Khaled, A Tale of Arabia Part 24

The fisherman saw a rough sh.e.l.l lying there in the dark between two crabs, "In that sh.e.l.l there must be a large pearl," he said.

But when he would have taken it the crabs ran together and fastened upon his hand.

His heart was bursting in his ribs for lack of breath And he thought of the sky above, as blue as the sea in winter.

So he pulled the halter and was taken half-fainting into the boat.

The crabs held his hand but he struck them off, And his heart beat merrily as he breathed the wind Blowing over the sea as blue as the sky in winter.

"There are no pearls in this ocean," he said to his companions, "But there are crabs if any one cares to dive."

One of them saw the sh.e.l.l caught between the legs of the crabs, He opened it and found a pearl of the value of a kingdom.

"The pearl is mine, but you may eat the crabs," he said to the fisherman, "Since you say there are no pearls in this ocean, Which is as blue as the sky in winter."

Then the fisherman smote him and tried to take the pearl, But as they strove it fell into the deep water and sank, Where the sea was as blue as the sky in winter.

"I will drown you with a heavy weight," said the fisherman, "for you have robbed me of my fortune."

"I have not robbed you, O brother, for the pearl is again where you found it, In the sea which is as blue as the sky in winter."

Then the fisherman dived again many times in vain Till the drums of his ears were broken and his heart was dissolved for lack of breath.

But the pearl is still there, at the bottom of the sea, And the sea is as blue as the sky in winter.

This is the kasid of the fisherman of Oman Which Zehowah Bint ul Mahomed el Hamid Has made and sung for her lord, Khaled the Sultan.

May Allah send him long life and many such hearts As the one which fell into the ocean When the sky was as blue as the sea in winter.'

'This is a new song,' said Khaled, when she had finished.

'Is it? I made it many months ago,' Zehowah answered. 'Does it please you?'

'It is not very melodious, nor do I think there is much truth in the matter of it. But I thank you, for it has served to pa.s.s the time.'

Zehowah laughed a little scornfully.

'I daresay you would prefer the song of a Persian nightingale,' she said. 'Nevertheless my song is full of truth, though you cannot see it.

There are many who seek for things of great value and do not know when they have found them because a crab has bitten their hands.'

'Verily,' thought Khaled, 'this is indeed the spirit of contradiction.'

But he was silent for a time, not wishing that she should think him easily moved. In the meantime Zehowah played softly upon the little instrument and Khaled watched her, wondering whether she were not playing upon the strings of his heart, for her own pleasure, as skilfully as her fingers ran upon the chords of the barbat. Many words rose to his lips then, and he wished that he also had the science of music that he might sing sweetly to her. Then he laughed aloud at his own imagination, which was indeed that of a foolish youth.

'The lion roaring for a sweetmeat,' he thought, 'and the sword-hand aching to scratch little tunes upon a lute!'

Zehowah turned suddenly when he laughed, and ceased from playing.

'I am glad that you are merry,' she said. 'I like laughter better than reproaches and prefer it to gloomy forebodings of evil when none is at hand.'

Khaled's face grew dark, and he looked again towards the door.

'If you will stay with me, you shall see that evil is not far off,' he answered, for she had reminded him of what he was expecting, and he knew that it was no jesting matter. 'But you shall please yourself in this as in all other matters, though it were better for you to go now and shut yourself up in an inner room and wait for the end. The night is advancing, and all will soon be over.'

'Hear me, Khaled,' said Zehowah, speaking earnestly. 'If you bid me go, I will go, or if you desire me to stay, I will remain with you. But if you are indeed in danger, as you say, let us call up the guards and the watchmen who sleep in the palace, that they may stand by you with their swords and help you to fight if there is to be strife.'

'I will have no treacherous fellows about me,' Khaled answered, 'and there are none here whom I can trust. My hour is coming and I will fight this fight alone. But if you were such as I once hoped, I would say: "Remain with me, so long as you are safe." Now, since Allah has willed it thus, I say to you: "Go and seek safety where you can find it." Go, therefore, Zehowah, and leave me alone, for I need no one beside me, and you least of all.'

