THE HORSE GARRAVEEN
Now, they descended leisurely the slopes of the mountain, and when theywere again in the green of its base, Noorna called to the Ass, 'Ho!Karaz! Sniff now the breezes, for the end of our journey by night is themeadows of Melistan. Forward in thy might, and bray not when we are inthem, for thy comfort's sake!'
The Ass sniffed, turning to the four quarters, and chose a certaindirection, and bore them swiftly over hills and streams eddying insilver; over huge mounds of sand, where the tents of Bedouins stood inwhite clusters; over lakes smooth as the cheeks of sleeping loveliness;by walls of cities, mosques, and palaces; under towers that rose as anarmed man with the steel on his brows and the frown of battle; by theshores of the pale foaming sea it bore them, going at a pace that theArab on his steed outstrippeth not. So when the sun was red and the dewswere blushing with new light, they struggled from a wilderness of barrenbroken ground, and saw beneath them, in the warm beams, green, peaceful,deep, the meadows of Melistan. They were meadows dancing with flowers, asit had been fresh damsels of the mountain, fair with variety of coloursthat were so many gleams of changing light as the breezes of the mornswept over them; lavish of hues, of sweetness, of pleasantness, fir forthe souls of the blest.
Then, after they had gazed awhile, Noorna bin Noorka said, 'In thesemeadows the Horse Garraveen roameth at will. Heroes of bliss bestride himon great days. He is black to look on; speed quivers in his flanks likethe lightning; his nostrils are wide with flame; there is that in his eyewhich is settled fire, and that in his hoofs which is ready thunder; whenhe paws the earth kingdoms quake: no animal liveth with blood like theHorse Garraveen. He is under a curse, for that he bore on his back onewho defied the Prophet. Now, to make him come to thee thou must blow thecall of battle, and to catch him thou must contrive to strike him on thefetlock as he runs with this musk-ball which I give thee; and to tame himthou must trace between his eyes a figure or the crescent with thyforenail. When that is done, bring him to me here, where I await thee,and I will advise thee further.'
So she said, 'Go!' and Shibli Bagarag showed her the breadth of hisshoulders, and stepped briskly toward the meadows, and was soon brushingamong the flowers and soft mosses of the meadows, lifting his nostrils tothe joyful smells, looking about him with the broad eye of one thathungereth for a coming thing. The birds went up above him, and the treesshook and sparkled, and the waters of brooks and broad rivers flashedlike waving mirrors waved by the slave-girls in sport when the beautiesof the harem riot and dip their gleaming shoulders in the bath. Hewandered on, lost in the gladness that lived, till the loud neigh of asteed startled him, and by the banks of a river before him he beheld theHorse Garraveen stooping to drink of the river; glorious was the look ofthe creature,--silver-hoofed, fashioned in the curves of beauty andswiftness. So Shibli Bagarag put up his two hands and blew the call ofbattle, and the Horse Garraveen arched his neck at the call, and swungupon his haunches, and sought the call, answering it, and tossing hismane as he advanced swiftly. Then, as he neared, Shibli Bagarag held themusk-ball in his fingers, and aimed at the fetlock of the HorseGarraveen, and flung it, and struck him so that he stumbled and fell. Hesnorted fiercely as he bent to the grass, but Shibli Bagarag ran to him,and grasped strongly the tuft of hair hanging forward between his ears,and traced between his fine eyes a figure of the crescent with hisforenail, and the Horse ceased plunging, and was gentle as a colt by itsmother's side, and suffered Shibli Bagarag to bestride him, and spurn himwith his heel to speed, and bore him fleetly across the fair length ofthe golden meadows to where Noorna bin Noorka sat awaiting him. Sheuttered a cry of welcome, saying, 'This is achieved with diligence andskill, O my betrothed! and on thy right wrist I mark strength like asleeping leopard, and the children of Aklis will not resist thee.'
So she bade him alight from the Horse, but he said, 'Nay.' And she calledto him again to alight, but he cried, 'I will not alight from him! ByAllah! such a bounding wave of bliss have I never yet had beneath me, andI will give him rein once again; as the poet says:
"Divinely rings the rushing air When I am on my mettled mare: When fast along the plains we fly, A creature of the heavens am I."
Then she levelled her brows at him, and said gravely, 'This is thetemptation thou art falling into, as have thousands before thy time. Givehim the rein a second time, and he will bear thee to the red pit, andhalt upon the brink, and pitch thee into it among bleeding masses andskeletons of thy kind, where they lie who were men like to thee, and wereborne away by the Horse Garraveen.'
