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12 - Khaled, A Tale of Arabia by Francis Marion Crawford · Khaled, A Tale of Arabia

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Speaker 1: Chapter twelve. At the time when the beggars were carrying
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Speaker 1: away Abdullah and his wife, Khaled was sitting in his
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Speaker 1: accustomed place, silent and heavy at heart, and Zahow played
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Speaker 1: softly to him upon a barbat and sang a sad
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Speaker 1: song in a low voice, for he saw the gloominess
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Speaker 1: had overcome him, and she feared to disturb his mood,
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Speaker 1: though she would gladly have made him smile if she
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Speaker 1: had been able. A black slave of Kleed's, whom he
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Speaker 1: had treated with great kindness, had secretly told him that
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Speaker 1: there was a plan to enter the palace with evil
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Speaker 1: during the night, for the fellow had spied upon those
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Speaker 1: who knew and had overheard what he had now told
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Speaker 1: his master. He had also asked by that she not
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Speaker 1: warned the guards of the palace, in order that a
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Speaker 1: strict watch should be kept, but Kaled had bidden him
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Speaker 1: be silent. Oi the guards are conspiring with the rest,
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Speaker 1: said Khaled, and will be the first to attack me
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Speaker 1: while they are ignorant of the plan. And if so,
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Speaker 1: how can they withstand so great a multitude. I will
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Speaker 1: abide by my own fate, and no man shall lose
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Speaker 1: his life for my sake, unless he desires to do so.
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Speaker 1: But he privately put on a coat of mail under
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Speaker 1: his abba. When he sat down in the harem to
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Speaker 1: await the end. He would not let Sahawa take his sword,
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Speaker 1: but laid it upon his feet and sat upright against
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Speaker 1: the wall, looking toward the door. Since I have no soul,
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Speaker 1: he said to himself, this is probably the end of
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Speaker 1: all things. But there is no reason why I should
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Speaker 1: not kill as many of these murderers as possible. He
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Speaker 1: was gloomy and desponding. However, since he saw that this
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Speaker 1: hour was at hand, and as the howl was no
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Speaker 1: nearer to loving him than before, he washed her fingers
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Speaker 1: as she played upon the instrument, and he listened to
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Speaker 1: the soft notes for her voice. It is a strange thing,
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Speaker 1: he thought, And I believe that she is not able
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Speaker 1: to love any more than my sword upon my feet,
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Speaker 1: which is good and true and beautiful and ever ready
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Speaker 1: to my hand. But is itself cold, having no feelings
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Speaker 1: in it? Still, Zahowa sang and clad heard her song,
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Speaker 1: listening watchfully for a man's tread upon the threshold, and
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Speaker 1: looking to see a man's face, and a light of
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Speaker 1: steel in the shadows behind a lamp. The night is long,
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Speaker 1: he said at last, aloud. It is not yet midnight, sahow,
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Speaker 1: It answered, but you are tired. Will you not go
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Speaker 1: to rest? I shall rest tomorrow, said Khaled. Tonight. I
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Speaker 1: will sit here and look at you if you will
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Speaker 1: sing to me. So how it gazed into his eyes, wondering,
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Speaker 1: a littlea has exceeding sadness. Then she bowed her head
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Speaker 1: and struck the strings of the instrument to a new measure,
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Speaker 1: more melancholy than a last, and sang an old song
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Speaker 1: of many verses, with a weeping refrain. Are you also
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Speaker 1: heavy at heart tonight? Kled asked, when he had listened
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Speaker 1: to the end. It is not easy to kindle a
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Speaker 1: lamp when the rain is falling heavily. As to how
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Speaker 1: it said, your sadness has taken hold of me like
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Speaker 1: the chill of a fever. I cannot laugh tonight. And
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Speaker 1: yet you have a good cause. For the city of
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Speaker 1: to night. The earth is to be delivered of a
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Speaker 1: great malefactor, a certain Persian whose name is perhaps a Soan,
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Speaker 1: a notorious robber. Kled turned away, his head, smiling bitterly,
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Speaker 1: for he desired not to see the satisfaction, which would
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Speaker 1: come into her face. This is a poor jest, she
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Speaker 1: answered in a low voice, and the barbat rolled from
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Speaker 1: her knees to the carpet beside her. I mean no jesting,
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Speaker 1: for I did not desire to disap point you, since
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Speaker 1: you will naturally be glad to be freed from me.
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Speaker 1: But I am glad if you are willing to sing
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Speaker 1: to me, for this night is very long. Do you
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Speaker 1: think that I believe this of you, ask is Ahawa?
