With what pious thoughts, with what ecstasy had he, that morning,
greeted the rising sun! His heart had been filled with ineffable
bliss; tears of delight had stood in his eyes. Now the evening is
sinking down, the first evening after that blissful sunrise, and
vanished is all he had gloried in; lost, all he believed he had won.
A white dove had fluttered down from heaven, he had seen a fair swan
full of innocence and loveliness at his side; and now, the white
dove had transformed itself into a monster, and the fair swan had
become an evil spirit. Yes, an evil spirit had assumed the form of a
swan, and cast a wicked spell over his heart, and now--O Mohammed,
learn to suffer! Rend yourself with your agony; press your hands
convulsively to your breast till the blood trickles out from your
finger-nails; cry out in your anguish, till the eagle, aroused in
his nest, looks out with greedy eyes after the poor creature that
has dared to disturb the king of the air! Let curses resound from
the quivering lips that are as pale as those of the dead! Curse the
swan for having become a ghin; the white swan for having transformed
herself into a cat, and then awake from your despair. Behold her
standing before you with the sweet expression on her delicate
features, with the blushing cheeks as you raise the veil, with the
crimson lips that grow more crimson still as yours touch them.
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