reciting the visit of Antar to
the temple of the fire-worshippers, and the adventures of that greatest
of Arabian heroes among the effeminate and astonished courtiers of the
generous and magnificent Nushirvan.

The audience was not a scanty one, for this chosen detachment of the
children of Rechab had been two hundred strong, and the great majority
of them were now assembled; some seated as the ancient Idumaeans, on the
still entire seats of the amphitheatre; most squatted in groups upon the
ground, though at a respectful distance from the poet; others standing
amid the crumbling pile and leaning against the tall dark fragments just
beginning to be silvered by the moonbeam; but in all their countenances,
their quivering features, their flashing eyes, the mouth open with
absorbing suspense, were expressed a wild and vivid excitement, the heat
of sympathy, and a ravishing delight.

When Antar, in the tournament, overthrew the famous Greek knight, who
had travelled from Constantinople to beard the court of Persia; when he
caught in his hand the assassin spear of the Persian satrap, envious of
his Arabian chivalry, and returned it to his adversary's heart; when he
shouted from his saddle that he was the lover of Ibla and the horseman
of the age, the audience exclaimed with rapturous earnestness, 'It is
true, it is true!' although they were guaranteeing the assertions of a
hero who lived, and loved, and fought more than fourteen hundred years
before. Antar is the Iliad of the desert; the hero is the passion of the
Bedouins. They will listen for ever to his forays, when he raised
the triumphant cry of his tribe, 'Oh! by Abs; oh! by Adnan,' to the
narratives of the camels he captured, the men he slew, and the maidens
to whose charms he was indifferent, for he was 'ever the lover of Ibla.'
What makes this great Arabian invention still more interesting is, that
it was composed at a period antecedent to the Prophet; it describes the
desert before the Koran; and it teaches us how little the dwellers in it
were changed by the introduction and adoption of Islamism.

As Tancred and his companion reached the amphitheatre, a ringing laugh
resounded.

'Antar is dining with the King of Persia after his victory,' said
Baroni; 'this is a favourite scene with the Arabs. Antar asks the
courtiers the name of every dish, and whether the king dines so every
day. He bares his arms, and chucks the food into his mouth without ever
moving his j