Do not touch me, but listen to what Masa
has to say: You shall not die for my sake; you shall not fill my
eyes with tears, and my soul with anguish. You shall live, Mohammed,
that my whole existence may be yours, and yours mine! Let us think
and dream of this; let us hope for this, and let us do all we can to
make of this dream reality. and of this hope fulfilment. I shall go
down to Praousta. I shall speak to them, and conjure them to pay
this double tax in spite of my father's opposition. When they shall
have done this, Mohammed, your honor will be saved, my father's life
preserved, and his daughter's heart freed from anguish. The rest,
Mohammed, we must leave to the good spirits, to the welis and the
intercession of our mothers."
"But if the men should still refuse," said Mohammed--"and I know
they will," he added, gloomily.
"They will not refuse. My lips will possess a charm to persuade them
to do what we wish. They will not refuse. My love and anxiety for my
father will give to my words such power that they must do, although
with reluctance, what the daughter demands of them to save the
father's life. I conjure you, Mohammed, wait patiently at least
until the hour of second prayer. Prolong the time until then. Allow
me to announce this to them; to bear a message to them from my
father and from you; allow me to say: 'Mohammed will wait until the
hour of second prayer; you can deliberate until then, and not until
then, if it be necessary to pay the tax.
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