that
he had no claim on her as wife till such time as the Event to which he
bound himself was mastered. Then the fees being paid, and compliments
interchanged, the Vizier exclaimed, 'Be ye happy! and let the weak cling
to the strong; and be ye two to one in this world, and no split halves
that betray division and stick not together when the gum is heated.' Then
he made a sign to the Cadi and them that had witnessed the contract to
follow him, leaving the betrothed ones to their own company.
So when they were alone Noorna gazed on the youth wistfully, and said in
a soft tone, 'Thou art dazed with the adventure, O youth! Surely there is
one kiss owing me: art thou willing? Am I reduced to beg it of thee? Or
dream'st thou?'