hand a spear that loves to kill,
Who'er attacks me counts on flight and dies."

She says to him:

"Thou'rt Ahmed el Hilalieu? Never prowls
A noble bird about the Zeriba;
The generous falcon turns not near the nests,
O madman! Why take so much care
About a tree that bears not any dates?"

He answers:

"I will demand of our great Lord of all
To give us rain to cover all the land
With pasturage and flowers. And we shall eat
Of every sort of fruit that grows on earth."

Redah:

"We women are like silk. And only those
Who are true merchants know to handle us."

Ahmed el Hilalieu then says:

"I've those worth more than thou amid the girls
Of Hilal, clad in daintiest of silk
Of richest dye, O Redah, O fifth rite."

And, turning his horse's head, he goes away. But she recalls him:

"I am an orange, them the gardener;
I am a palm and thou dost cut my fruit;
I am a beast and thou dost slaughter me.
I am--upon thine honor--O gray steed,
Turn back thy head. For we are friends henceforth."

She says to the negress, "Go open wide the door that he may come."

The negress admits him, and ties up his horse. On the third day he sees the
negress laughing.

"Why do you laugh, negress?"

"You have not said your prayers for three days."

POEMS OF THE MAGHREB

[_Translated by M.C. Sonneck and Chauncey C. Starkweather_]

ALI'S ANSWER

[ARGUMENT.--It is related that a young man named Aly ben Bou Fayd, falling
in love with a young woman, begged his father to ask her in marriage for
him. His father refused. Angered, Aly procured a gun, engraved his name
upon it, and betook himself to the chase. His father having claimed this
gun he answered:]

You ask the gun I have that bears my name.
I will not give it, save against my will.

How comes it, father, that you treat me thus?
You say, "Bring back the gun to put in pledge."
Now, may God pardon you for acting thus!
I leave you in your land, and, all for you,
I swear by God I never shall return.

Your conduct is unwise. Our enemies
Insult me, O my father. And I think
That you will give up your ancestral home
And garden too. And can I after that
Recover my good gun?

I shall not be
Enfeebled that I am no more with you.
No longer are you father unto me,
And I shall be no more your cherished son.
I think, my sire, that you are growing old.
Your teeth are falli