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Speaker 1: After some time, you believed it yesterday, you believe it today,
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Speaker 1: and you will believe it tomorrow when you are free
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Speaker 1: to make choice of some other man whom you will
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Speaker 1: doubtless love. Yet I know that it's not true, she said,
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Speaker 1: Suddenly it is too late, cled answered. The more I
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Speaker 1: love you, the more I see how little faith you
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Speaker 1: have in me, and the less faith can I put
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Speaker 1: in you. Will you sing to me again? This is
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Speaker 1: very cruel and bitter. As a how aside and looked
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Speaker 1: at him. Will you sing to me again? Sahwa, he repeated,
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Speaker 1: I like your sad music. Then she took up the
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Speaker 1: barbeth from the carpet, and though she struck a chord,
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Speaker 1: she could not go on, and her hand laid idle
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Speaker 1: upon the strings, and her voice was still. You are
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Speaker 1: perhaps tired, said Klette. At some time then led aside
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Speaker 1: the instrument and sleep. He composed himself in his seat,
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Speaker 1: his sword being ready, and his eyes toward the door.
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Speaker 1: But the house shook her head, as though awaking from
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Speaker 1: a dream. Her fingers ran swiftly over the strings, and
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Speaker 1: the gentle tones came from her lips. Klette listened thoughtfully
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Speaker 1: to the song, and the words soothed him. But before
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Speaker 1: she had reached the end, she stopped suddenly. Why do
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Speaker 1: you not finish it? He asked, if you have told
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Speaker 1: me the truth, she answered, this is no time for
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Speaker 1: singing in music. But if not, why should I labor
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Speaker 1: to amuse you as though we were a slave. I
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Speaker 1: will call one of the women who has a sweet
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Speaker 1: voice and a good memory. She will sing you a
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Speaker 1: cased which will last till morning. You are wrong, said Khlette.
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Speaker 1: There is no reason in what you say. But she
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Speaker 1: reflected upon her nature while he spoke. Surely, he thought,
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Speaker 1: there is nothing in the world so contradictory as a woman.
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Speaker 1: I ask of her a song, and she is silent.
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Speaker 1: I bit her rest supposing her to be weary, and
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Speaker 1: she sings to me. If I told her that I
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Speaker 1: hate her, she will probably answer that she loves me. Men, Allah,
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Speaker 1: let us see you inspire hatred in me, said aloud.
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Speaker 1: After a few minutes. At this, Sahawa was very much astonished,
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Speaker 1: and she again let the barbat fall from her knees.
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Speaker 1: You wish me to believe that you love me, and
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Speaker 1: this not long since? She answered, It may be so
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Speaker 1: I did not know you. Then he looked toward the door,
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Speaker 1: as though he would say nothing further. Sahawi sighed, not
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Speaker 1: understanding him, yet being wounded in that sensitive tissue of
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Speaker 1: the heart, which divides the outer desert of pride with
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Speaker 1: the inner garden of love, belonged to neither, but separating
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Speaker 1: the two as a veil. And when there is a
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Speaker 1: rent in that veil, pride looks on love and scoffs bitterly,
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Speaker 1: and love looks on pride and weeps tears of fire.
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Speaker 1: I am sorry you hate me, she said, but the
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Speaker 1: words were bitter in her mouth, as a draft from
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Speaker 1: a spring into which the enemy have cast wormwood that
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Speaker 1: none may drink of it. Allah is great thought, Khalid.
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Speaker 1: This is already an advantage. Then Zahawa took up the
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Speaker 1: barbat and began to sing a careless song, not like
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Speaker 1: any which Khalette had ever heard. This is the song
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Speaker 1: the fishermen of Oman tied the halter under his eye arms.
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Speaker 1: The sky was as blue as the sea in winter.
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Speaker 1: The fisherman dived into the deep waters as the ray
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Speaker 1: of light shoots through a sapphire of price. The sea
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Speaker 1: was as blue as the sky, for it was winter.
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Speaker 1: Among the rocks below the water, it was dark and cold,
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Speaker 1: though the sky above was as blue as a fine sapphire.
