It is perhaps an
eagle that has been cast down by the storm, and is now wearily
winging its flight across the cliffs. Who can say that it is a man
that is gliding among the cliffs? No one sees him; no one can betray
him. The shadow now stands still for a moment, and for a single
moment the moon breaks forth from behind the dark clouds. It sees
the figure, it sees the man who stands there on a rock, his large,
luminous eyes gazing anxiously, suspiciously about him, as though he
feared betrayal.
The kindly moon has permitted him to take a look at the landscape
round about him, and to assure him there is no one in the vicinity
to betray him. All is at rest, he alone is awake and abroad. The
moon has done enough; it glides behind a dark cloud and conceals
itself again.
The waves murmur at the feet of him who has been standing there
listening, and he now glides down from the cliff to the opening in
the rock. He creeps in at this opening, and on through the narrow
passage to the cave, until he can stand upright. He now utters a
cry, and his cry is answered in the distance. He stands still and
leans against the wall of the cave, overwhelmed either with anxiety
or happiness. It is with happiness, for he will find her: she has
answered him.
CHAPTER XII
THE PARADISE UNDER THE EARTH.
They rest heart to heart for a moment, and then Mohammed sinks down
on his knees, and kisses the hem of her dress and her little feet,
and she bows down to him and whispers in his ear words which he
hardly understands, and yet each of them resounds in his soul like
heavenly music.
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