Why
does he now long again to mount to the spot on which he had never
stood after those days? Since then he has become a man and another
being. There he had exchanged vows of eternal love with his Masa!
There, all Nature heard him swear: "I love you alone, and no other
woman shall ever stand at my side!"
The youth which had uttered these words died in him long ago.
Mohammed Ali was now a man, had a wife, and children called him
father; and the man had hitherto avoided treading on this
consecrated ground. But now he is driven there by an irresistible
longing!
He walks rapidly on, and is soon there.
He stands where he had stood with Masa; where he had called down
imprecations on her head because he thought her faithless; where he
had also listened in pious devotion to the holy revelation of her
love.
Ten years have passed since then. What has remained of those hopes,
and of that love?
His dreams have ended, and his illusions are dissipated.
"O Masa! and people call me a happy man. O Mother Khadra, look down
into your son's heart! The voices I long since thought silenced
forever, are again aroused--the voices of love and ambition. O
mother, it is as though I saw you before me again, and heard you
relate your dream! You saw your son standing upon the pinnacle of a
palace, a sword uplifted in his hand, a crown encircling his brow,
and you knew, mother, that this man with crown and sceptre, attired
in purple, was your son; and this man transformed himself into an
angel, and flew to you and kissed you.
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