Pagina 412 di 1116

"Their tracks I see, and pine with pain and pang * And on

deserted hearths I weep and yearn: And Him I pray who doomed them

depart * Some day vouchsafe the boon of safe return."[FN#280]

Then, O my lady, I went up again by the trap-door, and every day

I used to wander round about the island and every night I

returned to the underground hall. Thus I lived for a month, till

at last, looking at the western side of the island, I observed

that every day the tides ebbed, leaving shallow water for which

the flow did not compensate; and by the end of the month the sea

showed dry land in that direction. At this I rejoiced making

certain of my safety; so I arose and fording what little was left

of the water got me to the mainland, where I fell in with great

heaps of loose sand in which even a camel's hoof would sink up to

the knee.[FN#281] However I emboldened my soul and wading through

the sand behold, a fire shone from afar burning with a blazing

light.[FN#282] So I made for it hoping haply to find succour, and

broke out into these verses:-