forfeited the conditions of the parchment, I am not yet without hope; for
it cannot be denied that thou hast violated to admiration the laws of
hospitality, by seducing the daughter of the Emir, after having partaken
of his bread and his salt. Such a conduct cannot but be delightful to
the Giaour; and if on thy march thou canst signalise thyself by an
additional crime, all will still go well, and thou shalt enter the palace
of Soliman in triumph. Adieu! Alboufaki and my negresses are waiting."

The Caliph had nothing to offer in reply; he wished his mother a
prosperous journey, and ate on till he had finished his supper. At
midnight the camp broke up, amidst the flourishing of trumpets and other
martial instruments; but loud indeed must have been the sound of the
tymbals to overpower the blubbering of the Emir and his long-beards, who,
by an excessive profusion of tears, had so far exhausted the radical
moisture, that their eyes shrivelled up in their sockets, and their hairs
dropped off by the roots. Nouronihar, to whom such a symphony was
painful, did not grieve to get out of hearing; she accompanied the Caliph
in the imperial litter, where they amused themselves with imagining the
splendour which was soon to surround them. The other women, overcome
with dejection, were dolefully rocked in their cages, whilst Dilara
consoled herself with anticipating the joy of celebrating the rites of
fire on the stately terraces of Istakar.

In four days they reached the spacious valley of Rocnabad. The season of
spring was in all its vigour, and the grotesque branches of the almond
trees in full blossom fantastically chequered the clear blue sky; the
earth, variegated with hyacinths and jonquils, breathed forth a fragrance
which diffused through the soul a divine repose; myriads of bees, and
scarce fewer of Santons, had there taken up their abode; on the banks of
the stream hives and oratories were alternately ranged, and their
neatness and whiteness were set off by the deep green of the cypresses
that spired up amongst them. These pious personages amused themselves
with cultivating little gardens that abounded with flowers and fruits,
especially musk-melons of the best flavour that Persia could boast;
sometimes dispersed over the meadow, they entertained themselves with
feeding peacocks whiter than snow, and turtles more blue than the
sapphire; in this manner were they occupied when the harbingers of the
imperial processio