Graham's Magazine, Vol. XLI, No. 5, November 1852Various
General
Graham's Magazine, Vol. XLI, No. 5, November 1852
Various
Literature -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals
When Cedi Mohammed Ibn Amar, knowing nothing of all this, reached
Tetuan, he went to the house of Al Hadj Halek Ibn Abdallah, a famous
marabout, and said, “Salaam on Aleekomm! Know, O holy man, that I am
come to thee for news, the odor of which would be sweet unto my
nostrils.” The wise man, having heard his question, was able,
fortunately, to return an answer. And the youth said: “I will depart
this hour again to Fez, and throw myself at the feet of the Prince of
Believers to ask vengeance; and it shall come to pass that he shall
grant me power to lead his warriors against Al Zagal, destroy his
castle, and deliver Lindora from its walls; for the maiden loves me
still,” he added, looking at the hilt of his dagger, in which a large
opal glittered cheerfully. “Tabeeb, farewell!”
Lindora was at that time in her lonely tower, shrieking with but little
intermission. Al Zagal appeared on the battlements, and leaning over,
shouted to one of his followers: “Asharky, place thyself at the head of
a score of lances, and ride the country through till thou findest a
Tabeeb, for the daughter of Al Hassan is possessed.” The Tabeeb who was
brought declared the maiden to be in the delirium of fever; so
thereafter Al Zagal, who by no means desired that she should die,
frequently paced the battlements in a moody way, invoking on her case
the blessing of the Prophet.
One day he was awakened from such a reverie by the sound of distant
tom-toms and cymbals, and looking up he saw the royal banner coming down
the road from Fez. Bright arms of warriors glittered about it, and a
dark crowd of country people, that had joined with the great army of the
Sultan, was shouting his name; they were his debtors from the
surrounding country, now resolved to take this advantageous opportunity
of paying him the little things they owed. When the multitude had halted
near the castle walls, a single horseman spurred out of the main body--a
herald he was--summoning Muley ben Abel, _alias_ Al Zagal, to surrender
his castle and give up the prisoners therein, particularly Lindora and
her father, otherwise the Lord Cedi Mohammed Ibn Amar, Caliph of the
Sultan, was prepared in the Sultan’s name to lay siege to its walls. A
valorous discussion followed, which was closed by a follower of Al
Zagal, who, with a stone from a sling, struck the herald on the
forehead, and unhorsed him. Then the siege commenced.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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