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Speaker 1: The fisherman saw a rough shell lying there in the dark,
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Speaker 1: between two crabs. In that shell there must be a
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Speaker 1: large pearl, he said, But when he would have taken it,
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Speaker 1: the crabs ran together and fastened upon his hand. His
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Speaker 1: heart was bursting in his ribs for lack of breath,
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Speaker 1: and he thought of the sky above as blue as
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Speaker 1: the sea in winter. So he pulled the halter and
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Speaker 1: was taken half fainting into the boat. The crabs held
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Speaker 1: his hand, but he struck them off, and his heart
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Speaker 1: beat merrily as he breathed. The wind blowing over the
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Speaker 1: sea as blue as the sky in winter. There are
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Speaker 1: no pearls in this ocean, he said to his companions,
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Speaker 1: But there are crabs if anyone cares to dive. One
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Speaker 1: of them saw the shell caught between the legs of
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Speaker 1: the crabs. He opened it and found a pearl of
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Speaker 1: the value of a kingdom. The pearl's mine. You may
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Speaker 1: eat the crabs, said the fisherman, since you say there
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Speaker 1: are no pearls in this ocean, which is as blue
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Speaker 1: as the sky in winter. Then the fisherman smote him
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Speaker 1: and tried to take the pearl. But as he strove
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Speaker 1: it fell into the deep water and sank, for the
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Speaker 1: sea was as blue as the sky in winter. I
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Speaker 1: will drown you with a heavy weight, said the fisherman,
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Speaker 1: for you have robbed me of my fortune. I have
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Speaker 1: not robbed you, o brother. For the pearls again where
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Speaker 1: you found it, in the sea, which is as blue
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Speaker 1: as the sky in winter. Then the fisherman dived again,
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Speaker 1: many times in vain till the drums of his ear
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Speaker 1: were broken, and his heart was as all for lack
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Speaker 1: of breath. But the pearl is still there at the
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Speaker 1: bottom of the sea, and the sea is as blue
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Speaker 1: as the sky in winter. This is the casit of
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Speaker 1: the fishermen of Oman, which Saawa bent to Ol Mohammed
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Speaker 1: al Ahmed has made and sung for her lord Kalid
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Speaker 1: the Sultan. May Allah send him long life at many
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Speaker 1: such hearts, as the one which fell into the ocean
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Speaker 1: when the sky was as blue as the sea in winter.
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Speaker 1: This is a new song, said Kaled, when she had finished,
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Speaker 1: is it? I made it many months ago, so how
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Speaker 1: I answered, does it please you? It is not very
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Speaker 1: melodious what I think. There is much truth in the
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Speaker 1: matter of it. But I thank you for to serve
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Speaker 1: to pass the time. So Howl laughed a little scornfully.
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Speaker 1: I dare say you prefer the song of a Persian nightingale.
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Speaker 1: She said, nevertheless, my song is full of truth, though
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Speaker 1: you cannot see it. There are many who seek for
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Speaker 1: things of great value and did not know when they
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Speaker 1: have found them, because a crab has bitten their hands. Verily,
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Speaker 1: thought Khaled, this is indeed the spirit of contradiction. But
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Speaker 1: he was silent for a time, not wishing that she
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Speaker 1: would think him easily moved. In the meantime, the Howa
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Speaker 1: played softly upon a little instrument, and Klede watched her
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Speaker 1: wondering whether she would not playing upon the strings of
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Speaker 1: his heart for her own pleasure as skillfully as her
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Speaker 1: fingers ran upon the chords of the barbet. Many words
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Speaker 1: rose to his lips then, and he wished that he
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Speaker 1: had also had the signs of music, that he might
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Speaker 1: sing sweetly to her. Then he laughed aloud his own imagination,
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Speaker 1: which was that of a foolish youth, the lion roaring
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Speaker 1: for a sweet meat, he thought, and the sword hand
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Speaker 1: aching to scratch little tunes upon a loop. Sahawa turned
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Speaker 1: suddenly when he laughed, and ceased from playing. I am
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Speaker 1: glad you are merry, she said, I like laughter better
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Speaker 1: than reproaches, and preferred to gloom the forebodes of evil
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Speaker 1: when none is at hand. Blood's face grew dark, and
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Speaker 1: he looked again toward the door. If you will stay
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Speaker 1: with me, you'll see that evil is not far off,
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Speaker 1: he answered, for she had reminded him what he was expecting,
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Speaker 1: and he knew that it was no jesting matter. But
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Speaker 1: you shall please yourself in this as in all other matters.
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Speaker 1: Though it were better for you to go now and
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Speaker 1: shut yourself up in her room and wait for the end.
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Speaker 1: The night is advancing, and all will soon be over.
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Speaker 1: Hear me Khaled, Saysahawa, speaking earnestly. If you bid me go,
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Speaker 1: I will go, Or if you desire me to stay,
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Speaker 1: I will remain with you. But if you are indeed
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Speaker 1: in danger, as you say, let us call up the
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Speaker 1: guards and the watchmen who sleep in the palace, that
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Speaker 1: they may stand by you with their swords and help
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Speaker 1: you to fight if there is to be strife. I
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Speaker 1: will have no treacherous fellows about me, Clyde answered, and
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Speaker 1: there are none here whom I can trust. My hour
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Speaker 1: is coming, and I'll fight this fight alone. But if
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Speaker 1: he were Subchid, I once hope I would stay remain
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Speaker 1: with me so long as you are safe. Now, since
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Speaker 1: Allah has willed it, Thus I say to you, go
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Speaker 1: and seek safety where you can find it. Go therefore, Zahawa,
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Speaker 1: and leave me alone for an He know one beside
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Speaker 1: me and you least of all. He turned away his
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Speaker 1: head lest she should see his face, and with his
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Speaker 1: hand made a gesture bidding her to leave him. She
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Speaker 1: rose from her seat softly and hung the barbat upon
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Speaker 1: the wall with the other musical instruments, looking over her
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Speaker 1: shoulder to see whether he would call her back, but
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Speaker 1: he neither moved nor spoke, being resolved to venture all
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Speaker 1: upon this trial, For he knew that she loved him,
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Speaker 1: even but a little. She would not leave him alone
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Speaker 1: in the extremity of danger. Then she went toward the
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Speaker 1: door of the room, turning her head to look at
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Speaker 1: him as she passed near him. Farewell, she said, But
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Speaker 1: he did not answer nor show that he heard her voice.
