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Show ltll ..ar :::.7.7tta:,t, Am: cr iiaii vim x3 ecz.' One when the moon, a little crook of f'.J. - .- Hung- ia tfc west, n3 tls.t was with cold ' - When. grve tnuenlna from Ihelr domes in air , . Had notched the day out with Utelr calls . - to prayer. The Cal'.ph Omar startsd 'op and said To serrant Abou-Zeld: "Come, I will lay my palac purple y . And iMk en Bagdad with unbrdend eye, I shall go hidden In a homely cloak. And none will know us from the. common, folk." . . i i So they passed down the many -colored floor. Paat aiek Ameer and drowsy Chamber lain. - v Thro' courts where feu-talne-tost an Irta ra'n, -Aid out thro' ' many aUrer-eouadinf door- . Out to tb twInkilCLf night. The hoor was la . . When they went psertnc throoh the I rory Gat And eaw tv,re forma tn pitiful attlr. Clo huddid by a starred, unsteady fire. A mother tlrrlag at a broth of bran, A handful from some passtnf esraraa, WhU at her tattered gowo Two ehllarso feebly tua4 U pU lyr - down. i Oniar drew near d said,' "Paaoe onto thee, , . O, . Woman I Tell in what .your , grief may be. . What drtree a mother to the wintry cold, A mother labor broken and so old T "Lord, we are hungry, hungry, and so poor. But for thisv wrong, this misery w endure. en-dure. V Omar must answer at the Judgment Pay. Or else there is no God to watch and welc-h." . "Eat duet toa think that Omar knows ' I thy grler. - .- . Plng he has not sent thee som relief?" i "Why is he Caliph. If unaware Of the ' great burdens that -to people br Kven th burden of the least of these ' , Who tug and toll that he may lie at i - ease 7" - - . . A quick twitch at the slee-e of Abou-Zeld, And back to the palace pantries Omar i epd. . ! And gathered, one by one, with loving care. ' Citron and candled ' quince and potted pear. A cruse of oil. a bag; of sifted meaL Honey in gourde, a jar of spicy veal, A skin of wine, and with a woven shawl ! Covered like A-rtl fields he bound it , aU. . . ( .- "Come, Abou-Zeld, com help to Bft th pack And ioie it on my back." . " , "Ka" said the errant, "no, it must not bei Tou r.urt not bear th burden; give It - me." At this great Omar cried. "Away, away! Wilt thou, too, bear my sins at Judgment Deyr" So the yood" Oftph bore the unwieldy weight Thro' Bagdad out beyond th Ivory Oats. And. when be-reached the children, near to death. - . - Kneeling he quickened the embers with his breath: And with his own hands did he knead and bake ' , A loaf of bread, and with hie own hands brake. And on each portion poured -Good hooey from a gourd. And gav to them that famished, and. again Went out to gather fagoU en the plain. As th two men fared horn at break et day Omar waa heard to say: . "O. Abou-Zeld. the lire that warms those three Has much enlightened me!" |