THE REVIVAL
Now, the feathers of Koorookh in his flight were ruffled by a chillbreeze, and they were speeding through a light glow of cold rose-colour.Then said Noorna, ''Tis the messenger of morning, the blush. Oh, whatchanges will date from this day!'
The glow of rose became golden, and they beheld underneath them, on oneside, the rim of the rising red sun, and rays streaming over the earthand its waters. And Noorna said, 'I must warn Feshnavat, my father, andprepare him for our coming.'
So she plucked a feather from Koorookh and laid the quill downward,letting it drop. Then said she, 'Now for the awakening of my betrothed!'
Thereupon she hugged his head a moment, and kissed him on the eyelids,the cheeks, and the lips, crying, 'By this means only!' Crying that, shepushed him, sliding, from the back of the bird, and he parted from them,falling headforemost in the air like a stricken eagle. Then she called toKoorookh, 'Seize him!' and the bird slanted his beak and closed hiswings, the two, Abarak and Noorna, clinging to him tightly; and he wasdown like an arrow between Shibli Bagarag and the ground, spreadingbeneath him like a tent, and Noorna caught the youth gently to her lap;then she pushed him off again, intercepting his descent once more, tillthey were on a level with one of the mountains of the earth, from whichthe City of Shagpat is visible among the yellow sands like a white spotin the yolk of an egg. So by this time the eyes of the youth gavesymptoms of a desire to look upon the things that be, peeping faintlybeneath the lashes, and she exclaimed joyfully, raising her white handsabove her head, 'One plunge in the lake, and life will be his again!'
Below them was a green lake, tinted by the dawn with crimson and yellow,deep, and with high banks. As they crossed it to the middle, she slippedoff the youth from Koorookh, and he with a great plunge was received intothe stillness of the lake. Meanwhile Koorookh quivered his wings andseized him when he arose, bearing him to an end of the lake, where stoodone dressed like a Dervish, and it was the Vizier Feshnavat, the fatherof Noorna. So when he saw them, he shouted the shout of congratulation,catching Noorna to his breast, and Shibli Bagarag stretched as doth aheavy sleeper in his last doze, saying, in a yawning voice, 'Whattrouble? I wot there is nought more for us now that Shagpat is shaved!Oh, I have had a dream, a dream! He that is among Houris in Paradisedreameth not a dream like that. And I dreamed--'tis gone!'
Then said he, staring at them, 'Who be ye? What is this?'
Noorna, took him again to her bosom, and held him there; and she pluckeda herb, and squeezed it till a drop from it fell on either of his lids,applying to them likewise a dew from the serpents of the Sword, and heawoke to the reality of things. Surely, then he prostrated himself andrepeated the articles of his faith, taking one hand of his betrothed andkissing her; and he embraced Abarak and Feshnavat, saying to the fatherof Noorna, 'I know, O Feshnavat, that by my folly and through my weaknessI have lost time in this undertaking, but it shall be short work now withShagpat. This thy daughter, the Eclipser of Reason, was ever such a prizeas she? I will deserve her. Wullahy! I am now a new man, sprung like firefrom ashes. Lo, I am revived by her for the great work.'
Said Abarak: 'O Master of the Event, secure now without delay the twoslaves of the Sword, and lean the blade toward Aklis.'
Upon that, he ran up rapidly to the summit of the mountain and drew theSword from his girdle, and leaned it toward Aklis, and it lengthened outover lands, the blade of it a beam of solid brilliance. Presently, fromforth the invisible remoteness they saw the two Genii, Karavejis andVeejravoosh, and they were footing the blade swiftly, like stars,speeding up till they were within reach of the serpents of the hilt, whenthey dropped to the earth, bowing their heads; so he commanded them torise, crying, 'Search ye the earth and its confines, and bring hithertidings of the Genie Karaz.'
They said, 'To hear is to obey.'
Then they began to circle each round the other, circling more and moresharply till beyond the stretch of sight, and Shibli Bagarag said toFeshnavat, 'Am I not awake, O Feshnavat? I will know where is Karaz ere Iseek to operate on Shagpat, for it is well spoken of the poet:
"Obstructions first remove Ere thou thy cunning prove";
and I will encounter this Karaz that was our Ass, ere I try the greatshave.'
Then said he, turning quickly, 'Yonder is the light from Aklis strikingon the city, and I mark Shagpat, even he, illumined by it, singled out,where he sitteth on the roof of the palace by the market-place.'
So they looked, and it was as he had spoken, that Shagpat was singled outin the midst of the city by the wondrous beams of the eye of Aklis, andmade prominent in effulgence.
Said Abarak, climbing to the level of observation, 'He hath a rednesslike the inside of a halved pomegranate.'
Feshnavat stroked his chin, exclaiming, 'He may be likened to a mountaingoat in the midst of a forest roaring with conflagration.'
Said Shibli Bagarag, 'Now is he the red-maned lion, the bristling boar,the uncombed buffalo, the plumaged cock, but soon will he be like nothingelse save the wrinkled kernel of a shaggy fruit. Lo, now, the Sword! itleapeth to be at him, and 'twill be as the keen icicle of winter to thatperishing foliage, that doomed crop! So doth the destined minute destroywith a flash the hoarded arrogance of ages; and the destined hand doethwhat creation failed to perform; and 'tis by order, destiny, andpreordainment, that the works of this world come to pass. This know I,and I witness thereto that am of a surety ordained to the Shaving ofShagpat!'
Then he stood apart and gazed from Shagpat to the city that now began tomove with the morning; elephants and coursers saddled by the gates of theKing's palace were visible, and camels blocking the narrow streets, andthe markets bustling. Surely, though the sun illumined that city, it wasas a darkness behind Shagpat singled by the beams of Aklis.
The Shaving of Shagpat; an Arabian entertainment — Complete Page 19