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Speaker 1: As she lifted the curtain to go, she lingered and
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Speaker 1: gazed at him. He sat motionless upon the carpet, upright
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Speaker 1: against the wall, his sword lying across his feet, his
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Speaker 1: hands hidden under his sleeves, looking toward her, indeed, but
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Speaker 1: not seeming to see her. There can be no real danger,
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Speaker 1: she thought, Could any man sit thus expecting death and
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Speaker 1: refusing to let anyone stand by him to fight with him.
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Speaker 1: Surely he's playing with me and setting a trap for me,
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Speaker 1: but he shall not catch me. She turned to go,
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Speaker 1: and the curtain was falling behind her when a night
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Speaker 1: wind from the open passage brought a sound to her
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Speaker 1: ears from a far distance. She started and listened, as
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Speaker 1: campbells do when they hear the first moving of the
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Speaker 1: hot wind. There were no voices in the noise, which
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Speaker 1: was low and dull, the the breathing of a great multitude,
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Speaker 1: and the soft moving of feet, and altogether it was
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Speaker 1: as a slow rising and falling back of the sea
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Speaker 1: upon the shores of Haman. When the great summer storms
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Speaker 1: coming from the southwest. Sahowa stood still a moment and
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Speaker 1: drag in every murmur that reached her room without Then
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Speaker 1: her face grew white and her lips trembled when she
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Speaker 1: thought of Klead, sitting alone on the other side of
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Speaker 1: the curtain, this sword upon his feet, waiting for the end.
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Speaker 1: Then she lifted the hang a little and looked at
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Speaker 1: him again. He saw her, but made no sign. Even
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Speaker 1: as she looked, the distant murmur grew louder, and she
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Speaker 1: fancied that he moved his head as though he heard it.
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Speaker 1: Then she entered the room and came and stood before him.
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Speaker 1: There was a great multitude in the square before the palace.
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Speaker 1: She said, I know it, he answered, calmly, looking up
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Speaker 1: to her face. It needed not that you should tell me.
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Speaker 1: Will you not let me stay with you? Now, asked Sahwah.
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Speaker 1: Why should you stay here? He asked, with a pretense
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Speaker 1: of indifference, of what use are you to me? Take
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Speaker 1: this sword? Can you strike with it? Your wrist is feeble?
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Speaker 1: Or take a bow from the weapons in the wall.
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Speaker 1: Can you draw the string? Your strength is sufficient for
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Speaker 1: the loot, and your skill for scratching the strings of
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Speaker 1: the barbad Go and see yourself. I am alone, and
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Speaker 1: every man's hand is against me. Shawa stood still in
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Speaker 1: the room and hesitated, looking into his eyes with something
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Speaker 1: which she all at once desired with a hot thirst.
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Speaker 1: At last she spoken an un certain voice. Yet you
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Speaker 1: said not long since that if I were such as
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Speaker 1: you once hoped, you would bid me remain. I did
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Speaker 1: not care, he answered. Yet for your own sake, I
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Speaker 1: advise you to go away. For my own sake, she repeated,
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Speaker 1: trying to speak scornfully and turning to go a second time.
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Speaker 1: But she had not reached the door. She stood still
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Speaker 1: before the weapons which hung upon the wall, and paused
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Speaker 1: a moment and took a sword from its place. Khalede
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Speaker 1: watched her. She grasped the hill as well as she
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Speaker 1: could and swung the weapon in the air once with
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Speaker 1: all her might. Then she uttered the little cry of pain,
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Speaker 1: for she had twisted her wrist. The sword fell to
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Speaker 1: the floor. He is right, she said, in a low tone,
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Speaker 1: speaking aloud to herself. I am weak and could be
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Speaker 1: of no use to him. She went once more toward
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Speaker 1: the door, slowly, her head bent down, then stopped, and
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Speaker 1: then looked back again. She feared that she might see
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Speaker 1: a smile on his face, but his eyes were grave
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Speaker 1: and calm. Then he saw her turn and, leaning against
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Speaker 1: the wall, as though she was suddenly weak. She hid
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Speaker 1: her face, and there was silence for a moment, and
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Speaker 1: after that a low sound of weeping filled the still room.
