Then she sought eagerly to find a way out, in order that she might bring her mother within. The rooms of the palace were very large and magnificent; but no person could be found in them. And whenever she entered one of them and hastened to another door, she found herself, as if by magic, in the one where had been her awakening and beside the stately bier.
Hour after hour she struggled. Every trial ended [[48]]with the same experience. She found herself, again and again, in the lonely room with only the body upon the bier for company. At last she was exhausted, and began to understand that escape was impossible—that some mighty power had torn her from her beloved mother. In the hope that obedience to fate would make her sentence lighter, she said: “I will bear whatever is allotted to me. Afterward, if Allah will, it may be for the best.”
Let the girl remain here while we return to the mother.
Morning came, and, the strange influence having spent itself, the woman awakened. Turning toward the place where she had last seen her beloved daughter, she reached out her arms for an embrace. But they were empty. The alarmed woman made haste to seek all about the hiding place, in the vain hope that the girl had gone to look about them. But no trace of her child could be found—no footprint in the soft earth, no portion of her clothing.
When this became real to the seeker, her heart was crushed with fear. “Alas!” she cried, “in rescuing my beloved one from the bird I have lost her unto myself!”
Thereupon, with grief so heavy that she was many days in journeying the distance over which [[49]]they two had sped so swiftly, she returned to her own home, went into mourning for the daughter whom she believed dead, and awaited whatever might be ordered unto herself.
Now let us return to the girl.
During the long nights that followed she slept not, but kept her dreary watch beside the bier. In some mysterious manner, fresh food appeared every morning upon a golden salver, and whatever remained from the previous day was spirited away. Although the girl endeavored to discover this change, she was unable to do so.
At first, by means of a bit of charred wood which she found upon the floor, she kept the strictest account of the days as they passed. With this she made a mark upon the marble for each day. But as they wore by she forgot to number them. Dreary monotony made her spiritless.
Now, in front of the palace flowed the sea. One window of the room was directly over that portion of the castle walls which were washed by the waves. Long before sunrise, one morning, as the maiden sat beside this window, looking out with heavy eyes, a ship appeared. It came from the direction of Iram. When it was directly before the palace the girl made a sign with her hand. The captain lowered [[50]]a boat which came to the walls of the palace.