Page:The Celebrated Romance of the Stealing of the Mare.djvu/82

And may the merciful God, O Prince, make smooth thy journey.
For truly saith Ibn Arus, c The dark night brought the prowler/ '
And I said, " I hear and obey/' yet ceased not to be troubled
Until the night should come. But near the hour of sunset
Alia arose and said, c< It is time." Then like a lion
Rose I, and roared, '^I hear and obey, thou daughter of Jaber."
And Alia threw off her jewels, and she went out and I followed
"With a loud-beating heart to the space beyond the tent ropes.
And we walked in the space apart 'twixt Alia's and the mare's tent.
And she held my hand as I went, like a lioness, I like a lion.
And when we had come to that other tent, then she gazelle-like
Stepping passed to the well, and into its depths went Alia.
And presently came again with a goatskin filled with water.
And she took from it the keys, and she opened wide the stable —
For the night was dark — and within we heard the mare's feet stamping,