He turned away his head, lest she should see his face, and with his hand made a gesture bidding her to leave him. She rose from her seat softly and hung the barbat upon the wall with the other musical instruments, looking over her shoulder to see whether he would call her back. But he neither moved nor spoke, being resolved to venture all upon this trial, for he knew that if she loved him even but a little, she would not leave him alone in the extremity of danger.

Then she went towards the door of the room, turning her head to look at him as she pa.s.sed near him.

'Farewell,' she said. But he did not answer nor show that he heard her voice.

As she lifted the curtain to go out, she lingered and gazed at him. He sat motionless upon the carpet, upright against the wall, his sword lying across his feet, his hands hidden under his sleeves, looking towards her indeed but not seeming to see her.

'There can be no real danger,' she thought. 'Could any man sit thus, expecting death, and refusing to let any one stand by him to fight with him? Surely, he is playing with me, and setting a trap for me. But he shall not catch me.'

She turned to go and the curtain was falling behind her when the night wind from the open pa.s.sage brought a sound to her ears from a far distance. She started and listened, as camels do when they hear the first moving of the hot wind. There were no voices in the noise, which was low and dull, like the breathing of a great mult.i.tude and the soft moving of feet, and altogether it was as the slow rising and falling back of the sea upon the sh.o.r.es of Oman, when the great summer storm is coming from the south-west.

Zehowah stood still a moment and drank in every murmur that reached her from without. Then her face grew white and her lips trembled when she thought of Khaled sitting alone on the other side of the curtain, with his sword upon his feet, waiting for the end. She lifted the hanging a little and looked at him again. He saw her, but made no sign. Even as she looked, the distant murmur grew louder and she fancied that he moved his head as though he heard it. Then she entered the room and came and stood before him.

'There is a great mult.i.tude in the square before the palace,' she said.

'I know it,' he answered, calmly looking up to her face. 'It needed not that you should tell me.'

'Will you not let me stay with you now?' asked Zehowah.

'Why should you stay here?' he asked with a pretence of indifference.

'Of what use are you to me? Take this sword. Can you strike with it?

Your wrist is feeble. Or take a bow from the weapons on the wall. Can you draw the string? Your strength is sufficient for the lute, and your skill for scratching the strings of the barbat. Go and save yourself. I am alone and every man's hand is against me.'

Zehowah stood still in the room and hesitated, looking into his eyes for something which she all at once desired with a hot thirst. At last she spoke in an uncertain voice.

'Yet you said not long since that if I were such as you once hoped, you would bid me remain.'

'I do not care,' he answered. 'Yet for your own sake, I advise you to go away.'

'For my own sake!' she repeated, trying to speak scornfully, and turning to go a second time.

But she did not reach the door. She stood still before the weapons which hung upon the wall, and paused a moment and then took a sword from its place. Khaled watched her. She grasped the hilt as well as she could and swung the weapon in the air once with all her might. Then she uttered a little cry of pain, for she had twisted her wrist. The sword fell to the floor.

'He is right,' she said in a low tone, speaking aloud to herself. 'I am weak and can be of no use to him.'

She went on once more towards the door, slowly, her head bent down, then stopped and then looked back again. She feared that she might see a smile on his face, but his eyes were grave and calm. Then he saw her turn and lean against the wall as though she were suddenly weak. She hid her face, and there was silence for a moment, and after that a low sound of weeping filled the still room.

'Why do you shed tears?' Khaled asked presently. 'There is no danger for you, I think. If you will go and shut yourself in the inner rooms you will be safe.'

She turned fiercely and their eyes met.

'What do I care for myself?' she cried. 'Among so many deaths there is surely one for me!'

Even as she spoke Khaled felt a cool breath upon his forehead, stirring the stillness. He knew that it came from the beating of an angel's wings. All his body trembled, his head fell forward a little and his eyes closed.

'This is death,' he thought, 'and my fate has come. A little longer, and she would have loved me.' But he did not speak aloud.

Again Zehowah's face was turned towards the wall, and still the sound of her weeping filled the air, not subsiding and dying away, but rather increasing with every moment.

'Life is not yet gone,' said Khaled in his heart. 'There is yet hope.'

For he no longer felt the cold breath on his forehead, and the trembling had ceased for a moment.

He tried to speak aloud, but his lips could not form words nor his throat utter sounds, and he was amazed at his weakness. A great despair came upon him and his eyes were darkened so that he could not see the lights.