Note 59 — Chapter VII · JOURNEY TO THE EASTERN SHORES OF THE LAKE TCHAD.
Reading edition
The following lines may be taken as a sample, at least, if not a literal translation, of their poetical sketches on these ocean meetings.
The Arab rests upon his gun,
His month of labour scarce begun
Of passing deserts drear:
Straining his eyes along the sand,
He fancies in the mist, a band
Of plunderers appear.
Again he thinks of home and tribe,
Of parents, and his Arab bride
Betrothed from earliest years:
Then high above his shaven head,
The gun that fifty had left dead
Rallies his comrade’s fears.
“Yeolad boo! yeolad boo!
“Sons of your fathers! which of you
“Will shun the fight and fly?”
They rush towards him, bright in arms,
Thus calming all his false alarms
By promising to die.
The sounds of men, as objects near,
Strike on the listening Arab’s ear
Laid close upon the sand:
He hears his native desert song,
And plunges forth his friends among
To seize the proffered hand.
Asalam? Asalam? from every mouth;
What cheer? what cheer? from north and south,
Each earnestly demands:
And dates and water, desert fare,
While all their news of home declare,
Are spread upon the sands.
But, soon! too soon! the kaf’las move;
They separate again, to prove
How desolate the land!
Yet, parting slow, each seeks delay,
And dreading still the close of day,
They press each other’s hand.