صفحة 231 من 1116

Though a morn I may awake with all happiness in hand * Though the

world all be mine and like Kisra-kings[FN#128] I reign; To me

they had the worth of the winglet of the gnat * When I fail to

see thy form, when I look for thee in vain

When she had ended for a time her words and her weeping I said to

her-O my cousin, let this thy mourning suffice, for in pouring

forth tears there is little profit! Thwart me not, answered she,

in aught I do, or I will lay violent hands on myself! So I held

my peace and left her to go her own way; and she ceased not to

cry and keen and indulge her affliction for yet another year. At

the end of the third year I waxed aweary of this longsome

mourning, and one day I happened to enter the cenotaph when vexed

and angry with some matter which had thwarted me, and suddenly I

heard her say:-O my lord, I never hear thee vouch safe a single

word to me! Why dost thou not answer me, O my master? and she

began reciting:-