azed upon her, and
the lustre of her countenance transfixed him as with a javelin, so that
he could not stir, nor move his eyes from the contemplation of her
sweetness of feature. The hawk darted at him fiercely, and pecked at him
to draw his attention from her, and he stepped back, yet he continued
taking fatal draughts from the magic cup of her beauty. Then the hawk
screamed a loud scream of anguish, and the Princess awoke, and started
half-way from the couch, and stared about her, and saw the bird in
agitation. As she looked at the bird a shudder passed over her, and she
snatched a veil and drew it over her face, murmuring, 'I dream, or I am
under the eye of a man.' Then she felt beneath the pillow, and knew that
the cockle-shell had been touched; and in a moment she leapt from her
couch, and ran to a mirror and saw herself as she was, a full-moon made
to snare the wariest and sit singly high on a throne in the hearts of
men. At the sight of her beauty she smiled and seemed at peace, murmuring
still, 'I am under the eye of a man, or I dream.' Now, while she so
murmured she arrayed herself, and took the cockle-shell, and passed
through the ante-room among her women sleeping; and Shibli Bagarag
tracked her till she came to the vault; and she entered it and walked to
the corner from which had hung the dress of Samarcand. When she saw it
gone her face waxed pale, and she gazed slowly at all points, muttering,
'There is no further doubt but that I am under the eye of a man!'
Thereupon she ran hastily from the vault, and passed between the
sentinels of the palace, and saw them where they lay drowsy with
intoxication: so she knew that the China jar and the dress of Samarcand
had been used that night, and for no purpose friendly to her wishes. Then
she passed down the palace steps, and through the gates of the palace and
the city, till she came to the shore of the sea; there she launched the
cockle-shell and took the wind in her garments, and sat in it, filling it
to overflowing, yet it floated. And Shibli Bagarag waded to the
cockle-shell and took hold of it, and was drawn along by its motion
swiftly through the waters, so that a foam swept after him; and Goorelka
marked the foam. Now, they had passage over the billows smoothly, and
soon the length of the sea was darkened with two high rocks, and between
them there was a narrow channel of the sea, roughened with moonlight. So
they sped between the rocks, and came upon a purpl