Page:The Harvard Classics Vol. 16.djvu/343

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the sea with our eyes open, and see what is in it, and we see the sun and the moon and the stars and the sky as on the face of the earth, and this hurteth us not.[1] Know also, that in the sea are many peoples and various forms of all the kinds that are on the land; and know, moreover, that all that is on the land, in comparison with what is in the sea, is a very small matter—And the King wondered at her words.

Then the damsel took forth from her shoulders two pieces of Kamari aloes-wood, and took a bit of them, and, having lighted a fire in a perfuming-vessel, threw into it that bit, and she uttered a loud whistle, and proceeded to speak words which no one understood; whereupon a great smoke arose, while the King looked on. After this, she said to the King, O my lord, arise and conceal thyself in a closet, that I may shew thee my brother and my mother and my family without their seeing thee; for I desire to bring them, and thou shalt see in this place, at this time, a wonder, and shalt wonder at the various shapes and strange forms that God (whose name be exalted!) hath created. So the King arose immediately, and entered a closet, and looked to see what she would do. And she proceeded to burn perfume and repeat spells until the sea foamed and was agitated, and there came forth from it a young man of comely form, of beautiful countenance, like the moon at the full, with shining forehead, and red cheek, and hair resembling pearls and jewels; he was, of all the creation, the most like to his sister, and the tongue of the case itself seemed to recite in his praise these verses:—

The moon becometh perfect once in each month; but the loveliness of thy face is perfect every day.

Its abode is in the heart of one sign at a time; but thine abode is in all hearts at once.

Afterwards, there came forth from the sea a grizzly-haired old woman, and with her five damsels, resembling moons, and bearing a likeness to the damsel whose name was Jullanar. Then the King saw the young man and the old woman and the damsels walk upon the surface of the water until they came to the damsel Jullanar; and

  1. ↑ These people are perhaps the Ghawwasah, or Divers and Plungers, an inferior class of the Jinn.
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