The man you beheld as a
prince and hero, has again transformed himself, and this time into a
miserable merchant. Nothing has remained to him of the prince, and
angel, and hero; he is nothing more than a poor worm of earth!"
He cries out loudly and fiercely. All the anguish of former days,
all the ungratified longings of the past, are again awakened, and,
long pent up, now break forth in a fiery flood, and sweep away and
burn to ashes all reason, all calm reflection, all the fruit of
these ten long, desolate years of tranquility and patient industry.
After a struggle with himself, he arose, and a deep sigh, like a
death-groan, escaped his breast.
It was his intention to go to Osman and say: "It is settled, I
remain! I have just committed a murder on myself; I have killed
Mohammed Ali, the eagle, as his mother called him, and there remains
only the merchant Mohammed! He will creep on, composedly, over the
surface of the earth, collecting tobacco, rolling it into great
balls, and rejoicing when he finds his profit in so doing."
But it seemed as though his footsteps were clogged, as though an
invisible hand held him back, and compelled him to remain a while
longer on this spot where he had stood with Masa. And now it seemed
to him that her form suddenly arose from her cold grave in the waves
over there beyond the cliffs. She was arrayed in purple, her
starlike eyes were fixed on him, and her long hair enveloped her
beloved form as with a golden veil, the water dripping from her like
glittering pearls.
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