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Speaker 1: Why do you shed tears, Kaled asked, presently, there's no
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Speaker 1: danger for you. I think if you will go and
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Speaker 1: shut yourself up in the inner rooms, you will be safe.
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Speaker 1: She turned fiercely, and their eyes met. What do I
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Speaker 1: care for myself, she cried, Among so many deaths, there
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Speaker 1: is surely one more for me. He that she spoke,
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Speaker 1: Kalette felt a cool breath upon his forehead, stirring the stillness.
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Speaker 1: He nearly came from the beating of an angel's wings.
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Speaker 1: All his body trembled, his head fell forward a little,
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Speaker 1: and his eyes closed. This is death, he thought, My
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Speaker 1: fate has come a little longer, And she would have
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Speaker 1: loved me. But he did not speak aloud again, show
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Speaker 1: his face was turned against the wall, and still the
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Speaker 1: sound of her weeping filled the air, not subsiding and
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Speaker 1: dying away, but rather increasing with every moment. Life is
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Speaker 1: not yet gone, said Kalleed in his heart. There is
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Speaker 1: yet hope. For he no longer felt the cold breath
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Speaker 1: on his forehead, and the trembling had ceased for a moment.
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Speaker 1: He tried to speak aloud, but his lips cannot form
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Speaker 1: the words, nor his throat on her sounds, and he
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Speaker 1: was amazed at his weakness. A great despair came upon him,
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Speaker 1: and his eyes were darken, so that he could not
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Speaker 1: see the lights. If only I could speak to her now,
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Speaker 1: she might yet love me. She might love me. Yet,
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Speaker 1: he thought. The distant murmur from without was louder now
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Speaker 1: and reached the room, and he heard it. He tried
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Speaker 1: with all his might to raise his hand, to lift
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Speaker 1: his head, to speak a single word. It may be
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Speaker 1: that this is the nature of death, he thought again,
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Speaker 1: And I am already dead. The noise from the multitude
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Speaker 1: came louder and louder, so how I heard it, And
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Speaker 1: her breath was caught in her throat. She looked up
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Speaker 1: and saw that the high window of the chamber was
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Speaker 1: no longer quite dark. The day was dawning. Then, pressing
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Speaker 1: her bosom with her hands, she looked again at Kolete.
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Speaker 1: His head was bent upon his breast, and it was
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Speaker 1: so still that she thought he might have fallen asleep.
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Speaker 1: A cry broke from her lips. He cares not, she exclaimed,
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Speaker 1: What is it to him whether I go or stay? Again?
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Speaker 1: Khaled felt the cool breeze in the room, fanning his forehead,
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Speaker 1: and once more his limbs tremble. Then he felt that
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Speaker 1: his strength was returning, that he could move. He raised
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Speaker 1: his head and looked at Zahawa, and just then there
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Speaker 1: was a distant crashing roar as the Dmans began to
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Speaker 1: strike upon the gates. It is time, he said, and
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Speaker 1: taking his sword in his hand, he rose from his seat.
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Speaker 1: Sahala came toward him with outstretched hands, wet cheeks and
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Speaker 1: burning eyes. She stood before him as though to bar
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Speaker 1: the way and hinder him from going out. What is
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Speaker 1: it to you, whether I go or stay? He asked,
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Speaker 1: repeating her own words, What is it? By Allah? It
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Speaker 1: is all my life. I will not let you go,
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Speaker 1: and she took hold of his wrists with her weak
16:31
Speaker 1: woman's hands and tried to thrust him back. Go Zahawa,
16:35
Speaker 1: he answered, gently, pressing her from him. Go now and
16:38
Speaker 1: let me meet him alone, knowing that you are safe.
16:41
Speaker 1: For those be pity which you feel. I know it
16:44
Speaker 1: is nothing more. He would have passed by her, but
16:47
Speaker 1: she still held him and kept before him. You shall
16:51
Speaker 1: not go, she cried, I will prevent you with my body. Pity,
16:54
Speaker 1: you say, oh Khaled, is pity fierce? Is pity? Strong?
16:59
Speaker 1: Does pity burn him like fire? You shall not go,
17:02
Speaker 1: I say. Then her hands grew cold upon his wrists,
17:05
Speaker 1: her cheeks burned, and her eyes there was a deep
17:07
Speaker 1: and gleaming light. All this Kled felt and saw, while
17:11
Speaker 1: he heard the raging of the multitude without his sight.
17:14
Speaker 1: Grew again uncertain. A third time, the cool breath blew
17:17
Speaker 1: in his face. Yet it cannot be love, he said, incertainly.
