And he answered, 'Yea, though I know my doom in loving her; and that it
will be the doom of them now piping to her pleasure and denied the
privilege of laughter.'
So I thought, 'Oh, cruel sorceress! the birds are men!' And as I mused,
my breast melted with pity at their desire to laugh, and the little
restraint they had upon themselves notwithstanding her harshness; for
could they think of their changed condition and folly without laughter?
and the folly that sent them fresh mates in misery was indeed matter for
laughter, fed to fulness by constant meditation on the perch. Meantime, I
uncharmed the youth and bade him retire quickly; but as he was going, he
said, 'Beware of the Genie Karaz!' Then I held him back, and after a
parley he told me what he had heard the Princess say, and it was that
Karaz had seen me and sworn to possess me for my beauty. 'Strangely
smiled Goorelka when she spake that,' said he.
Now, the City of Oolb fronts the sea, and behind it is a mountain and a
wood, where the King met Ravaloke on his return victorious over the
rebels. So, to escape the eye of the King I parted with Ravaloke, and
sought to enter the city by a circuitous way; but the paths wound about
and zigzagged, and my slaves suffered nightfall to surprise us in the
entanglements of the wood. I sent them in different directions to strike
into the main path, retaining Kadrab at the bridle of my mule; but that
creature now began to address me in a familiar tone, and he said
something of love for me that enraged me, so that I hit him a blow. Then
came from him sounds like the neighing of mares, and lo! he seized me and
rose with me in the air, and I thought the very heavens were opening to
that black beast, when on a sudden he paused, and shot down with me from
heights of the stars to the mouth of a cavern by the Putrid Sea, and
dragged me into a cavern greatly illuminated, hung like a palace chamber,
and supported on pillars of shining jasper. Then I fell upon the floor in
a swoon, and awaking saw Kadrab no longer, but in his place a Genie. O my
soul, thou halt seen him!--I thought at once, ''tis Karaz!' and when he
said to me, 'This is thy abode, O lady! and I he that have sworn to
possess thee from the hour I saw thee in the chamber of Goorelka,' then
was I certain 'twas Karaz. So, collecting the strength of my soul, I
said, in the words of the poet:
'Woo not a heart preoccupied!
What thorn is like a loathing bride?
Mark ye the shrubs how they turn from the sea,
The sea's rough whispers shun?
But like the sun of heaven be,
And every flower will open wide.
Woo with the shining patience we
Beheld in heaven's sun.'
Then he sang:
Exquisite lady! name the smart
That fills thy heart.
Thou art the foot and I the worm:
Prescribe the Term.
Finding him compliant, I said, 'O great Genie, truly the search of my
life has been to discover him that is, my father, and how I was left in
the wilderness. There 's no peace for me, nor understanding the word of
love, till I hear by whom I was left a babe on the bosom of a dead
mother.'
He exclaimed, and his eyes twinkled, ''Tis that? that shalt thou know in
a span of time. O my mistress, hast thou seen the birds of Goorelka? Thy
father Feshnavat is among them, perched like a bird.'