He gave no heed to her words, taunting her, and making the animal pranceup and prove its spirit.
And she cried reproachfully, 'O fool! is it thus our great aim will bedefeated by thy silly conceit? Lo, now, the greatness and the happinessthou art losing for this idle vanity is to be as a dunghill cock matchedwith an ostrich; and think not to escape the calamities thou bringest onthyself, for as is said,
No runner can outstrip his fate;
and it will overtake thee, though thou part like an arrow from the bow.'
He still made a jest of her remonstrance, trying the temper of theanimal, and rejoicing in its dark flushes of ireful vigour.
And she cried out furiously, 'How! art thou past counsel? then will wematch strength with strength ere 'tis too late, though it weaken both.'
Upon that, she turned quickly to the Ass and stroked it from oneextremity to the other, crying, 'Karaz! Karaz!' shouting, 'Come forth inthy power!' And the Ass vanished, and the Genie stood in his place, tall,dark, terrible as a pillar of storm to travellers ranging the desert. Heexclaimed, 'What is it, O woman? Charge me with thy command!'
And she said, 'Wrestle with him thou seest on the Horse Garraveen, andfling him from his seat.'
Then he yelled a glad yell, and stooped to Shibli Bagarag on the horseand enveloped him, and seized him, and plucked him from the Horse, andwhirled him round, and flung him off. The youth went circling in the air,high in it, and descended, circling, at a distance in the deepmeadow-waters. When he crept up the banks he saw the Genie astride theHorse Garraveen, with a black flame round his head; and the Genie urgedhim to speed and put him to the gallop, and was soon lost to sight, as hehad been a thunderbeam passing over a still lake at midnight. And ShibliBagarag was smitten with the wrong and the folly of his act, and soughtto hide his sight from Noorna; but she called to him, 'Look up, O youth!and face the calamity. Lo, we have now lost the service of Karaz! forthough I utter ten spells and one spell in a breath, the Horse Garraveenwill ere that have stretched beyond the circle of my magic, and the Geniewill be free to do his ill deeds and plot against us. Sad is it! butprofit thou by a knowledge of thy weakness.'
Then said she, 'See, I have not failed to possess myself of the threehairs of Garraveen, and there is that to rejoice in.'
She displayed them, and they were sapphire hairs, and had a flickeringlight; and they seemed to live, wriggling their lengths, and were assnakes with sapphire skins. Then she said, 'Thy right wrist, O mybetrothed!'
He gave her his right wrist, and she tied round it the three hairs ofGarraveen, exclaiming, 'Thus do skilful carpenters make stronger what hasbroken and indicated disaster. Surely, I confide in thy star? I havefaith in my foresight?'
And she cried, 'Eyes of mine, what sayest thou to me? Lo, we must partawhile: it is written.'
Said he, 'Leave me not, my betrothed: what am I without thy counsel? Andgo not from me, or this adventure will come to miserable issue.'
So she said, 'Thou beginnest to feel my worth?'
He answered, 'O Noorna! was woman like thee before in this world? Surely'tis a mask I mark thee under; yet art thou perforce of sheer wisdom andsweet manners lovely in my sight; and I have a thirst to hear thee andlook on thee.'
While he spake, a beam of struggling splendour burst from her, and shesaid, 'O thou dear youth, yes! I must even go. But I go glad of heart,knowing thee prepared to love me. I must go to counteract themach
inations of Karaz, for he's at once busy, vindictive, and cunning,and there's no time for us to lose; so farewell, my betrothed, and makethy wits keen to know me when we next meet.'
So he said, 'And I--whither go I?'
She answered, 'To the City of Oolb straightway.'
Then he, 'But I know not its bearing from this spot: how reach it?'
She answered, 'What! thou with the phial of Paravid in thy vest, thatendoweth, a single drop of it, the flowers, the herbage, the very stonesand desert sands, with a tongue to articulate intelligible talk?'
Said he, 'Is it so?'
She answered, 'Even so.'
Ere Slubli Bagarag could question her further she embraced him, and blewupon his eyes, and he was blinded by her breath, and saw not herdeparture, groping for a seat on the rocks, and thinking her still byhim. Sight returned not to him till long after weariness had brought thebalm of sleep upon his eyelids.