17:21
Speaker 1: Yet she hurt him, not love, Khaled, Khaled, My life,
17:26
Speaker 1: my breath, my soul, breath of my life, life of
17:30
Speaker 1: my spirit, Oh Kaled, you have never loved as I
17:33
Speaker 1: love you. Now her hands let Owa's wrists and clasped
17:36
Speaker 1: about his neck and her face was hidden upon his shoulder,
17:38
Speaker 1: while her breath came and went like the gusts of
17:40
Speaker 1: the burning storm in summer. But as he held her,
17:43
Speaker 1: Kled looked up and saw the Angel of Allah was
17:45
Speaker 1: before him, having a smiling countenance, and bearing in his
17:48
Speaker 1: hand a bright flame by a crescent moon. It is
17:52
Speaker 1: well done, o Khaled, said the angel, And this is
17:54
Speaker 1: thy reward. Allah sends thee this to be thy own
17:57
Speaker 1: and to live after thy body, saying that thou has
18:00
Speaker 1: well earned it. For love such as thou hast got
18:03
Speaker 1: now is a rare thing, not common with women, and
18:06
Speaker 1: least of all with wives of kings. And now Allah
18:09
Speaker 1: alone knows what thy fate is to be. But thou
18:11
Speaker 1: shalt be judged at the end like other men, according
18:13
Speaker 1: to thy deeds, be they good or evil. And so
18:17
Speaker 1: received thy soul, and do with it as thou wilt.
18:21
Speaker 1: The angel then held out the flame, which was like
18:22
Speaker 1: the crescent moon, and the immediately took shape and became
18:25
Speaker 1: the brighter image of Kaled himself, and dealt with immortality
18:28
Speaker 1: and the knowledge of its own good and evil. And
18:31
Speaker 1: Mkled had looked at it fixedly for a moment, being
18:33
Speaker 1: overcome with joy. The vision of himself disappeared, and it
18:36
Speaker 1: was where they had entered his own body and taken
18:38
Speaker 1: up its life within him. Return thy thanks to Allah,
18:41
Speaker 1: and go thy way to the end, said the angel,
18:43
Speaker 1: who then unfolded its wings and departed to paradise whence
18:46
Speaker 1: he had come. But Khaled classed Zhawa tightly in his arms,
18:51
Speaker 1: and looking upwards, repeated the first chapter of the Koran,
18:54
Speaker 1: and also the one hundred and tenth chapter, which is
18:56
Speaker 1: entitled Assistance. When he had performed these inward devotions, he
19:00
Speaker 1: turned his gaze upon Sahawa and kissed her. Praise be
19:04
Speaker 1: to Allah, he said, for this and all blessings. But
19:07
Speaker 1: now let us defend ourselves if we can, my beloved,
19:09
Speaker 1: for I think my enemies are at hand. And so
19:12
Speaker 1: he would have stopped to take up his sword, which
19:14
Speaker 1: had fallen upon the floor. But still Zahawa held him
19:16
Speaker 1: and would not let him go. Not yet, Khleb, she cried,
19:20
Speaker 1: not yet, soul of my soul. The gates are very strong,
19:23
Speaker 1: and we will stand this battering for some time. Would
19:26
Speaker 1: you have him, whom you love, sit still in the
19:28
Speaker 1: net until the hunters came to catch him? He asked
19:30
Speaker 1: in a tender voice. You said you would wait here,
19:33
Speaker 1: she pleaded. If we must die, let us die here.
19:36
Speaker 1: Our life will be a little longer. So did I
19:39
Speaker 1: say so. I thought you did not love me then,
19:42
Speaker 1: and I would have slayin a few only for my
19:44
Speaker 1: own sake, that my blood might not be unavenged. But
19:47
Speaker 1: now I will slay them all for your sake, and
19:49
Speaker 1: the bodies of the dead shall be a rampart for you. Oh,
19:53
Speaker 1: do not go, she cried again. I know a secret
19:55
Speaker 1: passage from the palace that leads out by the wall
19:57
Speaker 1: the city. Come quickly, there is yet time, and we
20:00
Speaker 1: shall escape, for Allah will protect us. Surely. When I
20:04
Speaker 1: was fainting in your arms, I heard an angel's voice.
20:06
Speaker 1: And surely the angels yet with us and will lighten
20:08
Speaker 1: the way as we go. The angel was indeed here,
20:12
Speaker 1: for he brought me the soul that was promised if
20:14
Speaker 1: you loved me. And now all is changed, for if
20:17
Speaker 1: we live, we get to victory, and if we die,
20:19
Speaker 1: we shall inherit paradise. So Howa looked into his eyes
20:24
Speaker 1: and saw the living soul flaming with him, and she
20:26
Speaker 1: believed him. If you had always been as you are now,
20:30
Speaker 1: I should have always loved you, she said softly, and
20:32
Speaker 1: stooping down, she took up his sword and drew it
20:34
Speaker 1: out and put it in his hand. I tried to
20:37
Speaker 1: wield one when you were not looking, she said, but
20:39
Speaker 1: it hurt my wrists. Come, Khaled, let us go together.
