I should like
to recite the chapter which would be of most interest to yourself. You
will confess that I am trying to make things as pleasant as I can for
you?"
He slipped his mouth free again.
"'Quick, then, quick!' he groaned.
"'The Chapter of the Camel?' I suggested.
"'Yes, yes.'
"'Or that of the Fleet Stallion?'
"'Yes, yes. Only proceed!'
"We had passed the window and there was no candle. I settled down to
recite the Chapter of the Stallion to him. Perhaps you do not know your
Koran very well, monsieur? Well, I knew it by heart then, as I know it
by heart now. The style is a little exasperating for anyone who is in a
hurry. But, then, what would you have? The people in the East are
never in a hurry, and it was written for them. I repeated it all with
the dignity and solemnity which a sacred book demands, and the young
Englishman he wriggled and groaned.
"'When the horses, standing on three feet and placing the tip of their
fourth foot upon the ground, were mustered in front of him in the
evening, he said, I have loved the love of earthly good above the
remembrance of things on high, and have spent the time in viewing these
horses. Bring the horses back to me. And when they were brought back
he began to cut off their legs and--'
"It was at this moment that the young Englishman sprang at me.
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