I

WAS a timid little antelope;

My home was in the rocks, the lonely rocks.

I saw the hunters scouring on the plain;
I lived among the rocks, the lonely rocks.

I was a-thirsty in the summer-heat;
I ventured to the tents beneath the rocks.

Zuleikah brought me water from the well; Since then I have been faithless to the rocks.

I saw her face reflected in the well;

Her camels since have marched into the rocks.

I look to see her image in the well;
I only see my eyes, my own sad eyes.
My mother is alone among the rocks.

ZULEIKAH! The young Agas in the bazaar are slim-waisted and wear yellow slippers. I am old and hideous. One of my eyes is out, and the hairs of my beard are mostly grey. Praise be to Allah! I am a merry bard.

There is a bird upon the terrace of the Emir's chief wife. Praise be to Allah! He has emeralds on his neck, and a ruby tail. I am a merry bard. He deafens me with his diabolical screaming.

There is a little brown bird in the basket-maker's cage. Praise be to Allah! He ravishes my soul in the moonlight. I am a merry bard.

I am a little brown Bulbul. Come and listen in the moonlight. Praise be to Allah! I am a merry bard.

Thou brawny oarsman with the sunburnt cheek,

Quick! for it soothes my heart to hear the Bulbul speak.

Ferry me quickly to the Asian shores,

Swift bending to your oars.

Beneath the melancholy sycamores,

Hark! what a ravishing note the love-lorn Bulbul pours!

Behold, the boughs seem quivering with delight,
The stars themselves more bright,

As mid the waving branches out of sight

The Lover of the Rose sits singing through the night.

Under the boughs I sat and listened still,

I could not have my fill.

"How comes," I said, "such music to his bill? Tell me for whom he sings so beautiful a trill.”

"Once I was dumb," then did the Bird disclose,
"But looked upon the Rose;

And in the garden where the loved one grows,
I straightway did begin sweet music to compose."

"O bird of song, there's one in this caïque

The Rose would also seek,

So he might learn like you to love and speak.'

Then answered me the bird of dusky beak,

"The Rose, the Rose of Love blushes on Leilah's cheek."