20:45
Speaker 1: Then he kissed her once more, and she kissed him, and,
20:47
Speaker 1: putting one arm about her, he led her swiftly out
20:49
Speaker 1: by the passage toward the great gate. It was now
20:52
Speaker 1: broad dawn, and the light was coming in by the
20:54
Speaker 1: narrow windows. So how it clung to Khalid closely, for
20:58
Speaker 1: the noise that the thundering blows was terror bolt and deafening.
21:01
Speaker 1: And the multitude without were shouting to each other and
21:03
Speaker 1: calling upon Abdullah to come out, for they supposed him
21:05
Speaker 1: to be in the palace. But the guards and soldiers
21:08
Speaker 1: within had all hidden their selves, though they were awake,
21:11
Speaker 1: for there was no one to command them nor to
21:12
Speaker 1: leave them, and they dared not open the gate lest
21:15
Speaker 1: they themselves should be slain. When the first rush of
21:16
Speaker 1: the crowd then clinton show I paused for a moment
21:20
Speaker 1: near the gate. It is better that you should go back,
21:22
Speaker 1: my beloved, said Khlad. Here what a multitude of angry
21:25
Speaker 1: manner waiting outside. I will not leave you, neither in
21:29
Speaker 1: life nor in death, she answered. Let it be so,
21:32
Speaker 1: then said Khaled, and I will do my best. For
21:35
Speaker 1: one hundred men cannot stop the way before me now,
21:37
Speaker 1: and I think that a five hundred I could slay many.
21:41
Speaker 1: So he went up to the gate, and the how
21:42
Speaker 1: I stood a little behind him, so as to be
21:44
Speaker 1: free of the first sweep of his sword. Abdullah cried
21:48
Speaker 1: some of the crowd without, while battering at the iron
21:49
Speaker 1: bound doors. Abdullah, the son of Muhammad and father of lies,
21:54
Speaker 1: come out to us, or we will go to thee. Abdullah,
21:57
Speaker 1: thou thief, thou persian, thou cheat, come out, and may
22:01
Speaker 1: boiling water be that portion. Stand back from the gate
22:05
Speaker 1: and I will open it to you, cried Kaled, in
22:07
Speaker 1: a voice that might have been heard across the red
22:08
Speaker 1: desert as far as the shores of the great Ocean. Ay,
22:12
Speaker 1: Khaled will open he cried again. Then there was a
22:15
Speaker 1: great silence, and the people fell back a little. Kled
22:18
Speaker 1: drew the bolts in a fastened the locks, and opened
22:21
Speaker 1: the gates inward, and stood forth alone in the morning light,
22:23
Speaker 1: his sword in his hand, and his soul burning in
22:26
Speaker 1: his eyes. Khaled cried the first who saw him, and
22:29
Speaker 1: the cry was taken up. The shout was great and
22:32
Speaker 1: full of joy, and shook the earth, for the multitude
22:35
Speaker 1: had grown hot and anger. It gets up Dullah while
22:37
Speaker 1: they battered at the gates, supposing that he had slain Kald,
22:39
Speaker 1: But he himself could not at first distinguish whether they
22:41
Speaker 1: were angry or glad. If any wishes to take my life,
22:45
Speaker 1: he cried, let him come and take it. And the
22:48
Speaker 1: sword they all knew in battle, began to make a
22:50
Speaker 1: storm of lightning about his head in the morning sun.
22:53
Speaker 1: Then the strong man who had wrestled and thrown the
22:55
Speaker 1: other before dawn, stood out alone and spoke in a
22:58
Speaker 1: loud voice. We will have no sultan but Klette. He cried,
23:02
Speaker 1: give us Abdullah, that we will make trappings for our
23:04
Speaker 1: camels from his skin. Then Kaled she his sword and
23:08
Speaker 1: came forward from under the gate, and Zahawas stood veiled
23:11
Speaker 1: beside him. Where is Abdullah, he asked, find him if
23:15
Speaker 1: you can, for I would like to speak with him.
23:18
Speaker 1: Then there was sounds for a space, but by this
23:20
Speaker 1: time Abdullah's men had fled, for they had already been
23:22
Speaker 1: forced back in the crowding, and so soon as they
23:24
Speaker 1: saw Kaled standing unhurt under the palace gate, they turned
23:27
Speaker 1: quickly and ran for their lives to escape from the city,
23:30
Speaker 1: seeing all was lost. Where's Abdulla Khaled asked again, and
23:35
Speaker 1: a voice from afar Off answered, as though heralding the
23:38
Speaker 1: coming of a great personage. Behold Abdullah, the Sultan of
23:41
Speaker 1: the Jeddak, cried. Then the multitude turned angrily, grasping swords
23:46
Speaker 1: and spears and breathing curses. But the murmur broke suddenly
23:49
Speaker 1: into a shout of laughter, louder even than the cry
23:51
Speaker 1: for Khaled had been. For. A great possession had entered
23:54
Speaker 1: the square, and the people made way for it. As
23:56
Speaker 1: it advanced toward the palace. First came a score of lepers,
24:00
Speaker 1: singing in hideous voices and dancing at early sun, filthy
24:03
Speaker 1: and loathsome to behold. And then came all manner of cripples,
24:06
Speaker 1: laughing and chattering with colored rags fastened to their staves,
24:10
Speaker 1: an army of distorted apes. Then, walking alone and feeling
24:14
Speaker 1: his way with his staff, came the Sheikh of the Beggars,
24:16
Speaker 1: and in one hand he held the end of a
24:17
Speaker 1: halter which has fastened about Abdullah's head and neck between
24:20
Speaker 1: his teeth, so that he could not cry out. And
24:22
Speaker 1: the blind man chanted a casid which he had composed
24:25
Speaker 1: in the night in honor of Abdullah. Even Mohammed al Hrr,
24:28
Speaker 1: the victorious Sultan of the Jed, upon whom they allah
24:31
Speaker 1: send much boiling water, sang the chick of the beggars
24:33
Speaker 1: after each stave, and Abdullah his head and face, shaving
24:37
Speaker 1: his ballet as an ostrich's egg was bent by the
24:39
Speaker 1: weight he carried. For upon his shoulders, wrote the cripple,
24:42
Speaker 1: whom they called the ass of Egypt, clapping the wooden
24:44
Speaker 1: shoes he used on his hands like cymbals to accompany
24:47
Speaker 1: the song with a blind man. And last of all
24:49
Speaker 1: came a veiled woman, walking sadly, for she could not
24:52
Speaker 1: escape being surrounded and driven on by many scores of beggars,
24:55
Speaker 1: all dancing and shouting and crying out mocked praises of
24:58
Speaker 1: the Sultan Abdullah and his wife. But as the procession
25:01
Speaker 1: moved on, the laughter increased one hundredfold, until all men's
25:04
Speaker 1: eyes were blind with mirth, and their breasts were bursting
25:06
Speaker 1: and aching with so much merriment. At last the Shikh
25:09
Speaker 1: the beggars stood before Khaled, holding the halter, and here he
25:12
Speaker 1: made a deep obeisance, pulling the halter so that Abdullah
25:15
Speaker 1: and nearly fell to the ground. In the name of
25:17
Speaker 1: the beggars, he said, I present to your High Majesty
25:19
Speaker 1: the Sultan and the Jed Abdullah ibn Mohammed, and as
25:22
Speaker 1: chief minister of the ass of Egypt. And moreover, the
25:25
Speaker 1: Sultan's wife may have pleased your High Majesty to reward
25:28
Speaker 1: the beggars with a few small coins at a little barley,
25:31
Speaker 1: for having brought his High Majesty the new Sultan safely
25:34
Speaker 1: to the gates of the palace and to the steps
25:36
Speaker 1: of the throne. Thereupon all the beggars, the lepers, the cripples,
25:40
Speaker 1: the blind men, and those of weak understanding fell down
25:42
Speaker 1: together at Kaled's feet. This is the story of Khaled,
25:47
Speaker 1: the believing Genius, which it costs to be written down
25:49
Speaker 1: in letters of gold by the most accomplished scribe in
25:51
Speaker 1: the Jed, that all men might remember it. But what
25:55
Speaker 1: if afterwards occurred? There is nothing told in the scribes manuscript.
25:58
Speaker 1: It is recounted. However, in the commentary is one abin
26:00
Speaker 1: Uhl Latif that Kled did not cause ab Dula to
26:03
Speaker 1: be beheaded nor in any way hurt see that he
26:05
Speaker 1: was driven out of the city with his wife, or
26:07
Speaker 1: certain bedwins affirmed that he lived for many years with
26:09
Speaker 1: her in great destitution. But as well known that after
26:13
Speaker 1: this Sahawabor Kaled many strong sons, whose children and children's
26:16
Speaker 1: children ranged gloriously for many generations in the jet and
26:20
Speaker 1: Clad and Zahwa died full of years on the same
26:22
Speaker 1: day and lie buried together in a garden without the
26:25
Speaker 1: Hassa gate. And the pilgrims from Ajman and the east
26:28
Speaker 1: visit their tombs even to the present time. End of
26:32
Speaker 1: chapter twelve, end of Khaled, A Tale of Arabia by
26:35
Speaker 1: Francis Marion Crawford, recorded by Joe Denoya, Somerset, New Jersey,